The Holy Wind

Ní ch'i is normally translated as wind, although this does not adequately convey the totality of the
concept associated with the word for the Navajo. Ní ch'i refers to the air, the atmosphere in its entirety,
when still, and when in motion. It is conceived of as having a holiness and powers that are not
acknowledged by European based cultures. The term could perhaps as well be translated as Holy Spirit.
The translation Holy Wind Spirit has been suggested{*}.
Because ní ch'i suffuses all of nature, it is responsible for giving life, thought, speech and the power of
motion to all living things. Ní ch'i is also the means of communication between all elements of the
living world. The ní ch'i enters (and leaves) humans through the whorls on their fingers and toes and
the whorl pattern in the hair on the top of their heads. It sits on the tips of their tongues allowing
speech, which indeed is carried by air. Small ní ch'i sit at the ears of the Diné advising them on the
proper actions. Those who repeatedly ignore this advice are abandoned by their ní ch'i. These ní ch'i
also report back to the Holy People [diyin diné] on the behavior of the earth surface people, therefore
enforcing morality.
Ní ch'i was one of the original Holy People [diyin diné] to emerge into this World with First Man [Á
tsé hastiin]. Ní ch'i lives in the four cardinal directions [da'ní ts'áá'góó], as do the light phenomena,
Dawn [Hayíí k ], Midday Sky [Yák di hi ], Twilight [Nahootsoii] and Darkness [Chaha hee ]. The Ní
ch'i was instrumental in the creation of the Holy People [diyin diné] and their instruction. Ní ch'i
entered Changing Woman [Asdz  nádleehé] to give her life.

For the Navajo [Diné], ní ch'i is believed to enter at the moment of conception. Its movement and
growth produces the movement and growth of the fetus. When the baby is born, with its first cry, taking
in air by itself, the surrounding Ní ch'i is added to the child and it becomes a complete being. The
growing child is believed to be under the influence of the Ní ch'i all around him. The Ní ch'i is breathed
in at all times. His growth is governed by the Ní ch'i. Speech and the ability to stand upright and to
maintain balance are also attributed to the Ní ch'i. The Ní ch'i enters and departs a person through the
lungs and the whorls mentioned before.
The final act in Blessingway [Hózhó jí] is to stand up and breathe in the air at Dawn [Hayíí k ] to
reinfuse the individual with the Holy Wind. This is true of other ceremonials as well.

{*}This translation was suggested by Oswald Werner at the 1972 Pecos Conference in
Flagstaff, AZ.

This discussion is based upon Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy by James K. McNeley

© 1981, University of Arizona Press, and The Main Stalk, A Synthesis of Navajo
Philosophy by John R. Farella ©1984 John R. Farella. University of Arizona Press.