Skinwalkers Mythology: Characteristics and Modern Interpretations

Originating from Navajo (Diné) folklore, a skinwalker is a malevolent witch capable of transforming into, possessing or disguising themselves as an animal. Also called yee naaldlooshii, the phrase translates to "with it, he goes on all fours."

A person becomes a skinwalker by committing a heinous act, like killing a family member. This gives them supernatural powers, allowing them to shape-shift from a human to an animal at will. They often become coyotes, wolves, foxes or bears, though they can take the form of any animal.

Several accounts of skinwalkers recall seeing animals walk on hind legs. For example, one person said, "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."

Witches in Navajo Culture

While both men and women can be witches in Navajo culture, the term most commonly describes men. This is unlike other cultures where the term "witch" typically defines a woman.

Here are a few defining characteristics and abilities of skinwalkers:

People become skinwalkers in Navajo culture by committing taboo acts, such as murder, often of a close relative, as part of a dark initiation into the Witchery Way. This transformation involves mastering the use of dark magic, including shapeshifting and casting curses, to harm others.

The Witchery Way is a form of Navajo witchcraft that focuses on malevolent practices, contrasting with the healing and protective spiritual traditions. Those who choose the Witchery Way use these powers for personal gain or revenge.

In Navajo culture, skinwalkers are often to blame when things go wrong, such as illness, misfortune or unexplained deaths. The reason is that skinwalkers are witches who can manipulate and harm through dark magic. Therefore, when something out of the ordinary or unexpected happens, like crop failures, people take it to be the work of a skinwalker.

Detecting a skinwalker is challenging because of their ability to shape-shift and blend in with their surroundings. However, some believe that unusual animal behavior, such as animals acting unnaturally or with glowing eyes, can be a sign of a skinwalker.

They may also move in unnatural or distorted ways, even when in human form. Additionally, skinwalkers may cause feelings of intense fear or unease when they are near. People often associate hearing voices or animal sounds mimicking humans with the presence of a skinwalker.

Skinwalker Sightings and Controversy

There are many accounts of skinwalker sightings. And there also many stories debunking these stories. For example, someone claimed there was a skinwalker sighting in New Mexico. The image went viral on Facebook. However, the truth eventually came to light: The image came from a movie.

Additionally, some interpretations of skinwalkers are inaccurate, like a 2017 episode of "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel.

According to ICT News, one unnamed source said, "We were appalled by the ridiculous conjecture in 'Ghost Adventures.' There was a staged fire with an animal skull, feather and a bullet and bizarre explanations from white men who came to 'get' the story that fit their series. It was like people told them the craziest things and they gobbled it up, or worse yet, they made it up. The references to a phoenix found in the cave and the arch as a gateway to evil are not from our culture. I wonder if the Navajo people in that episode knew what the producers were conjuring up. It was laughable and sad — an amateurish, negative representation of Navajo culture.”

Skinwalkers inflict pain and are almost impossible to catch and get rid of. To get rid of a skinwalker, you need a powerful shaman who knows the right spells and incantations to get the skinwalker to turn on itself. You can also shoot the witch with bullets dipped in white ash, but the shot must hit them in the neck or the hand.

In his 1944 book "Navaho Witchcraft," noted anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn explored magical traditions of contemporary Navajo people. Specifically, in his book he examined the "influencing of events by supernatural techniques that are socially disapproved."

The author noted that English-language translations like "witchcraft," are useful shorthand in this case, but they're not perfect. You can draw similarities between real or imagined European witches and skinwalkers, but the Navajo spirit world is undoubtedly unique.

Based on his interviews with Navajo people, Kluckhohn pieced together general descriptions of the various forms of witchcraft that existed within Navajo legend. He described skinwalkers as secret witches (mostly male, some female) who creep out in the night to take the form of swift-moving animals like the wolf and coyote.

Shape-shifters in Other Cultures

While skinwalkers are part of Navajo culture, there are many examples of shape-shifters in cultures around the world.

Other anthropologists have studied and written about skinwalker beliefs over the decades since Kluckhohn's work. In the 1984 book "Some Kind of Power," Margaret K. Brady explored the social importance of skinwalker narratives among Navajo children. She discussed how the skinwalker tales functioned to both serve as childhood ghost stories and echo contemporary Navajo cultural concerns.

