Винни-Пух

r 1111111 AMERICAN INDIAN MYTH' AND LEGEND' 1111111 ·111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. ~ ~ American * 'Findi ~ Миф ~~. И Выбран и редактируется Ричард Эрдос И Альфонсо Ортиз Пантеон книги Новый y 0 r k UllljllllllUllIl,IIHIIIUIIIHUIIIIIUUIUluu.uunUIIUUUlllIIUIIIIUf",11UI',IIUllllIlltllllUlUllUl I " " '1, ~ ~ 1 ~ .' <J ~'1 -""' .... 9"""¥A..!'!!,..~~ T.T#~'T/.TT•• . . '. . .. rr . .. .. • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. IlIlIllmflll1l1l1lUltlUlllUlIllIlllllUfllllnlttllllJlltllll1f11l1l1ltllllmnflllllllUll1IJlUtlllllll1t11l1l1UlnUllIUUlIllIUJIIUUIIUlllltlttllllUUlIIUIIIUIUllmlllflUlJIIlflUfJlll1Imllill Copyright © 1984 by Richard Erdoes и Alfonso Ortiz. Все права защищены в рамках международных и панамериканских конвенций авторских прав. Опубликовано В Соединенных Штатах от Pantheon книги, подразделение Random House, Inc., New Йорк, и одновременно в Канаде случайным домом Канады Limited, Торонто. Первоначально опубликовано в твердом переплете от Pantheon Books, подразделением Random House, Inc., В 1984 году. Библиотека Конгресса, каталогизированная в данных публикации Главная запись под названием: Американские индийские мифы и легенды. (Пантеон сказка и фольклорная библиотека) Библиография: P; Включает в себя индекс. I. Индийцы Северной Аменка-легенды. 2. Индейцы Северной Америки-религии и мифологии. I. ERDoes, Ричард. II. Ортиз, Альфонсо, 1939- III. Серии. B98.1'6A47 1984 389.2'08997 84-42669 ISBN 0-394-74018-1 (PBK.) Графическое подтверждение сделано до следующего для разрешения на перепечаток или адаптацию от ранее опубликованного материала. В случае Am.Ptation авторы могут иметь вывязать сказки. «Происхождение Grating Beaver» и «Поток», адаптированные из мифов Хайда В аргиллитах резьба, отредактированные Marius Carbeau, Bulletin No. 127 антропологический Серия нет. 32 (Оттава, 1953), с. 52-56 и 184-185. Путем разрешения Национальный музей человека, Национальные музеи Канады. «Как Койот получил свой хитрый» и «пришествие грома» из Калифорнии Индийские ночные развлечения E. W. Gifford. Copyright © 1930 от Arthur H. Компания Кларк. По разрешению компании Артур Х. Кларк. «Coyote борется с кусочком шага», - Койот сочетается с белыми людьми, - Койот Крадет табак солнца, "и" Турция делает коммер и койоты заводут "от «Сказки белой горы Апача» Гренвиль Гудвин в мемуарах Американское фольклорное общество, том. 33. Copyright © 1939 от американского фольклорного общества. Путем разрешения американского фольклорного общества. «Всегда живущий на побережье», «Койот и кряквы утки», а «койот берет Вода из лягушки людей "от рождения грома, спит со своей дочерью Барри Холстун Лопес. Copyright © 1977 by Barry Holstun Lopez. По разрешению Автор и Andrews & Mcmeel, Inc., Fairway, Kansas. «Главный начальник Apache наказывает свою жену» от «Taos Taes» Elsie Claws Parsons в Memoirs американского фольклорного общества, том. 34. Copyright © 1940 от американца Фольклорное общество. Путем разрешения американского фольклорного общества. «Легенда о мульфномах падает», - создание животных людей, «создание Якима Мир: «Люди привезли в корзину», «Кулшан и его две жены», когда Гризлики гуляли в вертикальном положении, - подталкивая небо, «Лось духа потерянного озера» и «Играть в трюку на Луне» от индийских легендов Pacifzc Northwest от Эллы Э. Кларк. Copyright © 1953 регенциями Университета Калифорнии. По разрешению из Университета Калифорнийской прессы. "The Buffalo Go" from American Indian Mythology by Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin (Thomas Y. Crowell Co.). Copyright © 1968 by Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin. By permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. TYPOGll.APHY AND BINDING DBSIGN BY SUSAN MITCHELL MANUI'ACTUR1!D IN THB UNITED STATES 01' AMBRICA BOMe offers recordings and compact discs, cassettes and records. For information and catalog write to BOMR, Camp Hill, PA 17012. 11111Umlllll111UmUIlUllllllUUlUliUlIllllllltlllllllllltllfllllltlHllllltltfllllllllllllllllllllUlllllllUIIInUUllIIllIIlllUllUlIIlIlIlnlllllllJIIUlllllllllllllllJ1l11l1lUllllllllllllllnUIIIUI .111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • ............................................................ .. содержание ВВЕДЕНИЕ XI. .ЧАСТЬ ПЕРВАЯ. Кролик мальчик пнул этот сгусток крови вокруг: Сказки о человеческом творении 1 Кролик мальчик (Белая река Сиу) 5 Клит крови (Южный Уте) 8 Кукурузная мать (Пенобиск) Я я Создание op Люди животных (Оканокан) Каменный мальчик (Brule Sioux) 15 Мощный мальчик (Seneca) 20 Глоусков и ребенок (Алгонкиан) Старуха весны (Шайенн) Стрелка мальчик (Шайенн) 29 Великая медицина Танец (Шайенн) 33. Происхождение церемоний отверждения (Белая гора Apache) 37 Создание FMST человека и FMST Woman (Navajo) 39 Как мужчины и женщины собрались вместе (Кровь пиарган) 41 Хорошо запеченный человек (PIMA) 46 Белая женщина Buffalo (Brule Sioux) 47. Мальчик-сирот и лотый док (Blackfoot) 53 Соль женщина отказалась от еды (Кочити) 61 Священный сорняк (Blackfoot) 62 Как дедушка Пееет пришла к Индийские люди (Brule Sioux) 65 Квест Vision (Brule Sioux) 69 UfllIllIlIJflllIIllIIUlIlUlIlIUlIUlllllllmlllUflllJlllUililllftlllltuUUlIDlllftllllOIInlllllllmllUlllllllmllmnnllll1J1JmlinlllUllfIIllnlltllllllllnillUlllfllllllllfUlItIIllUflllllfil1 V .ЧАСТЬ ВТОРАЯ. Место появления: Сказки о мировом творении 73 Хороший близнец и злой близнец (Юма) 77 Genesis Jicarilla (Jicarilla Apache) 83 ' Отличное лекарство делает Белый рассвет Хопи (Хопи) II5 Дети Солнца (Осежесть) II9 Когда гризли гуляли в вертикальном положении (modoc) 85 Старик Койота делает мир (ворона) 88 Как пришел Сиу (Брюл Сиу) 93 Подталкивая небо (сонохомиш) 95 Выходящий в верхний мир (Acoma) 97 Изготовление земли (Cherokee) 105 Дракон Земли (Северное Калифорнийское побережье) 107 Люди принесены в корзину (Modoc) 109 Красивая страна (Шайенн) Я я я Создание мира Якима (Якима) 117 Голос, наводнение и черепаха (Caddo) 120 Сказка о старшем брате (PIMA) 122 .Part Threethe. Глаз Великого Духа: Сказки солнца, луны и звезд 125 Солнцезащитное Создание (Brule Sioux) 129 Трехногий кролик борется на солнце Койот крадет солнце и луна (ZUNI) Держать тепло в сумке (плагивый) Мальчик Хопи и Солнце (Хопи) Солнце преподает урок Vebho (Cheyenne) Маленький брат ловучий солнце (Winnebago) Питвое зажигает небо (толтец) W ALKS-ALL-LAKY (Цимшиан) 136 (Западные скалистые горы) 139 Порыв ветра (Ojffiway) 150 Дочь солнца (Cherokee) 152 Бабушка паук крадет солнце (Cherokee) 154 История создания (Dieguenos) 156 У бассейны девушки (Ojibway) 158 Луна изнасиловает свою сестру Солнце (Инуиту) 161 Играю в трюк на Луне (Сноквальми) 168 Тюс из света (цимшки) 169 1111I1111II1f1111'IIIUlllliliUllnnmlJllllflflllllllllllmtllWIUlIUlllmnmlHlrtftlJUIUllltIIlIIlllBltmllRnmllmtllllnmllllllHlIlIlIIWlllllttlltllllllllllUlllIIlUllllllflllllllflll1llI VI. Койот помещает звезды (WASCO) 171 Охотник оленя и белая кукурузная дева (TEWA) 173 -Парт четвертый Испытания героя: Монстры и убийцы монстров 177 Glooscap борется с водой монстра (Passamaquoddy, MicMac и Maliseet) Little-Man-Wn'hh-Ham-All-Over (Metis) Как пришли комары (Tlingit) Hiawatha Unifmr (Moquois) Жизнь и смерть сладкой медицины (Северная Шайенна) 199 Quillwork GML и Ее семь звездных братьев (Шайенн) 205 Rolling Head (Wintu) 209 Сын Света убивает монстра (Хопи) 21 я Пришествие грома (Miwok) 216 Wakinyan Tanka, великий Thunderbmd (Brule Sioux) 218 Койот убивает гигант (Flathead) 223 Легенда о башне дьявола (Sioux) 225 Летающая голова (Iroquois) 227 Первый корабль (Чинук) 229 Погоня за отрубленной головой (Шайенн) 230 Седьмое место Докогила (Бруле Сиу) 237 -Партировать фивирование Переворот: война и код воина 243 Маленькая мышь считать переворот (Brule Sioux) Две пули и две стрелки (Brule Sioux) Одеяло Cheyenne (Powsee) 251 Воин Девичья (Онеида) 252 Осада здания здания суда (Белая река Сиу) 254 Главный римский нос теряет лекарство (Белая река Сиу) 256 Храблая женщина рассчитывает переворот (Белая река Сиу) 258 Пятнистый орел и черная ворона (Белая река Сиу) 260 Где девушка спас ее брата (Шайенн) 264 Танцующая лошадь Tatanka Iyotake (Brule Sioux) 267 IIUlllJUflllIUlUUlIIlIIlllIlllUlllUllIlIllllllllllIlIUllUllllllllllllltJlJIUillmURlllluutllllDII1IIIUla'UIIIIIIIUlllftllllJlllftlllllllllllltJtJUlill1lll1l1flllUIIIII1I1IUIIUllllllllllllllilfi VII -Партировать шесть Звук флейт: Сказки любви и похоти 271 Легенда о флейте (Brule Sioux) 275 Преподавание грязных головок Как совокупный (ZUNI) Борьба за жену (Алеут) Человек, который женился на луне Почему моль живет под землей (чероки) Легенда о водопадах Multnomah (Multnomah) Трудолюбивая дочь, которая Клубника Койота (ворона) Зубы в неправильных местах (PONCA-OTOE) 283 Украденная жена (TEWA) 285 Толвим Женщина и Бабочка Человек (Майда) 290 Глава Apache наказывает свою жену (Tiwa) 291 Обещание мужа (TEWA) 295 (Легкая пуэбло) 298 Не будет жениться (Кочити) 308 Женщина, которая женила на Merman (Coos) 312 3 14. Верная жена и Женщина Warrior (Tiwa) 315 Койот и кряквы утки (Нез Перс) Кулшан и его две жены (Lumni) Мужчины и женщины пытаются на части жизни (SIA) Жадный отец (карок) 320Конкурс для жен (Кочити) 326 Змей моря (ZUNI) 327 -Партировать северок Смеется и плачет: Tricsster Tales 333 Coyote, Iktome и Rock (Белая река Сиу) 337 ЧТО ЭТО? Мои шары на ужин? Как бобра украл огонь из сосен Турция делает кукурузные и койоты своими растениями (Белая река Сиу) 339 Coyote и Wasichu (Brule Sioux) 342 (Нез Перс) 343 Ворон (Athapascan) 344 Bluebird и Coyote (PIMA) 346 Приключения великого кролика (Алгонкиан) 347 (Белая гора Apache) 352 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Вил Койот принимает воду из Лягушка людей (калапуя) 355 Как люди получили arrowheads (Shasta) Iktome и невежественная девушка (Brule Sioux) Койот борется с кусочкой (Белая гора Apache) 359 Всегда живущая на донаде (Kwakiutl) Глоусков гранты три пожелания (Алгонкиан) Кролик Coyote Chase (TEWA) 368 Койот сочетается с белыми людьми Iktome спит со своей женой по ошибке Койоте крадут табак Sun (Белая гора Apache) 369 (Brule Sioux) 372 Как напугать медведя (TEWA) 375 (Белая гора Apache) 377 Делать трюк с глазными яблоками (Северная Шайенн) 379 Иктоме имеет плохой сон (Brule Sioux) Как койот получил хитрый (карок) Койот и две женщины лягушки (ALSEA) Coyote танцует со звездой (Cheyenne) - Часть восьмойФур Ноги, две ноги и нет ног: Истории животных и других людей 387 Великая раса (Cheyenne) 390 Происхождение Gracking Beaver (Haida) 392 Как ворона стала черной (Brule Sioux) 395 Девушка, которая вышла замужем к гремутию (Помо) 397 Почему сова имеет большие глаза (Iroquois) 398 Муж совы (Passamaquoddy) 399 Собаки удерживают выборы (Brule Sioux) 403 Братья змеи (Brule Sioux) 404 Butrerplies (Папаго) 407 Месть голубой кукурузной ушей девы (Хопи) 409 Встреча животных WLLD (Цимшиан) 413 История рыбы (TEWA) 415Преступлетельная мать (Кочити) 417 Медведь и его индийский стирт (Хайда) 419 Вакиаш и первый тотемный полюс (Kwakiutl) 423 TULNLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIUJIIUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLNLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLHUMLLLLLLLLLIIILILLILIILIILIIIIIIIILILILILIILIIIIIIIIIILUFLLILUILILLILLFLLILI IX. .Парт девять. Что-то свистящее ночью: Призраки и дух мира 427 Два призрачных любовника (Brule Sioux) 432 Человек, который ничего не боялся Скелет, который упал в кусок (Brule Sioux) 435 РЭЛЖ \ T]) мертвых (Серрано) 438 Двухходящий призрак (Cheyenne) 439 Путешествие в дом скелет (Хопи) 442 (Легкая пуэбло) 446 Духовная жена (ZUNI) 447 Преобразованная бабушка (PIMA-Papago) 451 Жена больших пожиров (Pequod) 453 Происхождение танца Hopi Snake (TEWA) 455 Blue Jay посещает город-призрак (Chinook) 457 Жена призрак (Brule Sioux) 462 .Парт десять. Только скалы и горы длится навсегда: Видения конца 465 Женщина выбирает смерть (Blackfoot) 469 Смерть главного и молодого мула Танец призрака на раненых колене Пришествие Wasichu (Brule Sioux) Пересматривать мир (Brule Sioux) Койот и происхождение смерти (CADDO) 470 Поток (Хайда) 472 Сервер, который не увидит (PIMA) 473 Дух лося потерянного озера (WASCO) 475 (Северная Шайенн) 477 (Brule Sioux) 481 Gracking (Cheyenne) 484 Конец мира (Белая река Сиу) 485 Монтесума и великий наводнение (Папаго) 487 Buffalo Go (Kiowa) 490 Приложение 500. Библиография 522. Индекс сказок 526 ftlllllllUlIiUlIUllllllltultllllUlIHlllfJllllUlflillmlUtUIlIIlh'JllfnllllllUllnlllUllllllhfUlllWnnlUlillUliltUUlillUlllttnrmUllllftlmlliUlUlllllltllIJlllllllIUlIUllIIl1llll1l1ll1t1 Икс .11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • ... J ".......... Ri '•••••• rl' ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... .......... ВСТУПЛЕНИЕ The I 66 легенды, записанные здесь, приходят от сердца и души Родящие люди Северной Америки. Некоторым было сказано за тысячи лет, и им все еще говорится, и перекраснется, изменяются и рефиляции удовлетворять изменения их аудитории, даже создали заново из современного Человеческое видение или женское видение. Они возникают из земли - Растения, травы и животные, которые являются неотъемлемой частью человеческого царства. Они вставлены на древние языки и текут в соответствии с ритмы природного мира - другой темп действительно из Технологическая, искусственная среда. Самые индустриальные люди, Эйч когда-либо на часах, фрагментированных нажатием проблем с разделением доли секунды, Микрочип общества, мало времени или индиции, кажется, спекулировать Об общественной природе вселенной. Взаимно общий и поддерживающий легенды о начале и концах мира (и что бывает между ними) кажется безнадежно за пределами своего видения. Коренного американца, следуя темпам «Индийское время», все еще живет связано с воспитанием матки мифологии. Таинственный, но реальный Сила живет в природе в горах, реках, скалах, даже галька. белый Люди могут рассмотреть их неодушевленными предметами, но для индейцев они включен в сеть Вселенной, пульсируя жизнью и мощным с медициной. Как написал Эрнст Кассирер, «Мифический мир в гораздо больше жидкости и флуктуирующей стадии, чем наш теоретический мир. Отказ Отказ Мир мифа - драматический тикальный мир - мир действий, сил, конфликтующих держав. В каждом феномене природы он видит столкновение из этих полномочий. Мифическое восприятие всегда пропитано этим эмоциональные качества. "* Мир пуэбло индейцев ограничено мифически и географически четырьмя священными горами, где святые люди все еще идут на паломнические силы . Эссе на человека: введение в философию культуры HU11ULN. Йельский университет Пресс, New Haven, 1962. IIullLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLUMUULLLLLLLLLLLLUJLLLLLLULLLLLLLULLLLLLULLLLLTLLLUULLILLILILILIILILIIIIILLLLLLLLLILIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLILLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLULLLLLLLLLUIIIIIIIIU xi. молиться за дождь и собирать лекарства. Ассоциации между географией и мифические события сильны; горы северо-запада, для Пример, верили, что родные обитатели были когда-то были люди, которые боролись, схема, любили и в конечном итоге дали форму Теперь они имеют все мощный, в основном как наказание за создание беда. Остряда наполнена звездами и планетами, которые когда-то были На Земле Любители человеческих людей обрелись, чтобы преследовать друг друга через вечернее небо в вечность. Такие роли либо не исправлены; Солнце, луна и утро звезда кажется свободной, чтобы взять человеческую форму и бродить на землю, ищущую любовь и Другие приключения. Ссылки между историческим прошлым и настоящим через миф сильный. Доказательства археологов показывают, что ирокеас северо-востока непрерывно обладал жизнеспособной материальной культурой для нескольких тысяч лет, цепочка, понесенная в уставке фольклора, который имеет выжил, несмотря на попытки многих поколений Белого общества Искоренить (или отрицательно стереотип) Индийская история и культура. То эффекты белой культуры на многих других регионах, с заметными исключениями юго-запада и равнин, а до северо-западной, были разрушительными, с целыми органами индийской литературы стирают или Превратились за пределы признания в их современных представлениях. Где легенды терпят, они делают так жестоко. Тунка, каменный бог, это Старший Бог Сиу, и мужчины все еще несут странно в форме гальки, биты Подсказка или комки ископаемого агата в их лекарственных пучках. Они все еще молись к специальным священным камням и рассказывать легенды о них. Реки, озера, водопады,и горы - это отверстия духов и часто появляются как живые персонажи в историях. Даже сегодня может сказать Сиу или Шайенн: «Я почувствовал Священная труба движется в моих руках. Это было живу. Власть, как от этого ». Или, «когда я коснулся священного танца Sun Tance, я чувствовал, что это была хеш, теплая плоть. «Древние токены и символы все еще существуют и осторожно сохранился. Современное оборудование не совпадает. Когда медицина Sioux Человек хромой олень впервые путешествовал на современном самолете, он сразу же его Боинг 707 к Wakinyan, Thunderbirds, чьи удивительный Сила зажигает молнию. Самолет сильно пострадал от сравнения. Тем, которые использовались к моделям европейских сказок и фольктлов, Индийские легенды часто кажутся хаотичными, непоследовательными или неполными. Сюжеты кажется, путешествуют на собственной скорости, бросая вызов конвенции и иногда делают Прочь полностью с узнаваемыми начинаниями и окончаниями. Койот А. Мощный создатель один момент, потрясающий трус рядом. Дисплей младенцев тревожные таланты или полномочия; рождения и смерть чередуются как быстро, как ночь и день. Чтобы попытаться применить обычную (западное) логику не только невозможно, но ненужно; Сверяние одного изображения или эпизода может быть существенной особенностью - действительно, всю причину рассказать историю, IIUllltllJlnllllllllll1l1lltrlllllllftllltlllUllllllllnlltlillbllifllllllll1ll1UllllllinlIIIUQIIUtlfUIIIIIIUtllllilltllllllllllllmillUlIIQlIUllllilitflili1IIIIIIIIIlUIIIIII1tll111IJIIIJUlIIIIIUIII XII. и истории часто говорят в цепях, одно слово, характер или идея, привлекая Чтобы разуметься на связанный один, подсказывая другой рассказчик, чтобы предложить вклад. Воющий ветер, пузырирующий ручей, Шрише, сорока все Предложить, в их жизненно важном непосредственным, истории, из которых созданы легенды. Истории рассказывают для взрослых и детей, как элементы торжественно церемонии и как спонтанные творения. Скорее тогда быть автономным единицы, они часто неполные эпизоды в прогрессии, которые возвращаются глубоко в традиции племени. Давным-давно Hubert Howe Bancroft писал, «Язык считается воплощенным; мифология души воплощен. Тот, кто является инструментом мысли, другой сущность мысли. В мифологии языка предполагает личность и независимость. Часто значимость слов становится существенная идея. - «Таким образом, слово для« Солнца »становится названием Бог Солнца, слово для «Луны» название богини луны. Слова сами потенциалью, как мужчина Sioux Medical Leonard Crow Собака объясняет: Наш современный язык Sioux был белосоким. Нет никаких Сила в нем. Я понимаю свои знания о старых рассказах о моих людях барабана или звука пута, из моих видов и из наших Священная трава Pejuta, но прежде всего из древних слов из пути назад, слова дедушек, язык, который был там в Начало времени, язык, данный нам-Ота-Уичашу, Сгусток крови мальчик. Если этот язык, эти слова, должны когда-либо умереть, то Наши легенды тоже умрут. В этом объеме мы предлагаем названия и категории для разных сказки, но Это, в конце концов, произвольные придатки для удобства читателя. Ни один ребенок не попросит ее дедушка рассказать историю о первом прибытии Зима, но вотворимся вместо того, чтобы «Скажи мне снова о IKTome Get поймал, когда он ворует еду, - или «расскажи нам о том, где девушка спасла ее брат. «Сказки можно разделить в бесконечные пути, и мы надеемся, что главы, которые мы выбрали, показать как общие элементы, которые работают через истории сказали на противоположных концах континента и богатого разнообразия деталей. Легенды, конечно, варьируются в зависимости от народного образа жизни, география и климат, в котором они живут, еда, которую они едят и способ они получают это. Кочевые охоты буйволов из равнин рассказывают истории очень отличается от популярных жителей Восточного Леса. К юго-западу ".« Нативные гонки, «мифы и языки, вып. 3, А. Л. Банкрофт и Ко., Сан-Франциско, 1883, с. 305. JIIUlilltlllIlUUtlllllllllllUllllfIIUflllUllltllllllllnllOlUUllllllllllllllllfnlll11IIlUliullmllllUQlIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIHllllllllnJltnllUIIIIJIIUIIIIIIIIUIIUIIUlllllllllllllllUJIIlllliUllI1ll XIII Плантаторы и комбайны, пришествие кукурузы и изменение сезонов имеют первоочередную проблему, в то время как люди северо-запада, которые делают их Жизнь из моря наполни свои сказки с океанами монстров, быстрых гарпун,и мощные судостроители. Все племена имеют запасы, а также для Особенности их ландшафта: как эта река пришла, когда эти Были сформированы горы, как наша береговая линия была вырезана. Легенды, а также культуры перекрываются и влияют друг на друга, не только Когда люди разных племен живут на прилегающей территории, но даже когда они встречаются друг с другом посредством миграции или сделки на большие расстояния. Раскопки доколумбийского сайта Хохокам в Аризоне раскрыли Шаровый суд в стиле майя, твердый резиновый мяч, медные колокольчики и экзотический попугай перья, все из которых пришлось прийти из центральной Мексики, более в тысячу миль. Ацтекоподобное изображение мужского лица солнца, окружен лучами, найден окрашены и скончались в скальные стены Юго-западные Соединенные Штаты, а также в современном искусстве Пуэбло. Наольсити, потерянная белая сестра и Багана, белый брат Хопи Пророчество, может воплощать воспоминания о майяне Кукулькан или ацтека Quetzalcoatl, белый участок змей Бог, который приходит с востока через большую воду. Изображения и токены были перенесены в далекое народы вместе с торговыми товарами; Белые ракушки и скорлупы Abalone упоминается несколько раз в древних мифах как ритуальные объекты в районах пять сто до тысячи миль от Тихоокеанского побережья. Тем не менее, со всеми своими региональными изображениями и вариациями, общая тема связывает эти сказки вместе - универсальная проблема с фундаментальными проблемами о мире, в котором живут люди. \\ le recounter снова и снова и снова, в фантастическом спектре форм, севера и юга, восток и запада, История детей солнца, братьев-близнецов, которые приносят культуру, из священных четырех направлений миров, сложенных друг на друга, из Изначальные воды, вечного уничтожения и восстановления, мощных Герои и обманщики-репо, кролик, койот и паук-паук. История входит в мифический мир наклонно, но оставляет свою определенную оценку в персонажах и инцидентах. Многие сказки и циклы воплощают коллектив опыт определенного племени, возможно, уплотнение в один драматический миф миграции, стихийные бедствия и другие основные события, которые произошло над поколениями и веками, с мифически преобразованными Ссылки на «исторические» эпизоды - создание и падение от власти Iroquois League; первые наблюдения и более поздние встречи с европейцами и другие белые, начиная с миссионеров и трейдеров, позже с Вооруженные солдаты; подавление религии испанским и Пуэбло восстания 1680; Прибытие и смещение от традиционных родинов и сопровождающие смерть или опустошения; Драматический водораздел встречает в Форт Стэнвиксе и в Розепуд, Маленький Бегрон, и 1IIIIIIfliltIIllllltlllllllillitlIUlIlUilitlIIIIIUnmillUlllllilltJlllllllfllltlii1fJlltllllllllllllllllUlIIllIIIUUIIIUUllUlllnllllilifttllflllfflllllllllllUlllllllriliIIIfllllUlUlIlllJllllifltltllUf сми Раненое колено. Перемещаяся часто катаклисмические события в царство Миф или фольклор, рассказчик может одновременно праздновать, скорбить и честь прошлое. И выглядят заранее в то время, когда великие герои могут вернуться Для их людей, несущих мощную медицину, чтобы восстановить бывшую славу. Но эти легенды не просто противостоять космическим вопросам о мир в целом. Они также волшебные линзы, через которые мы можем Проблемы со социальными заказами и повседневной жизнью: как были организованы семьи, как Политические структуры управляли, как мужчины поймали рыбу, как религиозные церемонии ощущается людям, которые приняли участие, как власть была разделена между Мужчины и женщины, как еда была подготовлена, насколько чести в войне отмечались. Изображения, которые передают определенные вневременные проблемы, резонанс: в одном счете пределов между полами, мужчинами и женщинами решают жить в отдельных лагерях, разделенных не только гневом и задумчивым смыслом несправедливости, но могущественной рекой. Антропологические счета кажется бледным в сравнении. Однако в конце концов, эти легенды не сказали просто для удовольствия, или для образования или для развлечения: они верили. Они эмблемы живой религии, давая конкретную форму до набора убеждений и традиций что связывает людей, живущих сегодня для предков от веков и тысячелетий мимо. Как сказал Бронислав Малиновский: «Миф в его живой, примитивной форме не просто история сказала, но реальность жила ». Примечание о том, как были выбраны эти историиМногие из историй были собраны авторами самими собой над Срок двадцати пяти лет. Некоторые из них никогда не появлялись в печати до; другие, которые были циркулирующими в течение многих лет в Новая форма, как рассказывается на сегодняшних рассказателях, свежевно переведена в Английский, где это необходимо. Некоторые из равнины индийские сказки были выпущены Вниз на Powwows, вокруг камней, даже внутри движущейся автомобиля. Большинство их записали, и несколько были отредактированы, чтобы они поняли В этой форме. Вторая группа рассказов - классические счета, которые появляются здесь, в их оригинальная форма. Третья группа приходит из источников девятнадцатого века который, в то время как содержащий самородки оригинальных сказок, были также украшенный в некоторых искусственном стиле типично для периода. То Авторы пересказнили эти сказки, чтобы восстановить их до более подлинного и Менее навязчивая форма. lIillllUUllillfllllllllltllllttnU'IIltllUllllJllinlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlRUUIIWnml1mtlm1l111rnl1111l11l1liUlIU11111IU1U1111U1IH11l1l1l11111fl1I11II1JI1111IIIf11UIIIUnllltllllJIIIIIIII1111II11 XV. • .11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. ЧАСТЬ ПЕРВАЯ 1111111. Кролик мальчик Пнул это ТРОМБ ОКОЛО 1111111. Таль e s 0 f ' Человеческое творение AA4AA 1iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiliiliiiiiiiiiiiliillilllllllllillilillilllllllllllllllllillillllllllllllllliiiiuiiiij! 111UIIHLIIII11UIIIIIIIII. Ft ~ Aft .11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. IUI11111rt111111111111f11UIIUIIIIIIUIIlilUlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIltlllllmUJIIIUIIUJlIllllllllllllllllllllllUllIUllllUlIIUIIUlllflllIlIllllllUlllllIIUllllllUllllllltlllnUllll1111111111111 Создание мифов заключается в том, как физический мир, как мы это знаем Пришел и как возникла многие особенности конкретных культур. В то время как сказки в частях два и три будут иметь дело с первой темой, Истории здесь борются с теми постоянно неприятными вопросами о человеческое состояние. Как и когда боги и люди становятся отделен? Где индейцы получали определенные важные элементы в их Ежедневная жизнь - пищевые продукты, как соль или кукуруза, животные, такие как буйвол или лошадь, Религиозные артефакты и церемонии? Почему мужчины и женщины разные, и когда произошло разделение? Где разные расы родом из? Как зло вошел в мир? Что такое смерть и как Это движется в и не в жизни? Эти легенды создания человека и приносят культуру отражают ~ в бесчисленных путях общее убеждение, что люди живут частью естественного мир, брат и сестра до зерна и деревьев, буйвола и нести. Некоторые отличные племена озер пересчитаны, как они были первоначально сделаны великим солнцем или (с Ojibway) великой загадкой. В соответствии с Многочисленные другие, первая женщина была пропитана (на юго-западе) солнечный луч, (на северо-западе) лосося, или как ирокез говорит, За западным ветром, родив в Герои Твин, которые исполняют известные поступки. Создание мифа Великих озер Алгонканес сосредотачивается на Странствия Бога Глоускоп, который татек ветры, получает еду и Вода для людей и мода различные особенности ландшафта. Он в конце концов уходит на запад, чтобы жить в другом мире, где он делает Стрелки в подготовке к битве за последний день. Первый человеческий ребенок часто наделен сверхъестественными силами; Это Вырваны и перекрыты взрослыми, вырастают ночью или отличают великую магию как полноценная медицина человека. Его вред тоже делает добро; не учитывать его родители, он бродит от лагеря, возможно, встречается и проливает монстр или два, получает знак магии или власти, и часто встречает старуху (возможно, его медсестру), которая ставит огром в его Путь, чтобы избавиться от своего могущественного присутствия. Результаты этих приключений являются значимыми водяными знаками в создании культуры; до камня Мальчик родился, не имел священных церемоний или молитв для руководства их. Их духовное развитие началось, когда «куча камней поручено Камень мальчик, чтобы построить потную домику для очистки, для жизни, для Lllichosani, здоровье. С другой стороны, Brule Sioux говорит, что это была старуха, которая была выбрали, чтобы показать ее людям путь к дедучиному Peyote, священному лекарство, которое дарует здоровье и власть. Другая героиня, белый буйвол Женщина, была духом, который взял форму красивой девы в сияющем 1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUlIIIIIIIUUUUIIUIIIIIUIUIIIIIIllillItIUIIIIIUlUIIUfllUllmntullllllllUil111111I1t11ll11l1tUltlllllmJUIlIfIlfUfIIlUIllIUIIIIIUJIIUllfl1mIllUlIllIIllIfIIIUIIIIlIIIIlIIIU 3 Белый бакскин. Она дала племена великие стада Буффало и преподается Их как поклоняться, как жениться и как готовить. Ее задача завершена, Она ушла, остановилась и перевернулась и превратилась в черный Буффало, коричневый, красный, и, наконец, в священный белый буйвол Телец. Другие культурные героини включают изменение женщины Навахо, Бирюзовая \ voman, белая раковина женщина, и маленькая шайенна Сестра, которая называет буйволом и кормит людей. Атрибуты этих Героини часто ассоциируются с фертильностью, концепцией, беременностью и рождение. Девицы кукурузы приносят все питательные кукурузы и знания посадки. Они также изобретают керамику и корзину, как их объединение С семенами и зернами также с контейнерами и хранением. Женщины Часто отвечает за подсказку, который искренняет первый огонь приготовления. Происхождение ложи Великой медицины является выдающейся частью Создание мифа Великого озера область, какие функции (как много Другие) Центральный набор близнецов, детей западного ветра. Когда волк Брат утонул злом, лживым, когда он пересекает ледяное озеро, он Вернулся к жизни заварками Манабожо, белого кролика, которые становятся основой домика. Этот конкретный миф имеет важная характеристика общего с созданием историй от дальнейшего Запад: герой культуры (или героев) в то же время является обманщиком и дурак. Он может дышать жизнь людьми и нести ответственность за предоставление им важные особенности их повседневной жизни. Но он также может иметь похотливые или воровство, которые дают ему свою жизнь. «Все живые существа», один Sioux старейшина говорит: «связаны вместе с общим пуповым картой» - высокий горы и ручьи, кукуруза и пасущий буйвол, самые смелые Герой и обманчивый койот. IUtllUlIIJllflllllnUlIlIUlflllflUUliflllUmUIiUllUfllllllifUlUliumlllllfllllllllllUUlIf'lHllllllfllllll1l11IIIIIIIIIIUflIIIUllfuUlilillmlllltllflltllllllllltllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIUllllllfllIIIII 4. • Кролик мальчик • [Белая река Сиу] Это история мальчика кролика; в некоторых племенах называется история Сгусток крови человека. «Как вы знаете,« Дженни ведущий облако сказал: «Мы Индийцы думают о земле и всей вселенной как бесконечной Круг, а в этом круге человек - это просто другое животное. Буффало и Койот наши братья; Птицы, наши двоюродные братья. Даже крошечный муравей, даже вошь, даже самый маленький цветок, который вы можете найти - они Все родственники. Льва заканчиваю наши молитвы со словами Митакуй Оясин «Все мои отношения» - и это включает все, что растет, ползет, Беги, ползет, хмель и летает на этом континенте. Белые люди видят человек как мастер природы и завоеватель, но индейцы, которые близки к природе, знать лучше ». • Lilllllllllllllllll.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiih011111111111111111111111111111111 В старых старых днях, до Колумба «обнаружил нас», как говорится, мы были еще ближе к животным, чем мы сейчас. Многие люди могли понять языки животных; Они могли бы поговорить с птицей, сплетнями с бабочка. Животные могут изменить себя в людей, а люди на животных. Это было время, когда земля не совсем закончена, когда вошли много видов гор и ручьев, животных и растений будучи в соответствии с планом природы. В этих далеких днях, скрытых от нас, как в тумане, там жил Кролик - очень оживленный, игривый, добросердечный кролик. Однажды этот кролик Ходил, наслаждаясь собой, когда он наткнулся на сгусток крови. Как это там, никто не знает. Это выглядело как волдырь, маленький мочевой пузырь полный красной жидкости. Ну, игривый кролик начал играть с этим сгустком Кровь, пинать ее, как М.Ф. Это был крошечный шар. Теперь мы индийвы верят в Такусканскан, таинственная сила движение. Его дух во всем, что движется. Это оживает вещи и делает их оживают. Ну, кролик попал в эту странную движущуюся власть даже не зная это, и движение ударов, или скорее дух движения - и я надеюсь, что вы можете понять, что я имею в виду таким - начал работать над маленьким каплям крови, так что это было форму, образуя немного кишечника. Кролик набил его еще немного, и Blob начал IIIllunllllllllllllUIUlIlIUlfIlllUUlUlIlIIUlIlIIllfllUllUlIUllIIlIlIUiliUllmlUtlll1l1UlIlIlIIlIlII1IUllIIllUllIIlIlIUlIUlIUUUfIlUUllllllltllllllUlIIUIitUlIIUlllllllumUlIlIlIllllII1I 5 to grow tiny hands and arms. The rabbit kept nudging it, and suddenly it had eyes and a beating heart. In this way the rabbit, with the help of the mysterious moving power, formed a human being, a little boy. The rabbit called him Vve-Ota-Wichasha, Much-Blood Boy, but he is better known as Rabbit Boy. The rabbit took him to his wife, and both of them loved this strange little boy as if he were their only son. They dressed him up in a beautiful buckskin shirt, which they painted with the sacred red color and decorated with designs made of porcupine quills. The boy grew up happily among the rabbits. When he was almost a man, the old rabbit took him aside and said: "Son, I must tell you that you are not what you think you are-a rabbit like me. You are a human. We love you and we hate to let you go, but you must leave and find your own people." Rabbit Boy started walking until he came to a village of human beings, where he saw boys who looked like himself. He went into the village. The people could not help staring at this strange boy in his beautiful buckskin clothes. "Where are you from?" they asked him. "I am from another village," said Rabbit Boy, though this was not true. There was no other village in the whole world, for as I told you, the earth was still in its beginning. In the village was a beautiful girl who fell in love with Rabbit Boy, not only for his fine clothes, but also for his good looks and kind heart. Her people, too, wanted him to marry into the village, wanted a man with his great mystery power to live among them. And Rabbit Boy had a vision. In it he was wrestling with the sun, racing the sun, playing hand games with the sun-and always winning. But, Iktome, the wicked Spider Man, the mean trickster, prankster, and witch doctor, wanted/that beautiful girl for himself. He began to say bad things about Rabbit Boy. "Look at him," Iktome said, "showing off his buckskin outfit to u\who are too poor to have such fine things." And to the men he also SaId: "How come you're letting him marry a girl from your village?" He also told them: "In case you want me to, I have a magic hoop to throw over that Rabbit Boy. It will make him helpless." Several boys said, "Iktome is right." They were jealous of Rabbit Boy on account of his strange power, his wisdom and generosity. They began to fight him, and Spider Man threw his magic hoop over him. Though it had no effect on Rabbit Boy, he pretended to be helpless to amuse himself. The village boys and young men tied Rabbit Boy to a tree with rawhide thongs. All the time, the evil Spider Man was encouraging them: "Let's take our butchering knives and cut him up!" 111111'I,liUUIUUIIIUlllllllUflllnlltUlfllIltUlfIllUlUlIlIlIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIJIJIIUlIllIlIIlIllIllumlUllfllllUlfllmUUlIllumlUlnllllllUlIlI1UllfUmUlllUlimUllUIllU11111111111 6 "Friends, kola-pila," said Rabbit Boy, "if you are going to kill me, let me sing my death song first." And he sang: Friends, friends, I have fought the sun. He tried to burn me up, But he could not do it. Even battling th~ sun, I held my own. After the death song, the villagers killed Rabbit Boy and cut him up into chunks of meat, which they put in a soup pot. But Rabbit Boy was not hurt easily. A storm arose, and a great cloud hid the face of the sun, turning everything into black night. When the cloud was gone, the chunks of meat had disappeared without a trace. But those who had watched closely had seen the chunks forming up again into a body, had seen him going up to heaven on a beam of sunlight. A wise old medicine man said, "This Rabbit Boy really has powerful medicine: he has gone up to see the sun. Soon he will come back stronger than before, because up there he will be given the sun's power. Let's marry him to that girl of ours." But the jealous spider, Iktome, said, "Why bother about him? Look mnnnmtJlllUilllUlIIlIIllIIlllllllllUfilUlllU'UflllUllflllllllllllllllllllUIUllfilifUiUllitmmUUlIII1IIllllllUUIIIUlllfUlUlllflllUlUllllllmUUIIIIIlllUUIIIIUlllUUUlUUUUfliUl 7 at me: I am much more powerful than Rabbit Boy! Here, tie me up too; cut me up! Be quick!" Iktome thought he remembered Rabbit Boy's song. He thought there was power in it-magic strength. But Iktome did not remember the words right. He sang: Friends, friends, I have fought the 1noon, She tried to fight, But I won. Even battling the moon, I came out on top. They cut Iktome up, as he had told them, but he never came to life again. The spider had finally outsmarted himself. Evil tricksters always do. -Told by Jenny Leading Cloud in White River Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1967, and recorded by Richard Erdoes . • BLOOD CLOT • [SOUTHERN UTE] Unlike the previous tale, here the baby is born from a clot of buffalo blood and derives his power from the mighty buffalo tribe. • RllngnUnOOlllllllllllgUUlIIllllllHIlUmnllUHUHHaOOIUlIIlllllll11IIIII0011IIIIIIIUlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII • Long ago a very old man and his wife lived alone and hunted for game, but it was scarce and they were hungry. One day the man discovered some buffalo tracks and followed them to the place where the animal had stopped. There he found only a big clot of blood, which he wrapped in his shirt and carried home. The old man told his wife to boil the blood, and she put it into the kettle with water from the creek. But before it came to a boil over the fire, they heard cries inside the kettle. The man ran up to it and pulled out a baby, a little boy, who had somehow formed out of the blood clot. UlilltllllllllllllllllllllltllUnnllUlllllmllllUllllllnllUUlllIIlIlUUllllllUllfIllH11IIIIIIIfllIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIJlllllmmlllllllllflllllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlUUllIU,lUmnllllllllllfllllll1111 8 The old couple washed the baby and wrapped him up. By the next morning he had grown much larger, and that day he continued to grow until he could crawl about by himself. The second day he was able to walk a little; by the third day he was walking with ease. The couple called him Blood Clot and came to treat him as their son. The old man made little arrows so that the child could learn to shoot. Soon Blood Clot needed larger arrows, and with them he began to hunt birds and other small game. He never brought the game home himself, but sent the old man for it. One day Blood Clot returned from hunting and said, "I have killed something with a striped back." The man went out and fetched an animal a little bigger than a mouse, which he cooked for the three of them. The next day the boy announced, "I have killed a white short-tailed animal." It was a cottontail, which the man also cooked. The day after that, Blood Clot went farther and killed a badger. "I have killed an animal in a hole in the ground," he said, and the man brought the creature home and cooked it. The following day when the boy returned, he said, "I have killed an animal with black ears and a black tail." To the old man's joy, it was a female deer. The three of them ate and were happy. Next Blood Clot said, "I have killed a big fellow with big antlers." It was an elk, so again the family feasted on meat. The old man gave the boy a full-sized bow and arrows, and Blood Clot went into the mountains and shot a mountain goat. "I have killed an animal with big horns in the mountains," he said when he came down. "Every day," the old man said proudly, "he kills a different kind of animal." Now their troubles were over, and they had an easy time. Blood Clot killed a mountain lion. Then he tracked and shot an otter: "I have killed an animal with nice fur, living in the water." The old man tanned the skin to make strings for tying the boy's braids. The following day Blood Clot found a beaver: "I have killed a water animal with a tail of this size." At last there came a day when Blood Clot said, "I want to visit the village where many people live. Before that, I will go on my last hunt for you, all day and all night. First I want you to tie up the tent, put rocks on the edge, and fasten the door lest the night wind carry it away. Though the wind will be strong, don't go outdoors and don't be afraid. I will call when you can come out." The old couple obeyed, and he hunted all night while they were sleeping. About daybreak they heard a big noise, forerunner of a wind that threatened to tip over the tent. The man was frightened and wanted to go out, but the wife held him back, reminding him of what their son had said. \Vhen daylight came, they heard their son's voice: "Come on out; I'll 1IlllllltUIIIIIIIIIIUlmllJUlUUlUltllllllllllUUlUHIIIIIIIIIIIUUlllUIIIUlUfllUIIUUIIIIIUIIIIUIIIIIIIUlIIlIIIUnUllIlIIlllUIUUlIIlIJfllllUltlllllfilUlllllllllltHlltlllllllllllllllllltlllU 9 show you something." They unfastened the door and saw dead buffalo lying all around. "I have done this for you," Blood Clot said. "Dry the meat and hides; save the meat and it will last you for a long time." The young man asked his mother to him a lunch, and she gave him pemmican. "Now my parents have plenty of food," he said. As he left, they cried and asked him to return. \Vearing buckskin leggings, carrying a quiver of mountain lion skin, Blood Clot began to travel. After a few days he reached the village. At the outskirts he asked for the chief's house, and a man told him, "It is in the center." There he found the chief with his wife and daughter. They invited him to sit down, and the chief asked him where he came from and what his tribe was. "I don't know what tribe I belong to. I have come to visit you," Blood Clot replied. The chief stepped outdoors and shouted to the people to come and meet their visitor. The villagers were starving for lack of game, but all gathered at the chief's house and sat down. The chief said, "Do any of you know the tribe of this young man?" People named the tribes-Deer, Elk, Otters, Beavers, and others. They asked him whether he belonged to any of these, but he thought not. At last one old man said, "I think I know from the power in him, although I may be mistaken. I think he is one of the Buffalo." Blood Clot thought about it, and finally agreed. The people of the village asked Blood Clot to stay and marry the chief's daughter. He agreed to this as well, and the wedding was held. That evening he asked his father-in-law to bring one arrow from the tipi. When the chief returned, Blood Clot told him to have all the tipis IIIUlllfllIIUUIUlUlIlIUUUluuUnUIUUtlUlIUUlHllIIlIlllIIlIlIlHlIUlIllUllIllllIllUlllflllUlI1IIUIIIUIIUUlIlIlIUllllUlllllllunUlllunllllUnliutnUtllUUIIIUUlllIIUUlfllllllllU1 10 fastened and to warn the people that they should stay indoors, for there would be a great storm. The chief told the villagers, and at daybreak when they heard a big noise, they cried out in fear but did not leave their tipis. Then Blood Clot called to the chief, who came out to find dead buffalo before every lodge. At his son-in-Iaw's bidding he summoned the whole village for a feast, and all were happy. Blood Clot stayed there until one day when a group of villagers went out to hunt buffalo. Long before this, he had told his wife, "You know the Buffalo Calf? I am part of that, it is part of me, so you must never say the word 'calf.''' When the party killed some buffalo and were butchering, another herd came running past. His wife pointed and called, "Kill that calf!" Immediately Blood Clot jumped on his horse and galloped away, changing as he did so into a buffalo. His wife cried and attempted to catch him, but in vain. From that time on, Blood CIer be unhappy." The women replied: "We think not, but we women would be very contented to remain away from you men for sixty days." And the men said: "We men would be happy to remain apart from you women for five moons." The women, growing more excited, cried: "You do not speak the truth; we women would be contented to be separated IIIIUllllllflllllllllllnUUflHllllllllnlllllllllllfllUIllItIllIllII1fIlIllIIffIlUilmlllllllll11ll11ll11~1IIHllllllltlllllillfUllllllllltllllllllllllilUrtlllilUlUUUlImmlllllllllllUIUluniliun from you ten moons." The men retorted: 'We men could remain away from you women twenty moons and be very happy." You do not speak the truth," said the women, "for you wish to be with us all the time, day and night." Three days they quarreled and on the fourth day the women finally took themselves to one side of the pueblo, while the men and boys gathered on the other side, each forming their own kiva, or ceremonial chamber. The women had a great talk and the men held a council. They were both furious with one another. The ti' amoni, who presided over the council, said: "Perhaps you will each be contented if you and the women try living apart." And on the following morning he had all the men and male children who were not being nourished by their mothers cross the great river which ran by the village, the women remaining in the village. The men departed at sunrise, and the women were delighted. They said: "We can do all the work; we understand the men's work and we can work like them." The men said to each other: "We can do the things the women did for us." As they left the village the men called to the women: "We leave you to yourselves, perhaps for one year, perhaps for two, and perhaps longer. Who knows how it will work out? After all, men are not so amorous as you." It took a long time for the men to cross the river, as it was very wide. The ti'amoni led the men and remained with them. The women were compelled by the ti'amoni to send their male infants over the river as soon as they ceased nourishing them. For two moons the men and women were very happy. The men were busy hunting and had all the game they could eat, but the women had no animal food. The men grew stout and the women very thin. At the expiration of the first ten moons some of the women were sad away from the men. As the second yeaJ:1 passed, more of the women wanted the men, but the men seemed perfectly satisfied with the way things were. After three years the women more and more wished for the men, but the men were only slightly desirous of the women. When the fourth year was half gone, the women called to the ti'amoni, saying: "We want the men to come to us." The female children had grown up like reeds; they had no flesh on them. The morning after the women begged the ti1amoni for the return of the men, they recrossed the river to live again with the women, and in four days after their return the women had recovered their flesh. -Based on Matilda Cox stevenson's report of 1889. 1I1111111111UUlnuUlllllillfillIIIUmUIUJUlIIII1,IIIIfIllUIIUlUUllllllltm'UIIIIUIIWIUUlftUltHlllhllllllllllllllllllnllU1l1l1llllllllflllllllUtnUlIIiI1IIIIIIIIIIIUlltUUIltflllllUfiliti • A CONTEST FOR WIVES • [COCHITI] • UIUUllIIa.IIlRUUllllUlllllllllllllllnntnllHllllllllnntnntlllHllIlIIlIlIlllIlIlIIllIIIHlIIlIIlllI1IIIII • At Amatsushe they were living; Old Coyote and Old Coyote Woman lived on one side of the hill and Old Beaver and Old Beaver Woman lived on the other. They visited each other every night. One night it was snowing, deep, and Old Coyote said to his wife, "I shall go to Old Brother Beaver to invite him to go hunting, and to make plans for exchanging our wives." When Coyote got there, he called, "Hello." Beaver answered, "Hello, come in and sit down." They sat together by the fireplace to smoke. Coyote said, "I came to tell you we are to go hunting. If we kill any rabbits we'll bring them to our wives. I'll bring mine to your wife, and you can bring yours to mine." "All right," Old Beaver agreed. "You go first," said Coyote. "No, you go first. This is your invitation; you invited me," Beaver insisted. "All right, I shaH go early in the morning." Coyote said to Old Beaver Woman, "In the morning I am going hunting for you." ' "All right. I shall sing the song so that you will kill many rabbits." Old Beaver Woman started to fix the supper. She wanted it ready for his return. Old Coyote was gone for the whole day. It was evening, and he did not come home at all. Sitting near the fireplace, Old Beaver Woman waited and waited. She started to sing her song: Old Coyote, Old Coyote, come sleep with me, Come have intercourse with me, Ai-oo-ai-oo. Old Beaver said, "What are you singing about? He won't kill anything, for he isn't any hunter." Coyote killed nothing, and Beaver Woman waited and waited but Coyote never came. Next day it was Old Beaver's turn to go hunting. He went to tell Old Coyote Woman that she must wait for him, for he was going to hunt IllllllllUlllllltlUnlllllllllllllltnnUlilllllllllrlllllllllfllUUlIIl11IIIIIIIIIUlItIIIIl1111111UlllllllnilmllUIIIUlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIII,IIIIIIUUlIllIllJlJllllllllllltmJIII1II1III1I1JUIIIIItl 326 rabbits for her. "All right," she said. And he killed so many that he could hardly carry them. In the morning Beaver came into Coyote's house and said, "Old Coyote Woman, here are the rabbits." She took them and said, "Thank you, thank you, Old Man Beaver." They went straight into the inner room, and Old Man Coyote was left by himself in the front room. He was very angry. They gave him his supper, and when he had finished, they went in to bed. Old Beaver Man started to have intercourse with Old Coyote Woman. Old Coyote Woman cried out, and Old Coyote called out, "Old Beaver, don't hurt my wife." Old Coyote Woman answered, "Shut up, Old Man Coyote! It's because I like it that I'm crying out." When he had finished, Old Beaver Man came out. He said to Old Coyote, "We won't keep bad feelings against each other; this was your plan. I shall always wait for you at my house whenever you want to visit me." And they were as good neighbors as ever. -Recorded by Ruth Benedict in 1931. THE SERPENT OF THE SEA • [ZUNI] • • IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIURIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIDIIIIIIIIIIIII_IIIHnllIIlllIDIIIIIIlllIlIB • "Let US abide with the ancients tonight!" exclaims the elder. "Be it well:' reply the listeners. In the times of our forefathers there was a village under Thunder Mountain called Home of the Eagles. It is now in ruins: the roofs gone, the ladders decayed, the hearths cold. But when it was alive, it was the home of a beautiful maiden, the daughter of the priest-chief. Though beautiful, she had one strange trait: she could not endure the slightest speck of dust or dirt upon her clothes or person. A sacred spring of water lay at the foot of the terrace on which the town stood. Now we call it the Pool of the Apaches, but then it was 1I11111111l1liUlfUltlllltiUtUIIIlIIIIIUfIIliflIIIIIIJlIII1IIfFIIUllllfllIIIIIUtl1IIIIIfUllfllllllunttIlIlIIIlIIIlQlUflllllllll"lllflIIIIlIUnllllll1ll1l1tllllllllfIIUtlfllllllfllllttllllllllllllllUlII sacred to Kolowissi, the Serpent of the Sea. Washing her clothes and bathing herself over and over, the maiden spent almost all her time at this spring. The defilement of his waters, their contamination by the dirt of her apparel and the dun of her person, angered Kolowissi. He devised a plan to punish her. When the maiden next came to the spring, she was startled to find a smiling baby boy gurgling and splashing in the water. Of course it was the Sea Serpent who, like the other gods, can assume any form at his pleasure. The girl looked all around-north, south, east, and west-but saw no trace of a person who might have left the beautiful child. "Whose can it be?" she wondered. "Only a cruel mother would leave her baby here to die!" The maiden talked softly to the child, took him in her arms, and carried him up the hill to her house. There she brought him into her room, where she lived apart from her family because of her loathing of dust and dirt. As she played with him, laughing at his pranks and smiling into his face, he answered her in baby fashion with coos and smiles of his own. Meanwhile her younger sisters had prepared the evening meal and were waiting for her. 'Where can she be?" they asked. "Probably at the spring, as usual!" said their father. "Run down and call her." But the youngest sister could not find her at the spring, so she came home and climQed to the maiden's private room at the top of the house. And there the maiden was, sitting on the floor and playing with the beautiful baby. On hearing this the father was silent and thoughtful, for he knew that the waters of the spring were sacred. When the rest of the family started to climb the ladder to see the child, he called them back. "Do you suppose any real mother would leave her baby in a spring?" he said. "This is not as simple as it seems." And since the maiden would not leave the child, they ate without her . ........ .... 