Talking God (Haashchʼééłtiʼí)
Also known as: Hastséyalti (Matthews's spelling)
Mythological Narrative
A leading Holy Person associated with the dawn and the east, who appears at key moments of the origin story to guide and teach; the ceremonies in which he appears are not described here.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## A guide
Haashchʼééłtiʼí, Talking God, is one of the most important of the Holy People, associated with the east and the dawn. In the origin story, as published by Matthews and Zolbrod, he appears at key moments to guide, teach, and help the people and other Holy People; in several tellings he is present at the finding or raising of Changing Woman, and he helps the Hero Twins.
## In ceremony
Talking God is a leader of the yéʼii, Holy People who are represented in certain Diné ceremonies. Those ceremonies are sacred, and this site does not describe them or reproduce images associated with them.
## Limits of this entry
Because much of what is significant about Talking God belongs to ceremonial knowledge, this entry is deliberately brief, and records only the outline found in published narrative sources.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Talking God (Haashchʼééłtiʼí).
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