These Navajo Skinwalker Stories Will Have You Jumping Out of Your Skin in Terror
Many cultures all over the world have their own myths and legends which have been passed through many generations. The Maori people of New Zealand have Taniwha, the Algonquian people of North America have Wendigo, but possibly the scariest of them all is the legend of the skinwalkers, most often attributed to the Navajo people.
1. YENALDLOOSHI IS WATCHING ME
My grandmother on my mothers side has always been very Superstitious, for lack of better word, she’s not religious, but she does believe in a lot of paranormal stuff.
Her mother was full-blooded Navajo and her father was Irish. Either way, she’d never been anywhere east of Montana and she grew up in Nevada.
One year, when I was in grade school, we went to visit her, most of the visit was pretty uneventful, typical boring old people stuff, except she always kept her curtains drawn shut and would always peek out the window and when someone asked what she was doing, she would simply reply ” Yenaldlooshi is watching me”
This went on for nearly the entire visit until a few days before we were due to leave, My grandma and my (then) baby brother (he’s 19 now lol) were in the front yard that evening, planting flowers when all of a sudden, my grandmother starts shouting “Insert little brothers name here get away from that creature! It’s not safe!” of course, being in Nevada, we all assumed that my brother had found a scorpion or a rattle snake, so we all run outside, to see my Grandmother clutching my little brother and shaking in terror against the side of the house, standing out in the yard, was a large,black, great-dane sized dog, it was staring at my grandmother with an intensity I’d never seen before. It looked up at us, gave a little huff and bounded off, I don’t remember if it moved unusually fast or not, but do remember it had really deep yellow eyes.
When my mother asked my grandmother what had happened, she kept repeating ” The Yenaldlooshi has found me”. She moved a couple weeks after that.
2. ON THE REZ ALONE AT NIGHT
My uncle and cousin saw a large deer on the side of the road. When they got closer it hopped over the fence like a bipedal man. One time driving back from Gallup, my dad saw an old navajo woman walking on the side of the road and when he slowed to offer her a ride she took off into the plains, quickly with inhuman speed. Once when I was a kid, my family was at my Aunt’s house which is in a rural secluded area when we were toyed with by a few entities. They would make animal noises and when we looked to the direction from which the noises were coming they would turn a flashlight on and off. The noises would come from all directions, in increasingly shorter succession. Usually when I’m there, on the reservation visiting, alone late at night I will feel the presence of evil and dread, panic and paranoia will wash over me and as sudden as it comes it will leave.
3. IT MOVED LIKE A TOY ROCKING HORSE
My uncle is Mexican and Native American. This happened in the Mojave Desert in southern California. He was driving around with his girlfriend late at night and they saw something that looked like a huge black dog on the side of the road. He slowed down and the dog began crossing the road. Instead of walking like a normal dog would, this thing moved like a toy rocking horse. He said it stopped in the middle of the road and stared right at them and it’s eyes had a red glow. My uncle is the most badass person I know and it scared the crap out of him.
What is a skinwalker?
A skinwalker is a person with the ability to turn into any animal they desire. The Navajo skinwalker is known as ‘yee naaldlooshii’ and is a variety of Navajo witch. It is apparently far more common for men to be skinwalkers, though it is possible for women as well.
Skinwalkers are most frequently seen as coyotes, wolves, foxes, eagles, owls or crows and are not creatures to be trusted. Some Navajo believe that skinwalkers have the ability to steal the face of a person, and some believe that if you ever lock eyes with a skinwalker they can absorb themselves into your body, or that your body might freeze up with fear, allowing a skinwalker to channel that fear to gain power and energy. There are many other horror stories about things that skinwalkers do to their victims, such as using a poison powder of corpse dust made from ground infant bones (preferably the finger and skull bones of twin infants) to kill them with.
The legend of skinwalkers has interested people for years, sparking off horror films and TV episodes based around the myth such as the film Skinwalkers released in 2006:
Have people have real experiences with skinwalkers?
Skinwalkers are a very intense legend, and while non-believers are quick to devise it as nothing but nonsense, many Navajo will share their chilling skinwalker stories such as the selection below, so take a look at this collection of experiences people have had with skinwalkers:
1. A series of haunting events
My uncle and cousin saw a large deer on the side of the road. When they got closer it hopped over the fence like a bipedal man.
One time driving back from Gallup, my dad saw an old navajo woman walking on the side of the road and when he slowed to offer her a ride she took off into the plains, quickly with inhuman speed.