1IIIIIII11I11I1I1I1UUIUIIIIIUUlUIIIUIIlfIIlIllIIllIUUllflIIUlIlIlItUIII«IIIfIIlIfIIiUllnIllIllOlnUUIRtIRIJlllllltllllfUlilllIllltlllUlllltlUUfllUllfUllUlIIlIlUUlllUUltlllUlIllIlIlIIl1I 328 Upstairs the baby began to yawn. Growing drowsy herself, the girl put him on the bed and fell asleep beside him. The maiden's sleep was real, the baby's a pretense. He lay quietly and began to lengthen, drawing himself out, extending longer and longer. Slowly the Serpent of the Sea appeared, like a nightmare come true. He was so huge that he had to coil himself round and round the room, filling it with scaly, gleaming circles. Placing his enormous head near the maiden's, Kolowissi surrounded her with his coils and finally took his own tail into his mouth. So the night passed. In the morning when breakfast was ready and the oldest sister had not come down, the others grew impatient. "Now that she has the child, nothing else matters to her," the old man said. "A baby is enough to absorb any woman's attention." But the smallest sister climbed up to the room and called her. Receiving no answer, she pushed the door, first gently and then with all her might. She could not move it and began to be frightened. Running to the skyhole over the room where the others were sitting, she cried for help. Everyone except the father rushed up, and pushing together, cracked the door just enough to catch a glimpse of the serpent's great scales. Then they screamed and ran back down. The father, priest and sage that he was, told them quietly, "I expected as much. I thought it was impossible for a woman to be so foolish as to leave her child in a spring. But it's not impossible, it seems, for another woman to be so foolish as to take such a child to her bosom." Climbing up to her room, he pushed against the door and called, "Oh Kolowissi, it is I who speak to you-I, your priest. I pray you, let my child come to me again, and I will make atonement for her errors. She is yours; but let her return to us once more." Hearing this, the Serpent of the Sea began to loosen his coils. The whole building, the whole village, shook violently, and everyone trembled with fear. At last the maiden awoke and cried piteously for help. As the coils unwound, she was able to rise. The great serpent bent the folds of his body nearest the doorway so that they formed an arch for her to pass under. She was half stunned by the din of the monster's scales, which rasped against one another like the scraping of flints under the feet of a rapid runner. Once clear of the writhing mass, the maiden was away like a deer. Tumbling down the ladder and into the room below, she threw herself on her mother's breast. IlllllllllUltllllllllllll1flll1lJ1llll1llJ1llllllllllll1UjllllllUlII1fllIUlIIUflmlllllilinUlllllllllllllilUilltJillnllllllUUlllllllllllllllilltIIUIIIIIIUflllIllllttlllllllllllllUlllllllllltllfllllll11 But the priest remained, praying to the serpent. He ended with: "It shall be as I have said; she is yours!" He and the two warrior-priests of the town called together all the other priests in sacred council. Performing the solemn rites, they prepared plumes, prayer wands, and offerings of treasure. After four days of ceremonies, the old priest called his daughter and told her that she must give these offerings, together with the most precious of them all, herself, to the Serpent of the Sea. She must renounce her people and her home and dwell in the house of Kolowissi in the Waters of the World. "Your deeds tell me," said her father, "that this has been your desire. For you brought this fate on yourself by using the sacred water for pro fane purposes. " The maiden wept and clung to her mother's neck. Then, shivering with terror, she left her childhood home. In the plaza they dressed her in sacred cotton robes, elaborately embroidered, and adorned her with earrings, bracelets, beads, and other precious things. Amidst the lamentations of the people, they painted her cheeks with red spots as if for a dance. They made a road of sacred meal toward the distant spring known as the Doorway of the Serpent of the Sea. Four steps toward this spring they marked out sacred terraces on the ground at the west of the plaza. And when they had finished the sacred road, the old priest, without one tear, told his daughter to walk out on it and call the serpent to come. At once the door opened and the Serpent of the Sea descended from the maiden's room, where he had been waiting. Without using ladders, he lowered his head and breast down to the ground in great undulations. He placed his heavy head on the maiden's shoulder, and the priests said, "It is time." Slowly, cowering beneath her burden, the maiden started toward the west. Whenever she staggered with fear and weariness and was about to wander from the path, the serpent gently pushed her onward and straightened her course. They went toward the river trail and followed it, then crossed over the Mountain of the Red Paint, and still the serpent was not completely uncoiled from the maiden's room. Not until they were past the mountain did his tail emerge. Suddenly Kolowissi drew himself together and began to assume a new shape. Before long his serpent form contracted and shortened until he lifted his head from the maiden's shoulder and stood up, a beautiful young man in sacred ceremonial dress! He slipped his serpent scales, now grown small, under his Bowing mantle. In the snake's hoarse hiss UfllllfnlfUIIUllllfllUIIllIfIUlllllllurIllUIlIUIUiUfIIIIIIUJIIIIIIIIIIUIIIUU!UIlItIIIUlIUlIIIIIIUlIIl1unUlillUIIIUllllllllltIJlUlIlIIlIIUllIIllUlIIlIllIIlIlIlIIlllIIll1UtlUIIUIIUlllIUI 330 he said: "Are you tired, girl?" She never replied, but plodded on with her eyes cast down. In a gentler voice he said, "Are you weary, poor maiden?" Rising taller, walking a little behind her, he wrapped his scales more closely in his blanket. He repeated in a still softer voice, "Are you weary, poor maiden?" At first she dared not look around, though the voice sounded so changed, so kind. Yet she still felt the weight of the serpent's head on her shoulder, for she had become used to the heavy burden and could not tell that it had gone. At last, however, she turned and saw a splendid, brave young man, magnificently dressed. "May I walk by your side?" he asked. "Why don't you speak?" "I am filled with fear and shame," said she. "Why? What do you fear?" "I carne away from my horne with a terrifying creature, and he rested his head upon my shoulder, and even now I feel it there." She lifted her hand to the place where it had been, still fearing that she would find it. "But I carne all the way with you," said he, "and I saw no such creature." She stopped and looked at him. "You carne all the way? Then where has the serpent gone?" He smiled and replied, "I know where he has gone." "Ah, my friend, will he leave me alone now? Will he let me return to my people?" "No, because he thinks too much of you." "Where is he?" "He is here," said the youth, smiling and placing his hand on his heart. "I am he." "I don't believe it!" cried the maiden. He drew the shriveled serpent scales out from under his mantle. "I am he, and I love you, beautiful maiden! Won't you corne and stay with me? We will live and love one another not just now, but forever, in all the Waters of the World." And as they journeyed on, the maiden quite forgot her sadness, and soon she forgot her horne too. She followed her husband into the Doorway of the Serpent of the Sea and lived with him ever after. -Based on Frank Hamilton Cushing's version of 1931. UlUlflllIllUllllllllllllllllllIlllIIlUlIiUlIUllltllllfllUlllUlllUllUJllIl1IRlllnlllmllmlinUntlllUllllllllnllllltlJUltlfllllfllllJllIUlllfIl'Iflllllll11lIIIIIIIlUlllllillflliunUUlUUlllfli 33 1 • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • PART SEVEN ""III (OYOTE LAUGH' AND (RIE' 1111111 TRICKSTER TALES '~ .~) IIUIIIUUlIJ 1f~'''~1f I U 111111I11ll!llllHlflUlIJIllJ 11111111111111111 Hlllll1f11111l11UIlIILflHI1111lJ 11111111111111 III II • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • lIunllflflllllllllllllltlUiUnUfIIUlIIllIIUlIUlUUflllllllJIIlfUllIIlUlUIIUlIlIlIlllIIUIIUflnUll1UlIIlIllUlIIUlllU'UtlllllllUlIIlIUUlUlllUIUlinUmUUIUUHUIIUll1lUlllmUnUUII Stories about tricks and pranks, especially when played by the lowly, small, and poor on the proud, big, and rich, have delighted audiences from the dawn of storytelling. In Europe, Reynard the Fox (or the German Reinecke Fuchs) is the trickster par excellence, whose exploits were related by illiterate storytellers on market days or written down in elaborate form by some of the world's great authors. The trickster is a rebel against authority and the breaker of all taboos. He is what the best-behaved and most circumspect person may secretly wish to be. He is, especially in the western areas of North America, at the same time imp and hero--the great culture bringer who can also make mischief beyond belief, turning quickly from clown to creator and back again. In Indian America it is not the fox but Coyote who is the great trickster. His exploits are recounted from Alaska down to the southern deserts, from the Atlantic all the way to the Pacific Coast. Raven, Mink, Rabbit, Blue Jay, and other animals also take their turn playing the prankster and troublemaker. Besides animals, there are human or semihuman tricksters-Old Man of the Blackfeet and Crow, Iktome the Sioux Spider Man, Veeho or Vihio of the Cheyenne, Manabozho of the central woodlands and Great Lakes regions, and Whisky Jack of the Cree and Saultaux. Even when a tribe has another such trickster of its own, Coyote often appears as his comrade and fellow mischief-maker. In the Plains and plateau areas, where Coyote takes center stage, most tales bear witness to his cleverness alternating with buffoonery, his lechery, his craft in cheating and destroying his enemy, and his voracious appetite and unending need to keep poaching game. In the North Pacific Coast area, the emphasis is more on Coyote's cleverness than his stupidity. Coyote often poses as a woman and marries a man (presumably to be fed and taken care of); he also transforms himself into a fish so he can steal a valuable harpoon or fishhook. His gluttony and lust are well represented, too. In all regions, Coyote periodically gets his comeuppance -even if, as in one story here, it takes several lifetimes. Shorn of the various surface features from different cultures, Coyote and his kin represent the sheerly spontaneous in life, the pure creative spark that is our birthright as human beings and that defies fixed roles or behavior. He not only represents some primordial creativity from our earlier days, but he reminds us that such celebration of life goes on today, and he calls us to join him in the frenzy. In an ordered world of objects and labels, he represents the potency of nothingness, of c4,aos, of freedom -a nothingness that makes something of itself. There is great power in Ulmnllllll,llllllIlUfimmUlIIIIIIIUIJIUlIlIlfUUlIIIIU,.,IIIIIIfIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIfJIIllllllllllUJln'llllIllllflllllllllllllllllllllllUllltltufflllllllllll1illlllUffllJlllllllllflllllitlUlllflllll1 335 such a being, and it has always been duly recognized and honored by Indian people. Coyote also reminds us of another salient element in Indian philosophy: there is laughter amid tears, and sadness tucked away in a raucous tale. The Sioux medicine man Lame Deer said, "Coyote, Iktome, and all clowns are sacred. They are a necessary part of us. A people who have so much to cry about as Indians do also need their laughter to survive." UUllUllllllllil1UUHllllllUllflllutnnllllutllllllllllllllllUlll1lllllllltlllllllUUllUlIQlllIIlIlJlIlII1mlltllllllllllllllUllllfillUlinlllIIUllIIlIIHItUlUUllIlIlllllllIllUlnnult!UlIIlI1II 336 • COYOTE. IKTOME. AND THE ROCK • [WHITE RIVER SIOUX] • 11I111I11111IIII11I1I1I1I111111III11II111111I1111I1I1II11111111I1I1I1I1I1I1I101lllllllllU01lIIIUIIOOIIIII • Coyote was walking with his friend Iktome. Along their path stood Iya, the rock. This was not just any rock; it was special. It had those spidery lines of green moss all over it, the kind that tell a story. Iya had power. Coyote said: "Why, this is a nice-looking rock. I think it has power." Coyote took off the thick blanket he was wearing and put it on the rock. "Here, Iya, take this as a present. Take this blanket, friend rock, to keep you from freezing. You must feel cold." "Wow, a giveaway!" said Iktome. "You sure are in a giving mood today, friend." "Ah, it's nothing. I'm always giving things away. Iya looks real nice in my blanket." "His blanket, now," said Iktome. The two friends went on. Pretty soon a cold rain started. The rain turned to hail. The hail turned to slush. Coyote and Iktome took refuge in a cave, which was cold and wet. Iktome was all right; he had his thick buffalo robe. Coyote had only his shirt, and he was shivering. He was freeZing. His teeth were chattering. "Kola, friend of mine," Coyote said to Iktome, "go back and get me my fine blanket. I need it, and that rock has no use for it. He's been getting along without a blanket for ages. Hurry; I'm freeZing!" Iktome went back to Iya, saying: "Can I have that blanket back, please?" The rock said: "No, I like it. What is given is given." Iktome returned and told Coyote: "He won't give it back." "That no-good, ungrateful rock!" said Coyote. "Has he paid for the blanket? Has he worked for it? I'll go get it myself." "Friend," said Iktome, "Tunka, Iya, the rock-there's a lot of power there! Maybe you should let him keep it." "Are you crazy? This is an expensive blanket of many colors and great thickness. I'll go talk to him." Coyote went back and told Iya: "Hey, rock! What's the meaning of this? What do you need a blanket for? Let me have it back right now!" "No," said the rock, "what is given is given." IIIJllUnlUmUlllltfl.UlllllllllflllllllUrmfillfUllJllllturlllllJlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHllUlllIIlIIUltltlllUllltlllllllllllllllllUlllllllllfllllllUllIlllIIlllIIll111I1II1111111111It1t1llifllllllllllll11111 337 "You're a bad rock! Don't you care that I'm freezing to death? That I'll catch a cold?" Coyote jerked the blanket away from Iya and put it on. "So there; that's the end of it." "By no means the end," said the rock. Coyote went back to the cave. The rain and hail stopped and the sun came out again, so Coyote and Iktome sat before the cave, sunning themselives, eating pemmican and fry-bread and wojapi, berry soup. After eating, they took out their pipes and had a smoke. All of a sudden Iktome said: "What's that noise?" "What noise? I don't hear anything." "A crashing, a rumble far off." "Yes, friend, I hear it now." "Friend Coyote, it's getting stronger and nearer, like thunder or an earthquake." "It is rather strong and loud. I wonder what it can be." "I have a pretty good idea, friend," said Iktome. Then they saw the great rock. It was Iya, rolling, thundering, crashing upon them. "Friend, let's run for it!" cried Iktome; "Iya means to kill us!" The two ran as fast as they could while the rock rolled after them, coming closer and closer. "Friend, let's swim the river. The rock is so heavy, he sure can't swim!" cried Iktome. So they swam the river, but Iya, the great rock, also swam over the river as if he had been made of wood. "Friend, into the timber, among the big trees," cried Coyote. "That big rock surely can't get through this thick forest." They ran among the trees, but the huge Iya came rolling along after them, shivering and splintering the big pines to pieces, left and right. The two came out onto the flats. "Oh! Oh!" cried Iktome, Spider Man. "Friend Coyote, this is really not my quarreL I just remembered, I have pressing business to attend to. So long!" Iktome rolled himself into a tiny ball and became a spider. He disappeared into a mousehole. Coyote ran on and on, the big rock thundering dose at his heels. Then Iya, the big rock, rolled right over Coyote, Rattening him out altogether. Iya took the blanket and rolled back to his own place, saying:' "So there!" A wasichu rancher riding along saw Coyote lying there all flattened out. "What a nice rug!" said the rancher, picking Coyote up, and he took the rug home. The rancher put Coyote right in front of his fireplace. Whenever Coyote is killed, he can make himself come to life again, but it took him UllUllflilltUlfIIlflllllllllllllllllllllliUrlUlIlJlllllmUlIlIlIlIUlllllllfll1IlIltIIIUllfllJlUIIUIIltIllUIIIIIU,UlllllllllllllllllllllnnllllllUUIIIIImnllfllllllllllllltllllllJlllllllllUUfll1l1 338 the whole night to puff himself up into his usual shape. In the morning the rancher's wife told her husband: "I just saw your rug running away." Friends, hear this: always be generous in heart. If you have something to give, give it forever. -Told by Jenny Leading Cloud in White River, Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1967. Recorded by Richard Erdoes . • WHAT'S THIS? MY BALLS FOR YOUR DINNER? • [WHITE RIVER SIOUX] Iktome, the wicked Spider Man, and Shunk-Manitou, Coyote, are two no-good loafers. They lie, they steal, they are greedy, they are always after WOmen. Maybe because they are so very much alike, they are friends, except when they try to trick each other. One day Iktome invited Coyote for dinner at his lodge. Ikto told his wife: "Old Woman, here are two nne, big buffalo livers for my friend Coyote and myself. Fry them up nicely, the way I like them. And get some timpsila, some wild turnips, on the side, and afterwards serve us up some wojapi, some berry soup. Use chokecherries for that. Coyote always likes something sweet after his meal." "Is that all?" asked Iktome's wife. "I guess so; I can't think of anything else." "There's no third liver for me?" the wife inquired. "You can have what's left after my friend Coyote and I have eaten," said Iktome. "Well, I'll go out for a while; maybe I can shoot a nne, plump duck too. Coyote always stuffs himself, so one liver may not be enough for him. But watch this good friend of mine; don't let him stick his hands under your robe. He likes to do that. Well, I go now. Have everything ready for us; Coyote never likes to wait." Iktome left and his old woman got busy cooking. "I know who's always ItIIUIUUlltIIllIUfllUflllllllllllllltlllllIIUlIIllIIllllllfJIIlIIlllllUllllmlllltlln1IIIIIIIUUlftlllRJlllllUUJIIHIllItI'tllIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIlIliItIIIlIIIIUlUIIIIIIIItilUlillfUlllllllUtlHllutllt 339 stuffing himself," she thought. "I know whose hands are always busy feeling under some girl's robe. I know who can't wait-it's that no-good husband of mine." The fried livers smelled so wonderful that the wife said to herself: "Those greedy, stingy, overbearing men! I know them; they'll feast on these fine livers, and a few turnips will be all they leave for me. They have no consideration for a poor woman. Oh, that liver here looks so good, smells so good; I know it tastes good. Maybe I'll try a little piece, just a tiny one. They won't notice." So the wife tasted a bit of the liver, and then another bit, and then another, and in no time at all that liver was gone. "I might as well eat the other one too," the wife said to herself, and she did. "What will .I do now?" she thought. "When Iktome finds out, he'll surely beat me. But it was worth it!" Just then Coyote arrived. He had dressed himself up in a fine beaded outfit with fringed sleeves. "Where is my good friend Iktome?" he asked. "What's he up to? Probably nothing good." "How are you, friend?" said the woman, "My husband, Iktome, is out taking care of some business. He'll be back soon. Sit down; be comfortable." "Out on business-you don't say!" remarked Coyote, quickly sticking his hand under the woman's robe and between her legs. "Iktome told me you'd try to do that. He told me not to let you." "Oh, Iktome and I are such good friends," said Coyote, "we share everything." He joked, he chucked the woman under the chin, he tickled her under the arms, and pretty soon he was all the way in her; way, way up inside her. "It feels good," said the woman, "but be quick about it. Iktome could be back any time now." "You think he'd mind, seeing we are such good friends?" ''I'm sure he would. You'd better stop now." "Well, all right. It smells very good here, but I see no meat cooking, just some timpsila. Meat is what I like." "And meat is what you'll get. One sees this is the first time that you've come here for dinner; otherwise you'd know what you'll get. We always serve a guest the same thing. Everybody likes it." "Is it really good?" "It's more than good. It's lila washtay, very good." Coyote smacked his lips, his mouth watering. "I can't wait. What is it? Tell me!" "Why, your itka, your susu, your eggs, your balls, your big hairy balls! We always have the balls of our guests for dinner." 1IIIIUlitUllflllllllllllfll1U1lfUfltIIUlillfllllllllUliUltlIflIUlllltlilUlllfllUUIIllUllltflUUllltlInnlllllnUllnllllUllIlIIllllIlllllurmfllUllIHlllllllnUlUllunlff1l1IIIIIIIIIIImmlill "Oh my! This must be a joke, a very bad joke." "It's no joke at all. And I'd better cut them off right now with my big skinning knife, because it's getting late. Ikto gets mad when I don't have his food ready-he'll beat me. And there I was, fooling around with you instead of doing my cooking. I'll do it right now; drop your breechcloth. You won't feel a thing, I do this so fast. I have practice." The woman came after Coyote with the knife in her hand. "Wait a bit," said Coyote. "Before you do this, let me go out and make some water. I'll be right back," and saying this, he ran out of the lodge. But he didn't come back. He ran and ran as fast as his feet would carry him. Just then Iktome came back without any ducks; he had caught nothing. He saw Coyote running away and asked, "Old Woman, what's the matter with that crazy friend of mine? Why is he running off like that?" "Your good friend is very greedy. He doesn't have the sharing spirit," his wife told Iktome. ".l'\ever invite him again. He has no manners. He doesn't know how to behave. He saw those two nne buffalo livers, which I cooked just as you like them, and didn't want to share them with you. He grabbed both and made off with them. Some friend!" Iktome rushed out of the lodge in a frenzy, running after Coyote as fast as he could, shouting: "Coyote! Kola! Friend! Leave me at least one! Leave one for me! For your old friend Iktome!" Coyote didn't stop. He ran even faster than Ikto. Running, running, he looked back over his shoulder and shouted: "Cousin, if you catch me, you can have both of them!" -Told by one of the Left Handed Bull family in White River, Rosebud Indian Reservation, and recorded by Richard Erdoes. fUIlfJUUIUllltllllllllfllllflllUl.lfttllltilUllltlllIlllIlllllUllnlllllllllllllUllllllllnlllllllIlIIlIUllltlllllllllttllllllllUllllllllllllltlllllllllllll1lllllll1ll1l11lllllll11U1IIIIIIIIIIIIIII1111UU • COYOTE AND WASICHU • [BRULE SIOUX] There was a white man who was such a sharp trader that nobody ever got the better of him. Or so people said, until one day a man told this wasichu: "There's somebody who can outcheat you anytime, anywhere." "That's not possible," said the wasichu. "I've had a trading post for many years, and I've cheated all the Indians around here." "Even so, Coyote can beat you in any deal." "Let's see whether he can. Where is Coyote?" "Over there, that tricky-looking guy." "Okay, all right, I'll try him." The wasichu trader went over to Coyote. "Hey, let's see you outsmart me." "I'm sorry," said Coyote, "I'd like to help you out, but I can't do it without my cheating medicine." "Cheating medicine, hah! Go get it." "I live miles from here and I'm on foot. But if you'd lend me your fast horse?" "Well, all right, you can borrow it. Go on home and get your cheating medicine!" "Well, friend, I'm a poor rider. Your horse is afraid of me, and I'm afraid of him. Lend me your clothes; then your horse will think that I am you. " Well, all right. Here are my clothes; now you can ride him. Go get that medicine. I'm sure I can beat it!" So Coyote rode off with the wasichu's fast horse and his fine clothes, while the wasichu stood there bare-assed. -Told at Grass Mountain, Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1974. 1IIIUllllfflmtllllllllfllfllllfHIIIIIIIIIIII,IIutJIUlililUmllillilUllntJmUllllHUUUIUltUUJllliHU......IIIIIIIHIIIIIltIHllflllIIUllllllllllllllllfJlIllI1U1I1I1ItIIllUIIIIIUlillflllIIlIlJ 342 • (jfJ{ i HOW BEAVER STOLE FIRE , ~, FROM THE PINES , • [NEZ PERcE] Once, before there were any people in the world, the different animals and trees lived and moved about and talked together just like human beings. The pine trees had the secret of fire and guarded it jealously, so that no matter how cold it was, they alone could warm themselves. At length an unusually cold winter came, and all the animals were in danger of freezing to death. But all their attempts to discover the pines' secret were in vain, until Beaver at last hit upon a plan. At a certain place on Grande Ronde River in Idaho, the pines were about to hold a great council. They had built a large fire to warm themselves after bathing in the icy water, and sentinels were posted to prevent intruders from stealing their fire secret. But Beaver had hidden under the bank near the fire before the sentries had taken their places, and when a live coal rolled down the bank, he seized it, hid it in his breast, and ran away as fast as he could. The pines immediately raised a hue and cry and started after him. Whenever he was hard pressed, Beaver darted from side to side to dodge his pursuers, and when he had a good start, he kept a straight course. The Grande Ronde River preserves the direction Beaver took in his Hight, and this is why it is tortuous in some parts of its course and straight in others. After running for a long time, the pines grew tired. So most of them halted in a body on the river banks, where they remain in great numbers to this day, forming a growth so dense that hunters can hardly get through. A few pines kept chaSing Beaver, but they finally gave out one after another, and they remain scattered at intervals along the banks of the river in the places where they stopped. There was one cedar running in the forefront of the pines, and although he despaired of capturing Beaver, he said to the few trees who were still in the chase, "We can't catch him, but I'll go to the top of the hill yonder and see how far ahead he is." So he ran to the top of the hill and saw Beaver just diving into Big Snake River where the Grande Ronde enters it. Further pursuit was out of the question. The cedar 1IIIUlltllilltUmUmflillUftillflllllllllllUUlf1l111111IJUlIJIIIUlllllilltUIIlfllli1I1IUItIIIllll1llUlllltlllOnllllilitlUfUtllllilUlillfllllllllllilliUJUlIIIII11UtlillllUUIIII1UlItlllfllllUU 343 stood and watched Beaver dart across Big Snake River and give fire to some willows on the opposite bank, and recross farther on and give fire to the birches, and so on to several other kinds of trees. Since then, all who have wanted fire have got it from these particular trees, because they have fire in them and give it up readily when their wood is rubbed together in the ancient way. Cedar still stands alone on the top of the hill where he stopped, near the junction of Grande Ronde and Big Snake rivers. He is very old, so old that his top is dead, but he still stands as a testament to the story's truth. That the chase was a very long one is shown by the fact that there are no cedars within a hundred miles upstream from him. The old people point him out to the children as they pass by. "See," they say, "here is old Cedar standing in the very spot where he stopped chasing Beaver." -Based on an account in the Journal of American Folk-Lore, 1890' In a Jicarilla Apache version of this story, it is Fox who tricks the ~re~ies out of their fire secret. Arriving from the sky, ~ying on the back of a wild goose, Fox makes the first drum ever. Beating it, he teaches the fire~ies how to dance. Their watchfulness relaxes as they sway to the rhythm of the drum, and they dance themselves into a trance. Fox steals their fire by putting glOwing embers in his bushy tail, and with his tail burning like a torch, he brings fire to the human beings. • THE RAVEN • [ATHAPASCANJ Among a number of Athapascan-speaking tribes of the Northwest Coast and Alaskan tribes, Raven is not only a powerful supernatural creator, but also a trickster. • IOlnlllllllOlIIlIlIlUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHRllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHlllllllllllllllllllo_nnmlllIlInll • There once lived an old couple who wished to see their only daughter married to a rich man. When anyone arrived at their camp, the old man 1UIIIllIIUIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIUUUflllllunUUIIIIIIlIIIUfUUlIIIIIIIIIIUlIlUIUfliUlltflllUUIIIIIIIIUJIUllllIttnllUflllIIllIlIIlUtIlUllIlIIUlllllfIlJlUllliUllUUlIIllllltlUiUlUlIIl1IlrlllUUlI 344 sent his son down to the landing to count the bone beads on the stranger's clothing, so that he could be received according to his rank. One day the boy came running in saying that a man had come who would make a good brother-in-law, for he had a number of fine beads. The mother went down to the riverbank and saw a richly dressed stranger whom she also thought would make a suitable husband. She noticed that the shore was wet and muddy, so she got some bark and tore it into strips for the stranger to walk upon. She invited him to enter their tipi and seated him next to the girl. The visitor pointed to a dog that was tied in the comer of the lodge and said, "I can't eat while that animal is in here." Thinking that only a very great personage would be so particular, the woman took the dog out into the forest and killed it. The next morning as she went for wood, she noticed that the earth around the dog's body was marked with bird tracks and that its eyes had been picked out. She returned to camp and insisted that all the people take off their moccasins and show their feet, because she had heard that Raven could deceive people by appearing in human form. The stranger, who was indeed Raven, took his moccasins off and slipped them on again so quickly that his scaly bird feet were not noticed. The girl had agreed to marry Raven, and he demanded that she leave with him at once, before he could be found out. Promising that they would return in a few days, he took his bride down to his canoe. As soon as the couple set off down the river, it began to rain. Raven was seated in front of the woman, who noticed that the rain was washing something white off his back. This made her suspicious, and she resolved to escape. Reaching forward, she succeeded in tying the tail of Raven's coat to a crossbar of the canoe. Then she asked to be set ashore for a minute, saying that she would come right back. Her husband told her not to go far, but she started to run for home as soon as she was out of sight among the trees. 1lIIlllllltllIllllll1ltllllllllll1l1lll1t1lutlllUlllltlllllllllllllfllllillUfUllllllmliUlltillIUllllltllhtUUllllllllllllllllllitillflllllUllf,lIlt11I1IIUflllIUtltllllflllUtllUlllllIIlIlllIllifllllllfl 345 After a while Raven decided to follow her. He found that his tail was tied, and to get free he had to resume his true form. As he Hew over the girl, he cried out, "Once more I cheat you," then caw-cawed and glided away. The girl got home safely and told her mother that her rich husband was Raven, who had come to them covered with lime, which the rain had melted. Raven was always cheating the people, so they finally took his beak away from him. After a time he went up the river and made a raft, which he loaded with moss. Floating down to the camps on it, he told the people that his head was sore where his beak had been torn off, and that he was lying in the moss to cool it. Then he went back upriver and made several more rafts. When the people saw these Hoating down toward them, they thought that a large group of warriors was coming to help Raven regain his beak. They held a council and decided to send a young girl to take the beak to an old woman who lived alone at some distance from the camp. Raven, who had concealed himself among them and heard the council's plans, waited until the girl came back. Then he went to the old woman and told her that the girl wanted her to return the beak to him. Suspecting nothing, the old woman gave him his beak. He put it on and Hew away, cawing with pleasure at his success. The warriors who had been on the rafts proved to be nothing but the tufts or hummocks of bog moss which are commonly known as tetes de femmes. -Retold from an account in the Journal of American Folk-Lore, 1900• • THE BLUEBIRD AND COYOTE • [PIMA] • IIIRDllllUUl!DunnnRUIIDllllIIlIIUlllU.ulUnHlllllIIlIIlIlllRlllIlIIURRllIlIllllllll1I1111111 • The bluebird was once a ve:cy ugly color. But there was a lake where no river Howed in or out, and the bird bathed in it four times every morning for four mornings. Every morning it sang: IIIU11111liftulflllUUUUIIIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUflllUllilflIIUlllfllllllllnlliliInlllllllll1tffllllltfUllltIlllIHlIQllllUllIlllUUlltllllllllllUrllllllllllUlifllIl1IIUlllllUllllllllllllllllrlllllllU 346 There's a blue water, it lies there. I went in. I am all blue. On the fourth morning it shed all its feathers and came out of the lake in its bare1skin, but on the fifth morning it came out with blue feathers. All this while Coyote had been watching the bird. He wanted to jump in and get it, but he was afraid of the water. On that fifth morning he said, "How is it that all your ugly color has come out and now you are blue and gay and beautiful? You're more beautiful than anything that Hies in the air. I want to be blue too." Coyote was at that time a bright green. "I went in four times," said the bird, and taught Coyote the song. So Coyote went in four times, and the fifth time he came out as blue as the little bird. That made him feel very proud. As he walked along, he looked on every side to see if anyone was noticing how fine and blue he was. He looked to see if his shadow was blue too, and so he was not watching the road. Presently he ran into a stump so hard that it threw him down in the dirt, and he became dust-colored all over. And to this day all coyotes are the color of dirt. -A story reported by Frank Russell in 1908• • ADVENTURES OF GREAT RABBIT • [ALGONQUIAN] Among the Micmac and Passamaquoddy of the Northeast coast it is Mahtigwess the Rabbit who is a powerful trickster. Rabbit has m'teoulin, great magical powers. Wildcat is mean and ferocious. He has a short tail and big, long, sharp fangs, and his favorite food is rabbit. One day when Wildcat was hungry, he said to himself: "I'm .going to catch and eat Mahtigwess, Great Rabbit, himself. He's plump and smart, and nothing less will do for my dinner." So we went hunting for Great Rabbit. JlllllllllllllllllllmmlllfllllllllfllllllllflllUlIIllllPllIlIllIlllNlltml1IIIIJUIlnUInHIHQIUftlllllllttllntlllHtllnlllllllfNlllnlilfllll11111l1111111UIIIUIIIUlI1I1IIUfIIIIIlIlI""111II11111 347 Now, Great Rabbit can sense what others are thinking from a long way off, so he already knew that Wildcat was after him. He made up his mind that he would use his magic power against Wildcat's strength. He picked up a handful of wood chips, threw them ahead of himself, and jumped after them, and because Great Rabbit is m'uioulin, every jump was a mile. Jumping that far, of course, he left very few tracks to follow. Wildcat swore a mighty oath that he would catch Great Rabbit, that he would find him even if Mahtigwess had fled to the end of the world. At that time \Vildcat had a beautiful long tail, and he swore by it: "Let my tail fall off-may I have just a little stump for a tail-if I fail to catch Great Rabbit!" After a mile he found Rabbit's tracks. After another mile he found some more tracks. Wildcat was not altogether without magic either, and he was persevering. So mile by mile, he kept on Rabbit's trail. In fact, Wildcat was drawing closer and closer. It grew dark and Great Rabbit grew tired. He was on a wide, empty plain of snow, and there was nothing to hide behind except a little spruce tree. He stomped on the snow and made himself a seat and bed of spruce boughs. When Wildcat came to that spot, he found a fine, big wigwam and stuck his head through the door. Sitting inside was an old, gray-haired chief, solemn and mighty. The only strange thing about him was that he had two long ears standing up at each side of his head. "Great Chief," said Wildcat, "have you by any chance seen a biggish rabbit running like mad?" "Rabbits? Why of course, there are hundreds, thousands of rabbits hereabouts, but what's the hurry? It's late and you must be tired. If you want to hunt rabbits, start in the morning after a good night's sleep. I'm a lonely man and enjoy the company of a respected personage like you. Stay overnight; I have a fine rabbit stew cooking here." Wildcat was flattered. "Big Chief, I am honored," he said. He ate a whole kettle full of tasty rabbit stew and then fell asleep before the roaring fire. Wildcat awoke early because he was freezing. He found himself alone in the midst of a huge snowfield. Nothing was there, no wigwam, no fire, no old chief; all he could see were a few little spruce boughs. It had been a dream, an lilusion created by Gleat Rabbit's magic. Even the stew had been an illusion, and Wildcat was ravenous. Shivering in the icy wind, \Vildcat howled: "Rabbit has tricked me again, but I'll get even with him. By my tail, I swear I'll catch, kill, and eat him!" Again Great Rabbit traveled with his mile-wide jumps, and again Wildcat followed closely. At nightfall Rabbit said to himself: "Time to IUllUlllllllflllfllllllunmllffllUllllllllUllillUmUlIIlIlIIlIlIIUlllltlUtlllUlnlllllllllllUUlllllltI1ifllIQUnllllltllilUtlmlllllllltllllllllllUnUIIIUlUtiltullUnmllllUllllIlIIlllIlII1 348 rest and conjure something up." This time he trampled down a large area and spread many pine boughs around. When Wildcat arrived, he found a large village full of busy people, though of what tribe he couldn't tell. He also saw a big wooden church painted white, the kind the French Jesuits were putting up among some tribes. Wildcat went up to a young man who was about to enter the church. "Friend, have you seen a biggish rabbit hereabouts, running away.?" "Quiet," said the young man, "we're having a prayer meeting. Wait until the sermon is over." The young man went into the church, and Wildcat followed him. There were lots of people sitting and listening to a gray-haired preacher. The only strange thing was the two long ears sticking up at each side of the priest's cap. He was preaching a very, very long sermon about the wickedness of ferocious wild beasts who tear up victims with their big, sharp fangs and then devour them. "Such savage fiends will be punished for their sins," said this preacher over and over. Wildcat didn't like the long sermon, but he had to wait all the same. When .the preaching was over at last, he went up to the priest with the long ears and asked: "Sir, have you seen a very sacred, biggish rabbit hereabouts?" "Rabbits!" exclaimed the preacher. "We have a wet, foggy cedar swamp nearby with thousands of rabbits." "I don't mean just any rabbit; I'm speaking of Great Rabbit." "Of him I know nothing, friend. But over there in that big wigwam lives the wise old chief, the Sagamore. Go and ask him; he knows everything." Wildcat went to the wigwam and found the Sagamore, an imposing figure, gray-haired like the preacher, with long white locks sticking up on each side of his head. "Young man," said the Sagamore gravely, "what can I do for you?" ''I'm looking for the biggish Great Rabbit." "Ah! Him! He's hard to find and hard to catch. Tonight it's too late, but tomorrow I'll help you. Sit down, dear man. My daughters will give you a fi ne supper. " The Sagamore's daughters were beautiful. They brought Wildcat many large wooden bowls of the choicest food, and he ate it all up, because by now he was very hungry. The warmth of the fire and his full stomach made him drowsy, and the Sagamore's daughters brought him a thick white bearskin to sleep on. "You people really know how to treat a guest," said Wildcat as he fell asleep. When he awoke, he found himself in a dismal, wet, foggy cedar 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJJIIIlIli 349 swamp. Nothing was there except mud and icy slush and a lot of rabbit tracks. There was no village, no church, no wigwam, no Sagamore, no beautiful daughters. They had all been a mirage conjured up by Great Rabbit. The fine food had been a mirage too, and Wildcat's stomach was growling. He was ankle-deep in the freezing swamp. The fog was so thick he could hardly see anything. Enraged, he vowed to find and kill Great Rabbit even if he should die in the attempt. He swore by his tail, his teeth, his claws-by everything dear to him. Then he hastened on. That night Wildcat came to a big longhouse. Inside, it was like a great hall, and it was full of people. On a high seat sat the chief, who wore two long white feathers at each side of his head. This venerable leader also had beautiful daughters who fed all comers, for Wildcat had stumbled into the midst of a great feast. Exhausted and panting, he gasped, "Has anyone seen the bi-bigbiggish G-G-Great Ra-Rab-Rahbit?" "Later, friend," said the chief with the two white feathers. "We are feasting, dancing, singing. You seem exhausted, poor man! Sit down; catch your breath. Rest. Eat." Wildcat sat down. The people were having a singing contest, and the chief on his high seat pointed at Wildcat and said, "Our guest here looks like a fine singer. Perhaps he will honor us with a song." Wildcat was flattered. He arose and sang: Rabbits! How 1 hate them! How 1despise them! How I laugh at them! How 1 kill them! How 1 scalp them! Howl eat them! "A truly wonderful song," said the chief. "I must reward you for it. Here's what I give you." And with that the chief jumped up from his high seat, jumped over Wildcat's head, struck him a blow with his tomahawk, kept on jumping with mile-long leaps-and all was gone. The longhouse, the hall, the people, the daughters: none remained. Once more Wildcat found himself alone in the middle of nowhere, worse off than ever, for he had a gash in his scalp where Great Rabbit had hit him with the tomahawk. His feet were sore, his stomach empty. He could hardly crawl. But he was more infuriated than ever. ''I'll kill him!" he growled, "I'll give my life! And the tricks are over; he won't fool me again!" IIUUllllllfIIllllllfIIl1l11llllltllltllUUlUJIUUlUlIUlilnUillIllIHtifftltftillfilttlllUilUliftilttJlluiUtlllftUllIlIlUlIIUlllllIlIOIllllIIlJlllllllllnlllllllllllllll1ilfl1111U1111111IU111111I1I1 350 That night Wildcat came to two beautiful wigwams. In the first was a young woman, obviously a chief's daughter. In the other was someone whom Wildcat took for her father, an elderly, gray-haired, gentle-looking man with two scalp locks sticking up at the sides of his head. "Come in, come in, poor man," said the gray-haired host. "You're wounded! My daughter will wash and cure that cut. And we must build up your strength. I have a fine broth here and a pitcher full of wine, the drink Frenchmen make. It has great restorative powers." But Wildcat was suspicious. "If this is Great Rabbit in disguise again, he won't fool me," he promised himself. "Dear sir," said Wildcat, "I hesitate to mention it, but the two scalp locks sticking up at the sides of your head look very much like rabbit's ears." "Rabbit's ears? How funny!" said the old man. "Know, friend, that in our tribe we all wear our scalp locks this way." "Ab," said Wildcat, "but your nose is split exactly like a rabbit's nose." "Don't remind me, friend. Some weeks ago I was hammering wampum beads, and the stone I was using to pound them on broke in half. A sharp piece Hew up and split my nose-a great misfortune, because it does disfigure me." "It does indeed. A pity. But why are your sales so yellow, like a rabbit's soles?" "Oh, that's nothing. I prepared some tobacco yesterday, and the juice stained my palms yellow." Then Wildcat said to himself: 'This man is no rabbit." The old man called his daughter, who washed Wildcat's wound, put a healing salve into it, and bathed his face. Then the old man gave him a wonderfully strengthening broth and a large pitcher of sweet wine. "This wine is really good," said Wildcat, "the first I ever tasted." "Yes, these white people, these Frenchmen, are very clever at making good things to drink." \\-'ben Wildcat awoke, he found, of course, that he had been tricked again. The food he had eaten was rabbit pellets, the wine was stale water in a half-wilted pitcher plant. Now it was only his great hatred that kept Wildcat going, but go he did, like a streak, on Rabbit's tail. Mahtigwess, Great Rabbit, had only enough m'tioulin, enough magic power, left for one more trick. So he said to himself: "This time I'd better make it good!" Great Rabbit came to a big lake and threw a chip of wood into the water. Immediately it turned into a towering ship, the kind white men build, with tall sides, three masts, white sails, and colored Hags. That ship was pierced on each side with three rows of heavy cannon. 1IflllillflllllllUllllllliflUlmUIIIIUIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIIUllUUHUIJIlIIIIIIIUlllllllltllllllllllllllllllllUmUltllUlIlIUUmlllUlUlIIllflllIIUUllIIlIIUlllUlltfllllfllUnUflllUlllUllllllltlfl1ll 35 I When Wildcat arrived at this lake, he saw the big ship with its crew. On deck was the captain, a gray-haired man with a large, gold-trimmed, cocked hat that had fluffy white plumes right and left. "Rabbit!" cried Wildcat, "I know you! You're no French captain; you're Great Rabbit. I know you, Mahtigwess! I am the mighty Wildcat, and I'm coming to scalp and kill you now!" And with that, \Vildcat jumped into the lake and swam toward the ship. Then the captain, who indeed was Mahtigwess, the Great Rabbit, ordered his men to fire their muskets and the three rows of heavy cannon. Bullets went whistling by Wildcat; cannonballs flew toward him; the whole world was spitting thunder and fire. Wildcat had never before faced white men's firearms; they were entirely new to him. It didn't matter that ship, cannon, muskets, cannonballs, bullets, fire, noise, and smoke were merely illusions conjured up by Rabbit. To Wildcat they were real, and he was scared to death. He swam back to shore and ran away. And if he hasn't died, he is running still. And yes, as Wildcat had sworn by his tail to catch and kill Rabbit, his tail fell off, and ever since then this kind of big wildcat has a short, stumpy tail and is called a bobcat. -Based on an account by Charles C. Leland, 1884 . • TURKEY MAKES THE CORN AND COYOTE PLANTS IT • [WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE] • n-.aHHllllllllllllllllllmIlllllD~IIIIIIUllllllllllllllllnnnBnannnlnllllll • Long ago when all the animals talked like people, Turkey overheard a boy begging his sister for food. "What does your little brother want?" he asked the girl. "He's hungry, but we have nothing to eat," she said. When Turkey heard this, he shook himself all over. Many kinds of fruits and wild food dropped out of his body, and the brother and sister ilIIlIJilfUIIIIIIllUII11UllllllllllillurllllllUfIIltltlllIIUUlUlllllillfllllllln1IIIIIIIUllilltflllllllUlIIQltMtllllllllllllllllllitrutuUIIIJIIIIIIUUltlllllillflllilIllIIflllllllllUlllIlJUIiUlll1 352 ate these up. Turkey shook himself again, and a variety of corn that is very large dropped out of his feathers. He shook himself a third time, and yellow corn dropped out. And when he shook himself for the fourth time, white corn dropped out. Bear came over, and Turkey told him, "I'm helping to feed'my sister and my brother, over there." Bear said, "You can shake only four times to make food come out of you, but I have every kind of food on me, from my feet to my head." Bear shook himself, and out of his fur dropped juniper berries. He shook himself again, and out dropped a cactus that is good to eat. Then he shook out acorns, then another kind of cactus, then Gambel oak acorns, then blue oak acorns, then pinon nuts, then a species of sumac, then manzanita berries, then wild mulberries, then saguaro fruit. Turkey said to the boy and girl, "I have four kinds of corn seeds here for you, and this is a good place to plant them." The sister and brother cut digging sticks and made holes with them. In the holes they planted all their corn seeds. The next day the corn had already come up and was about a foot and a half high. The girl said, "We still have some squash seeds here," so they planted them too. The boy and girl asked Turkey for more corn seed. "The corn is coming up nicely," they said, "so we want to make another farm and plant more corn there." Turkey gave them the seed, and they left him to look after their first fields while they started off to make the other farm. When they came back, they heard Turkey hollering at the corn field. They ran down there and saw him dragging one wing along the ground on the side toward them. There were snakes on the other side of him, and he pretended to have a broken wing to lure the snakes away and shield the boy and girl. The squash plants had young squash on them, and the corn had grown tall and formed ears and tassels. The tassels had pollen in them, and the snakes had come to gather the pollen out of the corn plants. Turkey told the boy and girl to stay away from the corn for four days, when the snakes would be finished. At the end of the four days, the corn was ripe. Turkey told them, "This will be the only time when the corn will come up in four days. From now on it will take quite a while." And it does. . By now the brother and sister had planted corn three times, and they gave seeds to other people. Then Slim Coyote came and asked for some. "The corn you planted is growing well, and the ears are coming out on it," he said. ''I'd like to have some seeds to plant for myself." Coyote would have to do lots of work if he wanted to raise his corn, but that wasn't his plan. "These other people here plant their corn, and after it's grown, they have to cook it. Me, I'm not going to do it that 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 353 way. I'll cook my corn first and then plant it, so I won't have to bother to cook it when it's ripe." Here's where Coyote made a big mistake. He cooked his corn, ate some, and planted quite a patch of the rest. He felt pretty good about it. "Now I've done well for myself. You people have to cook your corn after you plant it, but mine will be already cooked," he said. After planting, he went off with the rest of the people to gather acorns, but when they returned to their fields, Coyote's had nothing growing on it at all. He said angrily, "You people must have taken the hearts out of the corn seeds you gave to me." "No, we didn't do that," they told him, "but you cooked the heart out of them before you planted." Coyote asked for more seeds and planted them the right way this time. So his corn grew: the day after he planted, it was up about a foot and a half. He felt good. The people who had planted their corn at the beginning were harvesting now and tying it up into bundles. Coyote saw these and wanted some. People got mad at Coyote because he was always asking them for corn. "I just want some green ears to feed my children," he would say. "As soon as my corn is ripe, I'll pay you back." The other people had all their corn in and stripped now, but their squashes were still growing in the field. Coyote stole their squash, and the people all came to his camp. They wanted to know if he was the one who was stealing their squash. Coyote pretended to get angry. "You're always blaming me for stealing everything. There are lots of camps over there. Why do you have to choose mine to come to with your accusations?" But the people knew about Coyote's thieving ways. "From now on, don't make your farm near us. Move away and live someplace else!" they said. "All right. There are several of you that I was going to repay with corn, but I won't do it now that you've treated me this way," he said. So Coyote's family lived poorly, and they never bothered to cook anything before they ate it. -Based on Grenville Goodwin's version of 1939. IllIUUllllIIlIIlIIlUflllIIUlllllllllUUllllmlllllllllllltllllllllnllllllUllllllllltlllllllllllllllUlliflunIIIIUlllllllfmllUJlllllllnJIIlllllttlllllUlflllllllllltllIIlIUlllllllllllllllflllllllltfm 354 • COYOTE TAKES WATER FROM THE FROG PEOPLE • [KALAPUYA] • IRIIRlOnUHIYIIIIII1_IIIIIHlIDl1UUIIIIlIIIlu.nnIlIIIllIIUUlI • Coyote was out hunting and he found a dead deer. One of the deer's rib bones looked just like a big dentalia shell, and Coyote picked it up and took it with him. He went up to see the frog people. The frog people had all the water. When anyone wanted any water to drink or cook with or'to wash, they had to go and get it from the frog people. Coyote came up. "Hey, frog people, I have a big dentalia shell. I want a big drink of water-I want to drink for a long time." "Give us that shell," said the frog people, "and you can drink all you want." Coyote gave them the shell and began drinking. The water was behind a large dam where Coyote drank. "I'm going to keep my head down for a long time," said Coyote, "because I'm really thirsty. Don't worry about me." "Okay, we won't worry," said the frog people. Coyote began drinking. He drank for a long time. Finally one of the frog people said, "Hey, Coyote, you sure are drinking a lot of water there. What are you doing that for?" Coyote brought his head up out of the water. "I'm thirsty." "Oh." After a while one of the frog people said, "Coyote, you sure are drinking a lot. Maybe you better give us another shell." "Just let me finish this drink," said Coyote, putting his head back under water. The frog people wondered how a person could drink so much water. They didn't like this. They thought Coyote might be doing something. Coyote was digging out under the dam all the time he had his head under water. When he was finished, he stood up and said, "That was a good drink. That was just what I needed." Then the dam collapsed, and the water went out into the valley and made the creeks and rivers 'hnd waterfalls. The frog people were very angry. "You have taken all the water, Coyote!" IllUflfllllllllllllll1lUUlIIUlllllllllnllUlIIUIiUllllIllQtllltlllllllltlllllllllmUlU1lmllftllllRIIIItIIIlIIllIIllIfIJIIIIIIIHlllfllllnlIIUUOIlIIllllllllllllIt'lllfIIllfnnUlIiUlll1lfUUllIll1 355 "It's not right that one people have all the water. Now it is where everyone can have it." Coyote did that. Now anyone can go down to the river and get a drink of water or some water to cook with, or just swim around. -Told by Barry Lopez in 1977 . • HOW THE PEOPLE GOT ARROWHEADS • [SHASTA] • IIUBllIIIlIIIIIIIIIlnllllllllllllllllllillUlIlIIunUHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII_nlnllnlllllllllllnunUll • In the days when the first people lived, they used to go hunting with arrows that had pine-bark points. They did not know where to get obsidian, or they would have used it, for obsidian made a sharp, deadly point which always killed the animals that were shot. Ground Squirrel was the only one who knew that Obsidian Old Man lived on Medicine Lake, and one day he set out to steal some obsidian. Taking a basket filled with roots, he went into Obsidian Old Man's house and offered him some. Obsidian-Old-Man ate the roots and liked them so much that he sent Ground Sguirrel out to get more. While Ground Squirrel was digging for them, Grizzly Bear came along. "Sit down," Grizzly Bear said. "Let me sit in your lap. Feed me those roots by the handfuL" Ground Squirrel was very much afraid of huge Grizzly Bear, so he did as he was told. Grizzly Bear gobbled the roots and got up. "Obsidian Old Man's mother cleaned roots for someone," he said as he went away. Ground Squirrel returned to Obsidian Old Man, but there were only a few roots left to give him. Ground Squirrel told him what Grizzly Bear had done and what he had said as he departed. Obsidian Old Man was extremely angry at the insult to his dead mother. "Tomorrow we will both go to find roots," he said. So early next morning they set off. Obsidian Old Man hid near the place where Ground Squirrel started digging. Soon Ground Squirrel's basket was filled, and then along came Grizzly Bear. IUUlIlIJlIIlllllIllIIllIlIlIIlIlIIllIIUlllUUUlllIIUllilUlllllllllllllllllflllllllllUHfllIlJIllHUqll1llillUlllllnmUlItIUllltllllfJllll1llHlIII1II11II1IIIIJllllllllllllllUillfllUlllUIIHllllllllf "You dug all these for me!" he said. "Sit down!" Ground Squirrel sat down, as he had the day before, and fed Grizzly Bear roots by the handful. But just then Grizzly Bear saw Obsidian Old Man draw near, and the bear got up to fight. At each blow, a great slice of the grizzly's flesh was cut off by the sharp obsidian. Grizzly Bear kept fighting till he was all cut to pieces, and then he fell dead. So Ground Squirrel and Obsidian Old Man went home and ate the roots and were happy. Early next morning, Obsidian Old Man was awakened by Ground Squirrel's groaning. "I am sick. I am bruised because that great fellow sat upon me. R~ally, I am sick," he was groaning. Obsidian Old Man was sorry for Ground SquirreL "I'll go and get wood," he said to himself. "But I'll watch him, for he may be fooling me. These people are very dever." ," So he went for wood, and on the way he thought, "I had better go back and look." When he crept back softly and peeped in, he saw Ground Squirrel lying there, groaning. "He is really sick," Obsidian Old Man said to himself, and went off in earnest-this time for wood. But Ground Squirrel was very clever; he had been fooling all the time. As soon as Obsidian Old Man was far away, he got up. Taking all the obsidian points and tying them up in a bundle, he ran off. As soon as Obsidian Old Man returned, he missed Ground Squirrel. He dropped the wood, ran after him, and almost caught him, but Ground Squirrel ran into a hole in the ground. As he went, he kicked the earth into the eyes of the old man, who was digging fast, trying to catch him. After a while Obsidian Old Man gave up and left. Ground Squirrel cl:\me out the other end of the hole, crossed the lake, and went home. He emptied the bundle of points on the ground and distributed them to everyone. All day long the people worked, tying them onto arrows. They threw away all the old bark points, and when they went hunting they used the new arrow points and killed a great many deer. -Based on a tale recorded by E. W. Gifford in 1930. 1iJUlllfllll1l11ltUJlIlIIII1III1I11IHllnrmllltllII1I11I11IInIlJlllttIllIl1I1II11UUlltuRlllllmnRIIImIlUlllllllllUlllllllllliIIIllIIIIllIllIfUIIIIJI~tllinlllllllnUU11IUUIfI~IIIIIIIIIUIiI tIIll 357 • IKTOME AND THE IGNORANT GIRL • [BRULE SIOUX] • 1IIIIIUUUIIJIIJlllllllJUNlllllliNllllftllllllllllllilllllliHlllllliRllllllilllllliUlllllllinUUIIIIIIUIIIIIUIII • A pretty winchinchala had never been with a man yet, and Iktome was eager to sleep with her. He dressed himself up like a woman and went looking for the girl. He found her about to cross a stream. "Hou mashke, how are you, friend," he said. "Let's wade across together." They lifted their robes and stepped into the water. "You have very hairy legs," said the girl to Iktome. "That's because I am older. When women get older, some are like this." The water got deeper and they lifted their robes higher. "You have avery hairy backside," said the winchinchala to Iktome. "Yes, some of us are like that," answered Iktome. The water got still deeper and they lifted their robes up very high. "\Vhat's that strange thing dangling between your legs?" asked the girl, who had never seen a naked man. "Ah," complained Iktome, "it's a kind of growth, like a large wart." "It 's very If" arge or a wart. "Yes. Oh my! An evil magician wished it on me. It's cumbersome; it's heavy; it hurts; it gets in the way. How I wish to be rid of it!" "My elder sister," said the girl, "I pity you. We could cut this thing off." "No, no, my younger sister. There's only one way to get rid of it, because the evil growth was put there by a sorcerer." "What might this be, the way to get rid of it?" "Ah, mashke, the only thing to do is to stick it in there, between your legs." "Is that so? Well, I guess, women should help each other." "Yes, pilamaye, thanks, you are very kind. Let's get out of this water and go over there where the grass is soft." Spider Man made the girl lie down on the grass, got on top of her, and entered her. "Oh my," said the girl, "it sure is big. It hurts a little." 