Na’atló’ / Navajo String Game

Growing up with my siblings, winter was always our favorite time of the year. We could go sledding, we had winter break and the break would bring our cousins back from the city, and the best part was playing string games after the first snow.

The origin stories behind the Navajo string game are long and our maternal grandmother would only tell them in increments. Na’atló’ originated with Na’ashj’e’ii Asdzáá, Grandmother Spider, in the creation stories of the Navajo. Grandmother Spider is a magical character who performs both good and bad deeds and plays an important role in Navajo society.

It is imperative that the string games are only played after the first frost and first snow. This is the time when summer animals hibernate and spiders go back into their holes for the winter. We pay respect to Grandmother Spider, as she is a creature of intellect and possess great knowledge. This game was learned from her as each symbol has a story and meaning behind it. There are 48 symbols or patterns and each is unique as a person should learn both the traditional name and story due to their significance in the environment within our homeland. 

Growing up, knowing as many difficult patterns as you could would heighten your rep at school. It makes me laugh now because we were so silly as kids. I still remember I wasn't the best at string games and my brother and his friends got a lot of attention. I would get mad and hide his strings because he wouldn't teach me. Writing about the string games brought back many childhood memories with my siblings and with my childhood friends. 

I’ve attached a link that brings you to the main page of a Navajo website. I was ecstatic to see that all the patterns were shown in a video if you click on different ones. My go-to's were the Open Gate and the Big Star, because they are the first ones I learned and the easiest (in my opinion). I also found my yazh (uncle) online performing the string game—he is pictured above. He is well respected in our community and I was thrilled to see him when I did a simple google image search. 

http://www.gomyson.com/mainstring.htm