Skin-walker
Sign in to saveIn Navajo culture, a skin-walker () or skinwalker is a type of harmful witch who has the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal. The term is never used for healers.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- shapeshifter
- Subclass of
- witch
- Official name
- Skinwalker
- Image
- Navajo lore shape shifter.jpg
- Said to be same as
- shapeshifter
Show 4 more facts
- indigenous to
- Navajo
- Commons category
- Skin-walkers
- superhuman feature or ability
- shapeshifting
- worshipped by
- Navajo
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Background
- Legend
- See also
- References
In Navajo culture, a skin-walker () or skinwalker is a type of harmful witch who has the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal. The term is never used for healers.
The yee naaldlooshii, translating to "by means of it, it goes on all fours", is one of several types of skin-walkers within Navajo beliefs. These witches are seen as the antithesis of Navajo values, performing malevolent ceremonies and using manipulative magic in stark contrast to the beneficial works of medicine people.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Skin-walker” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.