'Think how it must hurt mel" said Iktome, breathing hard. "It hurts a little less now," said the girl. Iktome finished and got off UlllllllffllllllfmltltllUlllli,lllfUllll1lt1UltlUlflllUUIIIUIIIIIIItUUUlIUUIlUllllltfflllllllflllllllUllIlIIUJmtlllllllUfltlllllUll1lftUffUltl,llllJllllfUIlIIl1UllllllllfUllUll,lltfUlltl1 the girl. The winchinchala looked and said: "Indeed, it already seems to be smaller." "Yes, but not small enough yet," answered Spider Man. "This is hard work. Let me catch my breath, then we must try again." After a while he got on top of the girl once more. "It really isn't so bad at all," said the ignorant winchinchala, "but it seems to have gotten bigger. It is indeed a powerful magic." Iktome did not answer her. He was busy. He finished. He rolled off. lIThere's little improvement," said the girl. 'We must be patient and persevere," answered Iktome. So after a while they went at it again. "Does it hurt very much, mashke?" the girl asked Iktome. "Oh my, yes, but I am strong and brave," answered Iktome, "I can bear it." "I can bear it too," said the girl. "It really isn't altogether unpleasant," said the girl after they did it a fourth time, lIbut I must tell you, elder sister, I don't believe you will ever get rid of this strange thing." "I have my doubts too," answered Spider Man. "Well," said the ignorant winchinchala, "one could get used to it." "Yes, mashke," answered Iktome, "one must make the best of it, but let's try once more to be sure." -Told in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and recorded by Richard Erdoes. • COYOTE FIGHTS A LUMP OF PITCH • [WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE] • 1DlIIItIIIII1I11IIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIRntlII.-mRUUl.utllnnlllllllllllllllnllllllllllllllllllllilM • Even long ago, when our tribe and animals and birds lived together near white people, Coyote was always in trouble. He would ;Visit among the camps, staying in one for a while and then moving on, and when tJJlIlllIlIlIJlUlllllllllfltllllllllllllllUfUlIlIIUltllJlflllltllllllllUlllnllllllJltlltl'H'UUUnnnmllm1f1lllllfltllnlllllllllnIlRlllllIllllIllUlilltlllllllltlllllllllllllllllllllllllfl1IIIIItUif 359 he stayed at Bear's camp, he used to go over at night to a white man's fields and steal the ears off the wheat. When the white man who owned the farm found out what Coyote was up to, he trailed him long enough to locate his path into the field. Then he called all the white men to a council, and they made a figure of pitch just like a man and placed it in Coyote's path. That night when Coyote went back to steal wheat again, he saw the pitch man standing there. Thinking it was a real person, he said, "Gray eyes-" he always talked like a Chiricahua Apache-HGet to one side and let me by. I just want a little wheat. Get over, I tell you." The pitch man stayed where he was. "If you don't move," Coyote said, "you'll get my fist in your face. Wherever I go on this earth, if I hit a man with my fist, it kills him." The pitch man never stirred. "All right, then I'm going to hit you." Coyote struck out, but his fist stuck fast in the pitch, dear to his elbow. "What's the matter?" Coyote cried. 'Why have you caught my hand? Turn loose or you'll get my other fist. If I hit a man with that one, it knocks all his wits out!" Then Coyote punched with his other fist, and this arm got stuck in the pitch also. Now he was standing on his two hind legs. ''I'm going to kick you if you keep holding me, and it'll knock you over." Coyote delivered a powerful kick, and his leg went into the pitch and stuck. "This other leg is worse still, and you're going to get it!" he said. He kicked, and his leg stuck into the pitch. Now Coyote's legs were fast in the pitch; only his tail was free. "If I whip you with my tail, it will cut you in two. So turn me loose!" But the pitch man just stood there. Coyote lashed the pitch with his tail and got it stuck also. Only his head was free, and he was still talking with it. "Why do you hold me this way? I'll bite you in the neck and kill you, so you'd better turn me loose." When the pitch did nothing, Coyote bit it and got his mouth stuck, and there he was. In the morning the farmer put a chain around Coyote's neck, took him out of the pitch, and led him to the house. "This is the one who has been stealing from me," he said to his family. The white people held a meeting to discuss what they should do with Coyote. They decided to put him into a pot of boiling water and scald him, so they set the water on to heat and tied Coyote up at the side of the house. Pretty soon Coyote saw Gray Fox coming along, loafing around the farmer's yard, looking for something to steal from the white man. Coyote called him over. "My cousin," he said, "there are lots of things cooking for me in that pot," though of course the pot was only heating water to UlllfllltUllfllltlUlIIlIIUtllUmJUUUllUlUUlllllllllllltlllmlllUUftlUlIlIUnlUllnllllUlIllIlIllIUlmll1IUIIItIllIlIlIlUlIlUlfIlIlIllllllmUII'UJIUlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUfIUlnUUnllltl1l11 360 scald him in. "There are potatoes, coffee, bread, and all kinds of food for me. It'll soon be done, and the white people are going to bring them to me. You and I can eat them together, but you must help me first. Can you put this chain around your neck while I go and urinate behind that bush?" Fox agreed and, taking the chain off Coyote, put it on his own neck. As soon as Coyote was out of sight behind the bush, he ran off. After a while the water was good and hot, and the white men came out to Gray Fox. "He seems so little! What happened? He must have shrunk, I guess," they said. They lifted him up and threw him into the pot. Now the hot water boiled his hair right off, leaving Gray Fox bright red and hairless. They took off the chain and threw him under a tree, where he lay motionless until evening. When it got dark and cold, he woke up and started off. After a while Gray Fox came to Bear's camp and asked, "Where is Coyote?" Bear replied that Coyote always went for his water to some springs above Bear's camp at midnight. So Gray Fox ran off to the springs and hid himself. Now at midnight Coyote came as usual to the spring, but when he put his head to the water to drink, Gray Fox jumped him. "Now I'm going to kill you and eat you," the fox said. The moon was shining from the sky down into the water, and Coyote, pointing to its reflection, replied, "Don't talk like that, when we can both eat this delicious 'ash bread' down there. All we have to do is drink all the water, and we can take the bread out and have a feast." They both started to lap up the water, but soon Coyote was merely pretending to drink. Gray Fox drank lots, and when he was full, he got cold. Then Coyote said, "My cousin, some white people left a camp over here, and I'm going to look for some old rags or quilts to wrap you up in. Wait for me." So Coyote started off, and as soon as he was out of sight, he ran away. -Based on Grenville Goodwin's version of 1939. lJIlUlfllIllIUIlf1II1IftJlllUlllIllllllliumnuu,lllIllIlIIllUllmlllUlllUllimumflinruullluIIIWIIHtIUHlIlIlIlIlIIllllIIUlIlUIIIUllllllllllllUmnUUIIIIJllllllllllllllllnlllllUlllUIi 361 • ALWAYS-LIVING-AT-THE-COAST • [KWAKIUTL] Reported here is another dangerous amorous encounter similar to that in "Teeth in the Wrong Places." • nnnUlllllltlllnlllltlllllUUlIIIlIlUltIIIlI1IlIlIIIIItIIIIIIIUlllllllltllllllllllltlllnUIIIHItIIHlllllllnlllllYllII1 • Coyote was paddling his canoe down the coast when some people called . out to him from the beach. "Coyote, where are you going?" "I am going to marry the daughter of Always-Living-at-the-Coast." "Only a crazy person would do something like that:"! That made Coyote angry, and he paddled to the shore. He turned all the people into birds, and then he turned the flock of birds into deer. "You will be the deer that men need," he said and departed. Soon he passed some other people who were standing on the beach. "Coyote, where are you headed?" He told them. "You should watch out, then. The bones of those who have tried to marry this woman are piled up high." Coyote appreciated their concern. He came ashore and put mussels and salmon in the water, which is why you still go to this place for those things today. A while later some other people called out to him, asking him where he was going. He told them. The chief then said, "Be careful, Coyote. All my young men have gone there to marry this woman, and none of them have come back." Coyote came ashore and filled the waters along this beach with mussels, and gave the people roasted salmon to eat. At a place called Copper Bottom, Coyote put ashore again and walked through the woods to a village, where he saw an old woman steaming clover roots. The woman was blind, but right away she smelled him. "Coyote! What are you doing here?" she asked. He reached over and took a handful of clover roots to eat. "What's this? Who's taking my clover roots?" "C an ' t you see. )" mUIIUUIIIUliltUlfiftnUll11f11111111f11UlllUIIIUfI1tllllJUIlUiltlUUllIIUUllllllllilfUin1Uf1l11WUnlHNIllllllllllllll111f111nlllllllllUI111tJII,III111111U111tlUIIIIIIUliltIIUUUlUI1111 362 The woman explained that she was blind. Coyote then took some pine gum and chewed it and then spit it into the woman's eyes. "Can you see now.>" "Yes. I can see well." Coyote told her where he was going. She told him to be careful and gave him some food to take with him. Coyote went on until he came to a woman working on a canoe. He went over and pinched the feet of her baby. The child began to cry, and the woman said, "Don't touch my child. He has never cried." She went back to working on the canoe, chipping at the inside, but she cut a hole through the bottom. "Look what you've done. Are you blind?" asked Coyote. "Yes I am," answered the woman. Coyote chewed some pine gum and spat into her eyes. And then she could see. "Where are you going?" asked the woman. "I am going to marry the daughter of Always-Living-at-the-Coast." "You should be careful with her: she has teeth in her vagina. This is how she kills all the young men who come to see her. Take my stone chisel, and when you go to bed with her, stick this up in there and break the teeth off." The woman rubbed Coyote's back with a stone and gave him the masks of the wren, the deer, the mountain goat, and the grizzly bear. Coyote put on a mask that made him look older and went into the country of Always-Living-at-the-Coast, where he sat down by a river. He had not been there long when the man's daughter, Death-Bringing Woman, came by with her friends and saw him. "Oh, he would make a good slave," she said. "Let's take him with us." So they took Coyote back to camp with them. That night Death-Bringing Woman asked Coyote to sleep with her. Coyote could hear the sound of grinding teeth coming from under her clothes. When he got into bed with her, he heard the sound of rattlesnakes. He pushed the stone chisel in and twisted it sharply, and broke off all the teeth in Death-Bringing Woman's vagina. Then Coyote took off his mask. He said he was Coyote and he had come to marry her. They slept together. The next night they arrived at the house of Always-Living-at-the-Coast. That night Always-Living-at-the-Coast heard laughing coming from his daughter's bedroom. He got up from his bed and came into her room. "Who is that you're laughing with, my daughter?" "This is my husband. Welcome him." IUUlllflUllIlIUlIlUlJl1U1UIUUUlllllllllllllllllnmlllllllhlUUJfUUlllfJlHlIlIUtlunllllllllUlIlHtlUfUImtlIIIIIUnIfUlmUItiUlUIIIIIIIIIUiIII1U.lll1l1u""mlltlUlllllllllltIIlllJlt 363 Always-Living-at-the-Coast welcomed Coyote and returned to his room. The next morning AIways-Living-at-the-Coast split some cedar and stripped the bark, and made a snare trap. Then he went into his daughter's bedroom and said, "Son-in-law, I want you to jump through that door into the center of the house." Coyote put on his deer mask and jumped through the door of the room right into the trap, where the deer died. "It serves him right, coming into my house and embarrassing me like this," said the old man. But Coyote took off the mask of the deer and went back into his wife's room. That night the old man heard his daughter laughing again. The next morning he made another cedar bark trap and told his son-in-law to jump through the door into the center of the house. Coyote put on the mask of the mountain goat and jumped into the trap, where he died at once. When the old man went out, Coyote took off the mask of the mountain goat and returned to his wife. That night AIways-Living-at-the-Coast heard the sounds of two people making love again and he called out, "Who's in there with you, daughter?" "My husband," she answered. The next morning the old man did as he had done before, making the trap and telling his son-in-law to jump into the dimness where it was concealed. This time Coyote put on the mask of the grizzly bear and went out into the other room and crushed the trap. Then he sat down to eat. The old man was still thinking how he might kill his son-in-law. He asked Coyote to go with him by canoe across an inlet to the other shore where they would begin work on another canoe. Coyote and the old man paddled across the water and went into the woods, where they felled a tree and began splitting the log. Coyote took up some alderwood and chewed on it while he worked. They were JlffUlfllUltfll11UUUllnlUfIJ1I1IUUl1U1I1U1IUUIIUn1ll111ll1JfftUlnlJUfUlUUIIU1U1I1I1I1I1Il11l,lIIlIlUfUlIJlUrUlUlJllUJI1fUfnUl1nUmUIlUlUlflllfllfffUnllfflllUIIIIIIIIImUIUt 364 working along like this when Always-Living-at-the-Coast dropped his hammer into the split. He asked Coyote, who was smaller, to go down into the crack and get the hammer. When Coyote went in, the old man quickly knocked out the wedges holding the split open. Coyote spit out the alderwood, which looked like blood, and the old man thought his son-in-law was dead. "This serves you right for thinking you could come and marry my daughter," he said, and left. Coyote put on the mask of the wren and Hew up out of the crack. He caught up with Always-Living-at-the-Coast. 'Why did you leave me behind there, Father-in-law? The log dosed up and I was almost trapped." "Oh, I'm glad to see you! I almost cried myself to death when it happened. I was going home now to tell my daughter. I thought you were dead. I'm glad you got out; I didn't think it was possible." They both got into the old man's canoe and started paddling toward home. Coyote was chewing a piece of wood. When it was soft, he took it out, carved it into the shape of a killer whale, and threw it into the water. "You will be the killer whales of future generations," he said. Just then the killer whales came up out of the water and snatched Always-Living-at-the-Coast out of the canoe. When he got home, Death-Bringing Woman asked him where her father was, and Coyote said he didn't know. Later the woman had a son. One morning Coyote took his son and went away. -Reported by Barry Lopez, 1977 . • GLOOSCAP GRANTS THREE WISHES • [ALGONQUIAN] Even the great Glooscap can behave like a trickster, especially when people ask him for the frivolous. • II\IIIIIHUWUIUllllllllllllllnIlIlUII\IIIIIIUmIlUIIIHIIIIIIHYIII_nlllllllnIllllllUUUllllnnlll • When men had heard that Glooscap, the lord of men and beasts, would grant a wish to anyone who could come to him, three Indians resolved tIIlllllllllU1IIII1IUIlIlIIIIllItUllllfllllllllJtUfUJlUllllitUtlUlUl,IIIII11Ul1ll1JfflfllIIUmWlllnIIIIIlIllUlllllllnlllllllimmUIltUlltlllllllllll1l11ll11lmllllU1!UIII1111111111111111111111 365 to attempt the journey. One was a Maliseet from St. John, and the other two were Penobscots from Old Town. The path was long and the way hard, and they suffered much during the seven years that it took them. But while they were still three months' journey from his home, they heard the barking of his dogs, and as they drew nearer day by day, the noise was louder. And so after great trials, they found him, and he made them welcome and entertained them. Before they went, he asked them what they wanted. And the eldest, an bonest, simple man with no standing at home because he was a bad hunter, said he wanted to be a master at catching and killing game. Then Glooscap gave him a flute, or magic pipe, which pleases every ear and has the power of persuading every animal to follow him who plays it. The man thanked the lord and left. The second Indian, on being asked what he would have, replied, "the love of many women." And when Glooscap asked how many, he said, "I don't care how many, just so there are enough and more than enough." The god seemed displeased to hear this but, smiling, gave the man a bag which was tightly tied and told him not to open it until he reached home. So the second Indian thanked the lord and left. The third Indian was a gay and handsome but foolish young fellow whose whole heart was set on making people laugh. When asked what he chiefly wanted, he said he would like to be able to make a certain quaint and marvelous sound, like breaking wind or belching, which was frequently heard in those primitive times among all the Wabanaki. The effect of this noise is such that they who hear it always burst out laughing. And to him Glooscap was also affable, securing from the woods a certain magic root which, when eaten, would create the miracle the young man sought. But Glooscap warned him not to touch the root until he got home. Elated, the man thanked the lord and left. It had taken the three Indians seven years to get there, but seven days were all they needed to return home. Yet only one of the men ever saw his lodge again. This was the hunter, who trudged through the woods with his pipe in his pocket and peace in his heart, happy to know that as long as he lived he would always have venison in his larder. But the man who loved women, yet had never even won a wife, was anxious to know whether Glooscap's magic would work. He hadn't gone very far into the woods before he opened the bag. And there flew out by the hundreds, like white doves swarming about him, beautiful girls with black, burning eyes and flowing hair. Wild with passion, they threw their arms around him and kissed him as he responded to their embraces. But they crowded thicker and thicker, wilder and more passionate. He asked them to give him air, but they would not, and he 1IIIIUlitlUllfI111111rUltlllllll'IIIIlIIIIIII1f11UfllllliliUllUlilifUlIIIIIIIIIUmUUlJlIllIllIlllPllIHlllIIllHlmmllJl1lJJlliIIlllHiltlU,lillUlllUffllltUtfUl1111111ll11U1ll1lliUflUtnlflllll tried to escape, but he could not; and so, panting, crying for breath, he smothered. And those who came that way found him dead, but what became of the girls no man knows. Now, the third Indian went merrily along the path when all at once it Hashed on his mind that Glooscap had given him a present. And without the least thought of Glooscap's warning, he drew out the root and ate it. Scarcely had he done this before he realized that he had the power of uttering the weird and mystic sound to perfection. It rang over the hills and woke the distant echoes until it was answered by a solemn owl, and the young man felt that it was indeed wonderful. So he walked on gayly, trumpeting as he went, happy as a bird. But by and by he began to feel weary of his performance. Seeing a deer, he drew an arrow, stole closer, and was just about to shoot when in spite of himself the wild, unearthly sound broke forth like a demon's warble. The deer bounded away, and the young man cursed. By the time he reached Old Town half dead with hunger, he was not much to laugh over, though at first the Indians did chuckle, which cheered him up a little. But as the days went on they wearied of his joke and began to avoid him. His unpopularity made him feel that his life was a burden, and he went into the woods and killed himself. -From a legend reported in r 884 by Charles C. Leland. tUllltt1ll11JIIIIIJIUII1I1IUIIIIIJllIlllnrllllllumItlIIIUlUlIIUliIlIlIIUIIIIU,"'IIIUIIIUJUUItlIllIIIUlIIHlIIIIIIII'UflfllIIUIIIIIIIIIIlIUUlltlllllflfflllllIIIIIIIIIIIIUtUU1111111I1JIUIIIIII 367 • COYOTE1S RABBIT CHASE • [TEWA] Here is another version of the Cochiti "Contest for Wives." • 1IIIIIIIIDUHIIHnOIlHnODlIIDlIIIIIHD..wIHIlDlIIIIIIHnOBBIOlllllllllllllllllmIlllHDIl111111 • Coyote got up early one morning feeling unusually full of pep. He trotted along the ridge of a wash just as the sun was beginning to appear on the distant horizon. As he ran, he spotted a small, lumbering figure moving slowly below him. He loped down to see who it was and recognized Badger. "Greetings, brother!" he called. Quietly Badger wished him a good morning. Coyote had already hatched a plot to get the best of Badger, so as the two paused to visit; Coyote said: "Brother, it's such a fine day that we shouldn't waste it just wandering around. Why don't we have a contest and a wager? Let's each spend the day hunting rabbits, and at sunset we'll return to this spot with our catch. Whoever kills the most rabbits gets to spend the night with the other's wife. What do you say, brother Badger?" At first Badger did not think this was such a good idea, but fearing that Coyote would call him a coward, he accepted. As the two set out in opposite directions, Coyote felt there was no way he could lose. While he ran, he imagined how it would be to spend the night with Badger Woman. After a while he spotted a jackrabbit nibbling grass in a shady spot. He took off after it, yelling "Yip! Yip! YIp. 'I" Now, this jackrabbit had also just emerged from his hole, and he too was full of pep on this morning. He led Coyote a merry daylong chase up and down washes, over hills, and through forests. Coyote was serenely confident, thinking, "This jackrabbit should be all I need to beat old Badger, so slow, so cumbersome, so nearsighted. I doubt whether he'd catch anything if he had a whole year." In this fashion the day slowly waned. Just before sunset Coyote finally wore the jackrabbit down and caught it. He hurried back to the rendezvous with Badger feeling quite sure of himself. Meanwhile, Badger had hatched a plan of his own. Soon after their parting, he hurried to a system of rabbit holes that he knew were nearby, and at the first one he began to dig with his powerful claws and muscles. IIllllI1I11I1IUIIUIIIIIUJ.UlllUflHlIIIIIIIJllIIIIIIIIItUIlIlIlIlIUIiUlIIUllltIllIIlIllIlllflllIlII,IIIIIIIIUIIHllllUlnUillUllllIlIIlIIlIlIlIUrnUflUfltlllUUmlUlIJIIIlUlIlIlllIlIIllllIIUUl1I 368 In short order he caught several half-asleep rabbits. By the time he made his way through the entire tunnel system, he had twelve of them. These he laid out in a row above the tunnels as fast as he caught them, so while Coyote was just getting into his jackrabbit chase, Badger already had twelve rabbits. Badger leisurely took several trips to carry his catch to the rendezvous, and then he searched until he found a spot of shade to wait for Coyote. He was surprised when Coyote appeared, worn out and dripping with perspiration, carrying one jackrabbit. When Coyote spotted Badger's catch, he realized that his trick had backfired. That night Coyote had to remain outside his own den while Badger made endless love to his wife. Throughout the night these lovemaking sessions were marked with howls of pain from Coyote Woman, because Badger has a drill-shaped penis which hurt her terribly. Coyote didn't sleep at all that night, and the next morning his wife, very sore from the exertions of the evening, said: "Old man! You think you're so smart! You lose contests and I have to pay for your stupidity!" -Translated from the Tewa by Alfonso Ortiz • COYOTE GETS RICH OFF THE WHITE MEN • [WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE] • 1II1111111111UlllftllllllllllllllllllllUUKHlIIIIIIIUlllllllllllUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIUUYIIII11111111111 • Once when Coyote was visiting various camps, he and Bobcat heard about a white man who was making some whisky. They went together to the man's house and managed to steal some, and after they had run a short distance with it, they stopped to drink. Then Coyote said, "My cousin, I feel so good, I'd like to holler!" "No, we're still close to those white men," Bobcat said. "I won't holler loud, cousin," Coyote said. They kept arguing and drinking. Finally Bobcat said, "All right then, holler quietly." Coyote intended to holler softly, but before he knew it he got carried away and was hollering as loud as he could. Now, the white men heard the noise and headed right toward him. IlllUllIlIlllIlIlllII.llllllllll11tllllllllUmltlllUUltJlllIIllUlllItlllllllUUIIIIIIn1ll1l111lUlQIIlm1ll1l111Ullfl11llUl1111II1IU1I1II1IUl1111II1Ul1I1111Ulfl11U111111II1UIIIIUilUUIIIIUUUlil 369 Bobcat had enough whisky in him to feel good, but Coyote was really drunk. When the white men surrounded them, Bobcat got up and sailed over the nearest man with one jump. In a second jump he leaped over all the rest and got away. So they arrested Coyote and took him in chains to the town jail. Later on, Bobcat used to visit Coyote from time to time, and once they arrested Bobcat and had them both locked up for quite a while. One day the two prisoners watched some white men breaking horses in front of the jail. There was one horse that no one could get close to, and Coyote boasted, "I could saddle that horse right away." The prison guard told the men what Coyote had said, and they decided to let him out and see what he could do. Now Coyote knew horse power, and when he had used it with the horse, it wasn't wild any more. He got on and rode it around and then thought he would have some fun. The horse balked, and though he kicked it gently with his heel, it wouldn't move. Coyote told the white people to put on a fancy saddle. They brought out a brand new one with taps and saddle bags and everything on it, just as he wanted. He put it on the animal, remounted, and kicked it, but gently, so it wouldn't move. "This horse is thinking about a nice white bridle and bit and lines, all covered with silver," said Coyote. Actually the horse was ready to go, but Coyote kept holding him in. The men brought a fine bridle and put it on the horse. Then Coyote dismounted the horse and said, "I want you to fill the saddle bags with crackers and cheese; that's what the horse wants. Also, I have to wear a good white shirt and vest, and a big show hat, and a pair of white-handled pistols in a belt. That's what the horse likes. And good silver spurs: the horse wants these also." They brought all this finery for Coyote and filled the saddle bags. Now Coyote got on the horse. Ahead by the gate were some American soldiers. He kicked the horse hard and started for the soldiers at a gallop, making it look as if the horse were running away with him. The soldiers moved back, and he and the horse tore through the gate and disappeared. Later Coyote sat down by a spring under a walnut tree, thinking about the soldiers that he knew were after him. He swept the ground dean under the tree and strung his money up on its branches. Pretty soon the soldiers came along, and Coyote said, "I'm going to tell you about this tree. Money grows on it, and I want to sell it. Want to buy?" The soldiers were interested, and Coyote told them, "It takes a day for the money to grow and ripen. Today's crop is mine, but tomorrow it's all yours. I'll sell you this fine tree for all your pack mules." Coyote was always thinking about eating, and he hoped the packs held food. The soldiers ag:seed to the terms, and Coyote got a big rock and IIIl11l111IUIIIIIIIIIUlUUlUlIlltUIHlIII1II1IUllltllllUUIIIIIIIII1mtflllmfmllUIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHtIUUIIUlIiUlIIIJIIIIIIIIIUlllllllllllllflitrUlIlIltUmUlIU,mlllflllfllIlIlIJUlltUn threw it against the trunk. Most of the money fell to the ground. "See, it only ripens at noon," he said. "You have to hit it just at noon." He whacked the tree again, and the rest of the money dropped out. Now it was all on the ground, and the white men helped him pick it up and put it in sacks. They turned all their pack mules over, and he started off. Coyote traveled for the rest of the day and all night, until he was in another country. Meanwhile the soldiers camped under the walnut tree waiting for noon. Then the officer told the soldiers to hit the tree, and they pounded it hard. When no money fell out, the officer ordered it chopped down, cut into lengths, and split up, in case the money was inside. No matter what they did, they couldn't find even five cents. That night one of Coyote's mules got hungry and started to bray. Irritated at the noise, he killed every mule that brayed, until at last he had killed them all. So when he came to a white man's house, he bought a burro from him. Now Coyote was always thinking about how he could swindle someone, and the burro gave him another idea. Returning to his old home in the mountain, he put a lot of money up the burro's rear end, then kicked the animal in the belly so that it expelled \ all the money. He tried it again, and it worked as before. "This burro is going to make me lots of money," he thought. Coyote put his money in the burro's rear end and started for town, where he went to the big man in charge. "Look at this wonderful burro! His excrement is money, and it comes out of him every day." Coyote always talked like a Chiricahua. "Let's see him do it," the head man said. "All right, see for yourself. The first money that comes out is mine, but after that it's all yours." Coyote started kicking the burro in the belly, and his money fell out. He gathered it up. "Now it's yours," he said. "Tomorrow at the same time, he'll do it again." They paid him lots of money, and he went on his way. On the following day when the time came, the white men brought the burro out and kicked him. He merely broke wind. They kicked him all day till evening, then said, 'We might just as well kill this burro and look inside him." So they cut him open, but there wasn't a sign of money inside. -Based on a tale reported in 1939 by Grenville Goodwin. '1IIIIIIIlfrlllllflillUJlltfJIlllfJIIIUllfJllllliJUlllllllUilurUUllmnmittUmtlllllUIffllIUUItlOOUUlm'UIIIIIIlfIfUIlIUllnUICIflIIIIIUIIIIIIifUlUllllfliIlUillflIIlItIIIDlfllIIUIIIIIIII 371 IKTOME SLEEPS WITH HIS A WIFE BY MISTAKE • • [BRULE SIOUX] • 1IIIIIIIIINHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUnllllllllll\lllllllBIIIUIIIIIIIUllnUURlUllllllllllllllinIII • Iktome was dissatisfied. He was restless. Looking at his wife, he thought: "This woman has become old. She has become ugly. Her face is wrinkled. Her breasts are sagging. She's all dried up. It's no fun sleeping with a woman like that. I must have a young, pretty girl. I must have a young girl soon." His wife was looking at him. She knew him well, and she knew that look on his face. She said to herself: "That no-good husband of mine! He's thinking of some young, nice-looking winchinchala, not of giving me a little pleasure. I'll fix him!" "Well, I'll go out now," said Iktome. "I have things to do." "I bet," said his wife. Iktome was looking for a young girl to seduce. He saw one he liked: young and handsome, with laughing eyes, a laughing mouth, and dear, smooth skin. She wore a fine white doeskin outfit with little bells attached to it, so that she made a pleaSing sound when she moved. "This is the one," thought Ikto, "the one I shall sleep with tonight." He went up to the girl and said, "Pretty young winchinchala, is this your tipi you are standing in front of?" The girl just laughed. "I have many pretty things I could give you." The girl just laughed. "Tonight after everybody has gone to sleep, I'll creep into your tipi. You be on the left side of the door." The girl just laughed. "I am a great lover," boasted Iktome. "You have no idea of the pleasures that await you." The girl just laughed. She did not take Ikto seriously, he was so comical. But Iktome took her laughter for assent. "Well, I'll go now. Tonight I'll make love to you. Don't forget-at the left side of the door." From her tipi Iktome's wife had watched it all. After Ikto was gone, the wife went up to the girl. IUflU11U11Ul1111111111Ul11I1l111fll1lf1111l1lJUItUlltfl11lll11fillU11n1l1lIIIfJllfIIlllUlllllUllutKJllIIIUDlIIlIlUllIllIIlDJllmUllllllmUflilltfUllIIlllllIlIlll11IIIIIIIIUlIlflUUiUliUI1U1 372 "Winchinchala," she said, "has that no-good man asked you to sleep with him tonight?" "Yes," said the merry girl and laughed. "I knew it. In this tipi here?" "Yes, in this tipi." "Where do you sleep?" "He told me to sleep on the left side, close by the door." "Winchinchala, let's you and me change places with each othe~. Let's exchange clothes." "What will you give me?" asked the girl. "Why, this nice choker of red and blue beads." "And what else?" "These fine, big hair strings made of rare dentalium shells." "Oh my, these are pretty! All right, let's change places tonight." So, the winchinchala put on Ikto's wife's clothes and went into his tipi to sleep, while Ikto's wife took her place. That night after everyone had gone to sleep, Iktome crept into the pretty girl's tipi. At the left side he heard a woman stir, heard a slight tinkling of bells. He crept over there. "Oh pretty girl," he whispered, "it's me, your lover Ikto." There was giggling in the dark. "Oh pretty one, how fresh your mouth tastes, not like the mouth of my aged wife." There was more giggling. "Ah, how nice it is to fondle a firm young breast, not a sagging one like my wife's." There was more giggling. "Oh, pretty young one! How full of fire you are! How ardently you make love, not just lying there like dead, like myoId woman does it." There was more giggling. "Oh, how pleasingly moist, how wet, how juicy this is! Not dry like my WI'fes. ' " There was more giggling and squirming. "Ah! Aaaah! Oh! Oooooh!" More giggling and squirming. "Well, this was certainly enjoyable. Oh my! Yes, this was fun. Well, I must go now. Maybe pretty soon we'll do this again." There was a last giggle. "I wonder whether this winchinchala ever opens her mouth except to giggle," thought Ikto. He was panting. He went home very slowly because the woman he had slept with had dred him out. By the time he got to his tipi, his wife and the pretty girl had already exchanged places IllIUUtUlllllllllltlllllIllllUltllllllllUUIIUlllffllllllllllllllUJllll1IIIUJlIllllUJliNlinUtflllUllllllllltllllllllllllllillllJllIUllliUllUUUllIllllUtlflllJIllllllllltllllUlIUIiUlltUflllIllll1 373 again. They were now where they belonged. Iktome lay down beside his wife and fell asleep. In the morning when he awoke, his wife was already up and about. "Old Woman," he said, ''I'm hungry. Give me something good to eat." "I'll give you something," said his wife and hit him hard with her turnip digger. "Stop! stop! you crazy woman! What are you doing?" "So my mouth isn't fresh!" And she hit him again. "Oh, Oh, Oh Have pity on me!" "So my skin is wrinkled!" She was beating him all over. "Oh! ohl oh! Don't do that. It hurts, stop!" "So my breasts are sagging!" The blows were coming thick and fast. "Oh! oh! you're killing me!" "So I'm not a hot one, you say. I just lie there like dead!" and she hit him a real good one. "Oh, you're killing me!" "So I'm all dried up. I'm not pleasingly moist!" She was hitting Iktome harder than ever. "Have pity! I'll never sleep with anyone but you!" "Liar," she said and kept on whacking him. Iktome managed at last to crawl out of the tipi and get away from her. He was running, afraid his wife would catch up with him. A long way off he stopped, hurting so much all over that he could hardly move. His mind was hurt, too. "So I slept with my ugly old woman," he thought. "So she tricked me. Oh my! I'm losing my touch. If I don't watch out I'll make love to an old she-monster next. I must be more observant in the future." After a while he got hungry. Nobody fed him. Then he limped humbly back to his tipi. He entered cooing, making sweet talk: "Old Woman, you're still the prettiest. Be peacefuL Didn't I give you a good time last night? What's for breakfast?" -Recorded by Richard Erdoes while listening to stories around a powwow c.ampfire, July 7, 1971, in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. JUlrllllliUlmlUUmlinlUllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllnllUlllllllIUllllUlAUIlI,UllIIIlIIlIltMIIIIIIIlUUlIOOlhIlIIUlllUIIIUUtlIllUlllfIIIUlllfIIIUiitJiitIlUn1lIIIIIIUlllllllllillUIIIIII 374 • HOW TO SCARE A BEAR • [TEWA] • IIlIInIlHU_lIIIIInnUUIIIlUUUnnmnRHDIUIIIIIIII8aIIIIIIIHlIUlIIlUUllnlnnmRHI • Long ago and far away this did not happen. On top of Red Rock Hill, lived a little rabbit. Prickly pears were his favorite food, and every day he would hunt for them along the east bank bf the Rio Grande. Eventually he ate all the prickly pears on that bank, so he cast his hungry eyes across the river. He said to himself, "I'n bet plenty of them grow over there. Now, how am I going to get across the river to look?" The rabbit knew the river was too deep and too wide for him to swim on his own, and he sighed, "Oh, how I wish that Uncle Fast Water, who moves the current, were here to take me across." Fast Water heard and replied, "Child, I'm lying right here. What can I do for you?" The little rabbit leaped toward the sound. "Uncle, so this is where you live!" "Yes, this is the place," said his uncle. 'What kind of work do you want from me?" "I want to cross the river· to pick prickly pears, but the water is too deep and too wide for me. Will you help me get across?" Fast Water agreed, so the little rabbit sat on top of his head. "Splash! Splash! Splash!" went the water, and quickly the two were on the other side. "Be sure and call me when you want to come back," Fast Water said when they landed. The rabbit wanted to get home before night fell, so he wasted no time but went right to picking and eating prickly pears. Then Brother Bear appeared. "Little Rabbit!" "Yes, Brother Bear?" "My! What a pretty necklace you have." "Yes, isn't it?" "I want to make a bet with you for that necklace," said Brother Bear. "I'm willing to bet my red necklace for yours. If I win, you'll give me yours, and if you win, I'll give you mine." Little rabbit agreed, and they arranged to meet at noon the next day in the same spot. That afternoon the little rabbit returned to the river, and his uncle easily carried him back across the water. 1IIIIIIIUllluurUIUllltlllllllllllllnllllllllllillUII1mUltlUlIIIJIIIIIII1IIIIIU",Ulllllllun1l1U1lUllllllllmllllllllUlllltllllllllIlllllIllUlIltUlIllII1IIIIIUlIIIIIIIIIIIIJIIIIUUIIIIIIIIIIIlII 375 "Tomorrow you must wait for me, Uncle. I have placed a bet with Brother Bear, and I'll need you to carry me across the river again!" "I'll wait for you," replied his uncle. "I know you'll win." The next day the little rabbit got up early and hurried to meet Brother Bear. Because of his early start, he arrived first and decided to stroll in the woods. As he was hopping around, he spotted an old horse bell that still had a dried-up piece of leather tied to it. He hung it around his neck, and with each jump the bell went "Clank! Clank!" The little rabbit said to himself, "I think this bell will come in very handy with Brother Bear." And he hid the bell carefully iri the woods. When noon came, Brother Bear appeared. "You're here early," he said. "Yes," answered the little rabbit, but he said nothing more. The two picked a place in the dense wooded area to have their contest. Then Brother Bear made a circle on the ground with a stick. "Little Rabbit, you can go first," said Brother Bear. "Oh, no," said the little rabbit. "You wanted to bet, and you should go first." . "Yes, I'll go first. I'll bet you I'm the braver of us two. See that circle? You sit in it, and if you move even a little from where you're sitting I WIn. . " Little Rabbit sat down, and Brother Bear took off into the woods. A few minutes later the rabbit heard strange sounds: Aaah ... Aaaah ... Aaah .. . Tweet . .. Tweet . .. Tweet . . . Aaah ... Aaaah ... Aaah .. . Tweet . .. Tweet . .. Tweet . . . "I know that's Brother Bear," thought the little rabbit. "He's trying to scare me, but I won't move." Closer and closer came the strange sounds. Suddenly, with a crash, a great big tree came tumbling down and barely missed the little rabbit. 1I,I111111111UIUlIJlltUIIIII111111111UUUlllllillflllllllltrllllfllllUIIIIII1f1llIlIlIUlilutmlllllfftlitmOOnmllllltnnlftluunllfllll!UJlIIIUUlUtIIltllfUllinmUIIIIIIIIntUlIIlll,lIlmu "You moved! You moved! I saw you move!" shouted Brother Bear. "No, I didn't move. Come and see for yourself," answered the rabbit. Brother bear couldn't find any foot marks and had to agree that the little rabbit had not moved at all. Little Rabbit said to Brother Bear, "Now you must sit in this circle as I did in yours." The rabbit drew a circle, and Brother Bear sat in it. Leaving Brother Bear sitting in the circle, the rabbit headed into the woods. He just put the old horse bell around his neck and headed toward the place where Brother Bear was waiting. After he had hopped a few steps, the little rabbit stopped, rang the horse hen, and sang: Ah nana-na--Ah nana-na-­ Is cha-nay--Cha nana-ne-­ Coo ha ya Where are you sitting, my bear friend? When Brother Bear heard this, he thought, "That's not my friend Little Rabbit. This is something else altogether_" Coming closer to the circle where Brother Bear was sitting, the little rabbit rang his horse bell louder and sang his song once more. Brother Bear, growing really frightened, stood up and ran. The little rabbit jumped out and called, "You've lostl Let me have your necklacel" As the story goes, the little rabbit defeated Brother Bear. And today if you see a rabbit around the Tewa country, and if he has a red ring around his neck, you can be sure that the rabbit is descended from the little rabbit who won Brother Bear's pretty red necklace. -Translated from the Tewa by Alfonso Ortiz • COYOTE STEALS SUN1S TOBACCO • [WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE] One day Slim Coyote started out to Sun's house. When he got there Sun was not home, but his wife was. 'Where is my cousin Sun?" he UfIIlltUiUnllIIIIlIJIlIIIIlIUIIllIlIIIfIIIIUlUtllllllllmIIllIIlUIIIUIIU1l1l1llllnllUllIWIIHllItmllllllUlIIUtllllllllllllllflllllllll1UnUlUllllllnllIIIllllUllllllllltllllltl11lftilitIJIJIUI 377 asked. Sun's wife said that he had gone out and was not home yet. Coyote saw Sun's tobacco bag hanging up on the side of the house. "I came to smoke and talk with my cousin," said Slim Coyote, "so give me a smoke while I'm waiting. He won't mind, he's my cousin." Coyote was talking to Sun's wife as if she were his mother-in-law. She handed him the tobacco bag, and he used it to fill his own little buckskin bag. Then he quickly hid his bag and rolled a cigarette, so that he actually got off with a lot of Sun's tobacco without her noticing. "Since my cousin hasn't come back yet, I guess I won't wait after all," Coyote told her, and started home. Pretty soon Sun arrived. "Who's been here and gone again?" he asked, looking at his depleted tobacco bag. "Somebody who said he was your cousin," answered his wife. She told him what had happened, and Sun was very angry. "I'll get that fellow," he said. He went out front where he had Black Wind Horse tied, and saddled him up and set off after Coyote. Black Wind Horse could Ry, and when he traveled he made a noise like lightning. A light rain started to fall and covered up Coyote's tracks, but Sun could still follow the thief by the ashes from his cigarette. It kept raining, and pretty soon the tobacco Coyote had with him started to grow. Soon it was putting out leaves, then Rowers. At last it ripened and dried, and the wind scattered the seeds everywhere. When Sun saw this, he gave up chasing Coyote and went home. When Coyote got back to the Apache camp where he was living, he kept his tobacco for himself and wouldn't give any away. The people kept asking him for a little smoke, but he said no. The Apache held a council on how to get Coyote's tobacco away from him, and they decided to pretend to give him a wife. "We're going to give you a wife," they told him, and Coyote said, "You're trying to fool me." "No we're not," they said, "we're really going to give you a wife." They set up a new wickiup for Coyote, dressed a young boy as a girl, and told the boy not to let Coyote touch him till just before dawn. They made a bed in the new wickiup, and Coyote felt so good that he gave them all his tobacco. Just about dusk the boy dressed as a girl went over and sat down beside Coyote in his new wickiup. Slim Coyote was so excited he could not stand up but just crawled around on the ground. "Why don't you come to bed?" he said to his bride. "Let's hurry and go to bed." But the boy just sat there. After a while, when Coyote was more and more impatient, the boy lay down by him but not close to him. "I want you to lie close," Coyote said, and tried to touch the boy. But the boy said, "Don'd" and pushed Coyote's hand away. This kept up all night, until just before dawn Coyote made a grab UlUlllllfl11lf1UlllllllllflumflIIItlIUIIIIIIIIIIIII"llUllllltUlIfIIiRlIlIJIUIiUfIIlllllflllnllllllfflllmlltllffnlltfUUlllllflIllllllfttJlIlIUllllilJUUlIlIUlfUJlllllllIlJ1f11111t1UnUnUfflf 378 and caught hold of the boy's penis. He let go right away and jumped back. "Get away from me; get back from me; you're a boy, not a girl," he said. Then Coyote got up and called the people. "You lied to me," he said. "You didn't give me a wife at all. Give me my tobacco back!" But no matter how loudly he yelled, they wouldn't do it. This is the way the people first got tobacco. -Based on a legend reported by Grenville Goodwin in 1939 . • DOING A TRICK WITH EYEBALLS • [NORTHERN CHEYENNE] • QIIII1DHII~lIII1Dnlllll11lMlllUllnllll/llllllllll_1IIIIIIII1I1111DRlI • Veeho is like some tourists who come into an Indian village not knowing how to behave or what to do, trying to impress everybody. One day Veeho met a medicine man with great powers. This man thought to amuse Veeho-and himself-with a little trick. "Eyeballs," he shouted, HI command you to By out of my head and hang on that tree over there." At once his eyeballs shot out of his head and in a Bash were hanging from a tree branch. Veeho watched open-mouthed. "Hal Eyeballs!" cried the medicine man, "now come back where you belong!" And quick as lightning, the eyeballs were back where they ought to be. "Uncle," said Veeho, "please give me a little of your power so that I too can do this wonderful trick." To himself Veeho was thinking, "Then I can set up as a medicine man; then people will look up to me, especially good-looking girls; then people will give me many gifts!" "Why not?" said the medicine man. 'Why not give you a little power to please you? But, listen, Veeho, don't do this trick more than four times a day, or your eyeballs won't come back." "I won't," said Veeho. Veeho could hardly wait to get away and try out this stunning trick. As soon as he was alone, he ordered: "Eyeballs, hop on that ledge over there. Jump to itl" And the eyeballs did. Veeho couldn't see a thing. "Quickly, eyeballs, back into your sockets!" The eyeballs obeyed. "Boy, oh boy," Veeho said to himself, "what a big man I am. Powerful, really powerfuL" Soon he saw another tree. ttnllUllUJllIlIllIUllllllllllllllfUlmlllllunllflllUllmlllllllhUOOilllfllnUUlUdII,hilI,mflftlllllllnmUJlltftllflllllllllllllUllltuttlllllllllllllllllUlllIUlllltlllllllllttlllll1lUtllli 379 "Eyeballs, up into that tree, quick!" For a second time the eyeballs did as they were told. "Back into the skull!" Veeho shouted, snapping his fingers. And once more the eyeballs jumped back. Veeho was enjoying himself, getting used to this marvellous trick. He couldn't stop. Twice more he performed it. "Well, that's it for today," he said. Later he came to a big village and wanted to impress the people with his powers. "Would you believe it, cousins," he told them, "I can make my eyeballs jump out of my head, fly over to that tree, hang themselves from a branch, and come back when I tell them." The people, of course, didn't believe him; they laughed. Veeho grew angry. "It's true, it's true!" he cried. "You stupid people, I can do it." "Show us," said the people. "How often have I done this trick?" Veeho tried to remember. "Four times? No, no. The first time was only for practice; it doesn't count. I can still show these dummies something." And he commanded: "Eyeballs, hang yourselves on a branch of that tree!" The eyeballs did, and a great cry of wonder and astonishment went up. "There, you louts, didn't I tell you?" said Veeho, strutting around, puffing himself up. After a while he said: "All right, eyeballs, come back!" But the eyeballs stayed up in the tree. "Come back, come back, you no-good eyeballs;" Veeho cried again and again, but the eyeballs stayed put. Finally a big fat crow lighted on that tree and gobbled them up. "Mm, good," said the crow, "very tasty." The people laughed at Veeho, shook their heads, and went away. Veeho was blind now. He didn't know what to do. He groped through the forest. He stumbled. He ran into trees. He sat down by a stone and cried. He heard a squeaking sound. It was a mouse calling other mice. "Mouse, little mouse," cried Veeho, "I am blind. Please lend me one of your eyes so that I can see again." "My eyes are tiny," answered the mouse, "much too tiny. What good would one of them do you? It wouldn't fit." But Veeho begged so pitifully that the mouse finally gave him an eye, saying: "I guess I can get along with the other one." So Veeho had one eye, but it was very small indeed. What he saw was just a tiny speck of light. Still, it was better than nothing. Veeho staggered on and met a buffalo. "Buffalo brother," he begged, "I have to get along with just this one tiny mouse eye. How can a bIg man like me make do with that? Have pity on me, brother, and lend me one of your big, beautiful eyes." "What good would one of my eyes do you?" asked the buffalo. "It's much too big for your eye hole." But Veeho begged and wept and wheedled until the buffalo said: "Well, all right, I'll let you have one. 1I11f1UlllllflilUlllllllnlllllllllllnlllllllJUlrllutJlIUIIIUJllllllllllllilllfJllllllltmtttlUltlftllifllftl,,",OOIlIllUtnntlllffltlftllllfllllllllnnnIlIlIIffUII11fIUUlIiIlfUlJllfi1111111111'" 380 I can't stand listening to you carrying on like that. I guess I can get by WIt'h one eye. " And so Veeho had his second eye. The buffalo bull's eye was much too big. It stuck out of its socket like a shinny ball boys like to play with. It made everything look twice as big as his own eyes had. And since the mouse eye saw everything ten times smaller, Veeho got a bad headache. But what could he do? It was better than being blind. "It's a bad mess, though," said Veeho. Veeho went back to his wife and lodge. His wife looked at him. "I believe your eyes are a little mismatched," she told him. And he described all that had happened to him. "You know," she said, "I think you should stop fooling around, trying to impress people with your tricks." "I guess so," said Veeho. -Told by Rachel Strange Owl in Birney, Montana, 1971, and recorded by Richard Erdoes . • IKTOME HAS A BAD DREAM • [BRULE SIOUX] • BIIlIIURmIUIlftllllllllUORmIllllUORmIllllllllllllllIllllUIIIDIIIIIlIIIIIftIIIIIIIIHDRIIIIRmUD\l • Once in the middle of the night, Iktome woke up in a cold sweat after a bad dream. His friend Coyote, who was visiting, noticed something wrong. "Friend, what's the matter," he asked. "I had a very bad dream," said Iktome. "What did you dream of?" "I dreamed I saw a very pretty winchinchala about to take a bath in the stream." "It doesn't sound like a very bad dream," said Coyote. ''This girl was taking her clothes off. I saw her naked. She had a very fine body." "My friend, decidedly, this is not a bad dream." "I dreamed I was hiding behind some bush at quite a distance from her. As I watched her, my penis began to grow. It grew exceedingly long. It was winding toward her like a long snake." "There's nothing wrong with this dream." tlUltlIlItUIII'llJItlIUl1l1lflllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.HlIIIIIIIIIIIIUllllllllUllllllmIIUIIImmnlllnmUlllllillmmilUmiltflll1UUUIIIIJIIIUlUliIQIJIIIIIIJUUnnUUII,IIIIII111Utlllf 381 "My penis was like a long, long rope. It went all the way over to that girl. It went into the water. It touched her." "Kanji, cousin, let me tell you, I wish I had such a dream." "Now, my friend, the tip of my penis entered that girl. She didn't even notice it at first." "Kola, I'm telling you, this is a fine dream." "Then my penis entered the girl all the way. She seemed to like it." "This is as good a dream as I ever heard of, my friend." "Just at that mOment I heard a great noise. I had been so excited in my dream that I hadn't noticed a team of horses pulling a big wagon. It was right on top of me, a wasichu's-a white man's-wagon. It was coming at a dead run, and the white man was whipping his horses. This wagon was very heavy, my friend, it had heavy wheels of iron. It was going between me and that girl . . ." "Friend, you were right. This is indeed a very bad dream," said Coyote. -Told in a bar at Winner, South Dakota, 1969, and recorded by Richard Erdoes• • HOW COYOTE GOT HIS CUNNING • [KAROK] Kareya was the god who in the very beginning created the world. First he made the fishes in the ocean; then he made the animals on land; and last of all he made a man. He had, however, given all the animals the same amount of rank and power. So he went to the man he had created and said, "Make as many bows and arrows as there are animals. I am going to call all the animals together, and you are to give the longest bow and arrow to the one that should have the most power, and the shortest to the one that should have the least." So the man set to work making bows and arrows, and at the end of IIIfllllUlllllUfIIUUlfmmllllllltllllllmllllllWIUflIttWUtJII'UlllllimUflllllllmllnIlWmIllUllllfUlUtmlllUuUUIIIIIUlI.,HllllfllllllllfIlllll(flIIIIIIIJlIJIIIIIIIIIII1111111111111111 382 nine days he had turned out enough for all the animals created by Kareya. Then Kareya called them all together and told them that the man would come to them the next day with the bows, and the one to whom he gave'the longest would have the most power. Each animal wante~ to be the one to get the longest bow. Coyote schemed to outwit the others by staying awake all night. He thought that if he was the first to meet the man in the morning, he could get the longest bow for himself. So when the animals went to sleep, Coyote lay down and only pretended to sleep. About midnight, however, he began to feel genuinely sleepy. He got up and walked around, scratching his eyes to keep them open. As time passed, he grew sleepier. He resorted to skipping and jumping to keep awake, but the noise waked some of the other animals, so he had to stop. About the time the morning star came up, Coyote was so sleepy that he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. So he took two little sticks and sharpened them at the ends, and with these he propped his eyelids open. Then he felt it was safe to sleep, since his eyes could watch the morning star rising. He planned to get up before the star was completely up, for by then all the other animals would be stirring. In a few minutes, however, Coyote was fast asleep. The sharp sticks pierced right through his eyelids, and instead of keeping them open, they pinned them shut. When the rest of the animals got up, Coyote lay in a deep sleep. The animals went to meet the man and receive their bows. Cougar was given the longest, Bear the next-longest, and so on until the next-tolast bow was given to Frog. The shortest bow was still left, however. "What animal have I missed?" the man cried. The animals began to look about, and they soon spied Coyote lying fast asleep. They all laughed heartily and danced around him. Then they led him to the man, for Coyote's eyes were pinned together by the sticks and he could not see. The man pulled the sticks out of Coyote's eyes and gave him the shortest bow. The animals laughed so hard that the man began to pity Coyote, who would be the weakest of them all. So he prayed to Kareya about Coyote, and Kareya responded by giving Coyote more cunning than any other animal. And that's how Coyote got his cunning. -A tale reported by E. W. Gifford in 1930. UUllllUllnJIIllll1ll1f1l11l11llUIJllftlllllllmllltnJIIUlflUIIUllllllllllUlIlJunnllll1IIUlUlllltttllllUllmllllllllUlunmllllUmUlfIlIlIJlIlllllUllIllIIlIUlflllllllttlllll1lnUU11lil11111 383 • COYOTE AND THE TWO FROG WOMEN • [ALSEA] • IIIIIDIIIIIIiIIIIIIMMnllllllilllllllMllIIIIIiIIlIIIIIiII_IIJIIIIIIIIWIII1lIIIHnlmIIlIIlIlIllIIIlIIIllIR • Coyote had no wife, and nobody wanted him. So one day he decided that he would go to the coast to look for dried salmon to buy. He wasn't gone long when he came upon two frog women who were digging in the ground for camas. They called, 'Where are you going?" He acted as if he didn't hear. When they had yelled at him for a third time, he seemed to pay attention. "What do you want?" "Nothing. We've just been trying to ask you a question." "What is it?" 