The Kinaaldá tradition originates from the ancient story of Changing Woman, one of the Holy People, or creators, in Navajo belief. When her body began to transform so that she could bear children, the Holy People marked the occasion by conducting the first Kinaaldá. After being physically molded by First Woman into the shape of a woman, Changing Woman baked a cake made of ground corn and offered the first piece to the Sun, the most powerful Holy Person.

Changing Woman conducted four ceremonies, for each of her first four periods: two she performed for herself, and two she performed for all Navajo women to come.

“She had that ceremony done for her, so that has carried on up to now,” Shirley said. “The songs about her ceremony talk about how the Earth and the skies are connected, and how the plants and mountains are connected.”

The first ceremony, the one for most Navajo girls, typically is conducted over four days to represent the four seasons and the four sacred mountains of the Four Corners region. In that time, the girl who is coming of age, along with members of her family and community, will bake a corn cake, called an alkaan, by burying it in an earthen pit and setting a fire atop it. Early in the evening on the second-to-last day, a medicine man is called to help lead prayer songs and other aspects of the ceremony.