" A spiritual renewal swept through Navajo country after deities reportedly appeared in May to two respected tribal women," according to a Dallas Morning News article. Thousands of Navajos have visited Rocky Ridge, Arizona, in recent months to pray and leave offerings at the site where Sarah Begay and her 96-year-old mother, Irene Yazzie, had the experience.

The article continues: "According to tribal members who visited the site, the Navajo women were inside their home when a thunderous noise came from nowhere and drew them to the door to investigate. What they saw standing before them, they said, were two ancient male Navajo spirits.

"'The daughter [Ms Begay] was kind of in shock, and she couldn't move,' said Karen Abe, a Navajo woman who visited the site and spoke with Ms Begay's family. 'The deities said the Navajos haven't been saying their prayers.'

"She said the spirits warned that the Navajo people are headed for perilous times if they lose their traditional ways. Just as quickly as they appeared, the deities were said to have vanished. Ms Begay said they left behind footprints and sprinklings of corn pollen, which Navajos traditionally place on the ground during special prayers. A shrine has been placed there, but no traces of the footprints or powder remain, said Mrs Abe."

The article also quotes a Native American pastor, the Reverend Abe Jackson, as saying: "I believe that there are things that happen that not only encourage us as native people, but continue the hope for us that your heritage and culture are not being lost."
(Source: Dallas Morning News, USA)

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