'Where are you going?" "I'm going to the coast to look for salmon." "All right; are you going to leave us some on your way back?" "Certainly," said Coyote. So he went on. Now he was thinking, "I wonder how I'm going to playa trick on those two?" He hadn't gone far when he saw some yellow-jacket wasps hanging on a branch. He went to their nest, took it off the tree, and dosed it so that the yellow jackets could not fly out. Then, slipping it into his basket, he opened the nest again and tied the basket so that the wasps could fly around inside but not come out. Coyote put the basket on like a pack and went back to the women digging for camas. He didn't seem to pay any attention to them, so they shouted, "Hey, are you on your way home?" "Yes, I am on my way horne. " "How much sa1mon are you b' rIngmg . bac.k';l" "N1 ot very muc h . .. "You promised to leave some behind for us two." "All right, come and get it." They came up, and he began to untie his pack. "You two put your heads inside this basket!" They did, whereupon he kicked the pack. The yellow jackets came out so angry that they stung the two frog women to death. After the women had died, Coyote took off their vulvas and went on. Now whenever he felt like intercourse, he dug a hole in the ground, put those vulvas there, and then did it. Pretty soon the two women came to life again. One began to examine herself and cried, "My vulva is gone! How about you?" The other looked, flUlllllltmtUUIlIfUIIU1lUnllmlllllllllllfllUJIlIIflItUllllflllunnnJtllfllllhUlII,lrtUUllfffJllllllflUOOIfIIlIlIUUlUtllIIIUQIIUIUlnJllIlu,nUUUfllUllIll1fflUflllfUlmll,IIIIUII 384 and hers was gone too! They agreed that it was Coyote who played the trick on them. For this reason frogs, they say, have no female organs. -Based on a tale from 190 I • • COYOTE DANCES WITH A STAR • [CHEYENNE] • nmallllUllHDII!IIDallllUllmnm.-mmIlllIHDII!IIDnRlllnUlnUl1IllnRMIIIIIIIIIB • Because the Great Mystery Power had given Coyote much of his medicine, Coyote himself grew very powerful and very conceited. There was nothing, he believed, that he couldn't do. He even thought he was more powerful than the Great Mystery, for Coyote was sometimes wise but also a fool. One day long ago, it came into his mind to dance with a star. "I really feel like doing this," he said. He saw a bright star coming up from behind a mountain, and called out: "Hoh, you star, wait and come down! I want to dance with you." The star descended until Coyote could get hold of him, and then soared up into the sky, with Coyote hanging on for dear life. Round and round the sky went the star. Coyote became very tired, and the arm that was holding onto the star grew numb, as if it were coming out of its socket. "Star," he said, "I believe I've done enough dancing for now. I'll let go and be getting back home." "No, wait; we're too high up," said the star. "Wait until I come lower over the mountain where I picked you up." Coyote looked down at the earth. He thought it seemed quite near. "I'm tired, star; I think I'll leave now; we're low enough," he said, and let go. Coyote had made a bad mistake. He dropped down, down, down. He fell for a full ten winters. He plopped through the earth clouds at last, and wh~n he finally hit ground, he was flattened out like a tanned, stretched deerskin. So he died right there. ItIUlIlltllllllll1lll11l11UllilltlllIlllllf1lllllt1l1lfnlllllttllllttltnlllllllllmliIUlllllllnlllmllnlUllllllflllllllllllllllflllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllflll11ttlllliliUlIIIIIIUlilltlllll11111111111 Now, the Great Mystery Power had amused himself by giving Coyote several lives. It took Coyote quite a few winters, however, to puff himself up again into his old shape. He had grown quite a bit older in all that time, but he had not grown less foolish. He boasted: "Who besides me could dance with stars, and fall out of the sky for ten long winters, and be flattened out like a deer hide, and live to tell the tale? I am Coyote. I am powerful. I can do anything!" Coyote was sitting in front of his lodge one night, when from behind the mountain there rose a strange kind of star, a very fast one, trailing a long, shining tail. Coyote said to himself: "Look at that fast star; what fun to dance with him!" He called out: "Ho, strange star with the long tail! Wait for me; come down; let's dance!" The strange, fast star shot down, and Coyote grabbed hold. The star whirled off into the vastness of the universe. Again Coyote had made a bad mistake. Looking up from his lodge into the sky, he had had no idea of that star's real speed. It was the fastest thing in the universe. It whirled Coyote around so swiftly that first one and then the other of his legs dropped off. Bit by bit, small pieces of Coyote were tom off in this mad race through the skies, until at last only Coyote's right hand was holding onto that fast star. Coyote fell back down to earth in little pieces, a bit here and a bit there. But soon the pieces. started looking for each other, slowly coming together, forming up into Coyote again. It took a long time-several winters. At last Coyote was whole again except for his right hand, which was still whirling around in space with the star. Coyote called out: "Great Mystery! I was wrong. I'm not as powerful as you. I'm not as powerful as I thought. Have pity on me!" Then the Great Mystery Power spoke: "Friend Coyote. I have given you four lives. Two you have already wasted foolishly. Better watch out!" "Have pity on me," wailed Coyote. "Give me back my right hand." "That's up to the star with the long tail, my friend. You must have patience. Wait until the star appears to you, rising from behind the mountain again. Then maybe he will shake your hand off." "How often does this star come over the mountain?" "Once in a hundred lifetimes," said the Great Mystery. -Retold from several North Californian fragments. 1IIIIfl1llt1UIIIIJIIUIIllIIlIllIIIlIII1I1IIUIIIJIlIIllIInIIIJlIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIUlllllrttllltlllllllllllUlllrtlllllllllllffllllllllnmltllUflUlIllIUtIlUllIllUlll1f1Ul1I.lllflllllltul'"lllllllllUnIlU 386 • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • PART EldHT 1"1111 FOUR LECil, TWO LECil, AND NO LECiI 1111111 STORIES OF ANIMALS AND OTHER PEOPLE ..... ..~ -"*"""-..... .--- ....... ..... ..... "'.......... ....... .,... ...... .... ......... ....... .--. ...... -.,. .~ ..... .~ .~ ..,. 1IIIIU'ljIIILUlllI111ItllltIIIILllI1I111111UIHHlllllmIU111!1II1I1111l1111111111lhllllllllilltllllllllllllilif • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • UlIIllllIIlIlllUlUuutlUllllllll1lllllUlIll1lUllllllllllllltlUl1IffnUlIlIIlIlllIIUIIUlUfUlIIUlll1IIIUIIIUlUUlIIIUTIIIIIIIIIIIUlUf1IIII1111IUUIUlinIUIItIIIUlIlIIllIImmIllIJtIIUlllltII! Animals are a swarming, talkative presence in the folklore of every Indian tribe. The number of tales in which they figure should not be surprising, given their major role in Indian mythology and religion. Their medicines are powerful, as are the emblems and tokens associated with them. We have seen a number of animals depicted as the creators of the universe and of the human race, and they freely move in and out of stories now as tricksters, now as culture bringers. In the Indian imagination there is no division between the animal and human spheres; each takes the other's clothing, shifting appearances at will. Animals of different species speak freely not only to one another, but to humans as well. Some of today's medicine men still claim to understand the language of certain animals. When a television interviewer laughed at Lame Deer's suggestion that he could understand birds, he replied: "In your Good Book a lady talks to a snake. I, at least, speak to eagles." In the effort to merge the human and animal realms, marriages between the two are the natural result. All cultures across the continent depict bear spouses, and in addition to the buffalo (in the southwest and Plains) and the whale (in the northwest), the dog husband is also popular. In one story he is canine by day and human by night. When his wife has dog children, her tribe deserts her, but they return when it appears that these dog-boys are prospering far better than the starving humans. Such marriages are regarded with varying degrees of sympathy by the new human and animal in-laws, and don't necessarily fare better or worse than normal ones. Even though animals were essentially sacred, they still provided an important food source. Folklore supplies vivid emblematic links between nourishment and the relations of humans and animals. In British Columbia there is a story of a young man who marries a deer, magically becomes one himself, and provides venison to feed his people. Hunting was a solemn, ritual-laden undertaking. Before starting out, men of many tribes observed careful rules requiring fasts and sexual abstinence, and they performed elaborate ceremonies to secure a successful hunt. Among the Pueblos, further rituals were performed after a deer was slain, to thank the deer for letting itself be caught and to ensure future luck in the hunt. Thus animals and humans find themselves bound together in a living web of mutual aid and respect. 1IIIIltlllllllllilUllnflllltllillilll1llllllllttlllllllillUIltfilltltll1111HnliliIIUllIl11lll11llmlllllllllllllMftIIlllIllll11llllllnlifmlHllIlIlllUllllllltIliUlII11IIIIIIIIIIIUtfliltflllmnnUUII 389 • THE GREAT RACE • [ CHBYENN1!] • 1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIInllnnnnlllllllHUOIIIIIIIIUHUHRIIInIIInIIIIIIIIIUUnUnnnnn • When the Great Mystery created the earth and all living things upon it, the people and the animals lived in peace. None, neither people nor animals, ate flesh. Now it happened in the course of many seasons that the buffalo began to think they were the most powerful beings in the world. They came to believe that this gave them the right to kill and eat other animals, and people as well. Then the people said; "This isn't fair; we humans and the buffalo were created equal. But if it happens that one or the other must be the most powerful, then it should be us!" The buffalo said. "Let's get this settled. We should have a contest to see whether we eat you or you eat us. How about a race?" The people said: "But in a race you have an unfair advantage; two legs can't compete with four. Suppose we let the birds race for us. They have wings, you have four legs, that makes it more even." The buffalo said: "Agreed. We'll choose our fastest runner, and you choose some birds to race for you." Then some of the other animals said: "We should have a chance to race too." "That's right, it's only fair," said the buffalo and the people. So all living things went to a place at the edge of the Black Hills called Buffalo Gap. There they lined up for the race. As their contestant the buffalo had chosen Running Slim Buffalo Woman, a young cow who was the fastest of all animals and had never been beaten in a footrace. To race for them the human beings had chosen four birds: a hummingbird, a meadowlark, a hawk, and a magpie. In those early days of the world, the birds and animals had no color. Now for the race they all painted themselves carefully, each creature according to its own medicine, its own vision. For example, the skunk painted a white stripe on its back, the black-tailed deer painted its tail ..... ................... ........... .... ...... ...... .............. ....... ..... .... . ~. .... .... ..... .... ....... . ~ ~ ..,. ....... ,lIIllUlrUIIIIIJmUllllllllllllUnlttllUlIIllIlIlllllllllllUllltlllIlll"lllfIIlltUllllli.tiIiIIUIIIIIIIUIIUlIIIUIIIlIllIIllt1lll1ffIlItIlIlIlIIIIIIIIlIUIllIllIUIIIII1I111111flltflUlUI,II11111111111U black, the antelope took some red-brown earth and, mixing it with water, painted its whole hide. And as all the creatures painted themselves for this great race, so they have looked ever since. Then the signal to race was given, and the crowd of runners started toward a hill which was the halfway point. Running Slim took off in a flash, with the buffalo cheering her on. For a while Hummingbird flew along with her, but soon he fell back exhausted and Meadowlark took over. Still, Running Slim kept far ahead, leading the great mass of racers with their thundering hooves. Though they had already covered a great distance, Running Slim was fresh. By the time Running Slim reached the halfway point, she and the lark were far ahead of the field. At the hill the umpires were shouting: "Now turn and race back to the starting point, to Buffalo Gap!" The Lark heard this and thought: "I can't make it that far." He dropped out of the race, but already Hawk was coming on strongly. Now Hawk, acknowledged to be the fastest of the birds, suddenly shot ahead of Running Slim. The people shouted for joy-but not for long. Hawk's endurance did not match his swiftness, and the sudden spurt exhausted him. Again Running Slim came on, thundering ahead. With her deep chest, powerful legs, and great lungs, it seemed that she could keep up the pace forever. Then far in the rear a little black and white dot could be seen, coming up, flying hard. This was Magpie, a slow bird but strong-hearted and persevering. The buffalo herd paid no attention to Magpie; they were cheering their runner while the people watched silently. Some of the racers were running so hard now that blood spurted from their mouths and nostrils. It colored the earth beneath, which has ever remained red along the trail where the race was run. At last Buffalo Gap came into sight. Powerful and confident as she was, Running Slim herself was beginning to slow down, though it was hardly noticeable. Even she was not even aware of it, but ran along feeling sure that she would win. Then very slowly, imperceptibly, Magpie began to gain on her. Buffalo Gap was closer now, though still a good way off, thought Slim Running. She could feel herself tiring. The buffalo were grunting and stomping, trying to encourage her. Magpie was still behind, but coming on steadily. Now Buffalo Gap was near. Running Slim Buffalo Woman was really tired, but she gathered all her strength for the last spurt, thundering along, her heart close to bursting. By then, however, Magpie had come up even with her. 1IIIIIIIIIIUnlllJIIIIIJUUrrUUfJlIIIIIIlIUlIUUIIIIIIIlIllflillflllllllllUIIImmtlllllllllll,..nrmlmlltmlmtlmlllltllmJlIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIUJllflIIUJIlUlIIHlIIU11111111111111111111111111111 39 1 Both the buffalo and the people were cheering their racers on, calling out to them, yelling and stomping. So the two were speeding up, putting the very last of their strength into it-Running Slim Buffalo Woman and Magpie. Thus they neared the sticks, painted red, planted in the earth, which marked the finishing line. It was not until they were a hand breadth away from those sticks, at the last moment, that Magpie finally shot ahead. The people gave a great shout of happiness, and both racers fell exhausted. So the humans had won and the buffalo had lost. And ever since the people have respected the magpie, never hunting it or eating it. So the people became more powerful than the buffalo and all the other animals, and from that time on, people have hunted the buffalo for their food. -Recorded by Richard Erdoes on the Crow agency during the intertribal Crow fair, summer 1968. • ORIGIN OF THE GNAWING BEAVER • [HAIDA] The Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia were great hunters of whales and sea otters. • n1l1l11l1111l1111111111l1111l11l1l1l1l11l1ll1ll1lO1ll1ll11ll1ll1l1ll111l11111l1111l1lIIIIIIIIIII!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII • There was a great hunter among the people living at Larhwiyip on the Stikine River. Ever on the alert for new territories, he would go away by himself for long periods and return with quantities of furs and food. He had remained single, although he was very wealthy and his family begged him to take a wife. As a true hunter, he observed all the fasts of cleanliness and kept away from women. One day when he returned from a hunting trip, he said, "I am going to take a wife now. After that I will move to a distant region where I hear that wild animals are plentiful." So he married a young woman from a neighboring village who, like himself, was clever and scrupulous in observing the mles. When the time came for them to go on their hunting trips, they both kept the fasts of purification, and the hunter got even more furs and food than he had before. 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 392 Some time later, he said to his wife, "Let's go to a new country, where we'll have to stay a long time." After many days of traveling, they came to a strange land. The hunter put up a hut, where they lived while he built a house. When he had finished it, he and his wife were happy. They would play with each other every night. Soon he said to her, ''I'm going to my new hunting grounds for two days and a night. I will return just before the second night." In his new territory he made snares in his trapline, and when these were set, he went home just before sunset on the second day. His wife was very happy, and again they played together all through the night. After several days, he visited his snares and found them full of game. He loaded his canoe and came back, again before dark on the second day. Very happy, he met his wife, and they both worked to prepare the furs and meat. When they had finished, he set out once more, saying, 'This time I intend to go in a new direction, so I will be away for three sleeps." And he did, and rejoiced in being with his wife again when he returned. To amuse herself when she was alone, the woman went down to the little stream flowing by the lodge. She spent most of her time bathing and swimming around in a small pool while her husband was away. As soon as he returned, she would play with him. Now he said, "Since you've become used to being alone, I'm going on a longer trip." By then he had enlarged his hunting house, and it was full of furs and food. The woman again took to her swimining. Soon she found the little pool too small for her, so she built a dam by piling up branches and mud. The pool became a small lake, deep enough for her to swim in at ease. Now she spent nearly all her time in the new lake and felt quite happy. When her husband returned, she showed him the dam she had made, tllllUlIllIllIIUllllllllllllltlllllllllllJlUnllfUlUlllllIIDlllUlilUllfUIllIUlmllflll1mUmlinRIUIIIUIIlllllllllllllllltUlllHIIUIiIIfIUIJlIIUlUIIIIIIIUtllllut,JIIUllllIllIl1f11t1f11l1lnU 393 and he was pleased. Before going away once more, he said, "I'll be gone a long time, now that I know you're not afraid of being alone." The woman built a little house of mud and branches in the center of the lake. After a swim she would go into it and rest. At night she would return to the hunting house on land, but as soon as she waked in the morning, she would go down to the lake again. Eventually she slept in her lake lodge all night, and when her husband came back, she felt uncomfortable staying with him at the house. Now she was pregnant and kept more to herself, and she preferred to stay in her lake lodge even when her husband was at home. To pass the time, she enlarged the lake by building the dam higher. She made another dam downstream, and then another, until she had a number of small lakes all connected to the large one in which she had her lodge. The hunter went away on a last long journey. He had enough furs and food to make him very wealthy, and he planned that they would move back to his village after this trip. The woman, whose child was due any day, stayed in the water all the time and lived altogether in the lodge. By now it was partly submerged, and its entrance was under water. When the hunter returned this time, he could not find his wife. He looked all over, searching the woods day after day without discovering a trace of her. He was at a loss, unwilling to go back to his people without knowing her fate, for fear that her family might want to kill him. He returned sadly to his hunting house every night and each morning resumed the search. One evening at dusk, he remembered that his wife had spent much of her time in the water. "Perhaps she traveled on downstream," he thought. The next day he walked down to the lake that his wife had dammed and went around it, but he saw nothing of her. After many days of searching, the hunter retraced his steps. When he came to the large lake, he sat down and began to sing a dirge. Now he knew that something had happened to his wife; she had been taken by a supernatural power. While he was singing and crying his dirge, a figure emerged from the lake. It was a strange animal, in its mouth a stick which it was gnawing. On each side of the animal were two smaller ones, also gnawing sticks. Then the largest figure, which wore a hat shaped like a gnawed stick, spoke. "Don't be so sad! It is I, your wife, and your two children. We have returned to our home in the water. Now that you have seen me, you will use me as a crest. Call me the Woman-Beaver, and the crest Remnants-of-Chewing-Stick. The children are First Beaver, and you will refer to them in your dirge as the Offspring of Woman-Beaver." After she had spoken, she disappeared into the waters, and the hunter IllIUlllUlfllUlIl1lUltlllllllffllllllllllllflllluununlllllUlUlIlIIllll1IlIlIl1IIllll1l1l11l1JlltlillflllnlllHllnlllll1llllJ1llUlllIlIIlllllUlllfllllnl1f1ltllllll1iIllUlllllllllllllfllllllJlUllflUI 394 saw her no more. At once he packed his goods, and when his canoe was filled, traveled down the river to his village. For a long while he did not speak to his people. Then he told them what had happened and said, "I vyill take this as my personal crest. It shall be known as Remnants-of-Chewing-Stick, and forever remain the property of our clan, the Salmon-Eater household." This is the origin of the Beav.er crest and the Remnants-of-Chewing-Stick. -Based on two versions of the same myth, reported by William Beynon in 1949 and. by Manus Barbeau in 1953 . • HOW THE CROW CAME TO BE BLACK • [BRULE SIOUX] In days long past, when the earth and the people on it were still young, all crows were white as snow. In those ancient times the people had neither horses nor firearms nor weapons of iron. Yet they depended upon the buffalo hunt to give them enough food to survive. Hunting the big buffalo on foot with stone-tipped weapons was hard, uncertain, and dangerous. The crows made things even more difficult for the hunters, because they were friends of the buffalo. Soaring high above the prairie, they could see everything that was going on. Whenever they spied hunters approaching a buffalo herd, they flew to their friends and, perching between their horns, warned them: "Caw, caw, caw, cousins, hunters are coming. They are creeping up through that gully over there. They are coming up behind that hill. Watch out! Caw, caw, caw!" Hearing this, the buffalo would stampede, and the people starved. The people held a council to decide what to do. Now, among the crows was a huge one, twice as big as all the others. This crow Wet": their leader. One wise old chief got up and made this suggestion: "We must capture the big white crow," he said, "and teach him a lesson. It's either that or go hungry." He brought out a large buffalo skin, with the head 1IIIIUIltIII'tlIIIUUltlllltlllltlllllllllllftlIIIltIUIIIIIIIHIIU'III'lIlmtfm1IIIIIIHIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIUlllmlmllIl""ffUllllllflllllllllllllltIIIIllIUUUlIIIUllllllllllllltlllllll1lll11Utlllllll1J 395 and horns still attached. He put it on the back of a young brave, saying: "Nephew, sneak among the buffalo. They will think you are one of them, and you can capture the big white crow." Disguised as a buffalo, the young man crept among the herd as if he were grazing. The big, shaggy beasts paid him no attention. Then the hunters marched out from their camp after him, their bows at the ready. As they approached the herd, the crows came Hying, as usual, warning the buffalo: "Caw, caw, caw, cousins, the hunters are coming to kill you. Watch out for their arrows. Caw, caw, caw!" and as usual, all the buffalo stampeded off and away-all, that is, except the young hunter in disguise under his shaggy skin, who pretended to go on grazing as before. Then the big white crow came gliding down, perched on the hunter's shoulders, and Happing his wings, said: "Caw, caw, caw, brother, are you deaf? The hunters are close by, just over the hill. Save yourself!" But the young brave reached out from under the buffalo skin and grabbed the crow by the legs. With a rawhide string he tied the big bird's feet and fastened the other end to a stone. No matter how the crow struggled, he could not escape. Again the people sat in council. "What shall we do with this hig, bad crow, who has made us go hungry again and again?" ''I'll burn hiin up!" answered one angry hunter, and before anybody could stop him, he yanked the crow from the hands of his captor and thrust it into the council fire, string, stone and all. "This will teach you," he said. Of course, the string that held the stone burned through almost at once, and the big crow managed to Hy out of the fire. But he was badly singed, and some of his feathers were charred. Though he was still big, he was no longer white. "Caw, caw, caw," he cried, Hying away as quickly as he could, "I'll never do it again; I'll stop warning the buffalo, and so will all the Crow nation. I promise! Caw, caw, caw." Thus the crow escaped. But ever since, all crows have been black. -Told by Good White Buffalo at Winner, Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, I964. Recorded by Richard Erdoes. fJlJllUUfllUfIIlllIUtUUUlltlll1llllnllflllll1llllllllll1lUllllllllflllllltWl1UllltIlllIlllIUaUllllltllllllllUlllllllfllllllllllll1U1lllllUlllllllUll111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. 396 t\ • THE GIRL WHO ~ MARRIED RATTLESNAKE • [POMO] At a place called Cobowin there was a large rock with a hole in it, and many rattlesnakes lived inside this hole. Nearby at Kalesima there was a village with four large houses, and in the one with a center pole lived a girl. In the spring when clover was just right to eat, this girl went out to gather some. While she was working, she was watched by a rattlesnake. The snake followed her back to the village, and close to her house he transformed himself into a handsome young man with a net on his head and fine beads around his neck. Then he climbed up onto the top of the house and came down the center pole. The family was surprised to see him, but he told the girl that he wanted to marry her. He remained with the family overnight and the following morning went home again. He arrived and left like this for four days; then on the fifth evening he came back, but this time did not change his form. He simply slithered into the house and began conversing just as before. The girl's mother, waiting for her daughter's suitor, said she heard someone talking in the house. She took a light and looked in the place where she heard the sound, and there was Rattlesnake. He shook his snake's head, and she dropped the light and ran in terror. On the following morning Rattlesnake took the girl home with him, and there she remained. In time she bore him four boys. Whenever these children saw any people from the village, they would coil to strike, but their mother would say, "No, you mustn't bite your relatives." And the children would obey her. As the four rattlesnake boys grew older, they also grew more curiQus, and one day they came in from playing and asked their mother, 'Why don't you talk the way we do? Why are you different?" "I'm not a rattlesnake, like you and your father," she replied. ''I'm a human being." "Aren't you afraid of our father?" asked the boys, and she shook her head. Then the oldest said that he had heard the other rattlesnakes discussing her differences and deciding to crawl over her body to find out what UlitlUlIlllIlIlIUlllll11lUnttllllllllUlJllllllllfllllIllllllitlllllJlIUllltllllltlllUIIJUlllUllmlllllJllUlmlllllUllIlIlUllllIJllJIIlllUlIlIUUtllUllll1lllf1lllll1lU1I1I111I11flllll"lIIll1lllll1l 397 kind of creature she was. While this might have alarmed another human, the rattlesnake's wife was not at all afraid. When the other rattlesnakes came, she calmly let them crawl over her. Then she said to her oldest boy, "It's impossible for you to become a human being, and though I'm not really human any longer, I must go back to my parents and tell them what has happened." And so she returned to the house with the center pole and said to her parents, "This is the last time that I will be able to talk to you and the last time that you can talk with me." Her father and mother were sad, but they said nothing until the daughter started to leave. Then her mother ran and caught her by the door, brought her back into the house, and wept over her because she was so changed. But the girl shook her body, and suddenly she was gone. No one knew how or where she went, but they think she returned to Rattlesnake's house and has lived there ever since. -Based on a legend recorded by Samuel Barrett in 1933 • • WHY THE OWL HAS BIG EYES • [IROQUOIS] • IlUDllllll\llnn_llUlfIIIIIIIIIlIDlu.JIlIIIII\IllllRimllUmnllUllnllllllllllllllllH • Raweno, the Everything-Maker, was busy creating various animals. He was working on Rabbit, and Rabbit was saying: "I want nice long legs and long ears like a deer, and sharp fangs and claws like a panther." "I do them up the way they want to be; I give them what they ask for," said Raweno. He was working on Rabbit's hind legs, making them long, the way Rabbit had ordered. Owl, still unformed, was sitting on a tree nearby and waiting his tum. He was saying: "Whoo, whoo, I want a nice long neck like Swan's, and beautiful red feathers ,like Cardinal's, and a nice long beak like Egret's, and a nice crown of plumes like Heron's. I want you to make me into the most beautiful, the fastest, the most wonderful of all the birds." Raweno said: "Be quiet. Tum around and look in another direction. Even better, close your eyes. Don't you know that no one is allowed to UlillIIUftlUn1tf1i11tll1l1111111111111111tJ111tJ111111UJl1t1111f11lUl111ll1l11l1U1IJl111ti1WlllUlIlIUlIIHlllnllmtlmlltlllUUlllllllflfIIlJllllIlllIlltlllfillJUIUlUllilllll1lmUllllllltlllffllU 398 watch me work?" Raweno was just then making Rabbit's ears very long, the way Rabbit wanted them. Owl refused to do what Raweno said. "Whoo, whoo," he replied, "nobody can forbid me to watch. Nobody can order me to close my eyes. I like watching you, and watch I wilL" Then Raweno became angry. He grabbed Owl, pulling him down from his branch, stuffing his head deep into his body, shaking him until his eyes grew big with fright, pulling at his ears until they were sticking up at both sides of his head. "There," said Raweno, "that'll teach you. Now you won't be able to crane your neck to watch things you shouldn't watch. Now you have big ears to listen when someone tells you what not to do. Now you have big eyes-but not so big that you can watch me, because you'll be awake only at night, and I work by day. And your feathers won't be red like cardinal's, but gray like this"-and Raweno rubbed Owl all over with mud-Has punishment for your disobedience." So Owl Hew off, pouting: "Whoo, whoa, whoo." Then Raweno turned back to finish Rabbit, but Rabbit had been so terrified by Raweno's anger, even though it was not directed at him, that he ran off half done. As a consequence, only Rabbit's hind legs are long, and he has to hop about instead of walking and running. Also, because he took fright then, Rabbit has remained afraid of most everything, and he never got the claws and fangs he asked for in order to defend himself. Had he not run away then, Rabbit would have been an altogether different animal. As for Owl, he remained as Raweno had shaped him in anger-with big eyes, a short neck, and ears sticking up on the sides of his head. On top of everything, he has to sleep during the day and come out only at night. -Retold from various nineteenth-century sources. • THE OWL HUSBAND • [PASSAMAQUODDY] In many tribes the owl has a sinister meaning. In the Northwest the owl calls out the names of men and women who will die soon. UlllflnlllflllllllllUlUlltnllJlllUlIlIIlUllIIllIlllIlIIHllllIlllQIIIUlllllllllflllllllfi1IIImJllllllflQllmllllllllflllllflllnlllllllllllilUlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUnnllllJlIIIIIIIIIIl1ltJmfJIliliitil 399 Among the Sioux, Hin-Han the owl guards the entrance to the Milky Way over which the souls of the dead must pass to reach the spirit land. Those who fail the owl's inspection because they do not have the proper tattoo on their wrists or elsewhere are thrown into the bottomless abyss. Among some nations, on the other hand, the owl is a wise and friendly spirit, an advisor and warning giver. A Passamaquoddy tale depicts the owl as having love medicine and a magic love flute---powers that the Plains people attribute to the elk. • nnnmnnUUIIIJIIJUUItllIlllHNunnnnunlllluu_nnllnruu.anmmIIllIIIIlIlIUUR • A man and his wife lived at the edge of their village near a stream. They had a beautiful daughter whom many young men wished to marry, but she was proud, and no suitor pleased her. Her father, caught between his daughter's haughtiness and the rejected suitors' anger, hoped to appease both by promising to give his daughter to the man who could make the embers of his hearth fire blaze up by spitting on it. Naturally, since spitting tends to put a fire out rather than kindle it, none of the young men succeeded. There lived in the village an old woman whom many suspected of possessing evil powers, and their suspicions were well grounded. In reality she was an owl in disguise, and her nephew, the great homed owl, ruled the whole tribe of these bad and scheming birds. Because he wanted the haughty girl for his wife, he assumed the shape of a good-looking young hunter and went to his aunt for help. "Here," she said, and gave him a magic potion to drink. "This will enable you to fulfill that old man's condition." The handsome young hunter went at once to the lodge where the girl lived. He found her father entertaining the tribal elders, among them the chief of the village. "Old man," said the owl in disguise, "is it true that you will give me your daughter if I can make your fire blaze up by spitting on these hot ashes?" "Certainly, young man," said her father, "if you can do that, I will indeed let you have her." The suitor spit on the glowing embers, which immediately blazed into a mighty Hame reaching to the ceiling of the lodge, shooting up through the smoke hole, thrusting far into the sky. Since the girl could not refuse after her father made his promise in front of the elders and the chief, the hunter seized her by the hand and took her with him to his lodge. There her owl husband spread out soft bear robes for her and did all 1lllllllflJlfUllJllrlllflUIIIII,UllllltfillflUlll1lnUfIIUfllJl1IlUlIIlJIIIIIIUIltfllIIllIfunUlUtlllllllfilllllllmmUlIlIIlIUlllllllllllllllllUlII,nUlllflilUlUllll1Ufllfnlllll'llllIUUlltllll 400 a young bridegroom should do for a beloved wife. When the girl woke after her first night as a married woman, she gazed at her sleeping husband and discovered something awful. His ears stuck up from his long, thick black hair, and his yellowish eyes, which he kept half open even in sleep, had pupils that contracted at intervals into narrow slits. The girl sat for a long time petrified with fear, because now she knew that the handsome young hunter was the terrible great horned owl himself. The spell was broken when the husband's aunt entered and nudged the girl. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Why are you sitting there staring at him like this?" Then the girl let out a piercing scream and fled. The whole village tried to console the young woman for the shocking trick that had been played upon her. The great horned owl left the neighborhood, because now everybody knew who he really was. However, he still hoped to regain his beautiful wife by tricking her a second time. The owl chief waited a while for the villagers to forget their fear and suspicion. Then he changed himself once more into a young man, also good-looking, but very different in appearance from his former disguise. He killed a moose and an elk, dragged the meat to the village, and announced to the people: "I have come as a friend from another camp nearby. I belong to your people and speak the same language, and I want to live among you. I am a great hunter and a generous man. I am putting up a lodge, and I have much meat, so I invite everybody to a feast." At first the haughty young woman and her parents were suspicious and did not want to accept the invitation. But all the people said: "Why, he's just a good-natured stranger. It would be impolite not to go." So they went. While the villagers were feasting, the newcomer said: "Let's tell stories. Has anybody had something strange, remarkable, or funny happen to him?" When it was the proud girl's turn, she looked straight at the host and said: "My story must be told in a whisper, so in order to hear it, you must all put your hai.r back and uncover your ears." The guests smiled and did as she said, but the host did not. "My hearing is keen," he told her. "I can understand a whisper from a great distance. I don't need to uncover my ears. " But everyone laughed and called: "Uncover them! uncover them!" "I'm your host," he replied. "You're being rude and impolite. Stop making all that noise!" But they cried even louder: "Uncover them! Uncover them!" At this the host grew very angry and shouted: "All right! Here, look!" Throwing back his hair, he uncovered ears that were standing up like horns. With cries of terror, the guests rushed out of the lodge. l'I,IIUlrIIlUJUUflfftllUnIlIIIllIIllIIUfllunIlIIllUtmItlIlUJllUlIIIUUmIlUIIIIIIIIIfIllHllltmnntlfllllllfllllllllJlIlIllIllUUllUlIUlllUlllllllUllIIUlllIlIIUIUlllllUI1tlljfflillltlll11 The great horned owl's aunt was as angry as he. "This young wife of yours is far too clever," she told him. "We must make something to outwit her." Having the power of a great sorceress, she created a magic flute that would lure any girl into the arms of the man who played it. 'With this, nephew," she said, "she won't be able to stop herself from coming to you." The great horned owl, again disguised as a man, tried to carry out his aunt's scheme. But the haughty young woman and her parents were now so wary that they had put their lodge right in the center of the village and never strayed far. The weeks went by as he waited for his opportunity, and still the horned owl could not manage to come near his wife. At last one day this proud girl said to herself: "It's been so long that the great horned owl has surely forgotten about me. He has given up, while my fear of him is still imprisoning me. It's time for me to go out and walk in the woods, the way I used to do." In a bad mood, the great horned owl was sitting high in a crotch of a huge tree. ''I'm wasting my time," he thought. "My wife is so afraid of me that she stays in the middle of the village. It's hopeless; I must stop thinking about her." Brooding, he saw someone coming through the woods. With his sharp owl's eyes he recognized her, though he could hardly believe it. His heart began to beat very fast. The proud girl came right to the foot of the big tree. Unaware of her husband's presence, she sat down and said to herself, "How good to be out in the forest again without feeling afraid. How I enjoy this!" Then she heard some sweet sounds that soon formed into a wonderful songmagical, alluring, bewitching. She abandoned herself to the sound of the flute. "I could never resist the player who makes this wonderful music," she thought. Then the Great Horned Owl swooped softly down upon her, seizing her gently in his huge talons, carrying her off to the village of the owls. There they lived as man and wife, and the haughty girl eventually became used to being married to the great horned owl. Women have to get used to their husbands, no matter who they are. -Based on a legend reported in 1883 by Charles G. Leland. UlII1111rfilitlUlllllllllllllllilunllillfillUflllliliUlIUIIIII'IIU1IU1ll1ln1f1l1UIItrJIIUlIIJllllIllJllllllllllllllllllllllllfllIlJIIIIIIIIUlllf'l11f1l11lllfllllllllJIIllllntlUillUlmlfllllUllflilfi • THE DOGS HOLD AN ELECTION • [BRULE SIOUX] • UUUUmlllllllllllllllllnnlnnIllllllIUIllllIIIIIIIUIIIIIIII~llIIIlnulnIllIllllDlllllnn"lnnllllluUlllinu • We don't think much of the white man's elections. Whoever wins, we Indians always lose. Well, we have a little story about elections. Once a long time ago, the dogs were trying to elect a president. So one of them got up in the hig dog convention and said: "I nominate the bulldog for president. He's strong. He can fight." "But he can't run," said another dog. "What good is a fighter who can't run? He won't catch anyhody." Then another dog got up and said: "I nominate the greyhound, because he sure can run." But the other dogs cried: "Naw, he can run all right, hut he can't fight. When he catches up with somehody, what happens then? He gets the hell heaten out of him, that's whatl So all he's good for is running away." Then an ugly little mutt jumped up and said: "I nominate that dog for president who smells good underneath his .tail." And immediately an equally ugly mutt jumped up and yelled: "I second the motion." At once all the dogs started sniffing underneath each other's tails. A hig chorus went up: "Phew, he doesn't smell good under his tail." "No, neither does this one." "He's no presidential timher!" "Nh' 0, e s no goo d'h" , elt er, "This one sure isn't the people's choice." "Wow, this ain't my candidate!" When you go out for a walk, just watch the dogs. They're still sniffing JUlIIIUllllllllll1llll1t11i1l11UIfJUillllUIIJUllltflltnlllmlUllllllunuunUllllllllunm'lfmmUIIIIIIIIIDu,mfllIlIIIflUIIIIWIUIIIIUlllllllllllUllllllllllllllllllllllllflllllll1lUlIlIJlt underneath each other's tails. They're looking for a good leader, and they still haven't found him. -Told by Lame Deer at Winner, Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1969. Recorded by Richard Erdoes . • THE SNAKE BROTHERS • [BRULE SIOUX] • IlInmllllllllRiRllliRllIlIRlllIIllUIIUlnmHHllII1Hnmnnllllllllllllllllllllnmllllllllllllllllllllllll11111111 • For a long time people have been saying that somewhere near Soldier's Creek a giant rattlesnake has its den. It is supposed to be a full twelve feet long, and very old. Nobody has seen it for years, but some people have smelled it and heard its giant rattles. It smells something powerful, they say. We Sioux think of rattlesnakes as our cousins. They always give warning before they strike, as if they wanted to say: "Uncle, don't step on me; then we'll get along." A long time ago, so long that it is not on our oldest winter count, there were four brothers, all of them young and good hunters, who went out scouting for buffalo. They had not hunted long before they saw a lone buffalo and killed him with their arrows. All at once they heard a voice, the voice of the buffalo making human talk: "Take the meat to nourish yourselves, but put the skin, head, hooves, and tail together, every part in its place. Do this for sure." The youngest brother said: "Let's do as the voice told us." But the other three didn't want to bother. "That was a foolish voice," they said, "maybe no voice at all-maybe we only imagined it. We'll take the skin home, and it will make a fine winter robe." The youngest brother had to argue long and hard-finally had to take the skin and offer to fight them for it-before they let him do what the voice had directed. While the other three feasted on buffalo hump and lay down to get some rest, the youngest brother went to the tQP of a hill and spread out Jtlllll"IIUUIIIUfllUllllfUIUlllllllllrJUllfllllntUJlIIUI1UIfUlIIIIIUlUItIIIllIIlI1U11fllllillflllllllllfllUtllllllllllllllltlIllllllltHIJlllUflUlllllillUllflllUlIIIIIIIIIIIlrmnllllllfUlUUI the skin, skull, hooves, and tail-just as the voice had told them. He said a prayer to the buffalo, who gave his flesh so that the people might live. As he prayed, all the parts of the buffalo joined together before his eyes and carne alive again, forming themselves into a whole animal once more. It was a fine, strong buffalo, who bellowed loudly and then walked slowly away to disappeare into the hills. The youngest brother watched the buffalo as long as his eyes could follow it. Only then did he join the others round the fire. He ate some of what his brothers had left. But they had taken the best meat-the tongue and back fat-and made fun of him for having missed it. They said: "Now we're going up the hill to get the skin back, whether you like it or not." But the skin and the other parts were gone, and they would not believe the youngest brother when he told them what had happened. "You're trying to fool us," they said. "You buried it all somewhere." After that, the four brother stretched out to sleep. In the middle of the night the oldest woke up, saying: "What's that noise I hear every time I move?" It was a rattling sound that carne from his feet. He looked down, and in the dim light of the dying fire, saw that his feet had grown rattles. He called to the others: "Help! Something has happened to my feet!" But only the youngest brother came to look; the others tried but could not. "Something's the matter with my legs too," cried the second-oldest, whose feet had stuck together so that he could not force them apart. "And look at mine!" cried the third brother. His legs were not only joined together but rounded, like a snake's tail. "I think we are being punished," said the oldest brother, "for not having obeyed that voice." While they were talking, the change moved up to their hips. "Now I know we are being punished," said the second brother. "We are being turned into snakes." "My body is already covered with scales!" cried the third brother. By then the change had moved up to their necks. "Don't worry, misunkala, younger brother," said the other three. "Though we are snakes, we remain your brothers. We will always look after our village and our people. You see that hill over there? It has a big hole-the entrance to the home of the snakes. We will go in there, but whenever you need help, stand outside and call us. Come to see us in a little while: alone at first, the second time with all the people. Now we must leave you." They could not say more, because their heads were changing into snakes' heads that could only hiss. "Elder brothers," said the youngest, weeping, "It was your fate to become snakes. I believe this was destined to happen to you, that the littllllllUlllfllllUIIIUlllltIIltIllUlllIJlUlllltUlllIlIDUlllllUlltllllllllllllllfllllflllUl1i11111111111UUlltlllllllllUIIUliUlIIUlllUIIIIIIUliUIIIIIIIIIIIIUUltulillUllnllllllll11IJllllinlUI Great Spirit planned it so. I will come back as you have told me to, first alone, then with the rest of the people. Goodbye." He saw that his snake brothers had trouble crawling like snakes; they still had to learn how. Though they were as big and heavy as people, he dragged them one by one to the hole in the hillside. When they were at the entrance to their snake home; they began to wiggle. The youngest brother watched them crawl in and disappear, one after the other. He heard them rattle, and then the sound of their rattles grew fainter and fainter and at last stopped. He dried his tears and gathered up the buffalo meat to take to the people. After all, that was what he had come to do. When he reached the lodges of his people, he told them : "You see me come back alone. My three older brothers are gone, but do not mourn for them. They are still alive, though they have been turned into snakes, as the Great Spirit willed. They now live inside the hill which is the snakes' home, and there you will meet them someday." Four-times-four days later, the youngest brother prepared to go with a war party against the Pahani on a horse-stealing raid. He painted his face black for war. Then he took his best pony and rode out to the hill where he had left his brothers. Standing before the hole at the foot of the hill, he called: "Elder brothers, I have come alone, as you have told me, and I need your help." At once the big head of a giant rattlesnake thrust out of the hole. Its tongue Bickered in and out as if in greeting. The young man knew that this was his eldest brother. Then two more big snakes' heads appeared, and he could sense that these were his second and third brothers. They crawled up to him, putting their heads on his arms and shoulders, hissing at him and looking at him with their yellow eyes. "Brothers, I need your help," he said. "I am going to count coup upon the Pahani." Many more snakes came out of the hole and set up a mighty rattling IIUIII11IIIIUfUUUtflUI'lltfJIUlIllIIUIllIIIIIIlIllIlIfUlIIIII'mUlIIIIIIIIIII"1ltIIlllllnltulllllUUllllntUIiUlUllllllllfrlllUIII,mUlIIIIIIJIIiUllflllU"lrnUIUluIUIUlIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIUI 406 which made the earth tremble. One of the big snakes, the oldest brother, went back into the hole and reappeared pushing a medicine bundle before him. "Eldest brother," said the youngest, "I know that you are bringing me snake medicine. It will give me speed and enable me to wiggle out of bad situations. It will make me feared by the enemy. It will cause me to strike swiftly with a deadly weapon. Thank you, my brothers." It was as he had said. In war he struck quickly, with the speed of a rattlesnake. His enemies were afraid of him. He counted many coups on them and returned unharmed with a crowd of Pahani horses. The people were happy, and he told them: "Now we must give thanks to my elder brothers." So all the people went with him to the hill which was the snakes' home. There he called for his elder brothers to show themselves, and they appeared with much hissing and rattling. The people made offerings to them of tobacco and good red meat, and the snake brothers were contented. From then on, they protected the people with powerful snake medicine every time they had to go to war. And from then on, the people were successful in everything they undertook. If the rattlesnake brothers have not died in the meantime, they are still helping us today. That's why we never kill rattlesnakes. -Told by Lame Deer at Winner, Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1969­ Recorded by Richard Erdoes . • BUTTERFLIES • [PAPAOO] • IUUllIlinllIlllIUllllllnmmUUUHllIlllllllllllllnlUIUlIlIIIllIlIlIllIIlllIIIHIUUllnmllUlII1I1IIIIInnlllllll • One day the Creator was resting, sitting, watching some children at play in a village. The children laughed and sang, yet as he watched them, the Creator's heart was sad. He was thinking: "These children will grow old. Their skin will become wrinkled. Their hair will turn gray. Their fllllllllunllltllrlllllll1tllllllllllllllllnUiltllllUlllIIUllllllllllttllfUfII1I1111111UmntlllUlllmfllllillfllltllllmlllllllllllllllllllllllllnnJllllllllllllllllilflII1111lfirIIIl1l1nUlllJifnUII teeth will fall out. The young hunter's arm will faiL These lovely young girls will grow ugly and fat. The playful puppies will become blind, mangy dogs. And those wonderful flowers-yellow and blue, red and purple-will fade. The leaves from the trees will fall and dry up. Already they are turning yellow." Thus the Creator grew sadder and sadder. It was in the fall, and the thought of the coming winter, with its cold and lack of game and green things, made his heart heavy. Yet it was stilI warm, and the sun was shining. The Creator watched the play of sunlight and shadow on the ground, the yellow leaves being carried here and there by the wind. He saw the blueness of the sky, the whiteness of some cornmeal ground by the women. Suddenly he smiled. "All those colors, they ought to be preserved. I'll make something to gladden my heart, something for these children to look at and enjoy." The Creator took out his bag and started gathering things: a spot of sunlight, a handful of blue from the sky, the whiteness of the cornmeal, the shadow of playing children, the blackness of a beautiful girl's hair, the yellow of the falling leaves, the green of the pine needles, the red, purple, and orange of the flowers around him. All these he put into his bag. As an afterthought, he put the songs of the birds in, too. Then he walked over to the grassy spot where the children were playing. "Children, little children, this is for you," and he gave them his bag. "Open it; there's something nice inside," he told them. The children opened the bag, and at once hundreds and hundreds of colored butterflies flew out, dancing around the children's heads, settling on their hair, fluttering up again to sip from this or that flower. And the children, enchanted, said that they had never seen anything so beautifuL The butterflies began to sing, and the children listened smiling. But then a songbird carne flying, settling on the Creator's shoulder, scolding him, saying: "It's not right to give our songs to these new, pretty things. You told us when you made us that every bird would have his own song. And now you've passed them all around. Isn't it enough that you gave your new playthings the colors of the rainbow?" "You're right," said the Creator. "I made one song for each bird, and I shouldn't have taken what belongs to you." So the Creator took the songs away from the butterflies, and that's why they are silent. "They're beautiful even so!" he said. -Retold from various sources. fIIIIIUllfJIIIUlllliIIIlUlll!lfll!UlUIIUllllfrlllflIlIlUUIIIIUl1I1IIUtu111lflfl1l1l1lUlunU1'1U1i1U1lI1I11I11IUU1I,1111fll1IJ1nnU1I1I11I11IUtlU,11ifflllll1ltnllUllUllllfIIllllrllllrJIIIUIU 408 • THE REVENGE OF BLUE CORN EAR MAIDEN • [HOPI] • InmmIlHIIUlUlJI1f1I1HMlttIHUlJlIIIII1nIlllll1M1ttUnmnnnIflIHIIIIIIIIl111I1I11I1HIIIIIIIIDIIIIIlIIIIIIUlIl • A long time ago, two maidens lived in Oraibi. They were dose friends and often ground corn at one another's houses. Their friendship ended abruptly, however, when they both fell in love with the same young man. One of them, Yellow Corn Ear Maiden, had supernatural powers, and she made up her mind to destroy her rival, Blue Corn Ear Maiden. Early one morning the two girls carried their jugs to get water from Spider Spring, northeast of the village. On the way back they came to a sand hill, and Yellow Corn Ear Maiden said, "Let's sit down and rest for a while." After a time she said: "Let's play catch. You run down the hill, and I'll throw something at you, and you throw it back." She drew from her bosom a pretty little wheel that gleamed with all the colors of the rainbow. When her friend reached the foot of the hill, Yellow Corn Ear Maiden threw the wheel at her, but it was so heavy that Blue Corn Ear Maiden collapsed on the ground when she caught it. When she stood up again, she was a coyote. YeHow Corn Ear Maiden laughed and said, "That's what you get for quarreling with me!" She shooed the coyote away, took her own jug, and went back to the village. Sadly the coyote climbed the hill and tried to pick up her jug, but without hands she couldn't. She sat down and cried until evening. After dark she tried to enter the village, but the dogs drove her away. She made a large circuit around the village and tried to go in from another side, but she was again driven away by the dogs. By this time she was getting very hungry, so she went off to the west hoping to find something to eat. It was the fall of the year, and the people were busy in the fields working on their crops. Carefully she crept up to one of the homemade shelters in which the farmers lived, found two roasted ears of corn that had been left on top, and ate them right up. She tried a third time to enter the village, but when the dogs smelled her and drove her away, she knew she wouldn't be able to get home as long as she looked and smelled like a coyote. lIUllllfffJJIl!IIUIlIlIIltIUII,IIIIIIIIJfllllUIUllllllntllJlllllllllunUlnllUJllIllIIUlJumnuurull1111111111111U1IIlUllIfIIIIUlI1I1IUlIIIIIIUnUtUlUrillUinmUlUiliUlIIIUUII1IIIIUUlt She wandered through the entire night, until she arrived at a place which belonged to two Qooqoqlom Kachinas who were hunting in that region. In their hut she f~)Und plenty of baked rabbit meat and entrails, and lots of rabbit skins. starving but also exhausted, she ate a little meat and a bit of entrail (which she did not like very much). Since the two hunters had already eaten and left for the hunt, she decided to stay in their hut and rest all day. In the evening the two Qooqoqlom hunters returned. \Vith their keen eyes and ears, they knew even as they approached that something was wrong. One of them peeked in and whispered, "There is a coyote in our hut and he's eaten some of our meat." He got his bow and arrows and was aiming at the intruder, when the other one said, "No, let's try to capture him alive and take him home to our grandmother, Spider \Voman." So they went in but, much to their surprise, they heard the coyote sob and saw tears trickling from its eyes. Even they were touched by the sight, and one of them took a large piece of meat from his pouch, broke it in two, and gave a portion to the visitor, who ate it with relish. They then decided to go back home that evening. They tied up the meat and the skins, and also tied the feet of the coyote. Loading everything upon their backs, they returned to Kachina Gap, a short distance northwest of Oraibi. As soon as they arrived, they called to Spider Woman, "Grandmother, we have brought you an animal. Come and help us lift it off our backs." She was delighted with her present, and placed the coyote with the rabbit meat near the fireplace. Then the woman looked closely at the wretched animal and exclaimed, "Alas! That poor one! This is no coyote. Thankfully you have not killed it. Where did you find it?" They told her how they had found and captured it in their hunting hut. She sent one of the men into the village after some tom6ala a potent plant; the other one she sent to the woods to fetch a few juniper branches. While they were gone she boiled some water, and when the man with the tom6ala returned, she poured the water into a vessel and hooked one tom6ala pod into the coyote's neck and another one into her back. She then plunged the animal into the water and covered her with a piece of native cloth. Placing her hand upon the cover, Spider Woman took hold of the two hooks and kept twisting and turning them until she had pulled off the skin of the coyote. \Vhen she threw aside the cloth, there was Blue Corn Ear Maiden, still in her original clothes, her hair tied in whorls just as it had been when she left the village. The woman asked how she had met this fate, and the maiden told her the whole story. Spider \Voman comforted her, saying, "That Yellow Corn Ear Maiden is bad, but you will have your revenge." 