The Hero Twins were born to Changing Woman to help protect the early Navajo people. Everyone was involved in their raising, their training, and eventually struggles and victories.
Spider Woman guided them and gave them sacred protection as they traveled a dangerous path to reach the Sun’s turquoise house. To make sure they were truly his sons, the Sun challenged them with intense heat, lightning, and poisonous pipes. With help from Wind and magical feathers, the twins survived every test. Once convinced of who they were, the Sun gave the twins powerful weapons, including lightning bolts to defeat the monsters.
The monsters and their followers had made it impossible for the Diné to establish a homeland. The twins conquered the monsters and provided a safe place for the Diné to call home. Within the protecting boundaries of the four sacred mountains, the Diné established their homeland. There they can live and follow the teachings of their forefathers.
Many of their ceremonies, chants, prayers, songs, and celebrations of the Diné are reenactments of the events of the story of the Hero Twins. When respected and followed, they will keep the Diné in harmony.