~ Tó Neinilii - The Navajo Water Dancer ~
Can you see him?
From Lower Antelope Canyon in Page Arizona.
Tó Neinilii (sometimes misspelled as Tonenili) is the rain god of the Navajo people of Arizona and New Mexico. A deity given to having fun and playing tricks, Tó Neinilii carries a water pot. In the tribal dances he is represented by a masked man who enacts the part of a clown. In the myths, too, he is the fool who dances about in order to show that he is pleased with what is happening.
Tó Neinilii was very mischievous and liked nothing better than a good downpour at the wrong moment. Fortunately his tricks never harm anyone. It was Tó Neinilii that saved the first Navajo from the water monster Tééhoołtsódii.
When the rains come the water rushes through here at a height exceeding the top of this image. In the '90s several French tourists died when they ignored warnings to get out.