111,IIIUlillUIIIlflnJIIIlffilUillflUllllrllffflllllUUlffillUiliftlUJlUfliIUnUuntlflliUlJIIllIIllIUIIU,IIfIIIIIIIIUlU'IIItUU'fIllJUUUlIllIltIUIII,IIUllJmnUIUIIUIIUIIJIIIIIIIIIIIIIJIU 4IO At this point, the other hunter returned with the juniper branches. She took the maiden, together with the branches and the water, into another room and there bathed her, then gave her some corn, which the maiden ground into meal. The maiden stayed there for several days, until Spider Woman told her that her mother was very sick with worry and that she should go home. But first Spider Woman called together a number of Kachinas who lived nearby and told them all that had happened. "I want you to return her to her house," she said, and they were willing. She dressed the maiden in wonderful finery, put her hair into fresh whorls, and placed over her shoulders a new atoo. She instructed her to have her father make hahos, prayer sticks, and a number of nakwakwosis as prayer offerings to the leader of the Kachinas and the leader of the singing. Lastly, she gave her a plan to deal with Yellow Corn Ear Maiden. So off they set, the maiden walking in the rear of the line of Kachinas .. At early dawn, the so-called white dawn, they arrived near the house of the village chief, where the Pongowe kiva is at present situated; there they performed their first dance, singing while they danced. Those already stirring in the village rushed out to see the Kachinas dancing. Soon the news was whispered around through the whole village that the Kachinas had brought a maiden with them, and some soon recognized Blue Corn Ear Maiden and ran to the house of her parents. The latter refused to believe the news, and four messengers had to be sent to convince them. When they finally went to the Kachinas, the procession had arrived at the dancing plaza in the center of the village. "So you have come," the mother said, and began to cry. She wanted to take her daughter with her then, but the girl said, "Wait a little," and gave her father Spider Woman's instructions. The Kachinas continued their dancing, with the mana, the female Kachinas waiting by their side. When finally the father brought the prayer offerings, he gave one baho to the leader, the other to his daughter. After the dancing was over, the daughter gave her prayer stick to the leader of the singing. The nakwakosis were distributed among the other Kachinas, and after the happy father had thanked them for bringing his child, they returned to their own homes. Blue Corn Ear Maiden rested at her parents' for a day and a night, but early the next morning she went to grind corn, and as she did, she sang a little song about her adventures. When Yellow Corn Ear Maiden heard her voice, she came rushing out to proclaim how delighted she was at her friend's return. Blue Corn Ear Maiden treated her cordially, just as Spider Woman had told her to. They ground corn together all day, just as they had done before. In the evening they went after water again, to the same spring where they had gotten water before. While they were filling their jugs, Yellow Corn Ear Maiden noticed that her IUIUlllll1flUlIU,lIlf1llll1lfllnllllllllllllllllllllllJIIlnllUIlUflllIlllIllIlttIIUllllUllIllldJIIUIlIUIIUUlWIIUlIIIIIUftltlIlIUlllllnnIlIllIlIUJlII,,'IUIIllIltIIlJUIIIUI11111111111111111111 friend was dipping her water with a peculiar little vessel (which Spider Woman had given her) and that the water, which ran into the jug, was very beautiful, glistening with the colors of the rainbow. She said to her friend: "What have you there? Let me see that little cup." Yes," her friend said, "that is a very fine cup, and the water tastes good from it, too." Thereupon she drank from it and handed it to her friend, who also drank. Immediately she fell down and was turned into a bull snake. "There! You will remain on the ground forever," Blue Com Ear Maiden said. "You tried once to destroy me, but it didn't work. No one will help restore you, though." She laughed, picked up her jug, and returned to the village. So the bull snake slithered away to begin its lifelong wandering. It was often hungry, but as it couldn't move very fast, it had to capture its prey by luring little rabbits and birds with its powerful intoxicating breath. Yellow Com Ear Maiden tried finally to return to her village, where she was killed by her own parents. They, of course, didn't know the snake they had killed was their Own daughter. But her soul was liberated to go to the Skeleton House. Ever since then some dead sorcerers will take the form of bull snakes and leave their graves, still wound in the yucca leaves with which the corpse was tied up when laid away. If such a bull snake is killed, the soul of the sorcerer living in it is set free and can go to the Skeleton House, just as Yellow Com Ear Maiden did at last. -Based on a version collected by Henry Voth in 1905. The mana, or female Kacllinas, were actually men dressed up like women. 1IIIIIfUllillflllUUflllUIIIIUlflUIUIIIIUlU'IIIUfllIIlIIIIIIIIIIIUllUUlIIIIIIJIrrUlfIIllI'lllIIlIIllnlllnllllllUllllllllllllllllfffllllllfHlUtllllllUlI"IIIIIIIII'1I11iUfllllllUlllIlUlfUlllltII 412 • THE MEETING OF THE WILD ANIMALS • [ TSIMSHIAN] • IIUnIllllllIlllllllllHlllIDllJlll1llllllIllllllWIlIIUIIUlII_IIUlIlIIlUlUIIUl • A long time ago, when the Tsimshian lived on the upper Skeena River in Prairie Town, they were the cleverest and strongest of all humans. They were good hunters and caught many animals. They went hunting the whole year round, and all the animals feared for their survival. Grizzly Bear invited all the large animals to his house. "A terrible calamity has come to us with these hunting people, who pursue us even into our dens," he said. "I suggest we ask Him Who Made Us to give us more cold in winter and keep the hunters in their own houses and out of our dens!" All the large animals agreed, and Wolf said, "Let's invite all the small animals-Porcupine, Beaver, Raccoon, Marten, Mink, and even the really small ones such as Mouse and the insectsto join us and increase our strength." On the following day the large animals assembled on a wide prairie and called together all the small animals, even down to the insects. The multitude sat down, the small animals on one side of the plain, the large animals on the other. Panther came, and Black Bear, Wolf, Elk, Reindeer, and Wolverine. Then the chief speaker, Grizzly Bear, rose. "Friends," he said to the small animals and the insects, "you know very well how the people hunt us on mountains and hills, even pursuing us into our dens. Therefore, my brothers, we large animals have agreed to ask Him Who Made Us to give our earth cold winters, colder than ever, so that the people who hunt us cannot come to our dens and kill us and you! Large animals, is this so?" The Panther said, "I fully support this wise counsel," and all the large animals agreed. Grizzly Bear turned to the small animals and said, 'We want to know what you think of in this matter." The small animals did not reply at first. After they had been silent for a while, Porcupine rose and said, "Friends, let me say a word or two in response. Your strategy is very good for you, because all of you have plenty of warm fur for the most severe cold. But look at these little insects. They have no fur at all to warm them in winter. Moreover, how can insects and small IIIUlI11UlllilltlUIIIIIIIJfUlIUlllluuntTtlUlIIIIUlfJililUlliUll11111111111UIIII1111J1n1IIIWIIIIIIIHllnllWlnlllllllllnllnlllt1UtllltnlllUlIIIIIJUlltltlltillUIUUfllliliUlUJIUII\IIIIIIII animals obtain food if winters are colder? Therefore I say this: don't ask for more cold." Then he sat down. Grizzly Bear rose again. 'We need not pay attention to what Porcupine says," he told the large animals. "You all agree, don't you, that we should ask for the severest cold on earth?" The large animals replied, "Yes, we do. We don't care for Porcupine's reasoning." "Now, listen once more! I will ask you just one question," Porcupine said. "If it's that cold, the roots of all the wild berries will freeze and die, and all the plants of the prairie will wither away. How will you . get food? You large animals always roam the mountains wanting something to eat. When your request brings more winter frost, you will die of starvation in spring or summer. But we will survive, for we live on the bark of trees, the very small animals eat the gum of trees, and the smallest insects find their food in the earth." After he had spoken, Porcupine put his thumb into his mouth, bit it off, said, "Confound it!" and threw his thumb out of his mouth to show the large animals how bold he was. He sat down again, full of rage. Therefore the hand of the porcupine has only four fingers, no thumb. The large animals were speechless at Porcupine's wisdom. Finally Grizzly Bear admitted, "It's true what you have said." And the large animals chose Porcupine as their wise man and as the first among the small animals. Together all the animals agreed that the cold in winter should be the way it is now. And they settled on six months for winter and six months for summer. Then Porcupine spoke again in his wisdom: "In winter we will have ice and snow. In spring we will have showers, and the plants will IllfUllllllllllfllll1ll11lll!IIIIIUlIllI1nlUlIIfllIllllllllllIlIllll1U1I11IIIlIIIUIIIIIIRlllllllflIfJllllIlIIlI"rIlUIIIIIIIIUUllllflnUlIllIIllllllltUlfiIII1UmnIlIlJUlIIIJI'IIUllllrllll.lllllftIUl become green. In summer we will have warmer weather, and all the fishes will go up the rivers. In the fall the leaves will drop, it will rain, and the rivers and brooks will overHow. Then all animals, large and small, and those that creep On the ground, will go into their dens and hide for six months." And after they had all agreed to what Porcupine had proposed,' they happily returned to their homes. That's why wild animals, large and small, take to their dens in winter. Only Porcupine does not hide, but goes about visiting his neighbors. Porcupine also went to the animals who had slighted him at the meeting and struck them dead with the quills of his tail. That's why all the animals are afraid of Porcupine to this day. -Based on a myth reported by Franz Boas in 19 r 6 . • A FISH STORY • [TEWA] • mnnlHllltllUllllllUlnHIlUlRlHIIItllUln.lIIIllIlHnmHIlUlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKII""IIOIllInnllllill • ~There occurred in those days a great drought. Rain had not come for many, many days. The crops were dying and the water in the lake was going down and down. Prayers had to be offered to the Great Spirit. This was the duty of the fish people, so they all assembled in the kiva to pray and offer sacrifices to the rain gods. The custom was to fast and stay in the kiva until the rain came. A woman by the name of Fee-ne-nee was given the duty to feed the fish people, which she did each day at noon. Since the men were fasting, she served them only a small amount of food and a few drops of water. On the night o~ the third day, however, one of the men could no longer stand the isolation. When the others went to sleep, he sneaked out of the kiva and ran to a nearby lake. There he drank and drank, swallowing all the water he had been thinking about for three days. After filling his body with water, he returned to the kiva. He entered slowly and stepped quietly down the stairs so that he would not be heard. Midway between the roof and the Hoor, however, he burst. Water poured out of his head, eyes, mouth, arms, body, and legs. When IfllllUUllllllllrlllllUllllllllllfIIlllllJUfilll,Unlmnlllllll1lllll11IlIlIIUlllfJllllllllflllmlUlIIUllltlllllllllUfllIllIUlIlUilUlllllllltllfttlllllllJllllUlll'lIIl1UlunlllUUlIllllllUlIllIIll this happened, the people who were inside turned into fish, frogs, and all kinds of water animals, and the kiva was filled with water. The next day at noon, the woman who was in charge of feeding the men went to the kiva. She could not believe what she saw: water was gushing from it straight up into the air, and suspended in the torrent were fish, frogs, eels, snakes, and ducks. Sadly, with her basket still in her hand, she slowly returned to the village. The first house she visited was that of an untidy old couple. She placed her basket in the center of the room and silently sat by the grinding stone. After making only one stroke of the stone, she too turned into a snake. Seeing this, the old man and his wife both said, "Something terrible has happened at the kiva." The man ran to find out what was wrong, and at the kiva he saw ducks, beavers, and frogs swimming in the water at the bottom. The old man knew that this was a bad omen for the people of the village. When he reached home, he told his wife, "One of the men failed us, and all of them turned into ducks, frogs, eels, snakes, and beavers." "\Ve can no longer live here," his wife replied. "You must let our people know. We must also make preparations to take this snake, our friend Fee-ne-nee, where she belongs." The old woman prepared a basket filled with blue cornmeal and placed the little snake inside. Her husband took the basket and headed toward the east, where there was a snake burrow. At the home of the snakes, he fed them blue cornmeal, and one by one all kinds of snakes wiggled through the meal. Then he placed Fee-ne-nee among the others and said to her: "I have brought you to live here. You are now a young lady snake, and with the help of the Great Spirit you will live among your own kind. I give you my blessing." To the other snakes he said, "I have brought you a sister; take her into your arms." As the other snakes curled around Fee-ne-Bee, the man walked away with tears in his eyes. At home the old couple cried again and told their people that the law required them to move from their home, O-Ke-owin, and seek another place to live. Now you know why we live where we do. The tragedy that occurred at O-Ke-owin forced our people to move to Xun oehme, which is now San Juan. -Told at San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, in the early 19605 and translated from the T ewa by Alfonso Ortiz. 1IlIIIIIIUflllillItHlllliffUlUlIIIIIUlIIIUllllllllIfIUtiUnlUlllllllutnnnllilunfllIUlIUlllflllliltunuUllllllllllltmUfIlUflnUlulIlIUllimurlilltUnnnUmnlUIII!tunUlnUUlIIIII • THE NEGLECTFUL MOTHER • (COCHITI] • IIIII11I111111HUlllllftllllftlHMlllnIlIllllllllIllll11I111I1HIOU.IIIII11I111I111111HIIIIIIUlllnmHHlIIIIII • Crow had heen sitting on the eggs in her nest for many days, and she got tired of it and flew away. Hawk came by and found nobody on the nest. Hawk said to herself, "'Ine person who owns this nest must no longer care for it. What a shame for those poor little eggs! I will sit on them, and they will be my children." She sat for many days on the eggs, and finally they began to hatch. Still no Crow came. The little ones all hatched out and the mother Hawk flew about getting food for them. They grew bigger and bigger and their wings got strong, and at last it was time for the mother Hawk to take them off the nest. After all this while, Crow finally remembered her nest. When she came back to it she found the eggs hatched and Hawk taking care of her little ones. "Hawk!" "What is it?" "You must return these little ones you are leading around." "Why?" "Because t h ey are mme. ." Hawk said, "Yes, you laid the eggs, but you had no pity on the poor things. You went off and left them. I came and sat on the nest and hatched them. When they were hatched, I fed them, and now I lead them about. They are mine, and I won't return them." "Crow said, "I shall take them back." "No, you won't! I 'worked for them, and for many days I fasted, sitting there on the eggs. In all that time you didn't come near them. Why is it now, when I've taken care of them and brought them up, that you want them back?" Crow said to the little ones, "My children, come with me. I am your mother." But the little ones said they did not know her. "Hawk is our mother." At last when she couldn't make them come with her, she said, "Very well, I'll take Hawk to court, and we shall see who has the right to these children." So Mother Crow took Mother Hawk before the king of the birds. JtlllfIJllltlflllltllflllJlfllllllllllUlJU!lIUIIUlIlllllHl,IIIIIiIIIUtIllIIIUftllffllllllIIUnIlIIllUlIlIlllJ"IIIIIIII11I1HUlimIIJllltllllllllllllll1ll1ll11lfllllUiIlfIlIJ1UIllIIlIlfIIIU111111!UfTll Eagle said to Crow, "Why did you leave your nest?" Crow hung her head and had no answer to that. But she said, "When I came back to my nest, I found my eggs already hatched and Hawk taking charge of the little ones. I have come to ask that Hawk return the children to me." Eagle said to Mother Hawk, "How did you find this nest of eggs?" "Many times I went to it and found it empty. No one came for a long time, and at last I had pity upon the poor little eggs. I said to myself, 'The mother who made this nest can no longer care for these eggs. I would be glad to hatch the little ones.' I sat on them and they hatched. Then I went about getting food for them. I worked hard and brought them up, and they have grown." Mother Crow interrupted mother Hawk and said, "But they're my children. I laid the eggs." "It's not your turn. We are both asking for justice, and it will be given to us. Wait till I have spoken." Eagle said to Mother Hawk, "Is that am" "Yes, I have worked hard to raise my two little ones. Just when they were grown, Mother Crow came and asked to have them back again, but I won't give them back. It is I who fasted and worked, and they are now mme. . " The king of the birds said to Mother Crow, "If you really had pity on your little ones, why did you leave the nest for so many days? And why are you demanding to have them now? Mother Hawk is the mother of the little ones, for she has fasted and hatched them, and flown about searching for their food. Now they are her children." Mother Crow said to the king of the birds, "King, you should ask the little ones which mother they choose to follow. They know enough to know which one to take." So the king said to the little ones, "Which mother will you choose?" Both answered together, "Mother Hawk is our mother. She's all the mother we know." Crow cried, "No, I'm your only mother!" The little Crow children said, "In the nest you had no pity on us; you left us. Mother Hawk hatched us, and she is our mother." So it was finally settled as the little ones had said: they were the children of Mother Hawk, who had had pity on them in the nest and brought them up. Mother Crow began to weep. The king said to her, "Don't cry. It's your own fault. This is the final decision of the king of the birds." So Mother Crow lost her children. -Recorded by Ruth Benedict in 193 I. IIUlllllllllllllllftUfI(lllfllffllllUUlllfUIIIUIIUflllUIIIJIIIIIIIJlllltnuUlIIllftUlllllfffllJ,llUllIllllllIUUllllllUllllJ'lUUllllllIUUUllllllllllllltU1I1IUlfUitlIIIIIUJIIIlililUlIIUIUUII • THE BEAR AND HIS INDIAN WIFE • [llAIDA] This story of the Haidas of Queen Charlotte's Island, British Columbia, was told in r873 by a Haida named Yak Quahu, who heard it related around the evening fires by the old people of his tribe. Yak Quahu began: "Not long ago, as our old people. tell us, the bears were a race of beings less perfect than our fathers. They used to talk, walk upright, and use their paws like hands. When they wanted wives, they were accustomed to steal the daughters of our people." • IIlIInllllllllllllllllHlllmlllllltllUllIIlIIIIIlllHlIlIIllIIIIIIlIIII11InlllllllHIIlllllnmnmUlnHlIIIII1 • Quiss-an-kweedass and Kind-a-wuss were a youth and maiden in my native village, she the daughter of one of our chiefs, he the son of one of the common people. Since both were about the same age and had been playmates from youth, their fondness in later years ripened into a love so strong that they seemed to live for each other. But while they loved each other, they knew that they could never live as husband and wife, because both were of one crest, the Raven. By the social laws of the Haidas a mother gives her name and crest to her children, whether Raven, Eagle, Frog, Beaver, or Bear. A man is at liberty to take a wife from any other crest: except the one to which he himself belongs. While the youth and maiden continued to love each other, time passed unnoticed. Life to them seemed a pleasing dream-from which they were awakened when both sets of parents reminded them that the time had come for each to marry someone else. Seeing that these admonitions passed unheeded, their parents resolved to separate them. The lovers were confined in their homes, but they contrived to slip away and meet outside the village. They escaped to the woods, resolved to live on the meanest fare in the mountain forests rather than return to be separated. In a lonely glen under a shady spruce by a mountain stream, they built a hut, to which they always returned at night. While wandering in search of food they were careful lest they should meet any of their relations. Thus they lived until the lengthening nights and stormy days reII111111nUUI11UlIIUlllllllntllllllIJtflltillilllllllUUQlIIIJII1UIIIIIIlUllnllUlIIIIIIIQllUilmllIlflIlIlIlUlUII"nlllllll"",llIlilUllnJllllllliumlUUIIUlIIIIIIIJlIIIIIUllUIltUII,tIIltll minded them of winter. Quiss-an-kweedass resolved to revisit his home, and to make the journey alone. Kind-a-wuss preferred to remain in the solitude of the forest rather than face her angry relations. He promised, however, to return before nightfall of the fourth day. When he reached home, his parents welcomed him and asked about Kind-a-wuss and her whereabouts since they had departed. He told them all, and when they heard how they lived, and how she had become his wife, their wrath was great. They told him that he would never go back, and they decided to keep him prisoner until she also returned. When Quiss-an-kweedass could not get away, he urged his people to let him go and get Kind-a-wuss, for she would never return alone. They were unmoved by his appeal. After a considerable time, he managed to escape. He hastened to his mountain home, hoping to meet Kind-a-wuss, yet fearing that something might be wrong. \Vhen he arrived at the place where they had parted, he found by the footprints on the soft earth that she had started to return to their hut. Drawing near it, he listened but heard no sound and saw no trace of her. When he went inside, he was horror-stricken to find that she had not been there since he left. Where was she? Had she lost her way? Hoping to find some clue, he searched the hut, looked up and down the stream, went through the timber up to the mountains, calling her by name as he went along: "Kind-a-wuss, Kind-a-wuss, where are you? Kind-a-wuss, come to me; I am your own Quiss-an-kweedass. Do you hear me, Kind-a-wuss?" To these appeals the mountain echoes answered, Kind-a-wuss. After searching for days, feeling sorrowful and angry, he turned homeward, grieving for the dear one whom he had lost, and angry with his parents, whom he blamed for his misfortune. Once there, he told the villagers of his trouble and claimed their assistance. Many responded, among them the two fathers, one anxious for his daughter's safety, the other disturbed because he had detained his son. Early on the morning of the third day after Quiss-an-kweedass arrived, he led a party out for a final search to try and find her, dead or alive. But after ten days, during which they discovered nothing except a place where traces of a struggle were visible, they abandoned the effort. As weeks gave place to months and months to years, Kind-a-wuss seemed to have been forgotten. She was seldom mentioned, or was referred to only as the girl who was lost and never found. Yet her lover never forgot; he believed her still alive and did all in his power to find her. Having failed so often, he thought he would visit a medicine man, or skaga, who was clairvoyant. '1IIIllflilUlIIIIIIIIUlmtulllllUIlIIJIJlIIIUIlInUmlflllllllUUUJlllllltJllflIIIIIIWIIUlllllllIllIllIlftllllllUlllllll1llllnlllllllfutuullllllfIIlUlIIIUUlflllllllIUI1IIIIIlUIUJIUlIliUllUi 420 The skaga asked Quiss-an-kweedass if he had anything that the maiden had worn. He gave a part of her clothing to the skaga, who took it in his hand and said: "I see a young woman lying on the ground; she seems to be asleep. It is Kind-a-wuss. There is something in the bushes, coming toward her. It is a large bear. He takes hold of her; she tries to get away but cannot. He takes her with him, a long way off. I see a lake. They reach it and stop at a large cedar tree. She lives in the tree with the bear. I see two children, boys, that she has had by the bear. If you go to the lake and find the tree, you will discover them all there." Quiss-an-kweedass lost no time in getting together a second party led by the skaga, who soon found the lake and then the tree. There they halted to consider what it was best to do. lt was agreed that Quiss-an-kweedass should call her by name before venturing up a sort of stepladder which leaned against the tree. After he called her several times, she looked out and said, "Where do you come from? And who are you?" "I am Quiss-an-kweedass," said he. "I have sought long years for you. Now that 1 have found you, 1 mean to take you home. Will you go?" "I cannot go with you until my husband, the chief of the bears, returns." After a little conversation, she consented to come down among them; and when they had her in their power, they hastily carried her off home. Her parents were glad to have their lost child, and Quiss-an-kweedass 1IIIflIITIIIIIIIII11IJIIl111111llltlllllllllllllllllllllllllllUIIIIIIIIUlllllllmIIHIIUIIII11IU1J1mIUIIIUIIllIIIIIUIUIIIIUlllllllUllllllllllllnIIIUIIIIIIIlIIiUlIIIIIIIJln1III1111UIIIIlUllllllltfil 421 was overjoyed to recover his loved one. Although she was at home and kindly welcomed, she was worried for her two sons and wished to return for them. This her friends would not allow, though they offered to go and fetch them. She replied that their father would not let them go. "But," said she, "there is a way you might get them." She explained that the bear had made up a song for her, and if they would go to the tree and sing it, the bear chief would give them whatever they wished. After learning the song, a party went to the tree and began to sing. As soon as the bear heard the song he came down, thinking that Kind-awuss had returned. When he saw that she was not there, he was upset and refused to let the children go. When the party threatened to take them by force, however, he agreed to send them to their mother. Kind-a-wuss told the following story of how she had fallen into the power of the bear. After she had parted from Quiss-an-kweedass and turned back toward the hut, she had not gone far before she felt tired and sick at heart for her lover. Deciding to rest a little, she lay down in a dry, shady place and fell asleep. There the bear found her, took her and carried her to his home near the lake. As the entrance to his house was high above the ground, he had a sort of stepladder whereby he could get easily up and down. He sent some of his tribe to gather soft moss to make her a bed. She used to wonder why no one came to look for her; and when the bear saw her downhearted, he would do all in his power to cheer her up. As the years passed and none of her relations nor her lover came near her, she began to feel at home in the bear's tree house. By the time the search party arrived, she had given up all hope of being found. The bear tried to make her comfortable and please her. He composed a song which to this day is known among the children of the Haidas as the Song of the Bears. I have heard it sung many times. In 1888 an old acquaintance gave me the words: I have taken a fair maid from her Haida friends as my wife. I hope her relatives won't come and carry her away from me. I will be kind to her. I will give her berries from the hill and roots from the ground. I will do all I can to please her. For her I made this song, and for her I sing it. This is the Song of the Bears, and whoever can sing it has their lasting friendship. Many people learned it from Kind-a-wuss, who never went again to live with the bear. Out of consideration for her, as well as for the hardships that the lovers had suffered, they were allowed to live as man and wife. UIHlllnnnumIUlmllflUnUUIIIIIUtlUfllIIIIUlIII1II1UIIUllllllltllllHutnw,lfllllllllllllllllllllllliIUUJlIIUlIlIIlIIllIIllIllIlJlIIlIll1l1UlIlIlIlUlUUnll1t1UlIIllIUlUllllUlIIUUll1II 422 As for the two sons, Soo-gaot and Cun-what, they showed different dispositions as they grew up. Soo-gaot stayed with his mother's people, while the other returned to his father and lived and died among the bears. Soo-gaot, marrying a girl belonging to his parental tribe, reared a family from whom many of his people claim to be descended. The direct descendant of Soo-gaot is a pretty girl, the offspring of a Haida mother and Kanaku father, who inherits all the family belongings, the savings of many generations. The small brook which Howed by the mountain home of Quiss-an-kweedass and Kind-a-wuss grew to be a large stream, up which large quantities of salmon run in season. That stream is in the family to this day, and out of it they catch their food. -Based on Yak Quahu's story recorded in 1873 and published by James Deans in the r8805 . • WAKIASH AND THE FIRST TOTEM POLE • (KWAKIUTL] The totem poles of the Northwest Coast tribes were actually family crests rather than religious icons, denoting the owner's legendary descent from an animal such as the bear, raven, wolf, salmon, or killer whale. Coming into a village, a stranger would first look for a house with the totem pole of his own clan animal. Its owner was sure to receive him as a friend and offer him food and shelter. Totem poles "also preserved ancient customs by making sure that in every region within visiting distance of others the old stories were repeated, and the old beliefs about the spirits, the origins of fire and other myths, were basically the same despite linguistic differences between main tribal groups."'" Wabash was a chief named after the river Wakiash because he was open-handed and Howing with gifts, even as the river Howed with fish. ,. Cottie Burland, North American Indian Mythology, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1965, p. 31. fllllllflU'fUlIIllIIlIJUUlllliUlUlJlllllIlitlUIIIIIIIII"lllIIllllIIltllIlIIllIIlIIIUlllIlIDlIllIlllUlutlflllllmlflfllllUlllffllnlllUIIWllllllltllllllllllllUllflllllUll'ItilIIlIIlInllllllllll1l1l It happened once that the whole tribe was having a dance. Wakiash had never created a dance of his own, and he was unhappy because all the other chiefs had fine dances. So he thought: "I will go up into the mountains to fast, and perhaps a dance will come to me." Wakiash made himself ready and went to the mountains, where he stayed, fasting and bathing, for four days. Early in the morning of the fourth day, he grew so weary that he lay upon his back and fell asleep. Then he felt something on his breast and woke to see a little green frog. "Lie still," the frog said, "because you are on the back of a raven who is going to Hy you and me around the world. Then you can see what you want and take it." The raven began to beat its wings, and they H('w for four days, during which Wakiash saw many things. When they were on their way back, he spotted a house with a beautiful totem pole in front and heard the sound of singing inside the house. Thinking that these were fine things, he wished he could take them home. The frog, who knew his thoughts, told the raven to stop. As the bird coasted to the ground, the frog advised the chief to hide behind the door of the house. "Stay there until they begin to dance," the frog said. "Then leap out into the room." The people tried to begin a dance but could do nothing-neither dance nor sing. One of them said, "Something's the matter; there must be something near us that makes us feel like this." And the chief said, "Let one of us who can run faster than the Hames of the fi're rush around the house and find what it is." So the little mouse said that she would go, for she could creep anywhere, even into a box, and if anyone were hiding she would find him. The mouse had taken off her mouse-skin clothes and was presently appearing in the form of a woman. Indeed, all the people in the house were animals who looked like humans because they had taken off their animal-skin clothes to dance. When the mouse ran out, Wakiash caught her and said, "Ha, my friend, I have a gift for you." And he gave her a piece of mountaingoat's fat. The mouse was so pleased with Wakiash that she began talking to him. "What do you want?" she asked eventually. \Vakiash said that he wanted the totem pole, the house, and the dances and songs that belonged to them. The mouse said, "Stay here; wait till I come . agam. " vVakiash stayed, and the mouse went in and told the dancers, "I've been everywhere to see if there's a man around, but I couldn't find anybody." And the chief, who looked like a man but was really a beaver, said, "Let's try again to dance." They tried three times but couldn't do tlJlIllllfllllumHllllrrnUUllIJlmUlIUllllnlllfllllllllfllJllllllll1U1U1l1l1ntt1II1I11U1UnlUJlUflUfllUlIIIIIIUIIUIIIIIIUUlUIIIIIUtlUt!lUflUtUUlmUUtnUIIIUumnUIlIlfUUIIIIIII anything, and each time they sent the mouse to search. But each time the mouse only chatted with Wakiash and returned to report that no one was there. The third time she was sent out, she said to him, «Get ready, and when they begin to dance; leap into the room." When the mouse told the animals again that no one was there, they began to dance. Then Wakiash sprang in, and at once they all dropped their heads in shame, because a man had seen them looking like men, whereas they were really animals. The dancers stood silent until at last the mouse said: "Let's not waste time; let's ask our friend what he wants." So they aU lifted up their heads, and the chief asked the man what he wanted. Wakiash thought that he would like to have the dance, because he had never had one of his own. Also, he thought, he would like to have the house and the totem pole that he had seen outside. Though the man did not speak, the mouse divined his thoughts and told the dancers. And the chief said, "Let our friend sit down. We'll show him how we dance, and he can pick out whatever dance he wants." So they began to dance, and when they had ended, the chief asked Wakiash what kind of dance he would like. The dancers had been using all sorts of masks. Most of all Wakiash wanted the Echo mask and the mask of the Little Man who goes about the house talking, talking, and trying to quarrel with others. Wakiash' only formed his wishes in his mind; the mouse told them to the chief. So the animals taught Wakiash all their dances, and the chief told him that he might take as many dances and masks as he wished, as well as the house and the totem pole. The beaver-chief promised Wakiash that these things would all go vvith him when he returned home, and that he could use them all in one dance. The chief also gave him for his own the name of the totem pole, Kalakuyuwish, meaning sky pole, because the pole was so tall. So the chief took the house and folded it up like a little bundle. He put it into the headdress of one of the dancers and gave it to Wakiash, saying, 'When you reach home, throw down this bundle. The house will become as it was when you first saw it, and then you can begin to give a dance." Wakiash went back to the raven, and the raven Hew away with him toward the mountain from which they had set out. Before they arrived, Wakiash fell asleep, and when he awoke, the raven and the frog were gone and he was alone. It was night by the time Wakiash arrived home. He threw down the bundle that was in the headdress, and there was the house with its UtlIlIUU1Iff11111JIUlIIIIIUUlllIlIIlJlflIIIUnmUUlllUllllllllllllftIllUlIlIllIIltIIUlltthIfnlllfU'lIIlllnrUllUllllmtlmUftU,umfllllUlIl1llltUlflllllllll1nllllnltllll1tUlI1IIIIIIII11II totem pole! The whale painted on the house was blowing, the animals carved on the totem pole were making their noises, and all the masks inside the house were talking and crying aloud. At once Wakiash's people woke up and came out to see what was happening, and Wakiash found that instead of four days, he had been away for four years. They all went into the new house, and Wakiash began to make a dance. He taught the people the songs, and they sang while Wakiash danced. Then the Echo came, and whoever made a noise, the Echo made the same by changing the mouthpieces of its mask. When they had finished dancing, the house was gone; it went back to the animals. And all the chiefs were ashamed because Wakiash now had the best dance. Then Wakiash made a house and masks and a totem pole out of wood, and when the totem pole was finished, the people composed a song for it. This pole was the first the tribe had ever had. The animals had named it Kalakuyuwish, "the pole that holds up the sky," and they said that it made a creaking noise because the sky was so heavy. And Wakiash took for his own the name of the totem pole, Kalakuyuwish. -Based on a version reported by Natalie Curtis in The Indian's Book, 1907. 1IIIIIfUIIIIJllllllllllfl1lt!flllIUIIII,IIIUlIIIIIIUflIIII1UfllUlIIIIIIIIIIIrm,lIJlllltnuUllllfltnlUllIllllIlfnUIIUlIlIIllIJlUnlllllllffntUlIlIlIUlU'llllfIUlllfIl1nUllllUlll,lllllUlllnlfll 426 • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • PART NINE 1111111 SOMETHING WHISTLING IN THE NIGHT 1111111 dHOSTS AND THE SPIRIT WORLD !f:t!f:t!f:t HIIIUUlltlHl '1lI,lIll 1J\l!JIIlIlIJil)JlI! \11111111111111 HIll HlIIllIlll "IIIIllIlU IUlIllll111111111l1ll1111l111! • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • Illl1ti1l1l1llUlUlmUlUlllllllllUUlUlIlIIUlIIUlIlIIlllIlIIUJUtUlIIllIUUIJlllIIlUllIlIlIUlllfllllUUll1UUlUltlllI1UUIIUlIIlIUIUllnHfIUlUlllUlIUllllllllllUnmIUlIllIIUUiJmnUll1 Ghost stories and tales of the dead are essential parts of almost every people's folklore, and American Indians are no exception. The ghosts here, however, are not necessarily always evil or threatening; the dead don't automatically become ghosts, either, so all haunting visions are not necessarily spirits of the departed. Among some tribes there are only vague ideas of the existence of an afterlife. Death was the end, and that was that. At the other extreme of the cultural spectrum were the burialmound builders like the Natchez, who practiced an elaborate death cult with pyramids for the dead. The ruler was buried with treasures of copper, mica, shell, and pearls, as well as a host of women and retainers, dispatched to serve him in the next world. In between are the cultures that envision the souls of the dead living in the spirit land in much the same way that they lived on earth-the men hunting buffalo, gathering crops, or fishing; the women tending the home or tipi. The Mandans believed that people had four souls, and the sage and meadowlark souls merged to form the spirit that went on to another world. The third soul remained in its old lodge, and the fourth appeared from time to time simply to frighten people. In variations on the classical Orpheus theme, the tales here recount several voyages made by the living into the land of the departed, from either curiosity or devotion to a dead relative. While the Greek hero follows his beloved to a world underground, his Indian counterpart may find himself traveling to the bottom of a lake, across the Milky Way, or over mountains and plains similar to those inhabited by the living, although the road is usually strewn with traps for the cowardly or careless. Exchanges between the dead and the living are common-men or women suddenly find out that they have married a ghost, a discovery that puts an interesting twist in romance. The lives of the dead and the living are not generally compatible over the long run, it would seem; each must return to his or her own kind eventually, so that order may be reestablished. Relations with the departed continue, however, through ritual. Among many tribes a warrior must purify himself, fast, and abstain from sex in order to propitiate the ghost of an enemy he has killed. When a Sioux died, his wanagi, his ghost or soul, left the body but stayed near for four days. "You'd better please this spirit," Lame Deer said, "or it might make trouble." UlllunnrtnllliUtflll1TlIllllllllllllflllll1lll1l1t11tJ1ll1l11tJ1ntlflnllllllDunlll1ll1IU1I1UIIUlIIIIUInUlflllllllltlllltlllllllffllll,UtUlllllllllllllllllfillll1lll1ntuunlillfllUIIJII111111111 With every meal, you leave a morsel aside for the spirits. When I drink some mni-sha, wine, or some suta, hard liquor, I always spill a little bit for an old wino friend, saying, "Here, kola, is something for you to enjoy." A good man could take his horse along to the Happy Hunting Grounds. That's why a great chief's or fighter's best horse was sometimes killed after his death, and the horse's head and tail were tied to the funeral scaffold. We didn't believe in burying people in the earth. No, the body of our dead were put on scaffolds or in trees, where the birds, the wind, and the rain could take care of them. The soul went on to the spirit land through the sky, and on the trail sat Owl-Woman, Hihan-Kaha, who would not let them pass unless they had the right signs on their foreheads, or chins, or wrists. When a child died, sometimes the father could not stand parting from it. Then he took some hair from the body and put it into a bundle which he placed in a special tipi. There he kept the child's soul. Soul keeping was hard. It might go on for a year, and during this time the father could not touch his wife, his gun, his weapons; he could not go out and hunt. At the end, the soul was released with a great giveaway feast. Among the Navajo and some other Southwestern tribes, the dwelling in which a person had died was abandoned or destroyed, and his corpse, the token of lifelessness, greatly feared. People not related to the departed would offer to bury or cover the body as a gesture of good will. They believed that ghosts come out only after dark, and their appearance often betokens the imminent death of a close relative. In some tribes the name of a dead person was never mentioned again. Some ghosts are harmlessly funny, prompting (or getting caught in) a string of comic episodes among the living. They have also been known IIIUUlllllUUlflllflllllUTlIlllIIlllll'lllIllUUlnnlIlllllIIlJllIlllIllll1tfllltUllllnlllfllunllllHllUlllilIlfllllllllllflUflll'lll1l11lUlIlUllllllnunlllllll1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIfUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 430 to play tricks on people, making a man's mouth crooked or bringing illness. Parents invoke them as bogeymen to scare children-itIf you don't behave, Siyoko will take you away," a Sioux mother might threaten. Other ghosts may bless a person in his dreams, or warn of approaching dangers. A whistling sound behind a tipi usually announces the arrival of a ghostly messenger. Ghosts are generally dark and indistinct in shape; they nourish themselves only on the smell, not the substance, of food. However, they have also been known to appear in the guise of coyotes, mice, and sparks of fire. The Crow believe that certain ghosts haunt graves, hoot like owls, and manifest themselves as whirlwinds. Among the Tewa Pueblos, the newly dead soul wanders about in the world of the living, in the company of his ancestors, for four days, during which time the village remains generally uneasy. Relatives fear that the soul will become lonely and return to take one of them with him. The house itself must not be left unoccupied at any time during these four days, in order to keep the soul from reoccupying it. The soul is eventually released when the head elder utters a short prayer and reveals the purpose of the symbolic acts the relatives have performed. We have muddied the water for you (the smoke) We have cast shadows between us (the charcoal) We have made deep gullies between us (the lines) Do not, therefore, reach for even a hair on our heads Rather, help us attain that which we are always seeking Long life, that our children may grow Abundant game, the raising of crops And in all the works of man Ask for these things for all, and do no more And now you must go, for you are now free. When Incarnacion Pefia, the last sacred clown of San Ildefonso Pueblo, had been dead four days, one of his friends remarked, "He is already up there in the mountains, making rain for us." tul1lllllllllllllll1lUtlUUlllUJlIIIUllllUlIIllIlUlIIlllUlllllIIlIllltllfllll1IIlIfllllllllm'UlI,mllllllRnJlUIlimunllllllltnlllllltUIllIfIIIUllllliitUiUlIIIIUn11111111111111111111101111111 • TWO GHOSTLY LOVERS • [BRULE SIOUX] • 1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIUllllllllllnllllllllllllllllllilillHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIR110liliiii1011111111111111 • Long ago there lived a young, good-looking man whom no woman could resist. He was an elk charmer-a man who had elk medicine, which carries love power. When this man played the siyotanka, the Bute, it produced a magic sound. At night a girl hearing it would just get up and go to him, forsaking her father and mother, her own lover or husband. Maybe her mind told her to stay, but her heart was already beating faster and her feet were running. . Yet the young man, the elk charmer himself, was a lover with a stone heart. He wanted only to conquer women, the way a warrior conquers an enemy. After they came to him once, he had no more use for them. So in spite of his wonderful powers, he did not act as a young man should and was not well liked. One day when the elk charmer went out to hunt buffalo, he did not return to the village. His parents waited for him day after day, but he never came back. At last they went to a special kind of medicine man who has "finding stones" that give him the power to locate lost things and lost people. After this holy man had used his finding stones, he told the parents: "I have sad news for you. Your son is dead, and not from sickness or an accident. He was killed. He is lying out there on the prairie." The medicine man described the spot where they would find the body, it was as he had said. Out on the prairie their son was lying dead, stabbed through the heart. Whether he had been killed by an enemy warrior, or a wronged husband from his own tribe, or even a discarded, thrown-away girl, no one ever knew. His parents dressed him in his finest war shirt, which he had loved more than all his women, and in dead man's moccasins, whose soles are beaded with spirit-land designs. They put his body up on the funeral scaffold, and then the tribe left that part of the country. For it was a very bad thing, this killing which was probably within the tribe. It was, in fact, the very worst thing that could happen, even though everybody was thinking that the young man had brought it on himself. 1IIIIIIIIlIIIIIIHnUUUIIIIlIIIIIIIUlltUflllllUllllUIIIIIIIUUUUlmllUfJIIlllflllfflilUIUlnmlllllunIIlIlUllllfIllIlIIUnmmltflllllllHlllJl1IllIlIllUfUUUllIIUllllllllltUUIIIUlUlIlI1l 432 One evening many days' ride away, when the people had already forgotten this sad happening and were feasting in their tipis, all the dogs in camp started howling. Then the coyotes in the hills took up their mournful cry. Nobody could discover the reason for all this yowling and yipping. But when it finally stopped, the people could hear the hooting of many owls, speaking of death and ghostly things. The laughter in camp stopped. The fires were put out, and the entry flaps to the tipis were closed. People tried to sleep, but instead they found themselves listening. They knew a spirit was coming. Finally they heard the unearthly sounds of a ghost flute and a voice they knew very well-the voice of the dead young man with the elk medicine. They heard this voice singing: Weeping I roam. I thought I was the only one Who had known many loves) Many girls, many women, Too many of them. Now I am having a hard time. r am roaming, roaming, And r have to keep on roaming As long as the world stands. After that night, the people heard the song many times. A lone girl coming home late from a dance, a young woman up before sunrise to get water from the stream, would hear the ghostly song mixed with the sound of the flute. And they would see the shape of a man wrapped in a gray blanket hovering above the ground, for even as a ghost this young man would not leave the girls alone. Well, it all happened long ago, but even now the old-timers at Rosebud, Pine Ridge, and Cheyenne River are still singing this ghost song. Now, there was another young man who also had a cold heart. He too made love to many girls and soon threw them away. He was a brave warrior, though. He was out a few times with a girl who was in love with him, and he said he would marry her. But he didn't really mean it; he was like many other men who make the same promise only to get under a girl's blanket. One day he said: "I have to go away on a horsestealing raid. I'll be back soon, and then I'll marry you." She told him: "I'll wait for you forever!" UlllllllllllflllllIIUUillflmrrUllllltlflllllllll,UtllllllllllllllllfllUtllm1IIIIIItIIIIlIltllll~llIlIllIlllInllllllnllUfIIllllllftnlllllltilltlllnlll1lll'l 1IIIIIUtUIIUllllllllllllllillilil1fUillfli 433 The young warrior went off and never came back; he forgot all about her. The girl, however, waited for a long time. Well, this young man roamed about for years and had many loves. Then one time when he was out hunting, he saw a fine tipi. It had a sun-and-moon design painted on it. He recognized it immediately: it was the tipi of the girl he had left long ago. "Is she still good-looking and loving?" he wondered. "I'll find out!" He went inside, and there was the girl, lovelier than ever. She was dressed in a white, richly quilled buckskin dress. She smiled at him. "My lover, have you come back at last?" After serving him a fine meal, she helped him take off his moccasins and his war shirt. She traced his scars from many fights with her fingers. "My warrior," she said, "lie down here beside me, on this soft, soft buffalo robe." He lay down and made love to her, and it was sweeter than he had ever experienced, sweeter than he could have imagined. Then she said: "Rest and sleep now." The young man-though not so very young anymore-woke up in the morning and saw the morning sun shining into the tipi. But the tipi was no longer bright and new; it was ragged and rotting. The buffalo robe under which they had slept was almost hairless and full of holes. He lifted the robe and pulled it aside to look at the girl, and instead of a living, beautiful woman, he found a skeleton. A few strands of black hair still adhered to the skull, which seemed to smile at him. The young girl had died there long ago, waiting for him to come back. He had made love to a spirit. He had embraced bones. He had kissed a skull. He had coupled with a skeleton! As the thought sank in, the warrior cried aloud, jumped up, and began running in great fear, running he knew not where. When he finally came to, he was witko, mad. He spoke in strange sounds. His eyes wandered. His thoughts went astray. He was never right in his mind again. -Told by Lame Deer at Winner, Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1970. Recorded by Richard Erdoes. nUfIIUUllilllllllllllnUUUlUUlllllluunUfIIlUlllUlIJlllIlIIUfIiUlIUfUlUllllllllllftiUlIlUlUlllllll1U1IIlIlItUUmnJfUltlitUlUlllUUUfllllllllllllllflUllJfllIIUlIIlIIlllIIUIIUIUUU 434 • THE MAN WHO WAS AFRAID OF NOTHING • [BRULE SIOUX] • nHlllnWIIl1lJmmtlllIllllllllBIII~lIIIlIuummaulllUlllllm • Now, there were four ghosts sitting together, talking, smoking ghost smoke, having a good time, as far as it's possible for ghosts to have a good time. One of them said; "I've heard of a young man nothing can scare. He's not afraid of us, so they say." The second ghost said; "I bet I could scare him." The third ghost said; "We must try to make him shiver and run and hide." The fourth ghost said: "Let's bet; let's make a wager. Whoever can scare him the most, wins." And they agreed to bet their ghost horses. So this young man who was never afraid came walking along one night. The moon was shining. Suddenly in his path the first ghost materialized, taking the form of a skeleton. "Hou, friend," said the ghost, clicking his teeth together, making a sound like a water drum. "Hou, cousin," said the young man, "you're in my way. Get off the road and let me pass." "Not until we have played the hoop-and-stick game. If you lose, I'll make you into a skeleton like me." The young man laughed. He bent the skeleton into a big hoop, tying it with some grass. He took one of the skeleton's leg bones for his game stick and rolled the skeleton along, scoring again and again with the leg bone. "Well, I guess I won this game," said the young man. "How about some shinny bam" The young man took the skeleton's skull and used the leg bone to drive it ahead of him like a ball. "Ouch!" said the skull. "You're hurting me; you're giving me a headache." "Well, you asked for it. Who proposed this game, you or me? You're a silly fellow." The young man kicked the skull aside and walked on. Further on he met the second ghost also in the form of a skeleton, who jumped at him and grabbed him with bony hands. "Let's dance, friend," the skeleton said. "A very good idea, cousin ghost," said the young man. "What shall IftlfllllllllllllfllllllUllllflllnlllllllU,llIll1llll1ll11llmllluunnunnUlhlllll1IUIIQIIUllllllnullnlflllllllllll1llllllmUUlIWlIllIIUllnllllllnlllllll1UnUlIllll11IIIIIIIIItlllllll11f1tl 435 we use for a drum and drumstick? I know!" Taking the ghost's thighbone and skull, the young man danced and sang, beating on the skull with the bone. "Stop, stop!" cried the skull. "This is no way to dance. You're hurting me; you're giving me a headache." "You're lying, ghost," said the young man. "Ghosts can't feel pain." "I don't know about other ghosts," said the skull, "but me, I'm hurting." "For a ghost you're awfully sensitive," said the young man. "Really, I'm disappointed. There we were, having a good time, and you spoiled my fun with your whining. Groan somewhere else." The young man kicked the skull aside and scattered the rest of the bones all over. "Now see what you've done," complained the ghost, "it will take me hours to get all my hones together. You're a bad man." "Stop your whining," said the young man. "It gives you something to do." Then he went on. Soon he came upon the third ghost, another skeleton. "This is getting IlUll1111l,lflUtllllllllllffllltlJltIIlllII,ntflllllllJ,111111lf11lllllll1IIIIlUtlIIlIIlllltflinflUUllllllfIIUfflUllillmtrflllllllllliliUllfllllllttllllflllllllillUUflUfUflIIIUlflll,Ullllllllfl'ltu monotonous," said the young man. "Are you the same as before? Did I meet you further back?" uN" Sal 0, 'd t h e g h ost. "Those were my cousms. . Th' ey re soft. I'm tough. Let's wrestle. If I win, I'll make you into a skeleton like me." "My friend," said the young man, "I don't feel like wrestling with you, I feel like sledding. There's enough snow on the hill for that. I should have buffalo ribs for it, but your rib cage will go." The young man took the ghost's rib cage and used it as a sled. "This is fun!" he said, whizzing down the hill. "Stop, stop," cried the ghost's skull. "You're breaking my ribs!" The young man said: "Friend, you look funny without a rib cage. You've grown so short. Here!" And he threw the ribs into a stream. "Look what you've done! What can I do without my ribs? I need them." "Jump in the water and dive for them," said the young man. "You look as if you need a bath. It'll do you good, and your woman will appreciate it." "What do you mean? I am a woman!" said the ghost, insulted. "With skeletons I can't tell, you pretty thing," he said, and walked on. Then he came upon the chief ghost, a skeleton riding a skeleton horse. 