Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé

Changing Woman (Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé in Navajo) is one of the most important creation spirits in Navajo tradition. Her name means "the woman who changes," and she played a crucial role in creating both the world and the Navajo people themselves. She formed the first four Navajo couples, and thus the original clans, using her own skin and sacred mountain soil carried from the underworld by her father in a special buckskin bundle.

Born to Long Life Boy and Happiness Girl, who embodied the passage of life through time, Changing Woman later became mother to the divine twins Monster Slayer and Born for Water, who were fathered by the sun. She holds special significance in Navajo coming-of-age traditions, particularly the kinaalda - a four-day ceremony celebrating a young woman's transition into puberty. She is also honored in the Blessing Way ceremony, which is performed to bring good fortune and longevity.

Throughout the American Southwest, she is known by various names including Whiteshell Woman, Turquoise Woman, Abalone Woman, and Jet Woman. Other indigenous peoples know her as White Painted Woman (Apache), Iatiku (Keresan), and Moon Woman (Pawnee).