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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">My treatise is written in the hopes that you will be as convinced as I am that the "<em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é", as written by Paul G. Zolbrod, is a necessary addition to the 2100 time capsule. It is imperative that humanity include a design for living that works in harmony and beauty with any new environment that we may find. I believe that we will need what the <em>Diné bahané</em> teaches. I'm hoping that when you've read this, you will too.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Before I begin, there are two words used for "The People". First is Navajo, from the Spanish. Second is Diné. "Because of its colonial origin, the designation Navajo is in the process of being replaced by the term Diné." (Lampshere) You will see both terms used for "The People" in the following.</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"The Diné were latecomers to the American Southwest, arriving between 1000 and 1525 C.E."(Lampshere) Researchers believe that "the Navajo are an Athapaskan-language people, closely related to those living in northern Canada in the region of the Great Slave Lake."(Winson) No one knows when the Diné bahané first was told. The only surviving history is the creation myth itself. The Diné believe that the events in the <em>Diné bahané </em>took place just as they are told. Sometime, in the dawn of consciousness and the midst of migration, the Diné generated their own creation myth. The <em>Diné bahané</em> is an epic tale created by  and for the Diné. The Diné were looking for a home. They found that home in the four corners area of the American southwest. I believe the story was created by the Diné because it was important to them to commit to memory their unique history and reality in the sacred way that made sense to them. As a people, they agreed that this story was the story of their beginnings. It became "the soul of a distinct Navajo identity that found shape under a particular set of social (and) or ceremonial conditions."(Zolbrod, 19) It was transmitted, as the truth, by oral tradition for centuries. In a time when the entirety of humanity seems to have woken up to a self-conscious awareness of itself and its place in the universe, this narrative belongs to the Diné.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">The <em>Diné bahané </em>"could never be written down in it’s entirety, just as we could never…encapsulate the whole Arthurian tradition in one unified definitive volume."(Zolbrod, 19) In recent history, there have been many translations, interpretations and summaries of the myth, but one of the most accurate and beautiful was done by Paul G. Zolbrod in his book appropriately named <em>Diné bahané</em>. His translation takes up 305 pages of a book typed in small print. The story ends with, "these are the things that happened a long time ago."(Zolbrod, 339) Because of its length, I have chosen a small portion of the creation myth to summarize and use in comparison to other creation stories. This portion concerns the arrival of the Diné people to this world and the creation of First Man and First Woman.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">The Diné spirit people have always existed, just not on this world. This is their fifth world. The first world was very dark and no one remembers much about it except, that the Diné caused a disagreement with the other folk who lived there and "The People" were forced out. In the second world, the Diné again made mistakes with the tribe who already lived there and were forced to leave again.  In the third and fourth world, (which progressively appeared more like this world), the Diné still caused problems and they barely escaped those worlds, to reach this world, where we all live now. When they got here, they were still only insect-like spirits. But now they had found themselves a home; the same home they inhabit now. Powerful beings came and taught them how to make First Man and First Woman out of abalone, precious stones, rainbows, fog and an ear of corn. Songs were taught to the Diné and Wind came and blew through these precious bundles and gave them life. The proof that this really happened is in each human’s fingerprints. The whorls are the marks left by the wind. First Man and First Woman were taught how to create the sun, moon, and stars. They populated the earth by creating all manner of creatures and plants. The first argument between First Man and First Woman and its consequences are immortalized. Places, like mountains and lakes, are named and inhabited by strong spirit beings. It is up to the Diné to remember where they came from, the songs they were taught, and to carry on those traditions and rituals that are good and healthy for everyone.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">The <em>Diné bahané </em>is like many of the Native American stories. "Common to all American Indian sacred narratives…these "sacred histories serve to orient their communities in time and space in ways that operate within the universe they inhabit, and in turn provide outsiders with insight into the ethos and world view of their home cultures." (Kelly) "For American Indian communities, the world is populated not only by humans, but by other beings as well. These beings include the natural world and all that is in it."(Kelly) All American Indian creation myths were transmitted orally, just as in all preliterate cultures. "Elders served as repositories of the knowledge and wisdom that makes the people, transferring moral precepts and appropriate community parameters to the next generation."