'Tve come to kill you," said the skeleton. The young man made faces at the ghost. He rolled his eyes; he showed his teeth; he gnashed them; he made weird noises. "I'm a ghost myself, a much more terrible ghost than you are," he said. The skeleton got scared and tried to turn his ghost horse, but the young man seized it by tlle bridle. "A horse is just what I want," he said. "I've walked enough. Get off!" He yanked the skeleton from its mount and broke it into pieces. The skeleton was whimpering, but the young man mounted the skeleton horse and rode it into camp. Day was just breaking, and some women who were up early to get water saw him and screamed loudly. They ran away while the whole village was awakened by their shrieking. The people looked out of their tipis and became frightened when they saw him on the ghost horse. As soon as the sun appeared, however, the skeleton vanished. The young man laughed. The story of his ride on the skeleton horse was told all through the· camp. Later he joined a group of men and started to brag about putting the four skeleton ghosts to Bight. People shook their heads, saying, IiThis young man is really brave. Nothing frightens him. He is the bravest man who ever lived." Just then a tiny spider was crawling up this young man's sleeve. When someone called his attention to it, he cried, "Eeeeech! Get this UlllllllllUllll1111111111f11II1I1UIIIUIlIlI1UlJllllllllllllllmlUllumlllllllllllll1II11InIllIlIlnIlHlllllllfUllmllllllfu.mlllll(fIIllflltntltlllllllnllllllllllll[fIlI1I(1I11IUII11111111111111111 437 bug off me! Please, someone take it off, I can't stand spiders! Eeeeeeech!" He shivered, he writhed, he carried on. A little girl laughed and took the spider o~ him. -Told by Lame Deer, and recorded by Richard Erdoes . • THE LAND OF THE DEAD • [SERRANO] • IDllIIIIt1IIIlnllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllnlUllIlIUllIIIIIItIII1UUURII • A great hunter brought home a wife. They loved each other and were very happy. But the man's mother hated the young wife, and one day when the husband was out hunting, she put a sharp, pointed object in the wife's seat, and the woman sat down upon it and was killed. The people immediately brought brush and piled it up. They put her body on it and burned it, and by the time her husband returned that night the body was all consumed. The man went to the burning place and stayed there motionless. Curls of dust rose and whirled about the charred spot. He watched them all night and all day. At evening they grew larger, and at last one larger than all the rest whirled round and round the burned spot. It set off down the road and he set off after it. When it was quite dark, he saw that the dust he was following was his wife, but she would not speak to him. She was leading him in the direction of the rock past which all dead people go. If they have lived bad lives, the rock falls on them and crushes them. When they came to it, she spoke to her husband. "We are going to the place of dead people," she told him. "I will take you on my back so that you will not be seen and recognized as one of the living." Thus they traveled on until they came to the river that the dead have to ford. This was very dangerous for the man because he was not dead, but the woman kept him on her back, and they came through safely. The woman went directly to her people, to her parents and brothers and 1ilUilltlllllll1UtlilltlliUllftllflllllllllllllllllilinunlllllllJliIJlIlJlllllIlIUUtJlIIllIllllUlIIJlllllUllIUlllUllIlllllIIUtllUllllllllllllUll1'UlfIIUUlIUlllllllUtlllUUlllllllllllltillUlllIl1 sisters who had died before. They were glad to see her, but they did not like the man, for he was not dead. The woman pleaded for him, however, and they let him stay. Special food always had to be cooked for him, because he could not eat what dead people live on. And in the daytime he could see nothing; it was as if he were alone all day long; only in the night did he see his wife and the other people. When the dead were going hunting, they took him along and stationed him on the trail the deer would take. Presently he heard them shouting, "The deer, the deed" and he knew they were shouting to him that the deer were coming in his direction. But he could see nothing. Then he looked again and spotted two little black beetles, which he knocked over. When all the people had come up, they praised him for his hunting. . After that the dead did not complain about his presence, but they did feel sorry for him. "It's not time for him to die yet," they said. "He has a hard time here. The woman ought to go back with him." So they arranged for both of them to return, and they instructed the man and the woman to have nothing to do with each other for three nights after they were back on earth. Three nights for the dead, however, meant three years for the living. Not aware of this, the husband and wife returned to earth and remained continent for three nights. The following evening they embraced, and when the husband woke on the morning of the fourth day, he was alone. -From a story reported by Ruth Benedict in 1926 . • THE DOUBLE-FACED GHOST • [CHEYENNE] • 111I1II1II11I1I11I11I1II1I1I1I1111I1II111I1I01I_llIlIIlIlIlIlIIlIIlnOlllllll11l1l1ll1l1l01l1l1l11lllll111i1111111 • There was a ghost who was immensely tall, with arms and legs of colossal length. He had two faces, one looking forward and one looking backward, and for this reason he was called the Double-faced Ghost. llllllll1l1lUlIlllllltllllllllllUlflllllllflnllllUlllllIlUllll1l11t1l1lll11UllfUlIfll1l1lI1I1I11U11lnllU111fJl1lnU1I1IIHlIfUl11Ol1l1ll1n1ll1ll1l11lt1l1lnUl1II111111111111IUUlIUlllltUnlllUlun 439 He was not too bad-for a ghost, that is. He was so big that he could step over the widest rivers, and over hills too. He was also a mighty hunter, since he could catch any game that came in sight with his wonderfully long arms. But in spite of his talents, Double-Face was not happy because he could not find himself a suitable wife. One day he came upon a tent standing all by itself in the middle of the prairie. In it lived a man, his wife, and their daughter, who was young and beautiful. Hiding behind a hill, the Double-faced Ghost saw the girl from afar and immediately fell in love with her. He said to himself: "I must have her for my wife! Of course, she might not want me, and her father too might think that she and I are ill-matched. So I'll start by supplying this family with so much good, fat meat that they'll see what a fine husband I'd make." The ghost went hunting and caught a lot of game with his long arms. Every morning in the darkness before dawn, he brought a great load of meat and left it in front of the tipi. The parents and the girl were delighted and wondered what hunter was giving them all this fine red meat. The father said: "I must find out who is doing us this kindness," but he never caught a glimpse of the Double-faced Ghost. Yet morning after morning there was a new load of meat stacked up before the tipimore than the three people could eat, even if the dogs also had their fill. At last the father dug himself a hole behind a clump of bushes, crept into it on a moonlit night, and stayed awake to watch. Before dawn he saw the Double-faced Ghost come, leave his load of meat, and go away. The man went back to his family trembling with fear. He told his wife and daughter to strike the tent and pack up, because it was a terrible monster who had been bringing the meat. The three got away as fast as they could, and the next morning Double-Face found the tent gone. He waited until it was light and then followed their tracks. With his long legs he soon overtook them. "Wait wait, good people," Double-Face shouted. "I mean you no harm. I have only kind feelings toward you." In a few more strides he came level with the fleeing family. "Stop! stop!" he cried. "Let's sit down and talk!" What could the three people do? Though very much afraid, they sat down. The ghost towered over them. "You were kind to leave all that meat," the man said. "But what do you want from us?" "I am in love vvith your daughter," said the Double-Faced One. "I want her for a wife." Naturally the father was not willing to give her to the ghost, and the daughter would not have gone even if her father had asked it. After flllIlllllIlIIUUUIIIJlnllllllllllUUUllftllllllllllllfllllllUllUlfIlIlIlIllIIlIIUIiUlliUfIllUlllllmunUllUliUlIIIUlIlIIlIrnmllUlUUUllllmlllUlillflllllllllllllllllUlllUUIIUlllllllll1U 440 all, what girl wants a husband ten times taller than she, with one face looking forward and one backward? On the other hand, the father did not want to make this giant angry. So he said: "You are indeed kind and handsome, and a mighty hunter too. Who wouldn't want a man like you for his daughter's husband? What daughter wouldn't be happy to have you? Now, I'm sure you know the custom of my people in such matters." "What custom?" asked the Double-Faced Ghost. "Well, we always play hide-the-plumpit. If the suitor wins, he gets the girl. If he doesn't, he gives something of value." "Really?" said the ghost. "I never heard of this custom. It sounds unusual." "Not at all," said the father. 'We've had it since the world began, and we must stick to it or suffer great misfortunes." "Well, in that case let's play." "You are a wise and accommodating man," said the father. "As I said, if you win I will give you my daughter, but if you lose you will go on leaving a pile of meat for us in the morning-though maybe only every other day." \Vhat the Double-faced Ghost didn't know was that the father was the best hidden-plumpit player in the world. They played. The father's hands were Sd. quick that the ghost could not follow them and locate the pit. On top of that, the girl and her mother drummed and sang funny songs, which distracted him. So the father won easily. Double-Faced Ghost accepted his loss and went on bringing meat as long as the people lived, even after the daughter married. As I said, he wasn't bad-for a gho"St. -From a tale reported by Alfred L. Kroeber in 1900. IIIIUUllllllllllllmllllllllllflllllUlUlIIIUlllllllltlllflltUIiUmllillfllllllllHlUlIUftllUlllfllllJ1IIIfIIUIIIIIIJlllllltlllllUllllllllnnllltlllfUIIIIIIUlIIIIIlIUlllllllll1l11f11IU1IUUminu 441 • A JOURNEY TO THE SKELETON HOUSE • [HOPI] • 1111_1111111111111111111111111111110111111111101111111111.1111111111111111161111111111aOI • Haliksai! In Shongopavi where the people were first living, a curious young man would often sit at the edge of the village looking at the graveyards. He wondered what became of the dead, if they really continued to live somewhere else. He asked his father, who could tell him very little. His father was the village chief, and he said that he would speak to the other chiefs and to his assistants about it. He asked the village criers whether they knew anything that would help his son. "Yes," they said, "Badger Old Man has the medicine that will answer his questions." So they called Badger Old Man, and when he arrived, they said, "this young man is thinking about the dead-whe.per they live anywhere. You know about it, and you have medicine that can show h1m. · ""V ery we, 11 " he sal 'd, "I'll go an d get my me d"lcme." So he went to his house, looked over his medicines, and finally found the right one. "This is it," he said, and took it to the village chief. "Very well," he said. "Tomorrow put a white kilt on your son and then blacken his chin with t6ho, with black shale, and tie a small eagle feather to his forehead. These are the very preparations used for the dead." The next morning they dressed the young man in this way, and Badger Old Man spread a white 6wa on the Hoor and told the young man to lie on it. He gave the young man some medicine to eat and also placed medicine in his ears and on his heart. Then he wrapped him in a robe, whereupon the young man, after moving a little, "died." "This is the medicine," Badger Old Man said. "If he hears this, he will go far away but he will also come back again. He wanted to see something and find out something, and with this medicine he will do just that." After the young man had fallen asleep, he saw a path leading westward. It was the road to the skeleton house. This path he followed, and after a while he met a woman sitting by the· roadside. "What have you come for?" she asked the young man. "I have come," he replied, "to find out about your life here." "Yes," the other one said, "I didn't follow the straight road; I didn't listen, and I now have to wait here. After a certain number of days I can go on a little, then I can go on again, but it will Jl1111111fll111111111fl1ll1111fl1l111Ul11I111UlIUlumm11U1I1IJlI1l1l1f1l1lJ1II1IIIIIIInlIHllllllmllllllfllllll'U1111111U11111111mlftiliflUlfliitlUtlIlIllfilUlIIIUlllUillUiIIUlilltltnltnllUlf 442 be a long time before I shall get to skeleton house." She pointed to an enclosure of sticks, which was all the house and protection she had. From here the path led westward through large cactus and agave plants so full that they sometimes hid the way. He finally arrived at the rim of a steep bluff, where a chief was sitting. He was a Kwaniita, and had a white line around his right eye and a big hom for a headdress. He also asked the young man why he had come, and the latter told him. "Very well," the chief said. "Away over there is the house that you are looking for." But a great deal of smoke in the distance hid the house from the young man's view. The chief spread the young man's kilt on the ground, placed the young man on it, then lifted it up. Holding it over the precipice, the chief threw it forward, whereupon the kilt carried the young man slowly down like a giant bird. When he had arrived on the ground below the bluff, he put on his kilt again and proceeded. In the distance he saw a column of smoke rising. After he had proceeded a distance, he came upon Skeleton Woman and asked her what the smoke was. "Some of those who were wicked while they lived in the village were thrown in there," she said. "The bad chiefs send their people over this road, and then they are destroyed; they no longer exist. You must not go there," she added. "Keep on this road and go straight ahead toward skeleton house." When at last he arrived at skeleton house, he did not see anyone except a few children playing there. "Oh!" they said, "here a skeleton has come," and by the time he went into the village, all the people-or skeletons, rather-living there had heard about him and gathered to stare. "Who are you?" they asked the young man. "I am the village chief's son. I came from Shongopavi." So they pointed toward the Bear clan, saying, "Those are the people that you want to see. They are your ancestors." A skeleton took him over to the house where his clan lived and showed him the ladder that led up to the house. The rungs of the ladder were made of sunflower stems, and the first rung broke as soon as he stepped on it, though the skeletons went up and down the ladder with no trouble. "I shall have to stay down here," he said; "bring me food and feed me here." So the skeletons brought him some melon, watermelon, and chukuviki. When they saw him eat, they laughed at him; they are lighter than air because they never eat the food, but only its odor or soul. And that is the reason why the clouds into which the dead are transformed are not heavy and can float in the air. The food itself the skeletons threw out behind the houses, which is where they got his meal. When he had finished, they asked him what he had come for. He said, "I was wondering whether skeletons lived somewhere. I told my father I wanted to go lunllllllllllllll1lr1nUUIII,UfUllllUnmlllllUlfnlUllUUfIIlflluUnUlIlUifftlllllllllllUlflllUUIIIIIIIWItUllIUlllfillUllUlllUllllllltlllIIUllIIlIIlllIIlUll1uunUIlUlllllllllllllllUl1 443 and find out, and he dressed me up in this way and Badger Old Man gave me some medicine to make it happen." "So that's what you have come for; well, look at us." Then they added: "It's not light here; it's not as light as where you live. We actually live poorly here. You cannot stay with us here yet; your flesh is still strong and 'salty.' You still eat food; we eat only the odor of the food. But when you go back, you must work there for us. Make nakwakwosis for us at the Soyal ceremony. These we tie around our foreheads, and they represent dropping rain. We shall work for you here, too. We shall send you rain and crops. You must wrap up in the owa women when they die, and tie the big knotted belt around them, because these owas are not tightly woven. When the skeletons move along on them through the sky as clouds, the thin rain drops through these owas, and the big raindrops fall from the fringes of the big belt. Sometimes you cannot see the clouds distinctly, because they are hidden behind these nakwakwosis, just as our faces are hidden behind them." Looking around, the young man saw some of the skeletons walking around with huge burdens on their backs. These were mealing stones, which they carried by a thin string over the forehead that had cut deeply into the skin. Others carried bundles of cactus on their backs, and as UlllfIIUIIUIIUIIUUUlUlUUlUlUUUfllltlJlnllUUmnrllHUIUUItlUIIUUUlIlJfUlIlIlIIUnUnUlUll1UfllIIllllflmlUlIIUlrlllnUtlllnnrUlUUlllllUlllllflllIIlllIUlllllIIUllllltlllllllr 444 they had no clothes on, the thorns of the cactus hurt them. He was told that some had to submit to such punishments for a certain length of time, then were relieved of them and could live with the others. At another place in the skeleton house he saw the chiefs who had been good here in this world and had made a good road for other people. They had taken their tiponis, their protective medicine,'" and set them up there, and when the people here in the villages have their ceremonies and smoke during the ceremonies, this smoke goes down into the other world to the tiponis or mothers and from there rises up in the form of clouds. After the young man had seen everything and satisfied his curiosity, he set off to his own village. When he arrived at the steep bluff, he again mounted his kilt and a slight breeze lifted him up. He met the Kwaniita chief, who told him, "Your father and mother are mourning for you now, so you'd better return home." This was the last person he met on his way back. When he had just about arrived at his house, his body, which was still lying under the covering in the room where he had fallen asleep, began to move, and as they joined once more, it came to life again. They removed the covering, and Badger Old Man wiped his body, washed the paint off his face, and discharmed him. Then he sat up. They fed him and asked what he had found out. He recounted all of his experiences in detail-the woman with the house of brush, the Kwaniita chief and his flight on a kilt, and all about the skeleton house-the skeletons with heavy burdens of cactus and stones, and even the skeletons' food. "I have seen it all myself now, and I shall remember it. We are living in the light here. They are living in the dark there. No one should desire to go there." ' Then he told them about the nakwakwosis and bahos. "If we make prayer offerings for them, they will provide rain and crops and food for us. Thus we shall assist each other." "Very well," they all said. "Very well; so that is the way." And so they returned to their homes wiser than before. And from that time, the living and the dead began .to work together for the benefit of both. -Based on a tale collected by Henry Votk in 1905. ,. The tiponi usually consists of an ear of com to which are attached feathers of different birds and pieces of turquoise and shells. 1IIIUlllllllllt1111111111nlltllilimUllllilltutllllllUIIIIIIIUlllUIIIIIIIUlIIIIUrtllllnUlIlllIllllIllllIllllIlllllIllIlllIllIIlIllUlIIlIllIIllllIlIlIlllHlIlI11I1I1I1I11IUlllllllllllllllllllilltJJlltili 445 • THE SKELETON WHO FELL DOWN PIECE BY PIECE • [ISLETA PUEBLO] This story is in~uenced by Spanish tales. Gold and silver were hardly known to the Pueblos and not considered particularly desirable. In fact there was no money, as the white man knew it, so that tales of buried treasure are European in origin. • IUIIIURUH8n~IIIIIHUHnnBnlll.lIIlI_nnlllllllllllllllllllllll • There was a boy living with his mother and brothers. They all went out to different places looking for work, and that night the boy found an empty house to sleep in. He was dropping off when he heard a voice from the top of the house cry, "I'm going to fall." "Well, fall." An arm carne down. "I'm going to fall!" Another arm carne down. Soon the whole skeleton stood there. "You're a brave boy! won't you wrestle with me?" it said. "Wrestle with a bony man like you! Well, all right." They wrestled together, and the boy threw down the skeleton, who said to him: "You're a brave boy, and I am going to let you have all the riches I have here." So the skeleton gave the boy a candle to light so that he could go into a little room where the ghost kept his gold and silver. Then the skeleton jumped on the boy's back and said, "You've got to carry me." "All right, I'll carry you." When they carne to the room, Skeleton blew out the candle. The boy said, "I want to see what your riches are," and he lit the candle again. Just as he turned to look at the money, the dead man blew out the light. The boy got mad and pushed the skeleton down. "If you're going to blow out the light, I'll break your bones." "No, my friend, leave me alone, for I think you're a brave boy." When the boy relit the candle, he saw a great pile of money. Skeleton said, ''I'm going to ask one thing of you, my friend. After you have gathered everything up, assemble all the poor people and give a little money to everybody. The rest will be for you." And the skeleton left, and the boy did as he asked, and then became a rich man. -Based on a tale recorded by Elsie Clews Parsons. lUtllU1IIUlfillUllllllllIlllIlllllIlIlllUfllllililflltfllllllllltllllllllUIUIIttlllIlIlPtiftliUlinilttlIIUIIHlIlIlIIIIlIIIIllIIIIIlff1UUIIUlllfllIUIIUIIIIIIIIIII.IllIIrlllllUllllIUllllfUUUlllll1 446 • THE SPIRIT WIFE • [ZUNI] Here a Zuni Orpheus makes a hair-raising journey to accompany his dead wife, only to learn of the inevitability of death itself. • IUIUllnlllalllHIUUUnUnUnUHUllIIllllHlIIIIIIUIIIIIIIlIlIUHIRlllRAHllIIlIlIllIlIHIRlilI • A young man was grieving because the beautiful young wife whom he loved was dead. As he sat at the graveside weeping, he decided to follow her to the Land of the Dead. He made many prayer sticks and sprinkled sacred corn pollen. He took a downy eagle plume and colored it with red earth color. He waited until nightfall, when the spirit of his departed wife came out of the grave and sat beside him. She was not sad, but smiling. The spirit-maiden told her husband: "I am just leaving one life for another. Therefore do not weep for me." "I cannot let you go," said the young man, "I love you so much that I will go with you to the land of the dead." The spirit-wife tried to dissuade him, but could not overcome his determination. So at last she gave in to his wishes, saying: "If you must follow me, know that I shall be invisible to you as long as the sun shines. You must tie this red eagle plume to my hair. It will be visible in daylight, and if you want to come with me, you must follow the plume." The young husband tied the red plume to his spirit-wife's hair, and at daybreak, as the sun slowly began to light up the world, bathing the mountaintops in a pale pink light, the spirit-wife started to fade from his view. The lighter it became, the more the form of his wife dissolved and grew transparent, until at last it vanished altogether. But the red plume did not disappear. It waved before the young man, a mere armslength away, and then, as if rising and falling on a dancer's head, began leading the way out of the village, moving through the streets out into the cornfields, moving through a shallow stream, moving into the foothills of the mountains, leading the young husband ever westward toward the land of the evening. The red plume moved swiftly, evenly, floating without effort over the roughest trails, and soon the young man had trouble following it. He grew tireder and tireder and finally was totally exhausted as the plume left him farther behind. Then he 'called Ollt, panting: "Beloved wife, wait for me. I can't run any longer." The red plume stopped, waiting for him to catch up, and when he 1IIlUilfIlIIIIIIIIIIUllltltlillHIIUlilltflilUlllllllftllIJIIIIJIIIJllllilUtllliliIHliiUlllfIlIUlllltlllllllrtllllllUUllllllltllllflfllllllUllUlllJltullllllllftflllmtl11IIItIIUnnIUntuIUUtlllili 447 did so, hastened on. For many days the young man traveled, following the plume by day, resting during the nights, when his spirit-bride would sometimes appear to him, speaking encouraging words. Most of the' time, however, he was merely aware of her presence in some mysterious way. Day by day the trail became rougher and rougher. The days were long, the nights short, and the young man grew wearier and wearier, until at last he had hardly enough strength to set one foot before the other. One day the trail led to a deep, almost bottomless chasm, and as the husband came to its edge, the red plume began to float away from him into nothingness. He reached out to seize it, but the plume was already beyond his reach, floating straight across the canyon, Because spirits can fly through the air. The young man called across the chasm: "Dear wife of mine, I love you. Wait!" He tried to descend one side of the canyon, hoping to climb up the opposite side, but the rock walls were sheer, with nothing to hold onto. Soon he found himself on a ledge barely wider than a thumb, from which he could go neither forward nor back. It seemed that he must fall into the abyss and be dashed into pieces. His foot had already begun to slip, when a tiny striped squirrel scooted up the cliff, chattering: "You young fool, do you think you have the wings of a bird or the feet of a spirit? Hold on for just a little while and I'll help you." The little creature reached into its cheek pouch and brought out a little seed, which it moistened with saliva and stuck into a crack in the wall. With his tiny feet the squirrel danced above the crack, singing: "Tsithl, tsithl, tsithl, tall stalk, tall stalk, tall stalk, sprout, sprout quickly." Out of the crack sprouted a long, slender stalk, growing quickly in lengtll and breadth, sprouting leaves and tendrils, spanning the chasm so that the young man could cross over without any trouble. On the other side of the canyon, the young man found the red plume waiting, dancing before him as ever. Again he followed it at a pace so fast that it often seemed that his heart would burst. At last the plume led him to a large, dark, deep lake, and the plume plunged into the water to disappear below the surface. Then the husband knew that the spirit land lay at the bottom of the lake. He was in despair because he could not follow the plume into the deep. In vain did he call for his spirit-wife to come back. The surface of the lake remained undisturbed and unruffled like a sheet of mica. Not even at night did his spirit-wife reappear. The lake, the land of the dead, had swallowed her up. As the sun rose above the mountains, the young man buried his face in his hands and wept. UUfllllUlUnUlIIlIllUllIlllllIIlUlllllflunllUlUUlIUUUlllIIlIlJIIllllllllllllhlUtllUlIUfllUll1I1IlUlIIIIIIIIIUIII1111IHIIIUlIlUilUilUillfllllllllllllllllllllliUlmUlIItllflUmUIilUllf Then he heard someone gently calling: "Hu-hu-hu," and felt the soft beating of wings on his back and shoulders. He looked up and saw an owl hovering above him. The owl said: "Young man, why are you weeping?" He pointed to the lake, saying: "My beloved wife is down there in the land of the dead, where I cannot follow her." "I know, poor man," said the owl. "Follow me to my house in the mountains, where I will tell you what to do. If you follow my advice, all will be well and you will be reunited with the one you love." The owl led the husband to a cave in the mountains and, as they entered, the young man found himself in a large room full of owl-men and owl-women. The owls greeted him warmly, inviting him to sit down and rest, to eat and drink. Gratefully he took his seat. The old owl who had brought him took his owl clothing off, hanging it on an antler jutting out from the wall, and revealed himself as a manlike spirit. From a bundle in the wall this mysterious being took a small bag, showing it to the young man, telling him: "I will give this to you, but first I must instruct you in what you must do and must not do." The young man eagerly stretched out his hand to grasp the medicine bag, but the owl drew back. "Foolish fellow, suffering from the impatience of youth! If you cannot curb your eagerness and your youthful desires, then even this medicine will be of no help to you." "I promise to be patient," said the husband. "Well then," said the owl-man," this is sleep medicine. It will make you fall into a deep sleep and transport you to some other place. When you awake, you will walk toward the Morning Star. Following the trail to the middle anthill, you will find your spirit-wife there. As the sun IIIUU'IIIIIIUlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllltllIIllIIUIlIIllIIfIlIllIlIlIlIlIlIfIlIIllUlIIIImrUl1rtlillUltlllllUltlllllmnlllllllllllllllllllHlIIIUUJlIIlIlllUIilUllumnUIUUllunnmm 449 rises, so she will rise and smile at you, rise in the flesh, a spirit no more, and so you will live happily. "But remember to be patient; remember to curb your eagerness. Let not your desire to touch and embrace her get the better of you, for if you touch her before bringing her safely home to the village of your birth, she will be lost to you forever." Having finished this speech, the old owl-man blew some of the medicine on the young husband's face, who instantly fell into a deep sleep. Then all the strange owl-men put on their owl coats and, lifting the sleeper, flew with him to a place at the beginning of the trail to the middle anthill. There they laid him down underneath some trees. Then the strange owl-beings flew on to the big lake at the bottom of which the land of the dead was located. The old owl-man's magic sleepmedicine, and the feathered prayer sticks which the young man had carved, enabled them to dive down to the bottom of the lake and enter the land of the dead. Once inside, they used the sleep medicine to put to sleep the spirits who are in charge of that strange land beneath the waters. The owl-beings reverently laid their feathered prayer sticks before the altar of that netherworld, took up the beautiful young spirit-wife, and lifted her gently to the surface of the lake. Then, taking her upon their wings, they flew with her to the place where the young husband was sleeping. When the husband awoke, he saw first the Morning Star, then the middle anthill, and then his wife at his side, still in deep slumber. Then she too awoke and opened her eyes wide, at first not knowing where she was or what had happened to her. When she discovered her lover right by her side, she smiled at him, saying: "Truly, your love for me is strong, stronger than love has ever been, otherwise we would not be here." They got up and began to walk toward the pueblo of their birth. The young man did not forget the advice the old owl-man had given him, especially the warning to be patient and shun all desire until they had safely arrived at their home. In that way they traveled for four days, and all was well. On the fourth day they arrived at Thunder Mountain and came to the river that flows by Salt Town. Then the young wife said: "My husband, I am very tired. The journey has been long and the days hot. Let me rest here awhile, let me sleep a while, and then, refreshed, we can walk the la,st short distance home together." And her husband said: "We WI'11 d0 as you say. " The wife lay down and fell asleep. As her lover was watching over her, gazing at her loveliness, desire so strong that he could not resist it overcame him, and he stretched out his hand and touched her. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111I 450 She awoke instantly with a start, and, looking at him and at his hand upon her body, began to weep, the tears streaming down her face. At last she said: "You loved me, but you did not love me enough; otherwise you would have waited. Now I shall die again." And before his eyes her form faded and became transparent, and at the place where sHe had rested a few moments before, there was nothing. On a branch of a tree above him the old owl-man hooted mournfully: "Shame, shame, shame." Then the young man sank down in despair, burying his face in his hands, and ever after his mind wandered as his eyes stared vacantly. If the young lover had controlled his desire, if he had not longed to embrace his beautiful wife, if he had not touched her, if he had practiced patience and self-denial for only a short time, then death would have been overcome. There would be no journeying to the land below the lake, and no mourning for others lost. But then, if there were no death, men would crowd each other with more people on this earth than the earth can hold. Then there would be hunger and war, with people fighting over a tiny patch of earth, over an ear of corn, over a scrap of meat. So maybe what happened was for the best. -Retold from a nineteenth-century version . • THE TRA.NSFORMED GRA.NDMOTHER • [PIMA-PAPAGO] • 1I11111ftlllUIIUIUIIUlllllftUUIIUUUUHIIIIIIlIU1DUlUIIIUIumnmmUIUIUIUlliliunnUIUIliliIlin • An old woman lived with her two grandchildren in a lonely place near a high, steep mountain. One day she told the children that a plant which the Indians use for food grows on the mountains, and that she had made up her mind to gather some of it. She started toward the mountain nearby, and when she got to the foot of it, she could not see the top. Yet she was determined to climb it. She took her cane in one hand, and, singing her song, began to clamber up. nllflllllUUltlllUlIIllIIllfllUJlftllllUmlllllllUllUlmlllllllniitilllWimllRUItUlmIIUlltmllmnllllllllltllllnUlflllmllllilllllllnllilllllfllllllllltll'Jllllttllllf'lllIlIIurllllllllUl1 45 1 She grew weary, sat down, and looked up, but the top did not seem any nearer. She began climbing again. She had to rest many times before she could even see the summit, and it was evening before she arrived there. She had suffered all the way, and her feet were bleeding from rocks and thorns. At last, however, she stood before the plant itself and began pulling it out of the ground. But she pulled it too hard, and away she rolled down the mountainside, the plant with her. Great stones and rocks rolled over her before her body reached the bottom. She was killed on the way, but it was said that the bones picked themselves up and started toward home, singing a song. In the meantime the children had begun to feel anxious for her. As they sat around the little nre they had built, they heard someone singing or talking far away. Nearer and nearer the sound came, and the younger one asked what was making the noise. The older one recognized the voice of her grandmother, but knew from its strangeness that her grandmother was no longer living. She told the younger one that they must go into the house and close the doorway with a "mine," a kind of blanket that is made from a weed woven like a basket. They went inside and held the mine over the door, so that the woman might not enter. At last she came and ran around the house many times, singing as she ran. The children wondered what they would do if she should break through the door. The girl said she would turn into a blue stone, and her little brother said he would turn into a stick burning at one end. So they dropped the mine they held in their hands, and when the woman entered, there was nobody to be seen--only the blue stone and the burning stick. She stood calling, but no answer came. -Based on a tale collected by Lucy Howard. 1IIIIIIUllllllrllllllllllll'llllIlJlllllllltnilUiIltUIIUIIUlllllllfItlIIIIIUlllllllm1Ullltllllltln1II1IIIIJ1l1llllfllllllllnlllltnUlllltlIUIIIUUlIUIi1IIIJIlllllllllflllllilfUIlIIlllllllllllltIIIIII • BIG EATER'S WIFE • [PEQUOD] Big Eater ate and ate. He never stopped eating. He had his wigwam and two canoes on an island close to the mainland shore. Big Eater was powerful, but sometimes an evil ghost woman can defeat the most powerful man. One day Big Eater was looking across the water, and there on the opposite shore he saw a beautiful young woman digging clams. How could he know that she was a ghost-witch? He hailed her across the water: "Beautiful girl, come live with me. Sleep with md" "No," she said. "Yes - No. Yes. No. Yes, yes, yes! Well, all right." Big Eater got in one of his two canoes and paddled over. The woman was even more beautiful dose up. ';J\Il right, pretty one, step into the canoe." "Yes, but first I must get my things." Soon the girl came back with a mortar and pestle and some eggs. She put them in the canoe, and Big Eater paddled her over. They ate. The beautiful woman said: "Oh my, what great heaps of food you can eatl" "Yes, I'm powerful that way." Th~y went to bed. "Oh my, how often you can do itl" "Yes, I'm powerful that way." "You sure are." So they lived happily for a long time. But after a while this girl got tired of Big Eater. She thought, "He's fat, he's not young. I want a change; I want to have a young, slim man loving me. I'll leave." So when Big Eater went out fishing in one of his canoes, the girl made a doll, a large doll, large as a grown woman. She placed the doll in her bed, took her mortar, pestle, and eggs, put them in Big Eater's second canoe, and paddled off. Big Eater came home early from fishing. Thinking it was his wife he was climbing in with, he got into bed, He touched the doll, and the doll began to scream and shriek. "Wife," he said, "stop this big noise or I'm going to beat you." Then he saw 'that it was a doll lying in bed with him. Big Eater jumped up and looked around, The mortar and pestle and eggs were gone. He ran down to the shore, got into the remaining canoe, and paddled furiously after his wife. Ul1111UtilUlllll1lt11t111111111t111llUIJIIIlfililumllllllllllllllnmUlllttlllHilltUiitlll,.iltlllitililUlltillltiiliItIlIHlIHUlIIUUnUltlllltlUUlIItUUIIIUtmIIlIUlfUluntIll111fUUllilif 453 Soon he saw her, also paddling hard. But he was stronger than she and pulled closer and closer. He drew up behind her canoe until both almost touched. "Now I'll catch her," he thought. Then the woman threw her mortar out of the canoe over the stern. At once all the water around him turned into mortars, and Big Eater was stuck. He couldn't paddle until at last he lifted his canoe and carried it over the mortars. By the time he gained clear water again, his wife was a long way off. Again he paddled furiously. Again he gained on her. Again he almost caught her. Then she threw her pestle out over the stern, and at once the water turned into pestles. Again Big Eater was stuck, trying to paddle through this sea of pestles but unable to. He had to carry his canoe over them, and when he hit open water again, his wife was far distant. Again Big Eater drove through the water with all his strength. Again he gained on her; again he almost caught her. Then from the stern of her canoe the woman threw the eggs out. At once the water turned into eggs, and once more Big Eater was stuck. The eggs were worse than the mortar and pestle, because Big Eater couldn't carry his canoe over them. Then he hit the eggs, smashing them one by one and cleaving a path through the gooey mess. He hit clear water, and his wife's canoe was only a little dot on the horizon. Again he paddled mightily. Slowly he gained on her again. It took a long time, but finally he was almost even with her. "This time I'll catch you!" he shouted. "You have nothing left to throw out." But his wife just laughed. She pulled out a long hair from her head, and at once it was transformed into a lance. She stood up and hurled this magic hair lance at Big Eater. It his him square in the chest, piercing him through and through. Big Eater screamed loudly and fell down dead. That's what can happen to a man if he marries a ghost-witch. -Retold from several nineteenth-century sources. IllfIIllllllllJlllllllllllllllllllrlllflllttllillllJlllllliliUlllIllllInu.IIUlllnIllU'JUUOIIUlllnlIIlIiIUIIIIIIIIUllllllllllltnlUlllllmIUlIIIUlUlIIIIItlllll1lll1"lllIIlrlllllllllllllllltlflllllll 454 • THE ORIGIN OF THE HOPI SNAKE DANCE • [TEWA] • nnnUHYHHUIUn_WIIIIIIIIIIIIDIRIIIlIUlUHHlllllIIIIOIIIIIIIIIlllnll11n1BRU • Long ago two Summer People society members-'a father and his sonlived in one of the Hopi villages. Whenever offerings were made to the supernaturals, the son would always say, "I don't believe that these things are ever taken by the gods. I wonder if there really are any gods." At last he decided, "I'll find out the truth. I'm going to the Lower Place to see if the gods really are there, and if they're all they're supposed to be." Explanations from his father and other religious leaders that the gods do not take the offerings themselves, but only the essence or the core, did no good. He set out on his way. After he had traveled for several days, the Silent One, a T ewa rain god, appeared to the young man. 'Ihe Silent One asked: 'Where are you going?" "I am going to the Lower Place to look for the gods." "Even if you travel until you grow old, you will never get there," the Silent One replied. "The Lower Place is too far for you to reach. Go no further, and do not doubt the existence of the gods." After saying this, the Silent One turned himself into his supernatural form and then back into a man again. The youth was frightened and impressed, but he could not let the rain god deter him. He insisted on continuing his journey. After the young man had traveled further, the Deer-Kachina-Cloud god appeared, also in human form. Again the youth did not recognize him as a god, and again the god scolded him and urged him to go back. "I have horns," the god said, "and I am the gamekeeper of your people." Whereupon he also transformed himself into his supernatural form and then back to a man. Despite these warnings, the youth insisted on going on. "Snake Village is closer than the Lower Place, and that is as far as you can go," said Deer-Kachina-Cloud. "After visiting Snake Village, you must return to your own people." Reluctantly the young man agreed to this. When the youth had gone another short distance, Star-FlickeringGlossy Man appeared, dressed in the feathers of many birds. He warned the young man again: "You can go only to Snake Village; no further. IUlllIlllllIlUIUlnmllUtlUnmlllllllllllUJUflllllllUlllllllfllllllUUlllli1mUIIIIIDIIIIIIIQ"IUUlUlIlJlllUlilltfflRlllnlrnUlllllllllfnIIIIlIitUlUIIIlUUfIIIIUIII11111flfUIIUt111111111 455' TIle snakes will try to bite you, because you are a doubter. Use this herb on them. In the middle of the village lives the governor of the snake people, and you should go there right away. The snakes are also spirits who!can change themselves into peC?ple." When the youth reached the village, the snakes did indeed try to bite him, but he spat the herb in their direction and they retreated. He reached the snake governor's home unharmed and was received kindly, though the governor also warned him not to proceed further. The snake governor had two beautiful daughters, who treated the youth so well that he slept with one of them that night. The next day as he prepared to start on his long journey home, the governor offered him his choice of the two daughters to take with him. He chose the one he had spent the night with. Next the governor told him to make piki, ceremonial bread, in white, yellow, red, and blue, and to scatter it, on his return, before a mountain north of his village. After he had made the piki, he and his wife began their trip in the company of some of the snake people, who went with them for a part of the way. So great was the distance that the young man's wife had become pregnant and was due to give birth any day by the time they reached the Hopi village. On their way the young man had already scattered the piki before the mountain in this order: white, yellow, red, and blue. Immediately four bands of these colors appeared across the mountains. They were intended to be used by the Hopi people, and so they have been ever since: the red for painting pottery, the yellow and red for painting moccasins, and the blue (or green) for painting their bodies. \Vhen the couple reached the foot of the mesa, the wife said she would remain there until he returned. She told him, however, that no one must touch him and he must touch no one until he came back to her. When 1IllllillIHIIIIIIUII1I1ItUUUUUUlUUUIJIIllllllll1lUIIIIIUmllllllUlmillntmllllillUlnlllill1UlllllllUllltlllllffllllllllUIIIIIIIIUUlIIIIIIIIIIIUlllllUflllUUlmunllllllllllllliUllUIli 456 he climbed to his village at the top of the mesa, the young man told his people to take him to the kiva, to. build a large fire there, and to gather the whole village. As was expected of him, he told his whole story from the time he had set out to the Lower Place. This took the whole of that night. The following morning as he walked down to the bottom of the mesa to take his wife some food, he met a woman with a water jar coming up. She was .f! former lover of his, and without warning she ran to him and embrace¢l him. When he reached his wife, she already knew what had happened. Weeping, she said: "You don't care for me, so I shall leave and return to my people. But your child will always remain with you." She gave birth to a baby who, like herself, could change into a snake at will. Then she departed. That's why the Hopis dance the snake dance today. The dancers are the descendants of the child born to the young man and his snake wife. -Translated from the Tewa by Alfonso Ortiz . • BLUE JAY VISITS GHOST TOWN • [CHINOOK] • IIHIRHHIIIIUHllnU._llDllllllllllllllllnUIIIIHHUUHUIIUUlllIIIIIIBmIlIlIlRIIOnnll • One night the ghosts decided to go out and buy a wife. They chose a woman named lo'i, and gave her family dentalia as a dowry. They were married one night, and on the following morning Io'i disappeared. Now Io'i had a brother named Blue Jay. For a year he waited to hear from her, then said, ''I'll go and search for her." He asked all the trees, "Where do people go when they die?" They remained silent. He asked all the birds, but they did not tell him either. Then he asked an old wedge. It said, "Pay me and I'll carry you there." He did, and it took him to the ghosts. The wedge and Blue Jay arrived near a large town, where they saw no smoke rising from any of the houses except the last one, a great edifice. Blue Jay went into it and found his elder sister, who greeted him fondly. 1IIIIII111IIUlllillflllltlillflillfIIIIIIIIltIllllllllllllllmllllillflllUliIInllmllHlllIlllUllilltltllllUlIJIIlllUllltllllnllmllJllllllllllllIlIlIUlllllI1IUlllfllllnmnlllllllllllllUUllUlllflll1 457 "Ah, my brother," she said, "where have you come from? Have you died?" "Oh, no," he said, "I am not dead at all. The wedge brought me here on his back." Then he went out and opened the doors to all the other houses. They were full of bones. He noticed a skull and bones lying near his sister, and when he asked her what she was doing with them, she replied: "That's your brother-in-law." "Pshaw! Io'i is lying all the time," he thought. "She says a skull is my brother-in-law!" But when it grew dark people arose from what had been just bones, and the house was suddenly full of activity. \Vhen Blue Jay asked his sister about all the people, she laughed and replied, "Do you think they are people? These are ghosts!" Even hearing this, though, he resumed staying with his sister. She said to him, "Do as they do and go fishing with your dip net." "I think I will," he replied. "Go with that boy," she said, pointing to a figure. "He is one of your brother-in-Iaw's relations. But don't speak to him; keep quiet." These people always spoke in whispers, so that Blue Jay didn't understand them. And so they started in their canoes. He and his guide caught up with a crowd of people who were going down the river, singing aloud as they paddled. When Blue Jay joined their song, they fell silent. Blue Jay looked back and saw that where the boy had been, there were now only bones in the stern of the canoe. They continued to go down the river, and Blue Jay kept quiet. Then he looked at the stern again, and the boy was sitting there. Blue Jay said in a low voice, "Where is your fish trap?" He spoke slowly, and the boy replied, "It's down the river." They paddled on. Then Blue Jay said in a loud voice, "Where is your trap?" This time he found only a skeleton in the stem. Blue Jay was again silent. He looked back, and the boy was sitting in the canoe. He lowered his voice and said, "Where is your trap?" "Here," replied the boy. Now they fished with their dip nets. Blue Jay felt something in his net, lifted it, and found only two branches. He turned his net and threw them into the water. When he put his net again into the water, it soon became full of leaves. He threw them back, but some fell into the canoe and the boy gathered them up. Then Blue Jay caught another branch and some more leaves and threw them back; but again a few leaves fell into the canoe, and again the boy gathered them up. As they continued fishing, Blue Jay caught two more branches that he decided to take back to Io'i for making a fire. They arrived at home and went up to the house. Blue Jay was angry 'that he had not caught anything, but the boy brought up a mat full of trout, even though Blue Jay had not seen him catch a single one in his net. While the people were roasting them, the boy announced, "He threw most of the catch out of the canoe. Our canoe would have been 1I11111IHIIIIIIIIIIlIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUllllllllllllllllllUIIIIIIIUlIIIIIIUllllllltJIIIUIIIIUlIII1IIJIIllIlIIlIlIlIIlIUlllIIlIlIIlIUlllllllUlIIlIIUUllIlIIUllIIllIIlJIllIIUIilUlUlIlIIl1lf1utlHlI 458 full if he had not thrown so much away." His sister said to Blue Jay: "Why did you throwaway what you had caught?" "I threw away nothing but branches and leaves." "That is our food," she replied. "Did you think they were branches? The leaves were trout, and the branches were fall salmon." He said, "Well, I brought you two branches to use for making a fire." So his sister went down to the beach and found two fall salmon in the canoe. She carried them up to the house, and Blue Jay said, "Where did you steal those salmon?" She replied, "That's what you caught." "lo'i is always lying," Blue Jay said. The next day Blue Jay went to the beach. There lay the canoes of the ghosts, now full of holes and covered with moss. He went up to the house and said to his sister, "How bad your husband's canoes are, lo'i!" "Oh, be quiet," she said. "They'll become tired of you." "But the canoes of these people are full of holes!" Exasperated, his sister turned to him and said, "Are they people? Are they people? Don't you understand? They are ghosts." When it grew dark again, Blue Jay and the boy made themselves ready to go fishing again. This time he teased the boy: as they made their way down the river, he would shout, and only bones would be there. When they began fishing, Blue Jay gathered in the branches and leaves instead of throwing them away. When the ebb tide set in, their canoe was full. On the way home, he teased all the other ghosts. As soon as they met one he would shout out loud, and only bones would lie in IJIIUlUIIIIIIIIIIIIlII1I11nUllffllflllltIIIIIlIUlIUlliilIIItlIIlIfUIIIUlllm1I11111111111111J11101111l11liluttllUIIIIUJutnlUillfllllllllllllllfffmlllllliliIIJllIllIlJfIIlllllllll11fllllltllllUl1lU 459 the other canoe. They arrived at home, and he presented his sister with armfuls of fall salmon and silver-side salmon. The next morning Blue Jay went into the town and waited for the dark, when the life came back. That evening he heard someone announce, "Ah, a whale has been found!" His sister gave him a knife and said, "Runl a whale has been found!" Anxious to gather meat, Blue Jay ran to the beach, but when he met one of the people and asked in a loud voice, "Where is the whale?" only a skeleton lay there. He kicked the skull and left it. A few yards away he met some other people, but again he shouted loudly, and again only skeletons lay there. Then he came to a large log with thick bark. A crowd of people were peeling off the bark, and Blue Jay shouted to them so that only skeletons lay there. The bark was full of pitch. He peeled off two pieces and carried them home on his shoulder. He went home and threw the bark down outside the house. He said to his sister, "I really thought it was.a whale. Look here: it's just bark from a fir." His sister said, "It's whale meat, it's whale meat; did you think it's just bark?" His sister went out and pointed to two cuts of whale meat lying on the ground. "It's good whale, and its blubber is very thick." Blue Jay stared down at the bark, astonished to find a dead whale lying there. Then he turned back, and when he saw a person carrying a piece of bark on his back, he shouted and nothing but a skeleton lay there. He grabbed the bark and carried it home, then went back to catch more ghosts. In the course of time he had many meals of whale meat. The next morning he entered a house and took a child's skull, which he put on a large skeleton. And he took a large skull and put it on that child's skeleton. He mixed up all the people like this, and when it grew dark the child rose to its feet. It wanted to sit up, but it fell down again because its head pulled it down. The old man arose. His head was too light! The next morning Blue Jay replaced the heads and switched around their legs instead. He gave small legs to an old man, and large legs to a child. Sometimes he exchanged a man's and a woman's legs. In course of time Blue Jay's antics began to make him very unpopular. Io'i's husband said: "Tell him he must go home. He mistreats them, and these people don't like him." lo'i tried to stop her younger brother's pranks, but he would pay no attention. On the next morning he awoke early and found Io'i holding a skull in her arms. He tossed it away and asked, "Why do you hold that skull, Io'i? "Ah, you have broken your brother-in-Iaw's neck!" When it grew dark, his brother-in-law was gravely sick, but a shaman was able to make him well again. Finally Blue Jay decided it was time to go home. His sister gave him III1fUIIUlIIllIIUlrtllllllltUllIUllilUlliunUlllUlliUlinllUIIIUlllUlllllllllmllmUIIIUlIIUllllllU1IIIIIUnJIIlIIlIIlIIUlllllllmllUillflllUlllIIlUllflUlllllllnUUllIIl1l1l1l1UlllUlli1 460 five buckets full of water and said, "Take care! When you come to burning prairies, save the water until you come to the fourth prairie. Then pour it out." "All right," replied Blue Jay. He started out and reached a prairie. It was hot. Red flowers bloomed on the prairie. He poured water on the prairie, using half of one of his buckets. He passed through a woods and reached another prairie, which was burning at its end. "This is what my sister told me about." He poured the rest of the bucket out on the trail. He took another bucket and poured, and when it was half empty he reached the woods on the other side of the prairie. He came to still another prairie, the third one. One half of it was burning strongly. He took a bucket and emptied it. He took another bucket and emptied half of it. Then he reached the woods on the other side of the prairie. Now he had only two and a half buckets left. He came to another prairie which was almost totally on fire. He took the half bucket and emptied it. He took one more bucket, and when he arrived at the woods at the far side of the prairie, he had emptied it. Now only one bucket was left. He reached another prairie which was completely ablaze. He eked out the last drop of water. When he had gotten nearly across he had run out of water, so he took off his bearskin blanket and beat the fire. The whole bearskin blanket blazed up. Then his head and his hair caught fire and soon Blue Jay himself was burned to death. Now when it was just growing dark Blue Jay returned to his sister. "Kukukukukuku, Io'i," he called. Mournfully his sister cried, "Ah, my brother is dead." His trail led to the water on the other side of the river. She launched her canoe to fetch him. Io'i's canoe seemed beautiful to him. She said, "And you told me that my canoe was moss-grown!" "Ah' Io'i is always telling lies. The other ones had holes and were moss-grown, anyway." "You are dead now, Blue Jay, so you see things differently." But still he insisted, "Io'i is always telling lies." Now she paddled her brother across to the other side. He saw the people. Some sang; some played dice with beaver teeth or with ten disks. The women played hoops. Farther along, Blue Jay heard people singing conjurers' songs and saw them dancing, kumm, kumm, kumm, kumm. He tried to sing and shout, but they all laughed at him. Blue Jay entered his sister's house and saw that his brother-in-law was a chief, and a handsome one. She said, "And you broke his neck!" "Io'i is always telling lies. Where did these canoes come from? They're pretty." "And you said they were all moss-grown!" "Io'i is always telling lie. The others all had holes. Parts of them were moss-grown." "You are dead now, and you see things differently," said his sister. "Io'i is always telling lies." Blue Jay tried to shout at the people, but they laughed at 1IIIflltlillfiflUIIIUlllllllllllillflillUrllllllUlllnllWllUIIIIIIIIIIIIUlIIII111IIIIIIIUttliUllml1mllftilftlllrmllnillUlllllmlllllllJllmUllllllllllllllUIIIlIlJlI1IIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIUlflUIlil 461 him. Then he gave it up and bec;lme quiet. Later when his sister went to look for him, he was standing near the dancing conjurors. He wanted their powers, but they only laughed at him. He pestered them night after night, and after five nights he came back to his sister's house. She saw him dancing on his head, his legs upward. She turned back and cried. Now he had really died. He had died a second time, made witless by the magicians. -Based on a tale reported by Franz Boas in 1894. • ~ THE GHOST WIFE • [BRULE SIOUX] • HlIIIIIII.HuuIIHnHIIII....I...IIIUUlOlDl1fIInllll~11D1II • Once there was a man, a fine hunter and good provider, who was very much in love with his handsome wife. They had two beautiful children, with a third on the way. When his wife was about to give birth, she was in labor for a long time. The baby wouldn't come out, and it hurt so much that the woman cried. The husband fetched an old woman who knew about such things, and she tried birthing medicine and all her other powers. But nothing helped; the child wouldn't come out, and the young wife died. The husband was crazy with grief. He had loved her so much, and now he didn't know what to do. He ate almost nothing. He cut his little finger off to show how much he missed her. He held all kinds of ceremonies for her. Sometime after she had died, the man was walking near his tipi one night when he saw a ghost. It was something like a white fog, a mist shaped like a woman. It was his wife, calling him. She said: "I couldn't stand seeing you grieve so much. I took pity on you. It's not at all bad where I am, and I can arrange for you and the children to join me. Then we can walk the Milky Way together and never be separated again." The man said: "Come into the tipi. Let's talk this over." So the white shape went inside with him. They sat down. The man said: "I'm not 1IIIIUIIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIUUUfllllnmilUlIIIIJlllllllllnnllllllflflUUlIttillUlmllmllnlllllllnnmllllllllllQnUlllltlllfJlIIUllllIllllIIlIllllIllUlltlln1IIlIII1IIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllillillilltlili 462 quite ready to die yet. And the children are too young to die. Instead of our going with you to that spirit place, can't you arrange it so that you come to life again and stay with us?" The ghost didn't know, and said she would ask and return in four days with an answer. Four days later she came back, standing outside the tipi in the moonlight like a white mist. She called her husband and told him: "Well, all right; it's arranged for me to come to life again. Make a curtain of buffalo robes that I can hide behind, and don't look at me or try to touch me for four days. If you do I'll remain dead, so be careful, Husband." , The man followed every instruction. He hung the curtain and didn't look or let the children look behind it. He did everything right. And after four days his wife came out' from behind the curtain, young and pretty as before. The couple and their children lived again as if she had never died. They were happy together. When years had passed, however, the man fell in love with another woman. He.