Nihaltsoh, The Third World

Nihaltsoh, The Third World was a yellow world. In the Third World, squirrel, chipmunks, turkey, deer, spiders and Water Monster lived there.  When the people emerged into the Third World, they found two rivers, a female river running east to west and a male river running north to south. First Man put the jewels where they belonged. White Shell in the east, Turquoise in the south, Abalone in the west and Jet in the north. Then the First Man took the soil he had brought from the Second World and made six sacred mountains. These are the mountains that are important to Navajos today. In the east was Mt. Blanco, Sisnaajini. In the south stood Mt.Taylor, Toozil. In the west stood the San Francisco Peaks, Doko’o’osliid. In the north stood Mt. Hesperus, Dibé Nitsaa. In the middle was Huerfano Mesa, Dzil Na’oodilii. The center place was a cone-shaped mountain called Gobernador Knob, Ch’óol’í’í. The beings were happy in the yellow world. Then, one day something happened. Coyote took Water Monster’s baby. Water Monster was very angry. He was so angry that he decided to make it rain. It rained and rained. The water rose higher and higher, then the water began to flood. The beings did not know where to go to escape the flood. First Man wondered what to do. First Man planted a reed. The reed grew to the sky. The beings climbed into the reed and started to climb up. Turkey was the last to leave, his tail feathers touched the rising water, which turned the tips white. When they got to the top, they found another world.