(Kelly)</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">However, the <em>Diné bahané</em> stands out from the rest of the creation stories of the world. It has survived. It is a living religion, still practiced by its people. It is one of the few myths that survived the colonization of North America and still lives where it was born. In it are named the landmarks that form the boundaries of the Diné Nation’s country. It is lengthy and comprehensive. It covers the balance of male and female roles and how monsters like Death and Poverty came to be and how they were dealt with. It classifies, codifies and includes diverse beings including insects and hermaphrodites. Zolbrod writes,"Representing narrative poetry at its richest, the cycle displays an awareness of human complexity different from anything in our own (Western) literature. The emotions it identifies are as intense as those found in Oedipus Rex or Othello."(Zolbrod, 19) The Dine bahané "occurs in a setting that combines the real and the earthy with the mystical and cosmic, where spirits and humans interact in a way not duplicated in any one of our own familiar literary works save perhaps those like Homeric epics or Ovid’s ‘Metamorphosis.’"(Zolbrod, 6) "To this day, the Diné creation story gives individual Navajos (including illiterate ones) an important ethnic identity. It defines meaningful relationships among members of the community and between the community and the entire cosmos." "Native American Creation Myths"</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">In Western culture, I would compare the <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é to the <em>Holy Bible</em>. The <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é is as important to the Diné as the <em>Holy Bible</em> is to Christians. In particular, the story which holds the most parallels to the portion of the <em>Diné bahané </em>that I summarized, is the story of <em>Adam and Eve</em>. The following is a short summary.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">God, the ultimate power, created everything. He created Adam and set him to live in the Garden of Eden. Adam was given dominion over all the plants and creatures except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was never to touch this one tree. Adam got lonely and so God created Eve from Adam. Everything was perfect until a snake, who is Satan in disguise, convinced Eve to take a bite from the fruit of the tree of knowledge. When God came to visit, He knew what had happened because, Adam and Eve covered their nakedness, whereas before, they felt no need to. They were cursed by God and exiled from the Garden of Eden forever. They were doomed by God to go through childbirth, illness and death. So were all of their children and children’s children, forever.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Commonalities between the two stories are briefly told. Both stories begin in places that no one can find today. Both include the creation of the first two human beings. And both include powerful beings that influence the lives and fates of the first man and woman. After that, these stories take off in completely different directions. In the <em>Diné bahané </em>it is stated, "Twenty-three days came and went and twenty-three nights passed and all was well. And on the twenty-fourth night the exiles held a council meeting. They talked quietly among themselves, and they resolved to mend their ways and to do nothing unintelligent that would create disorder. This was a good world, and the wandering…people meant to stay here, it is said."(Zolbrod, 47) This quote illustrates the main difference, I see, between the <em>Diné bahané</em> and the story of <em>Adam and Eve</em>. The Diné recognize the consequences for their actions, they learn from their mistakes and resolve to live intelligently and peacefully in this world. Secondly, First Man and First Woman are co-creators of their world and by inheritance so are their children, the Diné. In <em>Adam and Eve</em>, God gives them only one thing they cannot do and they do it anyway. They are thrown out of the Garden of Eden and doomed by a completely unsympathetic God who curses them with a life of sin and suffering. They are cast out into a cold and cruel world not of their own choice or making.  The <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é<em> </em>allows for growth, change, and evolution. The story of <em>Adam and Eve</em> puts us in a struggle with nature and ourselves for all time. The <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é illustrates a way of living that has gone on for centuries in the past and can go on for centuries in the future. It is a continuing saga. The story of <em>Adam and Eve</em> in the Garden of Eden ends when they are exiled from the garden. The Diné still live in their garden.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">So, how are the <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é and <em>Adam and Eve</em> compared by the Diné? Like other conquered people they strive to become "modern". But, they still practice their own way, even today. There is good reason to do so. "Modernity, in many ways is anti-traditional, favoring the new, the innovative, and the topical. Sacred histories allow traditional cultures to exist in the modern world and yet maintain their link to the past. Wisdom comes with age and American Indian stories have the power to bring ancient wisdom to current topics. Contemporary indigenous communities the world over remain faithful to their won stories and legacy, rather than the sometimes more popular myths of modernity."(Kelly) Christian missionaries have made all sorts of incursions on the Diné Nation, but Kluckhohn and Leighton say about the Diné, that "It is difficult indeed to evaluate the influences of these (non-Diné) religious groups in the past and at present. The number of nominal Christians among the Navajos is fairly large in some localities, but most of them continue their adherence to native beliefs and practices." "Christianity speaks of far off lands. The Bible speaks only of a male God of a society where authority and responsibility centers chiefly in men…Navajos miss Changing Woman (daughter of First Woman and First Man)…and the whole feeling for the position of women embodied alike in their social organization and religious lore."