-told his wife: HI shall marry a second woman, and she will share the work with you. You'll have someone to talk to when I'm away hunting. Things will be'more pleasant." But things were not so pleasant. The 6rst wife tried to get along with the second one, but the new woman was proud and jealous. And as often happens, the man paid more attention to his new wife, the younger and prettier one. The new woman did not like having the old one around, either, and she told her: "You're nothing but a ghost; you're not even real. Why do you hang around? Why don't you go back up to the Milky Way where you belong? Go away, ghost!" The 6rst wife said nothing, but the next morning she was gone, and her husband and children were gone with her. They had vanished without a trace. This time the ghost wife had taken them to the spirit land rather than stay with them down on earth. When the new wife realized what had happened, she was sorry for what she had said, but that didn't bring them back. -Told by Leonard Crow Dog in 1968, and recorded by Richard Erdoes. UIUlllUllltillflunlllfJIllllmlfflillmUUIIUlUlllmumlUUllflillUllIIJlllllllhlllllliml1UlllllllfltlllllllmlllllllUlIIlIllU.llmlllllllQlllllllnlllllllurfllllttllllUUUlllltlllllllllll1 463 .111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. PART TEN 1111111 ONLY THE RO(K' AND MOUNTAIN' LA'T FOREVER 1111111 VISIONS OF THE END \ 1\ fi': P , :~~:~ l\ 11111 III >I II 1111 IIldIlI1IH'>lIIIIHlllliHII11IIIHlhIllIIllHUIlIIUlII!hllldnml1!1H1II1,lmIllIlIllI1ll1! .111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111. tllllllnllUUllumnlUlUUlIIlIlllllllllllllllllll1UUUlIIIUlIIIUIUUlllllllfJllllllllUUll1UmltllUlUUIlUlnll1ll11l1llUJllIIllllIIlUlUnlUUUlIllllnmlllllllllllllllllllliUlllllIIUUUIII The great Oglala leader Crazy Horse used to shout on his way into battle, "A good day to fight and a good day to die!" Bobtail Horse of the Cheyennes, faced with a mission which would probably cost him his life, remarked casually: "I am not afraid. I have already thrown my life away." Elderly Cheyenne warriors, weary of the misery and boredom of old age, made elaborate preparations to end their lives in battle. Yet accepting death was also an affirmation of life, for Crazy Horse also said he could die willingly because all the things he held dear-the sun, the land, the buffalo-were close by; his willingness to die was part of his way of honoring the human spirit. It was the lot of all people. As Sioux warriors acknowledged, "Only the rocks and mountains last forever; men must die." Death enters the world in many guises. The Blackfoot creator Old Man introduces it as an inherent component of life when fashioning the first men and women. Coyote, in a Caddo legend, encounters death as a whirlwind, but he too acknowledges its crucial role in life. Individuals are not the only ones to perish; nations and cultures crumble in mythic images, beSieged from without and within. A Cheyenne proverb says, itA nation is not lost so long as its women's hearts are high. But if ever the women's heart should be lost, then the nation dies." Many stories tell of the coming of the white man, with his railroads and armies, and of the disastrous consequences for the Indian. For the Sioux, his arrival meant the end of the buffalo, and with them went an entire way of life. Men and women die, nations disappear, and even the destruction of the world itself is foretold in apocalyptic images of the end of time. The eradication of the world by flood or fire is a widespread motif across the continent, but it is usually accompanied by tokens of renewal, for the end of this world does not mean the end of everything, but merely the passing of one state and the arrival of the next, just as other worlds were destroyed to make way for the one we live in now. A Hopi prophecy fortells that when the Blue Star Kachinas dance in the village plazas, then the end will be near. And when a special song is heard during the Wuwuchim ceremony, then the world will be plunged into war. This song was heard before the outbreak of World Wars I and II, and it will be heard again just before the outbreak of World War III. Then everything will be destroyed except the Four Comers area in which the Hopi live. From there a new world will start. The end of this world, in which we are living now, will come when people fly through the sky, JllUlllllfIUIUUIIUlIIIUUUlUlflUIIUlIlIIlIUflllIllUlUmUlll1lllUlllIIlIUlllllllllllfUllflllhtifilIinlllJllUlUfU'lIIlIUJfflllUUUUlUllUiliUlllIllUllUUlllflllltllIlIlIIlUlllflUllUlIl 467 trying to reach the stars, when the sun turns black, and when the Hopis travel to the House of Mica. This particular vision was embraced in a rather dramatic way in recent years when, in the 1970S, a Hopi delegation traveled to New York to address a warning to the United Nations. One Hopi spokesman, when passing through Gary, Indiana, saw the ,sun hidden by clouds of smoke rising from many smokestacks. The sun he was seeing was black. When he saw the United Nations building for the first time, he knew that he had arrived at the House of Mica and that the old prophecies would be fulfilled. There will be a last warning--earthquakes, eclipses, volcanic eruptions, and if this warning is not heeded, and the people of the world do not take better care of it, this world will be wiped out, and a new one will take its place. Long before the days of world wars or atomic weapons, however, a Paiute medicine man had another vision of a new world. 1890 witnessed the second major outbreak of the apocalyptic Ghost Dance; in 1870, tribes in California and the far west had taken up the great ceremonial dance for the first time in many years, and now it swept with increased fervor throughout the Plains. While the dancers embued it with a more violent tone in the east, where Indian tribes suffered the most severe stress from the incursions of the whites, the first dancers began with more peaceful intent. The medicine man Wovoka spoke of a fantastic vision of a world cleansed and renewed with green grass and spring rains and returned, whole again, to the Indian people. The dead returned from the North, driving before them great herds of game and buffalo, and all the people in the world thrived without death or illness. There would be great fellowship and brotherhood between all the tribes, and between man and animal. Unfortunately, this vision was shattered in the cold and bloody snow of Wounded Knee in December, 1890, and little progress seems to have been made towards reaching it again since then. The belief that it will come some day, however, endures, and with it the vitality of Wovoka's image of all the people in the world joining hands and dancing together in a single harmonious circle: a peaceful world for all its creatures. IUIUlllniliUlflIIUIIII1111I111111111IIIUliliflIIIUUtJlUlIIIIIIIUIIII1IIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIUIIIUlUlII11t1Ull11111U1111111111111UllfilltlUUIIUUUlII1tIIIlIIUIIlfllllllllllllillUllllllllllllllllfillfi 468 • WOMAN CHOOSES DEATH • [BLACKFOOT] • InHU_IIIII111RnUnHIIIIIIHHHlllnIllIHIIHUIIIIIIHIIIUIIIIIIIIIIUnUUIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII11111111 • Old Man decided that something was missing in the world he had made. He thought it would be a good thing to create a woman and a child. He didn't quite know how they should look, but he took some clay and mud and for four days tried out different shapes. At first he didn't like the looks of the beings he formed. On the fourth day, however, he shaped a woman in a pleasing form, round and nice, with everything in front and back, above and below, just right. "This is good," Old Man said, "this is the kind of woman I like to have in my world." Then he made a little child resembling the woman. "Well," said Old Man, "this is just what I wanted, but they're not alive yet." Old Man covered them up for four days. On the first day he looked under the cover and saw a faint trembling. On the second day the figures could raise their heads. On the third day they moved their arms and legs. "Soon they will be ready," said Old Man. And on the fourth day he looked underneath the cover and saw his figures crawling around. "They're ready now to walk upon my world," thought Old Man. He took the cover off and told the woman and the child: "Walk upright IUllfllllffllllllmllllll,nUUlll1lllllllll11lfUUlllltllHlllIlllllIIlUIliUll11IIIItlllllllUIIIQllnllllllllllUlllllttlllflllIHlllllllllllllillUilllllllllllllnlllllftllUllJllllllllllnlllllllltlllllllJ 469 like human beings." The woman and the child stood up. They began to walk, and they were perfect. They followed Old Man down to the river, where he gave them the power of speech. At once the woman asked: "What is that state we are in, walking, moving, breathing, eating?" "That is life," said Old Man. "Before, you were just lumps of mud. Now, you live." 'When we were lumps of mud, were we alive then?" asked the woman. "N" 0, sal 'd Old M " an, you were not a I' lve. " "What do you call the state we were in then?" asked the woman. "It is called death," answered Old Man. "When you are not alive, then you are dead." "Will we be alive always?" asked the woman. "Will we go on living forever, or shall we be dead again at some time?" Old Man pondered. He said: "I didn't think about that at all. Let's decide it right now. Here's a buffalo chip. If it 80ats, then people will die and come back to life four days later." "No," said the woman. "This buffalo chip will dissolve in the water. I'll throw in this stone. If it 80ats, we'll live forever and there will be no death. If it sinks, then we'll die." The woman didn't know anything yet, because she had been walking on earth for just a few hours. She didn't know about stones and water, so she threw the stone into the river and it sank. "You made a choice there," said Old Man. "Now nothing can be done about it. Now people will die," -Retold from several nineteenth-century sources . • COYOTE AND THE ORIGIN OF DEATH • [CADDO] In the beginning of this world, there was no such thing as death. Everybody continued to live until there were so many people that the earth IIUfUIUUl'llflllUlltflllfllUJllIIlUlllllllllftilfUlIWlllllllflllUllltUllUllllt1thmllltJllmmUlllltullllllmutUllUlllllllumWlllllllflUUlllllllllltUftUUllIlllJUlill1f11l111l1iUU1I1 had no rOOm for any more. The chiefs held a council to determine what to do. One man rose and said he thought it would be a good plan to have the people die and be gone for a little while, and then return. As soon as he sat down, Coyote jumped up and said he thought people ought to die forever. He pointed out that this little world is not large enough to hold all of the people, and that if the people who died came back to life, there would not be food enough for all. All the other men objected. They said that they did not want their friends and relatives to die and be gone forever, for then they would grieve and worry and there would be no happiness in the world. Everyone except Coyote decided to have people die and be gone for a little while, and then come back to life again. The medicine men built a large grass house facing the east. When they had completed it, they called the men of the tribe together and told them that people who died would be restored to life in the midicine house. The chief medicine man explained that they would sing a song calling the spirit of the dead to the grass house. When the spirit came, they would restore it to life. All the people were glad, because they were anxious for the dead to come and live with them again. When the first man died, the medicine men assembled in the grass house and sang. In about ten days a whirlwind blew from the west and circled about the grass house. Coyote saw it, and as the whirlwind was about to enter the house, he closed the door. The spirit of the whirlwind, finding the door closed, whirled on by. In this way Coyote made death eternal, and from that time on, people grieved over their dead and were unhappy. Now whenever anyone meets a whirlwind or hears the wind whistle, he says: "Someone is wandering about." Ever since Coyote closed the door, the spirits of the dead have wandered over the earth trying to find some place to go, until at last they discovered the road to the spirit land. Coyote ran away and never came back, for when he saw what he had done, he was afraid. Ever after that, he has run from one place to another, always looking back first over one shoulder and then over the other to see if anyone is pursuing him. And ever since then he has been starving, for no one will give him anything to eat. -From a tale reported by George A. Dorsey in 1905. 1I11UUlt1111UlIlUflIUlIIIIIIIIIIIIUUIflIlIUIIIUflllmmtlIUlllllllln.lfllllIHllOllllllllUtllllllllllnlllUlllIJllHlllllllfflllltllllllllllllflllllllllIllUI11I111111111II11f1IIfUlIIUIIIIIIIJIIIIII 471 • THE FLOOD • [HAIDA] • UnnnlllUUllUUnnnlllNUIIIIDIDIIIllllllllllIUnnllllUnUnnRlllnllllnllll1H111111111111 • Behind Frederic Island there was a village with many people in it. A crowd of boys and girls was playing on the beach when they saw a strange woman wearing a fur cape such as they had never seen before. A little boy walked up to ,her to find out who she was, and the others followed. She was indeed strange. One boy pulled at her garment, which was like a shirt. He pulled it way up and saw her backbone, a funny-looking thing with "Chinese slippers," a plant that grows on the seashore, sticking out of it. This made the children laugh and jeer. When they heard the children's clamor, the old people told them to stop laughing at the stranger. At that moment the tide was at its low ebb, and the woman sat down at the water's edge. The tide began to rise, and the water touched her feet. She moved up a little and again sat down. The water rose again, and again she moved back. Now she sat down at the edge of the village. But the tide kept rising; never before had it come so high. The villagers grew frightened and awe-struck. Having no canoes, they did not know how to escape, so they took big logs, tied them together into a raft, and placed their children on it. They packed the raft with dried salmon, halibut, and baskets of spring water for drinking. -IIIIIIIIUltnIIlUtliIIUllllUIIIIUlllllltllllmUrlllfUIlIlIIIUIUIIlIUIIUIiIUltnmlllllllUllUlllUlIlJlllUlllIllllJlllflillfHlIlIIlUlllllllltlllllllllIllfillflllllUfllll11llflillfllillUflllllilfti Meanwhile the stranger kept sitting down, and when the tide came up to her, moving away to higher ground, up the hillside, up the mountain. Many people saved themselves by climbing onto the raft with the children. Others made more rafts, until there were a number aHoat. The whole island now was covered by the sea, and the hundreds and hundreds of survivors were drifting about without being able to stop, since they had no anchors. By and by the people saw peaks sticking out of the ocean. One of the rafts drifted to a piece of land and its survivors stepped off there, while other rafts were beached elsewhere. It was at that time that the tribes b<'1came dispersed. -Based on a tale related by Henry Young in I947 and reported by Marius Barbeau in I953. • THE SEER WHO WOULD NOT SEE • [PIMA] • IglIBlnnHIIIIIItUHllllllRIl1IIBllnnnllUllWIUlllllaJllllllialanlillmnlllHDHDI • Earth Maker took some clay in his hands, mixed it with his own sweat, and formed it into two figures-a man and a woman. He breathed life into them and they began to walk around. They lived. They had children. They peopled the land. They built villages. At a time when there were already numbers of people living, Szeukha, Earth Maker's son, dwelled in the valley of the Gila River. Near him lived a famous seer who could foretell the future. One night while this seer slept, someone came to speak to him, making a great noise at his door. The seer woke up and looked out. Silhouetted against the light of the moon was a big bird standing in the doorway. It was the great eagle, who said, "Wake up! Stir yourself! You're a seer; you're a healer. Don't you know that a great Hood is coming?" "I know nothing about a Hood," said the seer, laughing at the eagle. "Go away and let me sleep." The great eagle came three times more to warn the seer, who ridiculed 1llllllUlUIIIUIIIIUllllflllfUltfllllllllfllltllllfllllllHllllllllllffl,IIIIJlfmutlIlmUlUlllI1HRllUUflmallf1l1lP1UnllMlnllllllllllmllllllllllllllllfllllllumIJUlltllllUflUJlllllllll11 473 and scolded him. "Don't bother me, bird of misfortune. We all know what kind of person you are. You roam the villages in the shape of an old woman, and afterwards some girls and children have disappeared and are never seen again. We don't want you around here." "You'd better believe what I'm telling you," said the great eagle. "This whole valley will be Booded. Everything will be destroyed." "You're a liar," said the seer. "And you're a seer who sees nothing," said the great eagle. The bird Bew away, and hardly had he gone when a tremendous thunderclap was heard, the loudest there has ever been. Even children in the womb heard it. It began thundering continuously as great Bashes of lightning lit up the sky. When morning came, the sun remained hidden behind dark clouds, and there was only twilight, gray and misty. Then the earth trembled, and there was a great roar of something immense moving. The people saw a sheer green wall advancing toward them, filling the valley from one side to the other. At first they did not know what it was, and then they realized that it was a wall of green water. Destroying everything in its path, it came like a huge beast, a green monster, rushing upon them foaming, hissing, in a cloud of spray. It engulfed the seer's house and carried it away with the seer, who was never seen again. Then the water fell upon the villages, sweeping away homes, people, fields, and trees. The Bood swept the valley clean as with a broom. Then it rushed on beyond the valley to wreak havoc elsewhere. When the next day dawned, there was nothing alive except Szeukha, Earth Maker's son, Boating on a lump of pine resin. The waters abated a little, and his strange craft bumped into a mountain above the Salt River. He stepped ashore and lived for a while in a cave on that mountain. The cave is still there, and so are some of the tools and weapons that Earth Maker's son used. Now, Szeukha was going up to fight the great eagle. He was furious at this bird, who, he thought, had caused the great Bood. Szeukha took wood from different kinds of trees and made a ladder. He leaned it against the- cliff atop which the great eagle had his home, and the ladder reached into the clouds. Szeukha climbed it, found the great eagle, and fought him. It was a big fight and lasted a long time, for both Szeukha and the great eagle were powerful and had strong magic. But Szeukha was more powerful, his magic more potent, and at last he killed the great eagle. Looking around, Szeukha saw the corpses and bones of all the people the great eagle had abducted and killed. He brought them all back to life, fed and clothed them, and told them to spread out and repeople IIIUIIUlIIIIIIIIIIIIUUUUflUfllrnlUIUllllllUIIIUtllllllUIIUfIIlnllfflihUmiUllUJllt1ll1l1l1t1ll111UIIIIIlllflllUlllUllltlIlUlllUlUlllllllflllllltllllllmmUUminUUlUmUlflllllJlU1 474 the land. Inside great eagle's house he found a woman and her child alive. The eagle had stolen her from a village and taken her for his wife. Szeukha fed and clothed her and the child also, and sent them on their way. The woman was pregnant at the time, and she became the mother and b~getter of the Hohokam people, from whom the Pimas are descended. -Retold from various nineteenth-century sources • • THE ELK SPIRIT OF LOST LAKE ~ • [WASCO] • IIIlI1IIIIIIAUllIIIIIIIBIIIIIHUlIIIIDmIIIIIIIIlRllllllHllIIIIBlnlllllllllllll • In the days of our grandfathers, a young warrior named Plain Feather lived near Mount Hood. His guardian spirit was a great elk. The great elk taught Plain Feather so well that he knew the best places to look for every kind of game and became the most skillful hunter in his tribe. Again and again his guardian spirit said to him, "Never kill more than you can use. Kill only for your present need. Then there will be enough for all." Plain Feather obeyed him. He killed only for food, only what he needed. Other hunters in his tribe teased him for not shooting for fun, for not using all his arrows when he was out on a hunt. But Plain Feather obeyed the great elk. Smart Crow, one of the old men of the tribe, planned in his bad heart to make the young hunter disobey his guardian spirit. Smart Crow pretended that he was one of the wise men and that he had had a vision. In the vision, he said, the Great Spirit had told him that the coming winter would be long and cold. There would be much snow. "Kill as many animals as you can," said Smart Crow to the hunters of the tribe. "We must store meat for the winter." The hunters, believing him, went to the forest and meadows and killed all the animals they could. Each man tried to be the best hunter in the tribe. At first Plain Feather would not go with them, but Smart 111111111UlltltllltfllllllllllllnlllllliUlIHlIIJIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIJIltt1I1I1III1UIIIIInlilmllUIIIWIltIIfUllmu.lHllllltlllllllllmlftllmtlllllutlllUtftlllnllltlllill1IIIIIUlIlItllllltfflftlUIIIII 475 Crow kept saying, "The Great Spirit told me that we will have a hard winter. The Great Spirit told me that we must get our meat now." Plain Feather thought that Smart Crow was telling the truth. So at last he gave in and went hunting along the stream now called Hood River. First he killed deer and bears. Soon he came upon five bands of elk and killed all but one, which he wounded. Plain Feather did not know that this was his guardian elk, and when the wounded animal hurried away into the forest, Plain Feather followed. Deeper and deeper into the forest and into the mountains he followed the elk tracks. At last he came to a beautiful little lake. There, lying in the water not far from the shore, was the wounded elk. Plain Feather walked into the lake to pull the animal to the shore, but when he touched it, both hunter and elk sank. The warrior seemed to fall into a deep sleep, and when he awoke, he was on the bottom of the lake. All around him were the spirits of many elk, deer, and bears. All were in the shape of human beings, and all were moaning. He heard a voice say clearly, "Draw him in." And something drew Plain Feather closer to the wounded elk. "Draw him in," the voice said again. And again Plain Feather was drawn closer to the great elk. At last he lay beside it. "Why did you disobey me?" asked the elk. "All around you are the spirits of the animals you have killed. I will no longer be your guardian. You have disobeyed me and slain my friends." Then the voice which had said, "Draw him in," said, "Cast him out." And the spirits cast the hunter out of the water, onto the shore of the lake. Weary in body and sick at heart, Plain Feather dragged himself to the village where his tribe lived. Slowly he entered his tepee and sank upon the ground. "I am sick," he said. "I have been in the dwelling place of the lost spirits. And I have lost my guardian spirit, the great elk. He is in the lake of the lost spirits." Then he lay back and died. Ever after, the Indians called that lake the Lake of the Lost Spirits. Beneath its calm blue waters are the spirits of thousands of the dead. On its clear surface is the face of Mount Hood, which stands as a monument to the lost spirits. -Collected by Ella Clark in 1953. IUIIIUIIIIIIUlllllll1lllll1lllfllflUltllJlllUlllUlUIIIIIIII'JIIII1lllUllllllrtlllf1IlmlUlilUlIIIIIUlIIIIIIIIIUlltUIIIIIIIIUnnnUtllllUUtllllliliUlI1IIIIIflttlUrllfiUtnfIJlnlll11UltulillUi 476 • THE DEATH OF HEAD CHIEF AND YOUNG MULE • [NORTIlBRN CHEYENNE] This is a true story that took place in 1890, but it is also a legend among our people. Head Chief was a young man in his twenties. He was proud. He would have liked to be a warrior, but the days when a man could gain honor by counting coup were over. The Cheyennes had been put on reservations, the buffalo were gone. The fine old life was over. That year the people were starving, and the promised government rations did not arrive. Head Chief said: "There's nothing left but a little coffee and a piece of fry bread. How can we live? I'm going hunting, and maybe I'll find some deer." Some relatives tried to talk him out of it, saying: "There's no game left on the reservation. It has all been hunted out, and if you go outside the reservation, there will be trouble with the white men." Head Chief said: "All this land from horizon to horizon used to be ours. Since when can white men forbid me to hunt? I go now." Young Mule, a boy of fourteen, always followed Head Chief around like a puppy dog. Head Chief was teaching him how to be a man, how to behave like a warrior. "Head Chief, let me come hunting with you," Young Mule said. "Ipewa, it is well. You can come." They got on their horses and rode off. Soon they were outside the reservation. They found neither deer nor antelope; what they found was a lone cow. A white rancher's cow. "It probably belongs to a white man," said Young Mule. "I don't care who it belongs to," said Head Chief. "They killed all the buffalo on the Plains and shouldn't begrudge us a single cow. We're starving; I must bring meat to my people." Head Chief shot the cow. After they had, butchered it and were loading the meat on their horses, a white man called Boyle rode up. He was the nephew of the rancher whose cow they had butchered. Boyle saw what had happened and started cursing the two Cheyenne. 'What's he saying?" asked Head Chief, who could not talk English. "He's calling us lousy dogs," answered Young Mule, who had been to the white man's school. tllllllllllllllllluunflllflllllllllllllllUtllltlllflflflllllUtIIllJIlUllltllllU1l111IImlUllllUlUllnfllllllnmWlllUllmllllllmUUlffIIlllIllUlIllIIlUIIUllltIlIlUUl1UlllIlllIUllltlllIlllllI 477 "Oh, is that what he is saying?" Head Chief's blood was up, and he went for his riRe. Seeing this, the white man stopped cursing. He tried to whip up his horse and get away, but it was too late. Head Chief shot him through the head; he was lying there dead. "Now what do we do?" asked Young Mule. "Bury him, I guess. Head Chief put a handkerchief over Boyle's face so it wouldn't get dirty as they buried him. Then Head Chief and Young Mule rode back to their camp. "They'll hang you for this," the elders said. "No they won't," said Head Chief. "If you don't surrender, we must fight to defend you," the older men said. "It will be the end of the Tistsistas, the end of our people." "No," said Head Chief, "I don't want anyone to die for me. The days when we could fight them are over." Boyle was missed; and a search party found the body and what was left of the cow. The white police came to the reservation, saying: "We want the one who did this." Head Chief sent word to them that he and he alone had done it. "Tell them I am the guilty one," he said. The white sheriff sent word that he would come to arrest Head Chief. "I'll be coming for that Indian," said the sheriff. "He'll be tried and hanged for sure. There had better be no resistance, either. A lot of soldiers are stationed here, and if you try to help that boy, you'll be WIpe . d " out. Then Head Chief sent some of the elders and headmen to the sheriff. They told him: "Head Chief is ready to die, but not ready to be hanged. He will die like a man. On the next ration day, he wants you to bring the soldiers and line them all up at the foot of that hill. Then he'll come riding out at them as if counting coup. But he won't be armed, and the soldiers can shoot him as if it was in a battle. This will be a good death. Then there won't be any hard feelings." "But this isn't the regular way of handling it," said the sheriff. "Maybe it isn't, but if you try to arrest and hang him, then we don't know whether we'll be able to hold back our young men, especially the Dog soldiers. Then you might have a real battle on your hands. Is doing things regularly worth that?" The sheriff went back to the white folks and the soldier chief to talk things over. He sent word: "It's all right; we'll do this Head Chief's way." So the night before ration day, Head Chief put on his finest war shirt. He painted his face for battle. He got a fine sorrel horse. He told his father: "Cheer up! It's what I like. Sing a song for me." He and the other warriors went up to Squaw Hill and pitched a tent there. They were singing and feasting and telling stories all night. The UlllnllflllllllUtllltlUllllllurlllllllHlIHlIUfllIlIlWIIIIIIIIIIII",UlIIIIIunmIlUUU1IttIIIIllIUlIIIIIIUltlllllnnllllltllllm.tltIlHIIUlIUllllllllllUllllllln1UlUlilIUlIlUllllitlilllllll 478 Dog soldiers guarded them in case the white men decided to come and try to make an arrest. Toward morning the elders told all the young men to leave. They didn't want them on that hill for fear the young braves would start to fight. "Go; leave now," they said. "Do it for the people." Very unwillingly, the young men of the warrior societies obeyed. Then the chiefs had criers ride through the camp, telling the women not to call out and not to make high-pitched war cries which could get the young men's blood up. The old ones wanted no accidents which could cause a massacre. They knew that you can't fight the white man. They said: "The people must survive." Early that morning there were a lot of white people, on horseback and in buggies, come "to see the show." A company of soldiers was lined up in the gulch at the bottom of Squaw Hill with their guns loaded. Then everybody saw Head Chief on his sorrel horse at the top of the hill. While they watched, he put on his grandfather's warbonnet. His people were proud of him. Then suddenly there was a second one with him-the figure of a young boy. IllllllllfiUlUlltlllllUllllllllIlHlllllllllllfillflllUIIUlltfllltlllmllllllUIUUlIIltllftUlilltU1IHJlJllIlllHllnflllllUfllfUllUtuflllRlllllllnlflllUlllllllllllttllllllltfllIIIIIIIIUIIIIUIIUII 479 It was Young Mule, riding a mule because he didn't own a horse. He had told people: "I won't have it said that I was not with my friend in his last battle. He let me come along when there was hunting and feasting and good times. I might just as well die with him too." The white men were not interested in Young Mule. They knew he was only fourteen, and they knew he hadn't shot Boyle. They had told the chiefs: "We don't want that kid. We only want the older one, the one who shot Boyle." But here Young Mule was, all the same. Then those two friends rode down upon the soldiers side by side, singing their death songs. The Long Knives were waiting for them, the foot soldiers flanked by cavalry. These two boys circled around some soldiers, counting coup on them, daring them to shoot. Then the soldiers opened up, but didn't seem to have their hearts in it. The boys made it back to the top of the hill. They might already have been hit; nobody knows. . Then Head Chief turned his horse for a last charge, coming down the hill at a dead run. The boy's mule had been crippled by bullets, so he made his charge on foot, running zig-zag, defying the soldiers to hit him. Now the women could not hold back. They made the brave-heart cry, though they had been told not to. Even hardened warriors wept. One old man said: "Watch and see how a warrior should die." Head Chief had told the young boy: "I shall be riding through the enemy line. Even if I've been shot dead already, my body will still ride through their line." He did just that. He rode through them, then fell off his horse, for he had been hit many times. He lay there, and one of the officers went over and finished him with a shot in the head. The young boy, Young Mule, was counting coups right and left. He went after the soldiers with a knife. Some say he had a gun hidden on him and was using it, but nobody knows for sure. Finally the soldiers killed him too. Then they marched off, as if ashamed. They brought the bodies of these two friends to camp and laid them out. The people came to see them then. They said that the boys looked as if they were sleeping, with a little smile on their lips. During that last charge, a feather from Head Chief's warbonnet had come off and was fluttering in the wind near where he was killed. Somebody grabbed this eagle feather and tied it to a rock, right where the officer had gunned him. Head Chief's blood was still on that rock. The eagle feather was there for a long time until, after many years, it finally rotted away. But the rock will be there forever. -Recorded on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Busby, Montana, 1972, by Richard Erdoes. IIUlfUlllUlflllUlIllllllIllIIHllllliututllllttJuntuUIIIUlllllIllllIlll1InttltlllllQlmlUlllllnmll1llf1ll1l1ll1llll1l11fflfllflllfllll11lU1II11I1tJIIIIIIIUIIIUI'IIIIIII1UftUilllnnIIllUiffill 480 • THE GHOST DANCE AT WOUNDED KNEE • [BRULE SIOUX] This is a story about the massacre of Sioux ghost dancers at Wounded Knee in December 1890' Under the false impression that the ghost dance was the signal for a general Indian uprising, the white agent at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota called in the regular army to suppress the ghost dancers. One band under Chief Big Foot surrendered to the Seventh Cavalry-Custer's old command. Among its men and officers were many who had served under Custer and who were eager to avenge his death. At Wounded Knee Creek eighteen miles northeast of Pine Ridge, the army opened fire with many quick-firing Hotchkiss cannon upon Big Foot's people and killed some two hundred fifty men, women, and children. The mass grave in which they were buried is still there. In 1973 Indian civil rights activists occupied the site and withstood a siege by U.S. marshals, the F.B.I., and local vigilantes. During this siege, which lasted 73 days, two Indians were killed, one of them a local Sioux buried next to his massacred ancestors. Dick Fool Bull told this story on many occasions. Each time, he remembered something else connected with it. He was the last ~ute maker and player at Rosebud. He died in I976. Some say he was 103; others say he was in his nineties. Nobody knows for sure. This is a true story; I wish it weren't. When it happened I was a small boy, only about six or seven. To tell the truth, I'm not sure how old I am'. I was born before the census takers came in, so there's no record. When I was a young boy, I liked to stick around myoId uncle, because he always had stories to tell. Once he said, "There's something new coming, traveling on the wind. A new dance. A new prayer." He was talking about Wanagi-wachipi, the ghost dance. "Short Bull and Kicking Bear traveled far," my uncle told me. "They went to see a holy man of another tribe far in the south, the Piute tribe. They had heard that this holy man could bring dead people to life again, and that he could bring the buffalo back." IIiUltlUUllJllllllllllllfllllUliflllllllf'llflllUUlIJIIIUlIUlllfJllllIllImlllllllUlllUllllllfIIllUlllll1ll1llUtlllllnlUlIlUJllllllflllllllllllllHlIlUllIIlIITI1IIIIIlUUlIUlllfllllllllll1f111lfili 481 My uncle said it was very important, and I must listen closely. Old Unc said: This holy man let Short Bull and Kicking Bear look into his hat. There they saw their dead relatives walking about. The holy man told them, "I'll give you something to eat that will kill you, but don't be afraid. I'll bring you back to life again." They believed him. They ate something and died, then found themselves walking in a new, beautiful land. They spoke with their parents and grandparents, and with friends that the white soldiers had killed. Their friends were well, and this new world was like the old one, the one the white man had destroyed. It was full of game, full of antelope and buffalo. The grass was green and high, and though long-dead people from other tribes also lived in this new land, there was peace. All the Indian nations formed one tribe and could understand each other. Kicking Bear and Short Bull walked around and saw everything, and they were happy. Then the holy man of the Piutes brought them back to life again. "You have seen it," he told them, "the new Land I'm bringing. The earth will roll up like a blanket with all that bad white man's stuff, the fences and railroads and mines and telegraph poles; and underneath will be our old-young Indian earth with all our relatives come to life again." Then the holy man taught them a new dance, a new song, a new prayer. He gave them sacred red paint. He even made the sun die: it was all covered with black and disappeared. Then he brought the sun to life again. Short Bull and Kicking Bear came back bringing us the good news. Now everywhere we are dancing this new dance to roll up the eartp, to bring back the dead. A new world is coming. This Old Unc told me. Then I saw it myself: the dancing. People were holding each other by the hand, singing, whirling around, looking at the sun. They had a little spruce tree in the middle of the dance circle. They wore special shirts painted with the sun, the moon, the stars, and magpies. They whirled around; they didn't stop dancing. Some of the dancers fell down in a swoon, as if they were dead. The medicine men fanned them with sweet-smelling cedar smoke and they came to life again. They told the people, "We were dead. We went to the moon and the morning .star. We found our dead fathers and mothers there, and we talked to them." When they woke up, these people held IllrmUUUIIUJUlllllllllllllllflnnlllllUJlllllltrllUUUtJIlllllUlllllllltJUUIIUlnOnUlllllmUlIlIIl1nUllllllllllltnlllUlllllllllllllllllltllltllllllllllJUlIIIUlllfIliUllflllllJlllIIUlrtUlI 482 in their hands star rocks, moon rocks, different kinds of rocks from those we have on this earth. They clutched strange meats from star and moon animals. The dance leader told them not to be afraid of white men who forbade them to dance this wanagi-wachipi. They told then; that the ghost shirts they wore would not let any white man's bullets through. So they danced; I saw it. The earth never rolled up. The buffalo never came back, and the dead relatives never came to life again. It was the soldier who came; why, nobody knew. The dance was a peaceful one, harming nobody, but I guess the white people thought it was a war dance. Many people were afraid of what the soldiers would do. We had no guns any more, and hardly had any horses left. We depended on the white man for everything, yet the whites were afraid of us, just as we were afraid of them. Then when the news spread that Sitting Bull had been killed at Standing Rock for being with the ghost dancers, the people were really scared. Some of the old people said; "Let's go to Pine Ridge and give ourselves up, because the soldiers won't shoot us if we do. Old Red Cloud will protect us. Also, they're handing out rations up there." So my father and mother and Old Unc got the buggy and their old horse and drove with us children toward Pine Ridge. It was cold and snowing. It wasn't a happy ride; all the grown-ups were worried. Then the soldiers stopped us. They had big fur coats on, bear coats. They were warm and we were freezing, and I remember wishing I had such a coat. They told us to go no further, to stop and make a camp right there. They told the same thing to everybody who came, by foot, or 1IIIIflIII1111IUllllfflllllllnlllllllllJllllllfflllllliUlIWilmmlllUlIUniltAIIIIIIUlI1lllIOOutHlulllnllOOIIlIIff11IRlIllHlllIlIHlllmlltnllUiUlIlUffllIIllllllltIIlllllllIIl1nllltllllltll horse, or buggy. So there was a camp, but little to eat and little firewood, and the soldiers made a ring around us and let nobody leave. Then suddenly there was a strange noise, maybe four, five miles away, like the tearing of a big blanket, the biggest blanket in the world. As soon as he heard it, Old Unc burst into tears. MyoId rna started to keen as for the dead, and people were running around, weeping, acting crazy. I asked Old Unc, "Why is everybody crying?" He said, "They are killing them, they are killing our people over there!" My father said, 'That noise-that's not the ordinary soldier guns. These are the big wagon guns which tear people to bits-into little pieces!" I could not understand it, but everybody was weeping, and I wept too. Then a day later---or was it two? No, I think it was the next day, we passed by there. Old Unc said: "You children might as well see it; look and remember." There were dead people all over, mostly women and children, in a ravine near a stream called Chankpe-opi Wakpala, Wounded Knee Creek. The people were frozen, lying there in all kinds of postures, their motion frozen too. The soldiers, who were stacking up bodies like firewood, did not like us passing by. They told us to leave there, double-quick or else. Old Unc said: "We'd better do what they say right now, or we'll lie there too." So we went on toward Pine Ridge, but I had seen. I had seen a dead mother with a dead baby sucking at her breast. The little baby had on a tiny beaded cap with the design of the American Hag. -From versions told by Dick Fool Bull at Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1967 and 1968. Recorded by Richard Erdoes . • THE GNAWING • [CHEYENNE] There is a great pole somewhere, a mighty trunk similar to the sacred sun dance pole, only much, much bigger. This pole is what holds up 111f11lllllll1lllllll1unUUlIlllllllllltmllllUllIUJIIIIIIUllllllltHUflllUllnUUIIIUlmtunllllll,tlllllflUUmDmUllllllllllllllitinullllllfUlllIIUlllll1fI1lUI1II11IUIIIIIIUIIIUIIIIIUlII 484 the world. The Great White Grandfather Beaver of the North is gnawing at that pole. He has been gnawing at the bottom of it for ages and ages. More than half of the pole has already been gnawed through. When the Great White Beaver of the North gets angry, he gnaws faster and more furiously. Once he has gnawed all the way through, tHe pole will topple, and the earth will crash into a bottomless notbing. That will be the end of the people, of everything. The end of all ends. So we are careful not to make the Beaver angry. That's why the Cheyenne never eat his flesh, or even touch a beaver skin. We want the world to last a little longer. -Told by Mrs. Medicine Bull in Birney, Montana, with the help of an interpreter. Recorded by Richard Erdoes . • THE END OF THE WORLD • [WHITE RIVER SIOUX] Somewhere at a place where the prairie and the Maka Sicha, the Badlands, meet, there is a hidden cave. Not for a long, long time has anyone been able to find it. Even now, with so many highways, cats, and tourists, no one has discovered this cave. In it lives a woman so old that her face looks like a shriveled-up walnut. She is dressed in rawhide, the way people used to be before the white man came. She has been sitting there for a thousand years or more, working on a blanket strip for her buffalo robe. She is making the strip out of dyed porcupine quills, the way our ancestors did before white traders brought glass beads to tbis turtle continent. Resting beside her, licking his paws, watering her all the time is Shunka Sapa, a huge black dog. His eyes never wander from the old woman, whose teeth are worn flat, worn down to little stumps, she has used them to flatten so many porcupine quills. A few steps from where the old woman sits working on her blanket strip, a huge fire is kept going. She lit this fire a thousand or more years IIIllllllUilllllllUlllllIUllllllllhllIllllllllllllltllfllllUlllllllllll1ltllfli1lIIIIIIIiftlllllUWIIUIIWIIIIIIIUUIUIIIIIUlUlllliliItIIUlIII1111f111111U1111U11U111l111UIUIUlIllllllllllUlIlUlll ago and has kept it alive ever since. Over the fire hangs a big earthen pot, the kind some Indian peoples used to make before the white man came with his kettles of iron. Inside the big pot, wojapi is boiling and bubbling. Wojapi is berry soup, good and sweet and red. That soup has been boiling in the pot for a long time, ever since the fire was lit. Every now and then the old woman gets up to stir the wojapi in the huge earthen pot. She is so old and feeble that it takes her a while to get up and hobble over to the fire. The moment her back is turned, the huge black dog starts pulling the porcupine quills out of her blanket strip. This way she never makes any progress, and her quillwork remains forever unfinished. The Sioux people used to say that if the old woman ever finishes her blanket strip, then at the very moment that she threads the last porcupine quill to complete the design, the world will come to an end. -Told by Jenny Leading Cloud at White River, South Dakota, 1967, and recorded by Richard Erdoes. lIuttUllllrlllflUlIlIllUllllllllilUllIlIllIUIIUlllllUlllIllllUlllUlIlll1umuIlIIRllllmntmIIllOiiiUllllllnnl"UIIUIIlIIIIHUU!lllllllflltfllItlIfJlUtIIlIIUU1I11111111f1IU1If1UIIIIII1f11 486 • MONTEZUMA AND THE GREAT FLOOD • [PAPAGO] Before he made man, the Great Mystery Power made the earth and all things which lived upon it. The Great Mystery came down to earth, where he dug out some clay and formed it into a shape and ascended with it into the sky. Then he dropped it into the hole he had dug. At once out of that hole came the Great Montezuma, leading behind him all the Indian tribes. Last to come out of the hole were the wild, untameable Apaches, running off in all directions as fast as they were created. The wise Montezuma taught the people all they needed to know: how to make baskets and pottery, how to plant corn with a digging stick, how to make a fire to cook the food. It was a happy time. The sun was much nearer the earth then, so that it was always pleasantly warm. There was no winter and no freezing cold. Men and animals lived as brothers, speaking a common language all could understand, so that a bug or a bird could talk to a human. But then came the great Hood. Long before it engulfed the earth, Montezuma's friend, Coyote, had foretold its coming. "You must make a big dugout canoe," Coyote told Montezuma, who could make anything. "You will need it soon," Coyote said. Montezuma, following Coyote's advice, built the boat, keeping it ready on top of the high mountain that the whites call Monte Rosa. Coyote also made a strange vessel for himself, gnawing at a tree trunk until it fell down, then hollowing it out with his teeth. Coyote closed up the open end with pinon resin. When the great Hood which Coyote had foretold finally swept over the land, Coyote crawled into the tree-trunk vessel he had made, while Montezuma climbed into his big dugout canoe. And so they Hoated upon the waters while all other living things perished. As the waters subsided, the top of Monte Rosa's peak rose a little above the Hood. Both Montezuma and Coyote s~eered for this spot, the only piece of dry land far and wide. Thus the two friends met, glad to be alive. Montezuma said to Coyote: "Friend, there must be other dry spots somewhere. You travel fast on four legs. Go west and do some scouting." IUllllllflllllllllllflllllllllllllllllllflllllllUflltllllllmtmlltlllllllUUUftllUIDIIUUIUllInnlUUmlUUllUlIUUfltltlntlllllUtlllllllnlllllUtfifUlIlJlllmttlllll1IllUlllfIll1lll11ll1UUlI 487 Coyote went off and came back tired after four days, saying: "In that direction of the universe I found only water, nothing but water." Montezuma told him: "Coyote, my friend, rest a while, and then go and see what you can find in the south." Coyote rested and then went southward. Again he came back after four days, saying: "Over there in the south, everything is also covered with water." He went east, and it was the same; water everywhere. Finally Montezuma sent Coyote toward the north, and this time Coyote came back saying: "In the north the waters are receding, and there is much dry land." Montezuma was well pleased to hear this. He told Coyote, "Friend, there in the north we must begin to make a new world." The Great Mystery Power again was busy peopling the earth with men and animals. After life had been recreated, he put Montezuma in charge of everything. Montezuma divided tribes)nto nations again, giving them just laws to govern themselves, and onte again taught humans how to live. And in these tasks Coyote was Montezuma's faithful helper. Soon the people were increasing together with the animals, and all were happy. But then Montezuma's power, which the Great Mystery had given him, went to his head. "We don't need a Creator," he said. "I am a Creator myself. My power is equal to the Great Mystery Power. I need nobody to command me; I myself am the Great Commander." Coyote warned him to be more humble. "You know that there is a power above us greater than yours-the Power of the Universe. Obey its laws." Montezuma answered: "I don't need your advice. Who are you to try to correct Great Montezuma? Am I not high above you? Am I not your master? Go; I don't need you anymore." Coyote left, shaking his head, wondering. Now Montezuma called all the tribes together and said, "I am greater than anything that has ever been, greater than anything which exists now, and greater than anything that will eve~ be. Now, you people shall build me a tall house, floor upon floor upon floor, a house rising into the sky, rising far above this earth into the heavens, where I shall rule as Chief of all the Universe." The Great Mystery Power descended from the sky to reason with Montezuma, telling him to stop challenging that which cannot be challenged, but Montezuma would not listen. He said: "I am almighty. Let no power stand in my way. I am the Great Rebel. I shall turn this world upside down to my own liking." Then good changed to evil. Men began to hunt and kill animals. Disregarding the eternal laws by which humans had lived, they began 1IIIIUlitlIUliinUlillfllllllftfUlfllUIIJlJIIIIIIIUlIIIJIIIIlIIIIIIIIUlIIIIIIQUtll11ll'111fn111l11lftUfi11U111Q111l1l1U1I1IUfUl111U111t1111l11U1llfl1I111JlJlllllllltIIlfilIUlfIIllll"lltlllnIUlII 488 f to fight among themselves. The Great Mystery Power tried to warn Montezuma and the people by pushing the sun farther away from the earth and placing it where it is now. Winter, snow, ice, and hail appeared, but no one heeded this warning. In the meantime Montezuma made the people labor to put up his many-storied house, whose rooms were of coral and jet, turquoise and mother-of-pearl. It rose higher and higher, but just as it began to soar above the clouds far into the sky, the Great Mystery Power made the earth tremble. Montezuma's many-storied house of precious stones collapsed into a heap of rubble. When that happened, the people discovered that they could no longer understand the language of the animals, and the different tribes, even though they were all human beings, could no longer understand each other. Then Montezuma shook his fists toward the sky and called: "Great Mystery Power, I defy you. I shall fight you. I shall tell the people not to pray or make sacrifices of corn and fruit to the Creator. I, Montezuma, am taking your place!" The Great Mystery Power Sighed, and even wept, because the one he had chosen to lead mankind had rebelled against him. Then the Great Mystery resolved to vanquish those who rose against him. He sent the locust flying far across the eastern waters, to summon a people in an unknown land, people whose faces and bodies were full of hair, who rode astride strange beasts, who were encased in iron, wielding iron weapons, who had magic hollow sticks spitting fire, thunder, and destruction. The Great Mystery Power allowed these bearded, pitiless people to come in ships across the great waters out of the east-permitted them to come to Montezuma's country, taking away Montezuma's power and destroying him utterly. -Based on a tale reported in 1883. The Montezuma in this tale is a Southwestern culture hero, not to be confused with the Aztec emperor of the same name. The Aztec name was carried to the Papago by the Spaniards on their northward march, but the Papago turned Montezuma into First Man, creator of humans and animals and maker of the terrible "Great Eagle." The Papag,o Montezuma died four times, but always returned to life. After he had done his work of teaching the people how to live, or as some say, after the white man's god forced him to retire, he went to his underworld house in the south and returned to earth no more. 1lIlltlllllUlIIIIUtlftUlIIlIIUlllilllfIIUlllltlllllllfhmlllUlltlllllllUlmmliliuttlUtlUlllltn"nlllJHIIUhllllJlPU'UlillUlUlllmllHlIlIlIlllIllIUUlllIIlIIUllIlIllllHIIIWIJIIllll1f11n 489 • THE BUFFALO GO • [KIOWA] Everything the Kiowas had came from the buffalo. Their tipis were made of buffalo hides; so were their clothes and moccasins. They ate buffalo meat. Their containers were made of hide, bladders, or stomachs. The buffalo were the life of the Kiowas. Most of all, the buffalo was part of the Kiowa religion. A white buffalo calf must be sacrificed in the sun dance. The priests used parts of the buffalo to make their prayers when they healed people or when