Navajo Oral History
Bear Maiden is a story told from Navajo creation myths. Navajo creation myths are symbolic narratives steeped in oral traditions and cultures expressed through stories and songs. The songs and stories are ideal vehicles for addressing the Navajo central viewpoint, and a framework for self-identity that sustains the traditional Navajo way of life. Navajo oral stories are sacred accounts of characters and the plots they motivate. The narratives involve interactions among deities, human-like figures, and animals going through trials and errors. Navajo creation stories are conveyed verbally from one generation to the next.
Navajo creation stories basically retell the Navajo emergence story. They retell the story of the deities and other beings including the Coyote moving through four different worlds. The coyote is a central character in numerous creation stories, the one who constantly tests the boundaries of possibilities and order. He is an important character who is often revered, but often also considered irresponsible and trouble making. He can either be funny or fearsome, and often greedy, vain, foolish, cunning, and possessed of some degree of power. He is characterized as a trickster.
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