Once when I was a kid, my family was at my Aunt’s house which is in a rural secluded area when we were toyed with by a few entities. They would make animal noises and when we looked to the direction from which the noises were coming they would turn a flashlight on and off. The noises would come from all directions, in increasingly shorter succession. Usually when I’m there, on the reservation visiting, alone late at night I will feel the presence of evil and dread, panic and paranoia will wash over me and as sudden as it comes it will leave.
Share by Redditor 6thgradehoodrat
2. Spooked cows and bipedal dogs
My family owns a farm in the heart of a Indian reservation. One winter I was home for Christmas taking care of the farm while my parents were away Christmas shopping. As I was home by myself, way late in the night and I hear all our cows freaking out. I knew it had to be the wild dogs that are rampant in the area. So I throw on some boots, grab a shotgun, load it up, and head out to the field. This was a perfect scenario for a horror movie, it was cloudy but there was full moon, and it was breaking through the clouds just right to light up all the snow. I ran out into the middle of the field, and just in time I see two dogs, they were standing up facing each other and fighting. I think “perfect two for one.” So I pump a shell into the chamber of Mr. 12 gauge and then it happened. The two dogs heard the rack, they both stopped, looked over at me, and ran away, ON THEIR BACK LEGS. Immediately I froze, and every ghost story about Skinwalkers and all the other Native legends I grew up with flew through my mind. Keep in mind I am a white guy, and up until then, these were all just boogie man stories the Native kids like to tell to scare us. That night, they became real to me.
3. A family escaping a screaming nightmare
So, this was the VERY early 80’s, and my Sister, who lived in Toronto came down to visit our Parents for a weekend. She was staying at a friends house, who loaned her a car so she could come out. After her visit, she left a little after 9 pm. She got maybe 7-8 miles away when the car broke down.
Thankfully, she broke down in front of a friend of the families house. They let her in to call Dad, and Dad came to get her. The family said she could leave the car in their driveway for the night, and my Sister decided to just stay at my parents for the night.
It was now a little after 10 pm and pitch black (Late november), while my Sister and Dad are driving back to the house and they pass through a heavily wooded area.
Out of no where they hear this INCREDIBLY FUCKING LOUD inhuman SCREAM that was heard over the engine, them talking and the radio. Dad SLAMMED on the brakes and they both started freaking out, when suddenly a 6 foot tall Coyote walking on TWO LEGS with a black/white stripped tail appeared on the side of the road and proceeded to walk in front of the car.
As soon as it passed, that same scream played again only this time 10x louder. Dad SLAMMED on the accelerator and they got the fuck out of there.
It was never seen again.
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4. A bus trip goes sinister
…When we had crossed the rez’s [reservations] border I noticed the bus driver had sped up and was now going about 85 mph. I thought this was a little weird because he never exceeded the speed limit, at least not in my high school career. For some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep like the rest of my teammates, and I just sat at the back of the bus staring out across the desolate desert landscape that was lit up by the full moon. As I looked out, I could see a figure running towards the bus at an angle of pursuit…and keeping up with the bus at 85 mph. As the figure got closer I saw that it was a humanoid form. As a matter of fact it looked exactly like a human, only that the face was painted half black and half white with glowing eyes. Glowing eyes like a rabbit’s eyes reflecting light from a spotlight. I immediately thought, “Holy crap! It’s a skinwalker!!” The skinwalker ran up to the edge of the road and just kept up pace with the bus hurdling sage brush and rocks while staring at me. After I made eye contact with the thing, I COULD NOT look away. It was as if something was holding my head and eyes in place. The skinwalker just smiled at me this inhuman smile that went ear-to-ear, showing crooked, yellow, pointed teeth. I felt like I was going to throw up and I was panicking through the whole ordeal. The skinwalker started to crumple down on to all fours, still keeping up with the bus. I could see his bones crack and reform, hair started appearing all over the skinwalker’s body and in about 3 seconds was now a coyote and it ran off back into the desert out of view. As soon as it was gone, I ran to the onboard bathroom and puked a mixture of food and blood. I didn’t want to tell anyone for fear they would think I was crazy. I confided in my Navajo friend. She told me that I needed to see the chief, who also happened to be a friend of mine, and get a blessing. I saw him the next school day in the parking lot. He just came up to me and mumbled something in Navajo while waving a feathered scepter-like thing, turned around, got in his truck and drove away. To this day, I haven’t seen another skinwalker.