(Kluckhohn, 133) Another reason they stick to their own beliefs is that "The picture of a god who is entirely good is hard for The People to understand, for their whole outlook insists that all beings have an evil as well as a good side."(Kluckhohn, 133)  Christianity has little in it to appeal to the Diné. Their way of life works for them and still helps them understand the world about them. Their <em>Diné bahané</em> is still a valid and living belief system.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">I find the <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é<em> </em>a superior work to any other of its kind that now exists. I find it down to earth, practical, and accessible. "The Diné creation myth indicates that there is no dichotomy between the natural and the supernatural."(Lampshere) That idea resonates with my experience of the universe. Also, attractive to me, as an integral part of the myth, is the idea of hózhó. Hózhó is what the Diné believe is the ideal way for humans to live. It combines beauty, balance and harmony. "In Diné belief, the term hózhó refers to a positive or ideal environment. As Witherspoon puts it, ‘The goal of Diné life, in this world, is to live to maturity in the condition described as hózhó and to die of old age, the result of which incorporates one into the universal beauty, harmony, and happiness. "(Lampshere) I can’t imagine what higher purpose a person could hope for while living here on Earth. All of living is a reason for prayer, meditation and song for the Diné. Then there is the fact that a Diné person doesn’t have to go to a special place to worship. "The primary function of the hogan (the Dine round house) is a place for ceremonies and prayers."(Lampshere) Where all is sacred, especially in the home, there is less chance for the other. Although certain men and women know more songs, chants, and the rituals that go with them, than others, all Diné are practitioners in the Diné way of life. In Diné culture, all songs, come directly and indirectly from the <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é. According to Gladys Reichard, a leading authority on the Diné, "songs are a form of wealth."(Reichard, 289) So, if I have a song, I am rich. This is not a materially based culture. If only we had collected songs instead of gold, our world might still be inhabitable.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">For all these reasons and more, I would urge everyone to vote the <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é be included in the time capsule. This story carries values and beliefs that should be learned and passed on. The Western tradition, of dominance rather that partnership with nature and others, has led directly to the destruction of Earth as a viable place to live. Christianity has aided this downfall. In the story of <em>Adam and Eve</em>, when God cedes dominance over all plants and creatures to Adam, He neglects to mention that good husbandry and community should be part of the equation. Hopefully, unlike Adam and Eve, we are not exiled forever, but can find a new world, and do as the Diné ancestors did. We should hold a council, discuss quietly among ourselves and come to a consensus of opinion that this is a good world and that we don’t want to do anything unintelligent.(Zolbrod, 47)  Without a completely new set of principles, I believe we are doomed to a life of sin and suffering and will get the same results we have experienced here on this Earth. I for one do not wish this devastation on the children of earth. I would love to see them begin anew in the old way of the <em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é. Let our children all become practitioners, and singers in a way of life that allows them to evolve in beauty and harmony with their fellow creations. I believe that the "<em>Din</em>é<em> bahan</em>é", as written by Paul G. Zolbrod, is one of the necessary precious works that get put into the time capsule when it leaves earth. I hope you will too and vote for it and our survival in the next world.</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">Bibliography</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">New International Version of The Holy Bible. Colorado Springs. International Bible Society. 1984. Print.</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Kelly, Dennis F. <em>North American Indian Religions: Mythic Themes</em>  Encyclopaedia of Religion, 2nd Ed. 2005 Web. 4 Sept. 2011.</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Kluckhohn, Clyde and Dorothea Leighton, <em>The Navaho </em>Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc. 1962. Print.</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Lampshere, Louise and Marilyn Notah Verney <em>Navajo Religious Traditions Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd Ed., 2005:Blooms Literary Reference Online. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.</em></p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"Native American Creation Myths"<em> Encyclopaedia of World Writers, Beginnings Through the 13th Century. </em>Bloom’s Literary Reference Online, 2005. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Reichard, Gladys A.<em> Navajo Religion: A Study of Symbolism </em>Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. Print.</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Winson, Terrie<em> The Navajo </em>2002 W<sup>3W</sup>eb Design, May 2002. Web. 4 Sept. 2011</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Zolbrod, Paul G. <em>Dinē bahanē</em> <em>The Navajo Creation Story </em>Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1985. Print.</p>
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