The Chindi

Many have claimed to have seen a werewolf before, but was it really a werewolf, or some other kind of shapeshifter – like the Chindi.

The chindi is a Navajo shapeshifter that acts as a kind of avenging angel to those people that disrespect any of the Earth Mother’s creatures. According to Navajo artist David Little Turtle, “it can assume any shape, or, perhaps more accurately, it can inhabit any living thing. Almost any traditional Navajo has at least one chindi story to tell. He or she will tell you about coming home at night and seeing a coyote walking on its hind legs.”

You may automatically assume that seeing wolf walking upright like a human would make it a werewolf, but according to Navajo tradition, it’s probably a chindi. Another way to identify a chindi is by the eyes, they will appear dead. If your headlights hit the animal’s eyes and they do not reflect the light, then you know it’s a chindi.

Should you worry about the chindi coming after you? Well, it depends on your attitude toward the Earth Mother and whether or not you have a good heart.

Now, if a chindi is set against you, the only way you can stop it is to draw a medicine circle around you and sing or say a prayer for protection. Little Turtle says, “It need not be a Navajo chant. Sing or say aloud any prayer you know. The important thing is your attitude. If the chindi sees that you have a good heart, the evil energy will boomerang and return to the one that set it upon you.”

But what if you don’t know how to draw a medicine circle for protection? What if you panic and can’t think of a prayer? Can you instead stop the chindi with a silver bullet? Well, Little Turtle says that no bullet can stop a chindi. “If you kill the host animal, the chindi will simply enter another animal. And another and another… until it has worked its vengeance upon you.”

So what have we learned today? That a strange-acting wolf may not be a werewolf, but instead a chindi. And, that you should always show respect for the earth and its creatures – otherwise a chindi may come after you.

– Moonlight

Source: The Werewolf Book by Brad Steiger

By moonlight

One of the writers for werewolves.com, as well as vampires.com.

26 comments

  1. hey shewolf u want 2 be my friend i´m daniela and donny 4 short im a gothic werewolf Black wolf and if u want to be my friend we can talk. howl 2 the moon

    1. DANIELA I AM A WEREWOLF TO I AM A WHITE BROWN AND BLACK WEREWOLF. I AM A CROSS COUNTRY MIXED WITH A AMERICAN WEREWOLF. DO YOU WANT TO BE MY FRIEND TOO? i FEEL THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO SHARE MY SECERET WITH ANYONE.IT WOULD BE COOL TO HAVE A FRIEND TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH ME. AT FIRST I WAS AFRAID TO TELL ANY BODY BUT I FIGURED THAT IT WOULD BE SAFE TO TALK ABOUT IT ON WEREWOLVES.COM

  2. im a black werewolf 2 i wanna b friends with u daniela and i think werewolves are cool and im also gothic we have so much in common rock on

  3. I DON’T CARE ABOUT CHINDIS I AM A REAL WEREWOLF ALL I CAN DO RIGHT NOW IS GROW MY FINGERNAILS LONGER AND MY CAINIES GET BIGGER AND SHARPER.THAT IS NOT TRUE ITS NOT LIKE I JUST BLUE A SECERET. I AM NOT A REAL WEREWOLF

    1. If you don’t care about the Chindi, then don’t waste your time and ours by posting a comment here.

        1. *sigh* No, I am not. I am one of the writers for this site, I write about all things pertaining to werewolves. But yes, I care about them, I find it all fascinating.

  4. Moonlight, I find the info and stores you posts to be amassing.
    It sounds like I am a big ass kisser. I am not. I gust have a big inters in shapeshifter mythology and beliefs.

  5. moonlight but are you my friend?
    and do you realy belive in werewolves?
    if you do please right back
    and i will tell you a seceret that i never told anyone before and
    only if you belive in real werewolves.

    P.S. KNOW I DO SEE THE GREATNISS IN THE CHINDI. THANKYOU MOONLIGHT. I AM NOT JOKING THEY REALY ARE COOL.

  6. Let me guess, your secret is… that you are a werewolf. Sorry, but no real werewolf would ever admit to what they are online.

  7. THAT’S NOT RIGHT!!!!! I should know, I’m Navajo. What you are describing is a yeenaaldlooshii, and a chiidi is no angel, it’s the repressed spirit of a dead human. And just to let you know, the yeenaaldlooshii is a sub-category of a Navajo witch. Do some research! This offended me a little… if you want to do something, do it RIGHT!!!

    1. Excuse me. I did a LOT of research, this information came from multiple books. You need to keep in mind that Native American legends were passed by word, they weren’t written down in books back then, which means that there are countless variations of one story because each tribe in each area had their own version of it.

  8. Hey everyone. My name is Dream. I am a black she-wolf. I do have pack. Also i am full wolf. not what some say like we are half man half beast. Some of us take that as a insult to our kind. But moonlight i do like your stories they are really good. Also i can shift at commant not just during a full moon, my whole pack can do it on will. But i will not out my pack name. But i am the leaders daughter.

    Thanks, your wolf

    ~Dream~

  9. and cora mentioning (your secret) on this site is just like going out and anouncing that your a werewolf! and moonlight honestly research can only bring you so far. being in the tribe I promise you you are going to know more about your OWN tribes legends then afew english americans deciding to wright books about a topic they have heard about by more english! and even if it is a native american author he can choos what he or she wants to tell you and how much of it is correct, I mean I am not just going to go wright tribe secrets in books for every1 to read! and I don’t know of any REAL native americans that would do that either so until you have actualy been in a navajo tribe and they have entrusted you with the secrtes, you cannot know for sure your research is correct ok. wich just so by the way it is not

  10. People, if you want others to take you seriously you need to spell words properly. I’m not trying to disrespect you but just tell you how it comes across to the rest of us here.

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