In the 2016 book "Upward, Not Sunwise," anthropologist Kimberly Jenkins Marshall discussed the way skinwalker accounts and beliefs factored into neo-pentecostal Navajo communities.

While it might seem paradoxical that one might convert to Christianity and retain belief in skinwalkers, Marshall explored the ways traditional beliefs survive in the face of culture rupture.

In the 2007 journal article "Watching Navajos Watch Themselves," anthropologist Sam Pack examined the way often-flawed media representations of Navajo culture — including the 2002 movie "Skinwalkers" — clashed with cultural understanding of what it means to be Navajo.

Skinwalker Ranch (also known as Sherman Ranch) borders the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Utah and is a hotbed of strange phenomena. The cattle ranch has spawned a popular book ("Hunt for the Skinwalker"), a feature-length documentary of the same name and a History Channel series ("The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch").

As the story goes, Terry Sherman and his family gained widespread attention after encountering numerous inexplicable phenomena on their Utah property, famously dubbed "Skinwalker Ranch" in reference to Navajo legends of shapeshifting witches. The 512-acre ranch in the Uintah Basin has been the epicenter of numerous unexplained incidents, such as UFO sightings, livestock mutilations and other mysterious activities.

In 1996, the Sherman family sold the ranch to billionaire Robert Bigelow, who was significantly interested in paranormal activities. Bigelow established the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) to investigate the paranormal incidents occurring there.

The ranch has since become synonymous with paranormal and UFO-related activities, spurring substantial intrigue, skepticism and various investigations. In 2016, Robert Bigelow sold the ranch to Brandon Fugal.

"From encounters with mythical animals, to numerous cattle mutilations, poltergeist activity, crop circles, sightings of glowing orbs and even flying saucers, virtually everything you might call 'paranormal' has been reported at the ranch and surrounding properties," wrote Austin Craig in TechBuzz in 2021.

Fugal told the publication there was a 100-year-old history of paranormal activity, including skinwalker sightings, at the property.

The Ute Tribe Steer Clear of the Ranch

The Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation is the home of the Ute tribe. At one time, the Ute enslaved some of the Navajo people and also joined with U.S. troops against the Navajo during the Civil War. The result was that the Navajo were expelled from their lands in the Four Corners area, though they returned later.

The Ute believed the Navajo put a curse on them and left shape-shifters among them because of their vile deeds. This is why, allegely, the Ute will not go near Skinwalker Ranch.

Previous owners of the ranch had reported strange occurrences. Fugal said he bought the cattle ranch in 2016 not believing he would see anything unusual. Six months later, he saw "UFO activity" in broad daylight

And so we come to another key aspect of the media's relationship with the skinwalker: cultural appropriation. Pack wrote that the Navajo viewers he questioned generally seemed to enjoy the film "Skinwalkers," despite some cultural and linguistic inaccuracies.

And yet, he also stressed, "This does not mean that the Navajo respondents in my study did not challenge the rights of both Anglos and non-Navajos to undertake such films."

While 2002's "Skinwalkers" was helmed by Cheyenne/Arapaho tribe member Chris Eyre and starred a predominantly Native American (but non-Navajo) cast, other media incarnations of the skinwalker have come at the hands of non-Native people.

In 2016, "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling garnered criticism for including an altered version of the skinwalkers in her online series, "History of Magic in North America." Critics charged that the series reduced an important and interconnected part of Native belief to a mere prop in an Anglo-centric story.

Celebrations

In the Oregonian's coverage of the controversy, however, Douglas Perry pointed to a counterexample of an Anglo author whose treatment of Navajo culture was well-received by the Navajo Nation.

The late novelist Tony Hillerman was awarded the Navajo Special Friends of the Dineh Award in 1991. Hillerman frequently wrote about Navajo culture and Navajo cultural values and even penned the 1986 detective novel "Skinwalkers," upon which Chris Eyre's 2002 adaptation was based.

Where does all of this leave us concerning the mysterious skinwalker? Many contemporary Native Americans would argue that its place is in the living beliefs and customs of the Navajo — and that, as such, it is not necessarily open to interpretation and reinvention by those outside of it. Leave the skinwalker to the night.

This article was updated in conjunction with AI technology, then fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.