First Woman (Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́)
Also known as: Atsé Estsán (Matthews's spelling)
Mythological Narrative
First Man's partner in the lower worlds, whose quarrel with him leads to the separation of women and men and, in many tellings, to the birth of the monsters; she helps raise Changing Woman.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## Partner of First Man
Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́, First Woman, comes into being in the lower worlds with First Man, and the two are partners through the journey upward. Like First Man, she is a being of great and ambiguous power.
## The separation of the sexes
A central episode of the origin story in many tellings, including Matthews's and Zolbrod's, is a quarrel between First Woman and First Man that leads the men and women to live apart, on opposite sides of a river. Both sides suffer, and eventually they reunite. In many tellings the monsters that later prey on the people were born as a consequence of that separation. The episode is often told as a lesson about the interdependence of women and men.
## Raising Changing Woman
In many tellings First Woman raises the infant Changing Woman with First Man, and takes part in her Kinaaldá.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding First Woman (Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́).
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