In some Native American legends, a skin-walker is a person with the supernatural ability to turn into any animal he or she desires. Similar lore can be found in cultures throughout the world and is often referred to as shapeshifting by anthropologists.

Navajo skinwalker: the Yenaldlooshii

Possibly the best documented skinwalker beliefs are those relating to the Navajo Yeenaaldlooshii (literally "with it, he goes on all fours" in the Navajo language). A Yeenaaldlooshii is one of several varieties of Navajo witch (specifically an ?ánt???hnii or practitioner of the Witchery Way, as opposed to a user of curse-objects (?adag?sh) or a practitioner of Frenzy Way (?azh?tee)). Technically, the term refers to an ?ánt???hnii who is using his (rarely her) powers to travel in animal form. In some versions men or women who have attained the highest level of priesthood then commit the act of killing an immediate member of their family, and then have thus gained the evil powers that are associated with skinwalkers.

The ?ánt???hnii are human beings who have gained supernatural power by breaking a cultural taboo. Specifically, a person is said to gain the power to become a Yeenaaldlooshii upon initiation into the Witchery Way. Both men and women can become ?ánt???hnii and therefore possibly skinwalkers, but men are far more numerous. It is generally thought that only childless women can become witches.

Although it is most frequently seen as a coyote, wolf, owl, fox, or crow, the Yeenaaldlooshii is said to have the power to assume the form of any animal they choose, depending on what kind of abilities they need. Witches use the form for expedient travel, especially to the Navajo equivalent of the 'Black Mass', a perverted song (and the central rite of the Witchery Way) used to curse instead of to heal. They also may transform to escape from pursuers.

Some Navajo also believe that skinwalkers have the ability to steal the "skin" or body of a person. The Navajo believe that if you lock eyes with a skinwalker they can absorb themselves into your body. It is also said that skinwalkers avoid the light and that their eyes glow like an animal's when in human form and when in animal form their eyes do not glow as an animal's would.

A skinwalker is usually described as naked, except for a coyote skin, or wolf skin. Some Navajos describe them as a mutated version of the animal in question. The skin may just be a mask, like those which are the only garment worn in the witches' sing.

Because animal skins are used primarily by skinwalkers, the pelt of animals such as bears, coyotes, wolves, and cougars are strictly tabooed. Sheepskin and buckskin are probably two of the few hides used by Navajos; the latter is used only for ceremonial purposes.

Often, Navajos will tell of their encounter with a skinwalker, though there is a lot of hesitancy to reveal the story to non-Navajos, or (understandably) to talk of such frightening things at night. Sometimes the skinwalker will try to break into the house and attack the people inside, and will often bang on the walls of the house, knock on the windows, and climb onto the roofs. Sometimes, a strange, animal-like figure is seen standing outside the window, peering in. Other times, a skinwalker may attack a vehicle and cause a car accident. The skinwalkers are described as being fast, agile, and impossible to catch. Though some attempts have been made to shoot or kill one, they are not usually successful. Sometimes a skinwalker will be tracked down, only to lead to the house of someone known to the tracker. As in European werewolf lore, sometimes a wounded skinwalker will escape, only to have someone turn up later with a similar wound which reveals them to be the witch. It is said that if a Navajo was to know the person behind the skinwalker they had to pronounce the full name, and about three days later that person would either get sick or die for the wrong that they have committed.^[1]

According to Navajo legend, skinwalkers can have the power to read human thoughts. They also possess the ability to make any human or animal noise they choose. A skinwalker may use the voice of a relative or the cry of an infant to lure victims out of the safety of their homes.

The legend of the skinwalkers tells of God giving the people a gift of transformation that was used only against their enemies. Over time, the people began to abuse this power, thus bringing God to earth to reclaim it. Some gave the power up and others hid with it and passed the knowledge to others.

Some tribes believe that skinwalkers can use the spit, hair, or shoes and old clothing of a person to make curses that will attack that specific person. For this reason many Navajo will never spit or leave shoes outside. They also take great care to see that any hair or nail clippings are burned. Children are advised that if they urinate outside to kick dirt over the spot so that a skinwalker cannot use it to make a curse against them.

Hopi skinwalking

In ancient Hopi culture there was a ritual ceremony once performed, called the Ya Ya Ceremony. In this ceremony, members would change themselves into various animals using the hide from the animal they chose, and the members use certain animal attributes like sight, strength, etc. The ceremony was banned after members developed a disease of the eyes.

