Nayênayêzganî Kills the Eagles, and Coyote Steals Fire

Volume 1 of The North American Indian covers several Apache groups alongside the Navaho, and this passage comes from Curtis’s account of the Jicarilla Apache. It presents two consecutive episodes from the Jicarilla cosmological tradition: the conclusion of Nayênayêzganî’s campaign against the monster beings that made the earth dangerous for humans, and then a separate origin story explaining how fire came to the people.

Nayênayêzganî (whose name Curtis elsewhere translates as Slayer of Enemies) is a culture hero and warrior figure central to Apache and Navaho sacred traditions. Chunnaái is the Sun, who acts here as his guide and father. Itsá is the giant Eagle who has been preying on human beings. The second story introduces Haschîn Dîlhîli, Black Man, a creator figure who directs Coyote (Tsilîtên, the Mimic) to retrieve fire from the Fireflies on behalf of the people. Readers encountering the Eagle episode for the first time should know that Nayênayêzganî arrived at the Eagles’ rock by disguising himself as a dead elk to be carried there as prey. The passage begins at the moment he acts.

These pages fall near the end of the Jicarilla mythological narrative section in Volume 1. The chapters immediately surrounding this material cover Jicarilla creation accounts, ceremonial practices, and tribal history. The monster-slaying cycle of which this excerpt is a part traces Nayênayêzganî’s progressive clearing of the earth, and the fire-theft story closes out the account of how the world was made fit for human habitation. Volume 1 also includes substantial coverage of the Navaho and other Apache groups, all documented during Curtis’s earliest fieldwork period. Across the full twenty volumes, origin-of-fire narratives appear in multiple tribal traditions, making this Jicarilla version a useful point of comparison for readers working through the set.