Here in the American Southwest,
in Diné Bikeyah,
Winters are cold and dry.
During the long nights,
we take time to remind ourselves how the sky
and Earth are connected.
For us, the Diné, or Navajo people,
there is a whole world of living beings who help us here on Earth.
They whisper to us when the plant seeds,
when to expect to return of Spring.
The sky connects us to changes on Earth.
One important story in the sky is Ii’ni, the Thunderbird...
Last thunder sound,
time for life to slow down.
The bear will start its hibernation,
the Gila monster will hide underground.
Everyone prepares for the long, cold nights.
But the Thunderbird will help us mark the cycle of the seasons.
The essence of the Thunderbird is a gigantic feather...
so gigantic that it transcends space and time.
When the feather crosses the entire sky,
we know that the thunder will return.
And with it...
life with all its diversity and abundance.
As the harvest winds down,
we look for the Crescent Moon rising just before the Sun.
And one morning in October before the sky grows too bright,
we find the star the Denebola in the East.
Ii’ni be ets’os Ghaají biyii’ji silahagi.
Its appearance marks the separation between seasons,
the time to store crops and to save seeds for planting next year.
When the next Crescent Moon appears,
Denebola is spending more time in the sky before the morning light,
and we can look for another star to join it.
After several days, we spot Arcturus,
appearing briefly at dawn.
Ii’ni be ets’os Niłchitsósí biyii’ji silahagi.
The days are growing shorter and colder.
We spend more time inside telling stories about Mother Earth and Father Sky.
Moon after Moon,
we watch new bright stars rising in the East.
Alphecca appears in December.
Niłchitsoh be ets’os.
Vega in January.
Yasnilt’ees be ets’os.
Deneb in February.
Atsa Biyáázh be ets’os.
Days are now longer and warmer.
Faint in the glow of the March morning sky,
we can find Sheat,
the final star in the Thunderbird's feather.
Ii’ni be ets’os Wóózhch’įįd biyii’ji silahagi.
From the East to the West,
the feather now fills the entire sky above us,
connecting the Thunderbird to the Cosmos.
It is time for the thunder to return and awaken the living world.
The time for Winter stories has ended.
Time to honor Spring and the seasonal cycles of life on Earth.
Time to call the animals out of hibernation.
Time for the seeds to grow.
Time to celebrate the season of abundance and that diversity,
generosity,
and the fertility of life.
If we rise before the Sun one Spring morning and observe the sky again,
we will see a new constellation...
Ii’ni, the Thunderbird!
And Ii’ni is not alone in the sky...
just to the South, we can see Shash, the Bear.
Awakened by the Spring thunder,
the bear has come out of hibernation.
Life is everywhere...
in the sky,
on Earth,
and inside us.
The Thunderbird and other constellations manifest the intricate
connection of Earth and sky,
of seasons and life,
animals and plants,
humans,
lightning,
and thunder.