Use in pop-culture

• The first skinwalker film is The Werewolf, a 1913 lost film.
• Skinwalkers (1986) is also the title of a mystery novel by Tony Hillerman.
• A skin walker is the villain in the movie Shadowhunter (1993).
• Skinwalkers were mentioned in the movie Arizona Werewolf, which was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 under the title "Werewolf".
• Skin-walkers feature prominently in Thunderhead (1999) a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
• There is a 2002 TV movie called Skinwalkers, based on Hillerman's novel.
• Skinwalker is also the title of a 2003 comic book series published by Oni Press written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir with art by Brian Hurtt.
• Skin Walker (2004), stars Roxana Zal, RuPaul and Joey Buttafuoco http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0320477/
• Skinwalker: Curse of the Shaman (2005), shows two college student investigating an Indian curse. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433454/
• There is also a 2007 film also titled Skinwalkers, in which biker werewolves plan to murder a thirteen year-old boy reputed to be the "savior" of the good werewolves who will cure/end lycanthropy.
• In the television series Smallville, one episode was titled "Skinwalker." It involved a Native American female name Kyla Willowbrook (portrayed by Tamara Feldman) with the ability to change into a white wolf. She attacked people working on sacred land to protect it. The source of her power was the exposure of her ancestors to Kryptonite by Kryptonian visitors to Earth in prehistoric times.
• In the Ben 10 episode "Benwolf," an alien werewolf is believed to be a Navajo werewolf. This episode hints that certain creatures from folklore may actually be aliens, akin to The Roswell Conspiracies.
• The television series Werewolf spotlighted the Skin Walker myth in an episode of the same name.
• The protagonist, Mercedes ("Mercy") Thompson, in Patricia Briggs' novel, Moon Called (2006) and its sequels, mentions being confused for a skinwalker. In truth she is a slightly different Native American preternatural creature known simply as a walker. This means she was born with slightly enhanced senses and the ability to painlessly and instantly shift at will into a slightly larger than normal coyote, and back again.
• In Supernatural, Dean and Sam mention skinwalkers during the episode "Skin," associating them with other shapeshifters and agreeing that all such creatures can be killed by a silver bullet to the heart.
• "Birds of the Feather," the first aired episode of the television series The Dresden Files, features a villain referred to as a skinwalker. However, rather than assuming animal forms, it magically flays the skin of humans in order to impersonate them or simply torture them.
• A song titled "Skinwalker" appears on the 1994 Robbie Robertson album, Music for the Native Americans.
• In 2006, Linda Conrad wrote a series of books on skinwalkers for Harlequin's Romantic Suspense line.
• The book "Kitty Takes a Holiday" by Carrie Vaughn features two skinwalkers that subscribe to the purported belief among some Native Americans that one must kill a member of the immediate family to become a skinwalker.
• In 2004, New Mexico punk/psychobilly band, the 12 Step Rebels, released a song titled "Skinwalkers."
• The 2007 album titled "Anonymous" by Tomahawk includes reference to skinwalker in the song "Red Fox."
• In the Twilight books, the popular vampire romance saga by Stephenie Meyer, werewolves by legend originated from a tribe whose leader shared the body of a wolf.

References

• Wall, Leon and William Morgan, Navajo-English Dictionary. (Hippocrene Books, New York City, 1998 ISBN 0-7818-0247-4)
• Brady, M.K., Some Kind of Power: Navaho Children's Skinwalker Narratives. (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1984 ISBN 0-87480-238-5)
• Marika, K.. Werewolves, Shapeshifters and Skinwalkers. (Sherbourne Press, Los Angeles, 1972)
• Teller, J. The Navajo Skinwalker, Witchcraft, & Related Spiritual Phenomena: Spiritual Clues: Orientation to the Evolution of the Circle. Infinity Horn Publishing, Chinle AZ, 1997 ISBN 0-9656014-0-4)
• Kluckhohn, Clyde. Navaho Witchcraft. , Boston, 1944. Library of Congrezzss cat. No. 62-13533zz

Notes

1. ↑ Kluckhohn, p.27

See also

• Huaychivo
• Nahual
• Wendigo

External links

• Navajo Witches--Skinwalkers
• Skinwalkers
• American Werewolves in Folklore and Mythology

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