Table of Contents
This teaching says that Navajo memory of strange things in the sky was sometimes cut into rock, so later people could see what witnesses thought they had met. These events, the talk says, are rarely a public spectacle. Often only one or two people see them, yet elders still wanted the community to admit that some flying objects have no ordinary explanation. The speaker describes visitors from elsewhere who appeared to particular persons and left instruction, rather than landing for a crowd. Solar visions are part of the account. Great flashes from the sun, sounds that came with them, and strict limits on how one was allowed to look all belong to that teaching. Northern lights, met by people who traveled north, are treated as a kind of lightning rather than as a separate wonder. The result is a tradition of private encounters, images on stone, and teachings about lights in the sky that older generations refused to ignore.
Key points
- This teaching says unusual sky events were carved on stone so the memory would remain.
- Sightings are described as private, often limited to one or two people rather than a whole crowd.
- Elders, in this account, wanted the people to accept that some flying objects cannot be explained in ordinary ways.
- Visitors are said to have appeared to chosen persons and given instruction.
- Flashes from the sun, limits on looking at it, and northern lights understood as lightning complete the picture.
Short quotes
All people always wanted us to be aware that there are times that when we see things that cannot be explained
Navajo Traditional Teachings, Navajo Stories of Unexplained Flying Objects
The teacher says people were told to notice sights that have no ordinary explanation. Watch at 2:22
they put what they thought they saw on the petroglyphs or into the rock art.
Navajo Traditional Teachings, Navajo Stories of Unexplained Flying Objects
He says a name in the language means they carved into the rock what they believed they had seen. Watch at 5:35
Video by Navajo Traditional Teachings. Watch on YouTube.