The Chindi is a spirit of Navajo tradition.
The spirit of the dead that escapes with the last breath.
Chindi is the ill-boding spirit of the dead of the Diné, the Navajo. It escapes with the last breath and embodies everything unbalanced in a life; closeness to it can trigger ghost sickness.
Death and the spirit of the dead are deeply taboo in Diné culture. This page therefore only summarises published knowledge from outside sources and deliberately does not present the ceremonial complexes.
Type: Ill-boding spirit of the dead, invisible remainder of the deceased
Origin: Pre-colonial Diné conceptual complex
Texts: 20th-century ethnographic documentation, chiefly Kluckhohn
Period: pre-colonial, still alive in traditional communities
Appearance: invisible, without fixed form
The complex of beliefs is precolonial and remains alive in traditional communities; ethnographically, it is documented mainly from the early 20th century onward.
The south-western United States, the land of the Diné (Navajo).
Well documented, above all through Clyde Kluckhohn and the classic ethnography of Diné religion.
Diné Bizaad: chindi, whose root carries the basic meaning of being evil or bad. The Chindi denotes the ill-omened residue that remains at death.
Appearance
The Chindi is not a ghost with a fixed form but an invisible, ill-omened residue whose nearness is considered contagiously dangerous. It is located at the place of death, and by the bones and possessions of the deceased; concrete descriptions of a shape are mostly popular embellishment.
Effect
The Chindi escapes with the last breath and embodies everything unresolved, the residue that a person was unable to bring into universal harmony. The good in a life passes into harmony; only the unresolved remains. Contact can trigger ghost sickness.
The most important aspects of this spirit of the dead at a glance.
Part of Diné thinking on order and health: the Chindi is the negative counterpart to the central concept of harmony.
Survivors who avoid the place of death, the bones and the possessions of the deceased in order to escape ghost sickness.
Invisible and without fixed form; concrete descriptions of a shape are mostly popular embellishment.
Ghost sickness: nearness to the Chindi is considered contagiously dangerous, especially at the place of death and near the belongings of the deceased.
Avoidance of the place of death and the corpse, abandoning the hogan in which someone died, and the taboo against speaking the name of a deceased person.
Clearly distinct from the Yee Naaldlooshii and witchcraft: the Chindi is a spirit of the dead, not a witch.
Diné Bizaad chindi carries in its root the basic meaning of being evil or bad and denotes the ill-omened residue that remains at death. The idea behind it belongs to the core of Diné thought: the good in a life passes into universal harmony; only what a person was unable to bring into this harmony remains behind as Chindi.
The complex of beliefs is precolonial and remains alive in traditional communities. It has been ethnographically documented mainly since the early 20th century, above all by Clyde Kluckhohn. Since death and the spirit of the dead are deeply taboo in Diné culture, everything stated here rests on published knowledge from outside sources.
Tony Hillerman popularised Diné beliefs in his crime novels, such as The Ghostway; his handling is regarded by many as careful, though it remains the subject of a debate on cultural appropriation. Other horror literature simplifies heavily and is not a reliable source.
From a religious-studies perspective, the Chindi is part of a coherent system of thought on order and health, not superstition. Important clarifications: it is not the soul, since only the unresolved becomes Chindi. It should not be equated with skinwalkers or witchcraft. And the taboo on the name of the deceased is an essential part of it.
People avoid the place of death and corpses; traditionally, one hoped to die outdoors so that the Chindi would disperse, abandoned a hogan in which someone had died, and avoided the personal belongings of the deceased. There is a taboo against speaking the name of a deceased person, for fear that the Chindi might hear it. The ceremonial complexes for restoring harmony are deliberately not described here.
The Chindi is to be understood only as the negative counterpart to the central concept of harmony, and is comparable structurally, not historically, to notions of restless dead found in many cultures. Within the culture, it must be clearly distinguished from witchcraft and from the Yee Naaldlooshii; the soul-stealer Tahquitz of the Cahuilla likewise belongs to an entirely different tradition.
What is a Chindi?
The ill-omened spirit of the dead of the Diné, which escapes with the last breath and embodies everything unresolved in a life.
Is the Chindi the soul?
No, only the unresolved part of a life becomes the Chindi; the good passes into harmony.
Why is the name of the dead not spoken?
For fear that the Chindi might hear it and be drawn near.
Recommended internal links:
Further standard works in the bibliography.
Under the search term Navajo spirit of the dead, the Chindi has become widely known; within Diné thought itself, it is not a horror motif but the explanation for ghost sickness and part of a system of order that treats death with the greatest restraint.
Against its influence, cross-cultural tradition names these protective means:
Compare in the Protection Compass →Recommended protective means
The simplest protective means in this collection: 41 layers of fine gold 999, platinum, silver and silicon, manufactured in Ruhla, Thuringia. It requires no activation, is bound to no person, and is effective within a radius of around 50 meters, even without being worn.
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