Why was the color turquoise special to the Navajo tribe?

Answer 1

The color and gem turquoise is associated with the southern sacred mountain,'Tsoodzil, Mt Taylor, near Grants NM. Each of the four directions has a sacred mountain, color and gem and Holy People ( Diyin Dine'e') associated with it. Turquoise is especially important to the Navajo people because of its religious significance and its representation of well-being in an individual. When combined with silver, which has a more secular meaning of wealth, the jewelry piece represents a dynamic whole, an important idea in Navajo thought. Each direction and color represents a season, time of day and part of ones life and a philosophical idea as well. Most traditional Navajo people, both men and women wear turquoise jewelry especially at ceremonies. Turquoise is associated with one of the most important deities, Changing Woman.

"Changing Woman is introduced at a time of chaos and infertility. The Emergence People in the fifth world had been terrorized by the Binaayee', or monsters, and so only First Man, First Woman, and old man and wife, and their two young children survived. This is significant because without Changing Woman the human race would have ended here, as the adults were past child bearing age and the children related by blood.

For four days, the mountain Ch'ool'i'i was covered with a dark cloud that slowly descended down its base. One day, First Man decided to investigate and set out chanting a optimistic song. He ascended the mountain and at the tip, right when lightning flashed and a rainbow showered him with vibrant colors, did he find Changing Woman. He looked down at his feet where he heard a baby crying. But he beheld only a turquoise figure. In it, however, he recognized the likeness of a female. It was no larger than a newborn child, but its body was fully proportioned like a woman's body. (Zolbrod 1992: 175)

First Man brought the figurine back to First Woman, unsure of what to do with it. Changing Woman only remained with them for fourteen days, after which they took her to a ceremony on Ch'ool'i'i, where Nilchi the Wind transformed her into a living deity, along with her sister, White Shell Woman"