Shared by Redditor Iron_jesus
5. The rocking dog
Not me but my uncle. He is Mexican/Native American. This happened in the Mojave Desert in southern California. He was driving around with his girlfriend late at night and they saw something that looked like a huge black dog on the side of the road. He slowed down and the dog began crossing the road. Instead of walking like a normal dog would, this thing moved like a toy rocking horse. He said it stopped in the middle of the road and stared right at them and it’s eyes had a red glow. My uncle is the most badass person I know and it scared the crap out of him.
A moment later I noticed a figure in the corner between a bookshelf and the wall. Its outline was darker than the black night at 3am. It then snarled and laughed at me. By this point, I was freaking out. I tried to call out to my brother and his wife, but was unable to speak or move. I could feel the pressure on my shoulders as if hands were holding me down. A feeling of panic went over me and I began to scream in my mind for help.
All the while, the creature just stood there, smirked and laughed to himself. He then began to speak to me. Whether it was his voice or he was speaking telekinetically, I do not know. He began to say to look at his power. That i was nothing compared to him. He thrived that I was in fear/shock.
Once I had come to my senses and could grasp what was happening, i spoke back, “I know who you are. I felt you all throughout my mission, closeby.” he laughed even more, an evil, twisted laugh. I always considered myself as one who can feel or sense spirits of people or animals. His was strong because of how dark it was. I had felt it many times while I walked the country side of the Dominican Republic. Very strong near the end of it. Once, I awoke in the middle of the night and could feel him on the other side of the wall outside.
He actually was amused that I knew him. Almost as if his efforts to get to me were noticed. He continued to go on about his power. By now, I had calmed myself and began to call out to have him removed from my presence by the power of Christ. The moment i said it in my mind, I was released and was able to move once more. Again, i sent him away. He began to curse me and scream at me. For once, the movies got it right when an evil spirit leaves unwillingly.
Now I was sitting up dripping with sweat and breathing heavily. My shoulders were sore, and i felt weak. I could finally hear the normal sounds of crickets, cars, and sprinklers outside. I quickly ran to my brother and woke him to tell him of what had happened. He was confused because he was normally a light sleeper and any little thing wakes him up.
A few weeks later, after seeing a Medicine Man, I came to find out that this encounter had been planned for quite some time, only the skinwalker was unable to do anything to me because of a protection that surrounded me.
From time to time, I feel his presence nearby, but never had another encounter. I love my culture, but am saddened by those who are overcome with hate, anger and jealously. It’s sad to know that the concept of a skinwalker comes from my people.
I was told by a Medicine Man, this happens because they want to steal ur heart. When they do this one of two things can happen. Obviously u die shortly after, or even worse. U lose all ambition, give up on life entering a state of melancholy and depression until eventually u take ur own life.
I’m 34 years old now. Every once in a while, I wake up from seeing that face. I’ve found few who say they’ve seen the same. But that face had malevolence written all over it, and since then, icmve always had these strange feelings of deja vu. Also the feeling of being watched at night when I’m outside. I won’t go into a truly dark place or area without a light. nd I always check my surroundings. This experience has never left me. So who’s to say skinwalkers are only for the native Navajo? I’m told that I’m 1/4 Cherokee. But my point is, what they call skin walkers, other tribes, or races may have another name. What do you all think werewolves are supposed to be?
Mist of these stories are fabrications. Traditionally if u had been apart of a ceremony or not. U can never, I repeat never! Share what happened, what u know or what the Medicine Man did to other people. Especially if they’re not related to you buy blood. Marriage and even clans aren’t excused from this concept. Let alone they’re are old protections put in place to keep Whites n Blacks from seeing these things. To talk about this is breaking a sacred oath, particularly if someone is profiting from it…
With Hopi and Navajo tribes integrating at pace never imagined. Our cultural differences are getting blurred and making our old protections more difficult to maintain…
Not saying ur Hopi, but its just an example. Many Apache tribes have similarities as well.
Many years later while living on the rez near Parker, AZ, I was driving with 3 Mojaves as passengers (I’m part Cherokee). We were smoking talking about spiritual bullshit, when out of some waist high grass next to the road.. A type of dog that looked exactly the same as the ones I saw in the Imperial Valley, leaps out into the road, attempting to bite at my front passenger side tire. I swerve hard to avoid it. The 2 people in the back seat start giving me shit, asking why I did that. I say “You guys didn’t see that dog back there?”
They though I was teasing them “There wasn’t a dog back there”
I look at the man in my passenger seat, and ask him “Did you see that?”
He looked over at me, and I have never seen a native as pale as this young man was, “I don’t want to talk about what I just saw”
We remained silent the rest of the car ride.
I don’t presume to know what those dogs were, but I do take precautions whenever traveling at night now in rural areas.