Jaaʼabaní needs help, now!
Submitted The New Mexico brown bat is one species that could be threatened by a deadly fungus called Pd, if it reaches the southwest.
ALBUQUERQUE
Jaaʼabaní, bat, has always been a helper to the Diné and all people of the earth.
Submitted
The New Mexico brown bat is one species that could be threatened by a deadly fungus called Pd, if it reaches the southwest.
They are selfless beings, notes the “Legends and Culture” section on Twin Rocks Trading Post’s website.
“Bats were part of the council called upon to mediate after the war between the Dark Thunder People and the Winter Thunder group. As a representative of the “great gods,” bat, who occupied the humblest seat near the door, consented to go and (renew) peace to both Thunder groups,” the description reads.
Besides building bridges in the spirit world, Diné cosmology attributes jaaʼabaní with silently passing along answers to difficult questions when humans are put on the spot and quietly helping out the Holy People when they need backup.
In everyday life, Jaaʼabaní keeps the earth in balance by pollinating flowers and plants, and guards against invasive insects that destroy crops and farm lands.
Now, jaaʼabaní is in trouble and needs the help of humans to survive.
While jaaʼabaní has several predators, like cats, owls and hawks, a microscopic fungal spore has become the biggest threat of all.
The spore, pseudogymnoascus destructans or Pd for short, sneaks up on jaaʼabanís when they’re hibernating in cold, dark places, like caves.
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