they sang to the powers above. So when the white men wanted to build railroads, or when they wanted to farm and raise cattle, the buffalo still protected the Kiowas. They tore up the railroad tracks and the gardens. They chased the cattle off the ranges. The buffalo loved their people as much as the Kiowas loved them. There was war between the buffalo and the white men. The white men built forts in the Kiowa country, and the woolly-headed buffalo soldiers [the Tenth Cavalry, made up of Negro troops] shot the buffalo as fast as they could, but the buffalo kept coming on, coming on, even into the post cemetery at Fort Sill. Soldiers were not enough to hold them back. Then the white men hired hunters to do nothing but kill the buffalo. Up and down the plains those men ranged, shooting sometimes as many as a hundred buffalo a day. Behind them came the skinners with their wagons. They piled the hides and bones into the wagons until they were full, and then took their loads to the new railroad stations that were being built, to be shipped east to the market. Sometimes there would be a pile of bones as high as a man, stretching a mile along the railroad track. The buffalo saw that their day was over. They could protect their people no longer. Sadly, the last remnant of the great herd gathered in council, and decided what they would do. The Kiowas were camped on the north side of Mount Scott, those of them who were still free to camp. One young woman got up very early in the morning. The dawn mist was still rising from Medicine Creek, 1UIIIllllllfflllllllllUUUllmllUtfllllllllillUfIIIIIIIUIIUJlIlUlUHffullllilmnu1I1111IUllillfUllfllllllillillUlllllUWllfilinUIlfUIIIII1UIIUlllllllrllllllIJIIIIUnlUIIII11UlJfIIIIIIIIIUI 490 and as she looked across the water, peering through the haze, she saw the last buffalo herd appear like a spirit dream. Straight to Mount Scott the leader of the herd walked. Behind him came the cows and their calves, and the few young males who had survived. As the woman watched, the face of the mountain opened. Inside Mount Scott the world was green and fresh, as it had been when she was a small girl. The rivers ran clear, not red. The wild plums were in blossom, chaSing the redbuds up the inside slopes. Into this world of beauty the buffalo walked, never to be seen again. -Told to Alice Marriott by Old Lady Horse (Spear-Woman) in the I9605• • THE COMING OF WASICHU • [BRULB SIOUX] Many generations ago, Iktome the Spider Man, trickster and bringer of bad news, went from village to village and from tribe to tribe. Because he is a messenger, Spider Man can speak any language, so all tribes can understand what he says. He came running into the first camp, shouting: "There is a new generation coming, a new nation, a new kind of man who is going to run over everything. He is like me, Ikto, a trickster, a liar. He has two long legs with which he will run over you." And Iktome called all the chiefs into council, and the head chief asked: "Ikto, what news do you bring from the east?" Iktome answered: "There is a new man coming; he is like me, but ( he has long, long legs and many new things, most of them bad. And he is clever like me. I am going to all the tribes to tell about him." Then Spider Man sang: "I am Iktome, and I roll with the airl" When he left, three boys followed him to see where he was going. They watched him climb to the top of a hill. There he made his body 1UlllIllllllllllltllllmlllnlllllliRIlIUIIIIIIIlIIIU1llli11HllllnmlllliUllUmlllll1UIRIIUIt1III1UUIIllUunlilUllllIUlhfllUlfllOIUIIUfllIlIllIlUQIIUlUllllmfunlillUllUlIllIUI111111 49 1 shrink into a ball, changing himself from a man into a spider. And the boys saw a silvery spider web against the blueness of the sky, and a single strand from it led down to the hill. Iktome climbed into the web and disappeared in the clouds. The next tribe Iktome visited were the Lakota-the Sioux nation. Two old women gathering firewood saw him standing on a butte near their village. They went home and told the chief: "We saw someone strange standing over there. He was looking at us." The chief called for two of his wakincuzas-the pipe owners, the ones-who-decide-and said: "Bring this man to me. Maybe he has a message." They escorted Ikto, now in human form, into the camp. He stretched out his hand to the west, saying: "I am Iktome. I roll with the air, and I must take my message to seventy camps. This is what I have come to tell you: A sound is coming from the edge of the sea, coming from Pankeshka, the SeashelL It is the voice of Pankeshka Hokshi Unpapithe Shell nation. One cannot tell where this voice is coming from, but it is someplace in the west. It is telling us that a new man is approaching, the Hu-hanska-ska, the White Spider Man, the Daddy-Longlegs-Man, The Long-White-Bone Man. He is coming across the great waters, coming to steal all the four directions of the world." "How will we know him? How will we know this man?" asked the chief and the wakincuzas. "Each of his long legs is a leg of knowledge, of wo-'unspe. This new man is not wise, but he is very clever. He has knowledge in his legs, and greed. Wherever these legs step, they will make a track of lies, and wherever he looks, his looks will be all lies. At this time, ecohan, you must try to know and understand this new kind of man, and pass the understanding on from generation to generation. My message is carried by the wind." Iktome made his body into a small ball with eight legs, and from within the sky again appeared the fine strand of spider web, glistening with dewdrops, and on it Iktome climbed up into the clouds and disappeared. Ikto next went to the village of the Mahpiya-To, the Blue Cloud people, also known as Arapaho. Again the chiefs and the people assembled to ask what news he was bringing, and he spoke in their own language: "I have brought you a message bundle to open up, and my news is in it. The Iktome-Hu-Hanska-Ska, the White Longlegs, is coming. I Hew through the air to bring you the message, but this new kind of man comes walking." The Arapaho chief asked: "How is it that you Hy and he walks?" "Wokahta," said Iktome," he is traveling slowly, going slowly from IUlllfUIUUIIIIIIIUUUIUJnUIUUillIIlll'lllllflllflIlUllllfflllIlllllllllllltilIflI11QllflIIIlIIlftlIIIIIIIIIIIUIlfJlIIIIIIUlllllllllllllllillflllllUIIIIIlfIUlllllillUrnfflUIUIUllUlfllUlIlllJll1 492 the west toward the south and east, eating up the nations on his way, devouring the whole earth." The chief asked: "When is he going to be here?" "You will know by the star. When you see a double star, one star reflecting the other, then the Hu-Hanska-Ska will be near." Iktome went away. He passed two women who were looking for wild turnips and using deer horns to dig them out of the prairie. They saw Iktome walking, pointing his arm skyward. All of a sudden he drew himself up into a ball, and at the same time the thread of a spider web from the sky hit the earth, and Iktome climbed up and vanished in the air. Now, near the village of the Kangi-Wichasha-the Crow peopletwo old men were gathering herbs for Indian medicine. They saw someone standing behind a tree, then saw him circling the camp. They said to one another: "He is not from our tribe. Let's ask him what he wants." Ikto spoke in the Crow tongue: "The White Long-legs is coming. Look around you at the things you see-the grass, the trees, the animals. The Iktome Hu-Hanska-Ska will take them all. He will steal the air. He will give you a new, different life. He will give you many new things, but hold onto your old ways; mind what Tunkashila, the Grandfather Spirit, taught you." The two old men said: "We'd better bring you to our chief." They did so, and the Crow chief asked: "What message have you for us?" "The White Long-legs is coming! He will eat up the grass, and the trees, and the buffalo. He will bring you a new faith. I am telling you this, I, Ikto, who rolls through the air." The Crow chief asked: "Why is he coming? We don't want him here. We don't want his new things. We have everything here to make us happy." "He will come," said Iktome, "whether you want him to or not. He is coming from the east." "How is it that your name is Ikto?" "Because I am Iktome, the Spider Man. Remember this tree of the white ash. It is sacred. Remember Iyan, Tunka, the rock. The rocks are forever." One Crow woman gave Iktome a handful of wasna--jerk meat mixed with kidney fat and berries-to take with him on his travels. Iktome thanked her, saying: "You must watch this new man. Whatever he does and says and asks, say "Hiya" to him, say "No," say hiya to everything. Now I take my message to the west, to Wiyopeyata." Iktome stood in the center of the tipi circle. All the Crow chiefs were standing around him wearing their warbonnets. Suddenly a great rush 1I1111111flUIUlIIIIIIUIIIIUllltnllllUIllllfJIIUUnlIJllllfiifUIUUllmliUllnllllllllttlUUlfllllllUIIIIIIUlllflllimllnttllllltn,mllUlllllllmllUlflllllUltlllllllJUIIiIIJnllllUllllIl1lUif 493 of power was felt by all. Iktome shrank into a ball, and the thread of the spider web which was floating in the sky hit the prairie, causing a trembling and thundering deep inside the earth. And while everybody marveled, Iktome climbed up the thread into the web and was gone. A man was roaming in a valley. He was seen by a warrior of the Snake People, also known as Shoshone, getting his horses together. The warrior asked the man who he was and why he had come. The stranger said: "I am Ikto. I roll with the air. I come from Wiyohiyanpata, the east, a generation coming with ne\vs." The warrior said: "Stay here. I will bring our chief." The Shoshone chief came, followed by his people. Ikto told him: "A new kind of man is coming, a White Long-legs with many lies and many new things. If you want tern, h th ' " at s up to you. The chief put two sticks on the ground facing north and south. It was a symbol for saying "No." The Chief told Ikto: "We don't want him. Our generation is good, our nation is good, our land is good. We have no use for this new kind of man." Ikto told him: "He will come anyhow. I am going to Waziyata, toward the north, to bring my message to the people there." Ikto climbed a hill, and the Shoshone people saw lightning strike the summit, and they heard the sound of many buffalo in the earth beneath their feet. Iktome reappeared in the north, walking toward the village of the Palani, or Pawnees, pointing his finger toward their camp, shouting: itA new generation is coming! A new kind of human is coming! He is coming to this world!" tlflUlltlltl1lUUlnJlllllt1UUllllllfllllnllUlllflllfUllIlJlllUllfllllfJlIIUIItlIlIlIIfIIlllIll,lllIlllUIIIUIIIUlIlHltfJlIlIllIlllIllIUIIQlllllllfUlUlllIlUllllllifi1I1111111nnUilllllllllillflllii 494 One Palani woman asked him: "Is it a newborn child?" "No," said Ikto, "this is no little child. It is a man without grandmothers or grandfathers, a man bringing new sicknesses and worries." 'We don't want him! What shall we do?" the Pawnees asked. "You yourselves must kno~ what to do. I am going back to my people." The Pawnees said: "Don't go yet." But Iktome went toward the north with a pine bough in his hand, pointing it in the four directions, up to Grandfather Sky, and down to Grandmother Earth. "Remember, this will be the plant of worship in the center of the earth, and with it you will see and know." And they all said: "Ohart, Yes." Iktome went back tohis own Sioux people. He flew through the air, and the wind carried him into their camp. He told the people: "I am going back into the sea. That new man is coming. He is almost here." "How will he come?" asked the Sioux chief. "He is coming in a wahre, in a boat. You are the Ikche-Wichashathe plain, wild, untamed people-but this man will misname you and call you by all kinds of false names. He will try to tame you, try to remake you after himself. This man will lie. He cannot speak the truth." "When is he going to come?" "When the white flowers bloom. Watch the buffalo: when this new man comes, the buffalo will go into a hole in a mountain. Guard the buffalo, because the White Long-legs will take them all. He will bring four things: wicocuye-sickness; wawoya-hate; wawiwagele-prejudice; waunshilap-sni-pitilessness. He will try to give you his new Great Spirit instead of your own, making you exchange your own Wakan Tanka for this new one, so that you will lose the world. But always remember Tunka, the rock. He has no mouth, no eyes, no ears, but he has the power. Hold onto it. And always remember Tunkashila, the Grandfather, the Great Spirit! This new man is coming, coming to live among you. He will lie, and his lie never ends. He is going to make a dark, black hoop around the world." "Is there no hope?" the people asked. "Maybe, and maybe not. I don't know. First it will happen as I told you, and with his long legs he will run over you. Maybe a time will come when you can break his dark hoop. Maybe you can change this man and make him better, giving him,earth wisdom, making him listen to what the trees and grass tell him. I will now reveal to you his name. You shall know him as washi-manu, steal-all, or better by the name of fat-taker, wasichu, because he will take the fat of the land. He will eat up everything, at least for a time." Iktome left, and slowly people forgot about that White Long-legs nUlIlIIllllIIUlUUillUllllfIllIllnmlllUlIlHlllllllllllllllUlllUfitfllllIlIUUllllllUlllUlIlIIlIlUlU1lUUIIUfllUIIIIIIUUlnUlUUUIII1UfJlUUIIIIIIIIUUUlIIIIIlIIIIIIUllllllllUflunmu 495 coming, because for a while things were as they had always been. So they stopped worrying. Then one morning two Sioux women were out gathering chokecherries, and suddenly a black smog covered the place where they were. And out of this blackness they saw a strange creature emerging. He had on a strange black hat, and boots, and clothes. His skin was pale, his hair was yellow, and his eyes were blue. He had hair growing under his nose and falling down over his lips; his chin was covered with hair; he was hairy all over. Wh.en he spoke, it did not sound like human speech. No one could understand him. He was sitting on a large, strange animal as big as a large moose, but it was not a moose. It was an animal no one knew. This strange creature, this weird man, carried in one hand a cross and in the other a fearful firestick which spat lightning and made a noise like thunder. He took from his black coat something hard, shiny, glittering, and transparent which served him as a water bag. It seemed to contain clear water. He offered it to the women to drink, and when they tried it, the strange water burned their throats and made their heads swim. The man was covered with an evil sickness, and this sickness jumped on the women's skin like many unnumbered pustules and left them dying. Then they realized that the wasichu had arrived, that finally he was among them, and that everything would be changed. -Told by Leonard Crow Dog in New York City, 1972, and recorded by Richard Erdoes . • REMAKING THE WORLD • (BRULE SIOUX] • 1IIIIIDIDlIHIII.HU~UHllllllllllll/lllanIllllllllHRlIHIIDlIIIII1I11D • There was a world before this world, but the people in it did not know how to behave themselves or how to act human. The creating power was not pleased with that earlier world. He said to himself: "I will make a new world." He had the pipe bag and the chief pipe, which he put on ,jlftllltllll1lllUlllUlIIll1llrlllllllllllllllllllUlllllllltllllllllUIIl,JlllIIlUlUQlllllflllllfIlWlIlIIlRlIIlIIlllllmlllltlllllllllllltUlllfJlIlIUUIIUllIJl1IUllllUllUfllnUllllflUlIlllllllllll1f 496 the pipe rack that he had made in the sacred manner. He took four dry buffalo chips, placed three of them under the three sticks, and saved the fourth one to light the pipe. The Creating Power said to himself: "I will sing three songs, which will bring a heavy rain. Then I'll sing a fourth song and stamp four times on the earth, and the earth will crack wide open. Water will come out of the cracks and cover all the land." When he sang the 6rst song, it started to rain. When he sang the second, it poured. When he sang the third, the rain-swollen rivers overHowed their beds. But when he sang the fourth song and stamped on the earth, it split open in many places like a shattered gourd, and water Howed from the cracks until it covered everything. The Creating Power Hoated on the sacred pipe and on his huge pipe bag. He let himself be carried by waves and wind this way and that, drifting for a long time. At last the rain stopped, and by then all the people and animals had drowned. Only Kangi, the crow, survived, though it had no place to rest and was very tired. Flying above the pipe, "Tunkashila, Grandfather, I must soon rest"; and three times the crow asked him to make a place for it to light. The Creating Power thought: "It's time to unwrap the pipe and open the pipe bag." The wrapping and the pipe bag contained all manner of animals and birds, from which he selected four animals known for their ability to stay under water for a long time. First he sang a song and took the loon out of the bag. He commanded the loon to dive and bring up a lump of mud. The loon did dive, but it brought up nothing. "I dived and dived but couldn't reach bottom," the loon said. "I almost died. The water IS. too deep." The Creating Power sang a second song and took the otter out of the bag. He ordered the otter to dive and bring up some mud. The sleek otter at once dived into the water, using its strong webbed feet to go down, down, down. It was submerged for a long time, but when it 6nally came to the surface, it brought nothing. Taking the beaver out of the pipe's wrapping, the Creating Power sang a third song. He commanded the beaver to go down deep below the water and bring some mud. The beaver thrust itself into the water, using its great Hat tail to propel itself downward. It stayed under water longer than the others, but when it finally came up again, it too brought nothing. At last the Creating Power sang the fourth song and took the turtle out of the bag. The turtle is very strong. Among our people it stands for long life and endurance and the power to survive. A turtle heart is great medicine, for it keeps on beating a long time after the turtle is IlIltilltllllllIlIIlIIlIlIIllllUJllltlllllllllllUllUllnnlllUlllUlIllIIlllUfBllllfI1UlllU11UlltfH1U1UU11n11Ul1I1II1UlllttJ11I1II1Cl111U11U1I1IIU1l1fl111111t11111l11l11l1ll1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUli 497 dead. "You must bring the mud," the Creating Power told the turtle. It dove into the water and stayed below so long that the other three animals shouted: "The turtle is dead; it will never come up again!" All the time, the crow was Hying around and begging for a place to light. After what seemed to be eons, the turtle broke the surface of the water and paddled to the Creating Power. "I got to the bottom!" the turtle cried. "I brought some earth!" And sure enough, its feet and claws--even the space in the cracks on its sides between its upper and lower shellwere filled with mud. Scooping mud from the turtle's feet and sides, the Creating Power began to sing. He sang all the while that he shaped the mud in his hands and spread it on the water to make a spot of dry land for himself. When he had sung the fourth song, there was enough land for the Creating Power and for the crow. "Come down and rest," said the Creating Power to the crow, and the bird was glad to. Then the Creating Power took from his bag two long wing feathers of the eagle. He waved them over his plot of ground and commanded it to spread until it covered everything. Soon all the water was replaced by earth. "Water without earth is not good," thought the Creating Power, "but land without water is not good either." Feeling pity for the land, he wept for the earth and the creatures he would put upon it, and his tears became oceans, streams, and lakes. "That's better," he thought. Out of his pipe bag the Creating Power took all kinds of animals, birds, plants and scattered them over the land. When he stamped on the earth, they all came alive. From the earth the Creating Power formed the shapes of men and women. He used red earth and white earth, black earth and yellow earth, and made as many as he thought would do for a start. He stamped on the earth and the shapes came alive, each taking the color of the earth out of which it was made. The Creating Power gave all of them understanding and speech and told them what tribes they belonged to. The Creating Power said to them: "The first world I made was bad; the creatures on it were bad. So I burned it up. The second world I made was bad too, so I drowned it. This is the third world I have made. Look: I have created a rainbow for you as a sign that there will be no more Great Flood. Whenever you see a rainbow, you will know that it has stopped raining." The Creating Power continued: "Now, if you have learned how to behave like human beings and how to live in peace with each other and IiUlIfUIlmUI1IUIIIUtltlflltlnlllnlllllJIIIIIIIIIIIIlIlllllllllllllllllUIIUIliIlmllUllnJUIllUlIfUllllllnllUllllIllll'lltfflllUllIlIIllUltfllUlll'UllliUlUtiU1IIIltllllUlUU1UIIIUIIIIUUI 498 with the other living things-the two-legged, the four-legged, the manylegged, the Hiers, the no-legs, the green plants of this universe-then all will be well. But if you make this world bad and ugly, then I will destroy this world too. It's up to you." The Creating Power gave the people the pipe. "Live by it," he said. He named this land the Turtle Continent because it was there that the turde came up with the mud out of which the third world was made. "Someday there might be a fourth world," the Creating Power thought. I Then he rested. -Told by Leonard Crow Dog at Grass Mountain, Rosebud Indian Reservation, 1974. Recorded by Richard Erdoes. UlllllllllltmmtlllllltlUIIIIIIIIUIUIII1UlUlItIiIIUmJIUlflltlIIUUllllllllllfUllllllm,..IIUIUIIII.PlUllUltflllllflmlMlllUmUnnIIIIIUlIIUlIUIIUllllfIIIlIlIIItIlIIlUIUIIIIIIIIIUlI 499 • ""11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • ...................................rI'rI'•••••••••••••••••••w. A p PEN D I X ACOMA Acoma is, along with the Hopi town of Oraibi, the oldest inhabited settlement in the United States; it was already well established when the Spaniards first saw it in 1540. The ancient pueblo, known as the Sky City, is spectacularly situated like a medieval fortress atop its 60o-foot-high rock, halfway between Gallup and Albuquerque in New Mexico. In the midst of the village stands the seventeenth-century Church of San Esteban with its wonderful polychrome altar, one of the great architectural treasures of the Southwest. ALEUTS The Aleuts' name derives from the Chukchi word aliat, meaning "island" or "islanders." They call themselves Unung'un, the People. The Aleuts are a branch of the Inuit family, with whom they share common ancestors and also vocabulary. They occupy the chain of islands forming the "bridge" between Siberia and Alaska over which man first came to the Western Hemisphere tens of thousands of years ago. The Aleuts fish and hunt in kayaks. ALGONQUIAN The Algonquians (or Algonkins), are possibly the largest group of linguistically related tribes in North America, scattered over the whole continent from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. They include the Algonkin of Ottawa proper, the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ojibway, Sac and Fox, Pottawatomi, llIinois, Miami, Kickapoo, and Shawnee. However, if an Indian legend is said to be of Algonkin IllilnunlllmrnlllltUIIUlRllm.UIIIlIIIlIlUUntUlmnmllllUllllllnllmUIltIlIIlIlIIlHilmlliunumllllllll1llltmltfUllfllllDlltfJlllllnJlltJIllilltllllllfilltilltlUlllllnllUllllIlIII 5'00 ongm, it generally means that it comes from an East Coast tribe, such as the Pequod, Mohegan, Delaware, Abnaki, or Micmac. A LS EA The Alsea were a small tribe of Yakonan Indians from western Oregon. Once numerous, by 1906 they were reduced to about a dozen individuals who took refuge among the Siletz tribe, which has since disappeared also. Their vestiges have been absorbed by a number of other Oregon tribes. APACHE The name Apache comes from the Zuni word apachu, meaning "enemy." Their own name for themselves is N'de or Dineh, the People. In the early 15005, a group of Athapascan-speaking people drifted down from their original home in western Canada into what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and the four-corners area. They were split into smaller tribes and bands, including the Lipan, the Jicarilla (from the Spanish for "little basket," referring to their pitch-lined drinking cups), Chiricahua, Tonto, Mescalero, and White Mountain Apaches. The Apache were a nomadic people and lived in conical brush shelters (wickiups) to which they often attached a ramada-four upright poles roofed over with branches. They hunted and gathered wild plants; much later they also began to plant corn and squash. They usually dressed in deerskin and wore their hair long and loose, held by a headband. Men also wore long, flapping breechcloths. Their soft, thigh-high moccasins were important in a land of chaparral, thorns, and cacti, since they were primarily runners of incredible stamina rather than riders (though they acquired horses early and were excellent horsemen). Their main weapon was the bow, and it was used long after they had guns. Apache women wove particularly striking baskets, some made so tightly that a needle could not be inserted between their coils. They carried their babies on cradleboards. Women played an important role in family affairs; they could own property and become medicine women. The Lipan Apache at first kept peace with the whites, whom they encountered in the sixteenth century. Fierce nomadic raiders, the Lipans roamed west Texas and much of New Mexico east of the Rio Grande, and eventually became the scourge of miners and settlers, particularly in Mexico. Their great chiefs included Cochise and Mangus Colorado, as well as Goyathlay, the One Who Yawns, better known as Geronimo. Apache attacks on whites were not unprovoked, for these tribes had often been victims of treachery, broken agreements, and massacres by white Americans and Mexicans. They were not finally subdued until the 1880s. The Jicarillas, now numbering 1,500 to 2,000, live on a 750,000-acre reservation high in the mountains of northern New Mexico. The White Mountain Apaches (also called Sierra Blancas or Coyoteros) live in Arizona and New Mexico, including about 6,000 on the I,600,00o-acre Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona. UllnUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllliltHIlitlIIlIIlIfIIIUIUIIUfil'UIIUtllmlllllllll,unluunuIIIJIUUUlmlllllllu"mIIUlIIIItIlUJliUllllfllllllnIllIlIIUIIIltIIIIIIUlIIIIIUUUlJlfllllllllUlllllllU1U 501 In 1905, there were only 25 Lipan survivors left, and they were eventually placed on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. ATHAPASCAN Athapascan refers to a language group, and it represents the most far-Hung of the original North American tongues. Athapascan dialects or related languages are spoken by people in the interior of what is now Alaska, on the western coast of Canada; among some tribes in northern California, and by the Navajo and Apache of New M~co, Arizona, and Utah. BLACKFOOT The Blackfoot people were really three closely allied Algonquian tribes-the Siksikas, or Blackfoot proper; the Bloods; and the Piegans. Siksikas means Blackfooted People, and they may at one time have worn black moccasins. The Bloods probably got their name from the vernlilion color of their face paint. Piegan means People with Poor or Badly Dressed Robes. These tribes drifted down from Canada into what is now Montana, driving the Kootenay and Shoshoni before them. They were much feared by early white trappers and fur traders, because they killed all white men who entered their hunting grounds in search of beaver. Though they inhabited the northern edge of the buffalo range, the Blackfoot tribes lived in tipis and hunted bison like other Plains Indians. The Piegans' main ceremonials were the sun dance and the All Comrades festival held by the warrior societies .. About 7,000 Blackfoot, 2,100 Piegans, and 2,000 Bloods now live on the Blackfoot reservation at Browning, Montana, at the southern edge of Glacier National Park, and some have joined the Piegan Agency in Alberta, Canada. BLOOD (See BLACKFOOT) BRULE SIOUX The Brules belong to the Oceti Shakowin-the seven council nres of the Lakota or Teton-wan, the seven Western Sioux tribes. Their name comes from the French word bru!e-"burned." The Brules are very traditional people, maintaining their old customs and rituals, including the sun dance, flesh offerings, the sweatlodge ceremony, the vision quest, and the so-called yuwipi ceremonies. Many Brules belong to the Native American Church, which follows the peyote cult. Today they occupy Rosebud, a large reservation in southwestern South Dakota. IttJlltJIIUlltfUUUlII1IIIHIItIIIHIIlIIlIltIIIIIIllJlIIQIIIIIIIUIlI"111I1IIUlIlllnllllllll.llttIlRIlIUtfftlUlJllllllttumlllllntiIIlIllIHU"IIII11IUUtllllllllrmnmUfllfUUllimnUllUllllr 502 CADDO The Caddo belonged to a confederacy of tribes of the Caddoan language family, whose southern members were the Caddo proper, the Wichita, and the Kichai. Its northern representatives were the Arikara and Pawnees. Mostly sedentary planters, the Caddo, as well as the Wichita, lived in large dome-shaped, thatched grass huts, which were first mentioned by members of Coronado's expedition. Caddoans were once scattered throughout Oklahoma, the Red River area of Arkansas, and northern Texas. About 500 surviving Caddos were eventually settled with the Wichitas in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). CHEROKEE The name Cherokee probably comes from chiluk-ki, the Choctaw word meaning Cave People. The Cherokee are one of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes, a term which first occurs in 1876 in reports of the Indian Office; these tribes had their own constitutional governments, modeled on that of the United States, the expenses of which were paid out of their own communal funds. They also farmed after the manner of their white neighbors. Wealth and fertile land were the Cherokees' undoing. Under the "Indian removal" policy of Andrew Jackson and Van Buren, troops commanded by General Winfield Scott drove the Indians out of their ancestral lands so that white settlers could occupy them. Herded into the so-called Indian Territory west of the Mississippi, one third of those removed perished on the march, remembered by them as the infamous Trail of Tears. Most Cherokees now live in Oklahoma, though a small number managed to stay belIind. Their population has increased to about 7,000 people, living on about 56,600 acres on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina. CHEYENNE The name Cheyenne derives from the French chien, "dog," because of their ritual dog eating. The Cheyenne call themselves Tis-Tsis-Tas, the People. They are an Algonquian Plains tribe that came to the prairies from the Great Lakes region some two to three hundred years ago. They lived in tipis and were buffalo hunters, great horsemen, and brave warriors. They were closely allied with the Western Sioux tribes and fought with them at the Little Bighorn against Custer. Forced after the last battles into a malaria-infested part of the Indian Territory, one group under Dull Knife and Little Wolf made a heroic march back to their old hunting grounds, eventually settling on the Lame Deer Reservation in Montana. Another part of the tribe, the southern Cheyenne, remained in Oklahoma. The Chinook lived near the Columbia River in what is now Washington state. They were met and described by Lewis and Clark in 1805, and their trade jargon IlilfUlIlIJlllfllllllUlIlIlIUUliftllllllllflflllllllllmumunnUlnlllllllfJlUlIlllUlflllllllllllftllIIllIIDIIIUIIIIIIIIIIUln"IUlllfIIIIIIIUIIIJlIlIllIIUIttIIllIllI1I1IIII11I11UfUlUIlIlIUIIIII or lingua franca was widely used throughout the Northwest. Such words as "potlatch" and "hooch" are derived from it. COCHITI Cochiti is a Keresan-speaking pueblo situated on the Rio Grande south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Cochiti moved to their present reservation from their original home in Frijoles Canyon, now Bandelier National Monument, in New Mexico, and ruins of their old villages can be found on nearby Cochiti Mesa. The population in 1970 was around 500. Farming, jewelry making, and pottery making are important economic activities. Cochiti is the home of Helen Cordero, the internationally known ceramist, whose pottery group called "Storyteller," a jolly ceramic figure surrounded by clinging children, is prized by collectors and widely imitated. COOS The Coos tribe, for whom Coos Bay in Oregon was named, are now almost entirely assimilated into the surrounding culture. They once occupied the Pacific coastal lands of Oregon. CREE The Cree Indians, an Algonquian tribe sometimes called Knisteneau, were essentially forest people, though an offshoot, the so-called Plains Cree, were buffalo hunters. They live mostly in Canada, but a few are now sharing reservations with other tribes in North Dakota. They were first encountered by French Jesuits in 1640, lost their people in a smallpox epidemic in 1776, fought many battles with the Sioux, and suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Blackfeet in 1870' The Cree lived by hunting, fishing, and trapping. Muskrat meat was one of their staples. According to Denig, who lived among them in the 1850s, they made sacrifices to the sun, the Great Master of Life. CROW The Crow were a typical Plains tribe of hard-riding buffalo hunters. They split off from the Hidatsa tribe at some time during the second half of the eighteenth century, some say over a quarrel about buffalo meat; others say as a result of rivalry between two chiefs. The Crow later divided into two bands: the River and the Mountain Crows. Once semisedentary com planters who lived in earth huts and whose women practiced the art of pottery, the Crow had already reverted to a nomadic hunting pcople when they were first encountered by whites. This change probably reUIIIIIIIUfIIltfUlllfnlllllflllfllllUIItIltUlllllltmtmtltUIUI'lllHlnurflUllllnnIimnuilillmthUllIUUlUlnHUlUliUlIlnllllUllnllUllIlIllUlnJlllllll1lU1IU1l1ll1U1It1111111f11IUIIi suited from their acquisition of the horse and the gun, both of which made the nomadic way of life easy and glorious. Like other Indians of the Plains, they lived in tipis; reputedly, theirs were the largest of all tribes. They were fierce fighters and skilled at the universal sport of intertribal horse stealing. The Crows were generally friendly to the whites and furnished scouts for the Indian-fighting anny. The Crows now live on their reservation in Montana, not far from the Custer Battlefield. DIEGUEHOS (See YUMA) FLATHEADS The Flatheads are a Salishan tribe encountered by Lewis and Clark in 1805. Their ancestral home was the Bitterroot Valley in Montana, but they did not resist their removal to their present reservation in Montana, where they were absorbed by the related Salish and Kootenay tribes. Though they lived on the edge of Plains Indian culture, the paintings of Father Nicolas Point, who was in charge of their Catholic mission in the 1840S, show them dressed and hunting buffalo like typical Plains Indians, except that some men wear stovepipe hats bestowed upon them by whites. Contrary to popular belief, the Flatheads did not artificially Hatten their foreheads. HAl DA The Haida (Xa'ida-the People) live on Queen Charlotte Island off the coast of British Columbia. The first European to visit them was Juan Perez, who arrived in 1774 in the Spanish corvette Santiago, followed in 1786 by the famous French explorer La Perouse. Contact with Europeans, as usual in most cases, was catastrophic for the Haida, bringing them impoverishment, smallpox epidemics, and venereal diseases. The Haida were great hunters of whales and/sea otters. Canoes were to them, as one visitor remarked, what horses were to the Plains Indians. Their sometimes very large vessels were hollowed out of single huge cedar trunks. The Haida are best known as- totem-pole carvers and as the builders of large, decorated wooden houses. Their gifted artists are still turning out splendid masks and other carved objects. HOP I Hopi land is an enclave within the much larger Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Their name, Hopitu-shinumu, means Peaceful People, and throughout their IIUlflllUtllllltlllllllllfttllltilUfllltllllllfflllUlllllltllllllllUllilillNUUlI1mnnll,lllIhlntllUllltUltUJIIHIIIIIIIUlifUllllllUliummllllllU'lUlIllllIlllIllllIJl1lIlllIIljlliftlfllllUU. history they have lived up to it. They belong to the Uto-Aztecan language family, though the Hopi in the village of Hano, curiously enough, speak Tewa. The founders of Hano were Rio Grande Pueblos fleeing their ancient home under Spanish pressure to seek a refuge among the Peaceful Ones. The Spaniards made periodic attempts to Christianize the Hopis and fought several battles with them, but eventually left their pueblos alone. They were also the westernmost of the pueblos and therefore hundreds of miles from the center of Spanish power-and intrusion. The Hopis have been planters of corn since time immemorial, skillfully coaxing their crops to thrive even in desert sands. In the traditional partition of labor, the women made pottery and wove beautiful baskets, while the men did the weaving and hunting. IN U I T The Inuit are the native inhabitants of Greenland and the North American subarctic regions. The more familiar name Eskimo, meaning "those who eat their food raw," was actually a term used by neighboring Indians. The Inuit are hunters who chased seals, walrus, caribou, and an occasional polar bear. On land they move with the help of dogsleds; on the water they use their kayaks and umiaks, open boats made with wooden frames and skins. While they can still build igloos when and if they have to, today most live in European-style houses with electricity and other modern conveniences. Today the Inuit live all through the Arctic, with major settlements in Alaska, Greenland, and northern Canada, and a few have crossed the Bering Strait and settled in Siberia. IROQUOIS The name Iroquois, meaning "real adders," is of Algonquian origin. The Iroquois referred to themselves as We Who Are of the Extended Lodge. They are not a tribal group at all, but an alliance of tribes that dominated the vast area stretching from the Atlantic Coast to Lake Erie, and from Ontario down into North Carolina. According to tradition their league was formed about 1570 by the efforts of Hiawatha, a Mohawk Cnot to be confused with Longfellow's romantic hero), and his disciple, Dekanawida, a Huron by birth. The original Five Nations confederacy was made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, tribes which before that time had often been at war with each other. In 1715 the Tuscarora joined the league, and from that time the Iroquois have been known as the Six Nations. The league formed a democratic tribal republic 'with councils of elected delegates. Chiefs were elected from nominations by the tribe's matrons, and acted with the consent and cooperation of the women of child-bearing age. ISLETA Isleta is the southernmost pueblo, situated about twelve miles south of Albuquerque. Approximately 2,000 Isletans occupy their reservation of some 211,000 tllllllllUlfUlfIIllllIlllUlIHllllllllfUlUIllUlllllllfUlltJlIllllllflllttllllllllHIHllllQIlIIlmlflllllJUIIUfIIlllltmnUlUllllffUllllllrlllltilnullUlIllIIUlllflllIlllll1f1l1l11'llll1IItllU11l1f 506 acres. The Franciscans established a monastery at Isleta as early as 1629. In 1681 Spaniards commanded by Governor Otermin destroyed Isleta as a punishment for having taken part in the Great Pueblo Revolt. The village was rebuilt and resettled early in the eighteenth century by Tiwa Indians who had taken sanctuary among the Hopis. The people of Isleta speak Tiwa, in the Kiowa-Tanoan linguistic family. A government report of the 1890S calls the Isletas industrious farmers who raise cattle and maintain large vineyards; they probably learned to cultivate grapes, a rare activity among Indians, from the Franciscan monks who came from California. JICARILLA APACHE (See APACHB) KALAPUYA The Kalapuyans were a group of tribes who once occupied the Willamette Valley in northwestern Oregon and practiced a mild form of slavery. Marriage was arranged by purchase. The Kalapuya also flattened the fronts of their heads by "fronto-occipital pressure." In 1824 their population was decimated by epidemics introduced by whites. KAROK The Karok (from karuk-"upstream") called themselves Arra-Arra, meaning Men or Humans. A tribe of salmon fishers, they lived along the Klamath River between the more numerous Yurok below and the Shasta above them. Due to the absence of redwood in their own area, they made no canoes but bought them ftom the Yurok. Their culture closely resembled that of their Hupa and Yurok neighbors. KWAKIUTL The Kwakiutl are a tribe of Indians which, with the Nootka, belonged to the Wakashan language group. Kwakiutl, according to some linguists, means "beach at the north side of the river," though some tribal elders translate it as "smoke of the rivers." They are located on Vancouver Island and along the coast of British Columbia. The Kwakiutl used to live in large painted houses decorated with carvings, and their elaborate totem poles and masks are famous. They fished and went to war in huge canoes often painted and decorated with carved prow figures. They gave solemn potlatch feasts, during which a slave was sometimes clubbed to death 1III1IIUlllltllllllllmllllllllllllllllutlfUIIIIIIUllmUUU.lllmlHmIIIIfmmm:IIIIIUII1l1Uff1ft1lIIIllUIIUlIlillUIIIJlmlllillfllUUlmtllllllUIIJUlllltlllllllllllllttlllllllllU1IIIUlIIIII with an ornamental "slave killer" to show the owner's contempt for property. They waged war for prestige as well as to capture slaves. The Kwakiutl had secret societies, such as the Cannibal society, whose members were supposed to have power from the Cannibal Spirit of the North and who put on a spectacular-and strictly ceremonial--cannibal (hamatsa) dance. Today the Kwakiutl fish with modern boats and equipment; they also work in canneries and the timber industry in British Columbia. LIPAN APACHE (See APACHB) L U M N I The Lumni are a Salishan tribe of northwestern Washington. Their culture was that of a typical coastal tribe: salmon was their main food, and their ceremonies revolved around salmon and fishing. The women made fine baskets and were renowned for their special dog-hair blankets. The Lumni fought annual ceremonial battles with the Haida for the purpose of capturing slaves. These encounters are still remembered in the yearly stommish, or "warrior," ceremony which includes canoe racing, dancing, and a salmon steak barbecue. Some 700 Lumnis and related Nooksacks now live on the 7,000-acre Reservation with headquarters at Bellingham, Washington. MAl DU The Maidu are a northern California tribe, now living above the San Francisco Bay Area. They are known particularly for their exquisite basketry. MALISEET The name Maliseet or Malecite comes from the Micmac words moalisit, "broken talkers," or mahnesheets, "slow tongues." An Algonquian family, the Maliseet were part of the loosely knit Abnaki confederation in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine. Linguistically they were closely related to the Passamaquoddy. Champlain met them in 1604 and wrote; "When we were seated they began to smoke, as was their custom, before making any discourse. They made us presents of game and venison. All that day and the following night they continued to sing, dance, and feast until day reappeared. They were clothed in beaver skins." By 1904 the Maliseet were reduced to about 800 people in New Brunswick and Quebec provinces, Canada. fnltfUIIIIIII1II1IU1I1I1ItIIUllllllllllllllllunlflllflUlHllllhUIIUIlIlIUUmIlIllItUn"IIU1I11II1Wm111l1lln11l1tlll1llm1ll1rl1l1tl1lUIIIWlltl1111111lIlUlm11l11111l11lUJIUl1II111'1111111 508 M IT I 5 The Metis, who are part French and part Indian, live in Canada. Their name comes from the French metis, "mixed." The Ojibway called them wissakodewinini, "burned trees" or "half-burned wood man," alluding to their part-light, part-dark complexions. Some Metis have adopted Indian customs and speak a patois made up of native, French, and English words. Some consider themselves white Canadians; others proudly call themselves Metis and stress their Indian ancestry. Their tales show marked European influences. MICMAC Micmac comes from migmak or nigmak, meaning "allies." The Micmac are a large Algonquian tribe of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. They were first visited by Cabot in I497; in fact, the three Indians he took back to England were probably Micmacs. The Micmacs were expert canoeists and fishermen. Fierce and warlike, they sided with the French during the French and Indian Wars. MIWOK The Miwok, whose name means Man, were a central California tribe of Penutian stock, living between what is now the modem city of Fresno and the Sierras. They ate nuts, acorns, even grasshoppers; fished; and hunted deer and rabbit. They lived in conical houses made of poles, and their women used communal, many-holed grinding stones to make meal from seeds, nuts, and acorns. Their mystery ceremony was the kuksu dance, in which the participants wore feathered headdresses. The Miwok had a rich mythology and, before the gold rush, were a large tribe occupying 100 villages. They are now practically extinct. MODOC The Modoc, meaning "southerners," are of Penutian stock and speak a language nearly identical with that of the Klamath tribe. They lived around the lower Klamath Lake in southwestern Oregon and fought hard and long when the government tried to force them onto reservations. Led by Chief Kintpuash, called Captain Jack by whites, they holed up in the Lava Beds, a region of basalt rocks, deep crevasses, and many caves, in the so-called Modoc War of I872-1873. They defended themselves for months against thousands of soldiers equipped with cannon. After their surrender, the Modoc leaders were hanged, supposedly for killing two members of a U.S. peace mission. Part of the tribe was removed to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma; others were settled on the Klamath Reservation, where a few hundred survive to this day. ltIllllllllUlIUIUUllll1lUlllHlIl1l1UJlllllwrmlUllntlllllumnulJlllllllKIICIIIfUlIIJdUlll1HI.......IIIUllUiillllUllllUmlllHummIlIlUU'Wltlllll.IIUUIlIflIUlltmlllllllllll'U MOJAVE The Mojave Cor Mohave) form the most numerous and warlike of the Yuman tribes living on both sides of the Colorado River. Described by early travelers as handsome, athletic, and brave, they cultivated corn, squash, pumpkins, beans, and melons; gathered pinon nuts; and caught fish. They used to paint and tattoo their bodies, and they cremated their dead. They lived in scattered four-sided stick, brush, and mud dwellings and stored their grain in cylindrical flat-roofed structures. At first they welcomed the Spaniards, but later resisted fiercely when the invaders tried to force the white man's way of life upon them. The Mojaves and their cousins, the Chemehuevis, now share the Colorado River Reservation in Arizona, roughly 270,000 acres supporting slightly less than 2,000 people. MOJAVE-APACHE (See YAVAPAI) MULTII40MAH The Multnomah tribe occupied what is now western Oregon, near Portland, and the few remaining members have been almost entirely assimilated into the white cultures which surround them. NAVAJO The Navajo are an Athapascan tribe that drifted down from northwestern Canada into the Southwest around 1300. They call themselves Dineh, the People, as do their linguistic cousins in Canada and Alaska, from whom they are separated by some 1,500 miles. Fierce, skin-clad, nomadic raiders, they terrorized the sedentary corn-planting tribes of the Southwest. The Pueblos called them apachu, meaning "enemy-strangers." This led to the mixed Tewa and Spanish "Apaches de Nabahu," which ultimately became "Navajo." The Navajos adopted many cultural practices from their Pueblo neighbors, such as masked dances cyebichai), basketry, and pottery. They became fine silversmiths, learning the craft from the Spaniards, just as they learned weaving from the Pueblos. During the mid-nineteenth century they began making jewelry and weaving rugs; their simple chiefs' blankets have evolved into the well-known Navajo rugs of today. With a population of over 130,000, the Navajo are the largest tribe in the United States. Their reservation extends over 200 miles of New Mexico and Arizona, from the Gallup area all the way to the Grand Canyon, and contains such natural wonders as Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly, as well as ,llllfmlllllrllffllfUUllltfllUnJlllltUlUlllllllmlftlltflllltnlllllfUllftQlllllttJlmmlllUlll1III'II"UllllllnmmllJllllflllllttlrflllOIlIIlIIfIIlUilltllfllltflUflllIIltUtlllIllIIlIlumlllll 510 large coal and oil deposits. Navajos are a comparatively wealthy nation; they farm and raise large herds of sheep, as well as some cattle. The women still wear their traditional costume-velveteen blouses, colorful ankle-length skirts, and silver and turquoise necklaces. Their traditional home is the hogan, a low, domeshaped structure of mud-covered logs with a smoke hole at the top. NEZ PERCE The Nez Perdis (French for "pierced noses") got this name from their custom of wearing a piece of dentalium shell through their septum. They belonged to the seminomadic Plateau culture, roaming over the dry, high country of Idaho, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington. They were known for their trading acumen, their bravery and generosity, their skill in breeding the famous Appaloosa horse, and the fine basketry of their women. They were consistently friendly to the whites. A large tribe of the Shahaptian language family, they lived in large communal houses containing several families. Unjustly driven from their beloved Wallowa Valley, they fought fiercely and skillfully during the Nez Perce War of 1877 under their great leader, Chief Joseph, who won the admiration even of his enemies by his courage and humanity in conducting this war. Today some I,;OO members of the tribe live on the 88,000-acre Nez Perce Reservation with headquarters at Lapwai, Idaho. OJIBWAY The Ojibway, or as the whites misname them, the Chippewa, are an Algonquian tribe living today on a number of reservations, mainly in Minnesota. They migrated from the East late in the sixteenth or early in the seventeenth century. They were usually allied with the French, swapping beaver and other pelts for firearms, which they used to drive the Sioux to the West. The Ojibway took part in Pontiac's uprising, and by 185 I white settlers had pushed them beyond the Mississippi. Their most valuable food plant is wild rice. Their culture hero is Manabozho, the Great Rabbit, whose deeds they depict on bark paintings. OKANOGAN The Okanogan (or Okinagan) were a small Salishan tribe of seminomadic plateau people who were scattered over the high country of Idaho, western Oregon, and eastern Washington. They were grouped in small, roving bands of hunters, fishermen, and gatherers of cama roots, wild seeds, and berries. Like many Salishans, they were good basket makers. In I906 there were some 5'2; Okanogans left in Washington state and a further 825 in British Columbia. Today about 3,000 people, descendants of related tribes, live on the Colville Reservation in Washington, among them the former Okanogans. IUIIIIIIUIIIUlllllUllllflllfUlmllltlllllUlllfilltlllllllUlllllllnllllllUUllm.1lItllUIIIIIIUlllllllmnUllUmllJUIIUnmlllllllttllWllnllllll.mlllUUlllfIIllIlIIllI1lIlttlllllllllllllUlif 511 ONEIDA The Oneida-the People of the Rock-are one of the original Five Nations of the Iroquois league. Like other Iroquois, they live in longhouses occupied by several families and owned by women. They traced their descent through the mother. The tribe originally lived near Oneida Lake in New York but, under pressure, sold their ancestral lands and moved to Wisconsin in 1838. Unlike other Iroquois tribes, the Oneida at first stayed neutral and eventually joined the Tuscarora as the only Iroquois nations siding with the Americans against the British in the Revolutionary War. Today roughly 1,800 people reside on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin. OSAGE The Osage, or Wazhazhe, are Plains Indians of the Siouan language group. Their original villages were situated in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. According to their legends, they originated in the sky and descended through four layers of sky until they alighted on seven rocks of different colors near a red oak tree. Later the people received four kinds of corn and four kinds of pumpkin seeds which fell from the left hind legs of four buffalo. The tribe was divided into gentes, which monopolized certain tasks, such as making moccasins, pipes, war standards, or arrowheads. One gente furnished heralds (camp criers) to the tribe. The Osage were eventually removed to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where they now live. OTO The Oto, also called Otoe and Wat'ota, are a Siouan tribe, probably an offshoot of the Winnebago, from whom they are said to have separated at Green Bay, Wisconsin, as they wandered westward in pursuit of buffalo. This group later split further into three closely related tribes-the Oto proper, the Iowa, and the Missouri. Marquette knew of them, and Le Sueur met them in 1700 near Blue Earth River in what is now northwest Minnesota. They lived in earth lodges, though they used skin tipis when traveling or hunting. They were rudimentary farmers but avid buffalo hunters, and they early adopted Plains Indian culture. In 1882 the last remnants of the tribe left Nebraska, where they had been living along the Platte River, and settled in Oklahoma. PAPA GO The Papago-the Bean People---are a Southwestern tribe closely related to the Pima. They are probably descendants of the ancient Hohokam. The Papago are an agricultural people who irrigate by flooding. Though frugal and peaceful, they IIIfllltUlfU!uumfUlUfUUlUllunlllllllllllllllfllmlllJllllUlIUlllllllfftllllllllllllllllllflllfllllU1IIIIIHlIIUlJlIIIIIIJllllllllfllttllllllllfJIlUillfllUllllliumUllllllflllllllllllUlflllilU 512 could be tough when attacked, and they defended themselves stoutly against raiding bands of Apaches. Papago women are renowned for their wonderful baskets woven from yucca fiber. Their traditional houses were round, dome-shaped, and flat-topped, 12 to 20 feet in diameter, and usually had a brush shelter (ramada) attached. They now live on a four-part reservation of almost three million acres in Arizona. Some offshoots of the tribe also live in Sonora, Mexico. PASSAMAQUODDY The name Passamaquoddy comes from peskede makadi, meaning "plenty of pollock" Ca species of herring). They are a tribe of forest hunters and fishermen speaking a coastal Algonquian dialect. They were experts at canoeing, fishing, and trapping and lived in conical wigwams covered with birch bark or woven mats. Several families often shared one dwelling. They belonged to the larger Abnaki confederation, an alliance of Northeast woodlands tribes that also included the Penobscot and Maliseet. Some 600 Passamaquoddy now live on the Pleasant Point and Indian Township Reservations in Washington County, Maine. PAWNEE The Pawnees, members of the large Caddoan family, were a federation of tribes living near the Platte River in what is now Nebraska. They were semisedentary, lived in earth lodges, planted corn, and hunted buffalo and other game. Their tribal name comes from pariki, meaning "horns," probably because they used to dress their hair in a hom-like coil stiffened with grease. Their own name for themselves was Men of Men. Their chief deity was Tirawa Atius, the Creator, who "threw down from the sky to the human beings everything they needed." Hereditary keepers maintained their sacred bundles, and they had secret societies related to supernatural animal spirits. The Pawnees, who once numbered 25,000, lost half their population to cholera between 1840 and 185°, owing to contact with westbound settlers taking the Platte River Trail. By the end of the century their numbers had dropped to a few hundred. Though many Pawnees had served the U.S. Army faithfully as scouts during the Indian Plains wars, they shared the fate of many other tribes, being removed in 1876 to Oklahoma, where they settled with the Ponca and Oto. PENOBSCOT The name Penobscot means Rockland or It Flows on the Rocks, alluding to a waterfall near their village of Old Town, Maine, a few miles above Bangor. The Penobscot are a once-powerful New England tribe of Algonquian stock. They belong to the Abnaki confederation, which included such tribes as the Malecites and Passamaquoddies. They made canoes, fishnets, shell wampum, carved pipes, and intricate beading and quillwork. They had a reputation for peacefulness and hospitality. IIl1lnntUlllllllfrlllllUlllllfflllllllltlllllllllllUllllunllllHUlllnlllllllllmllUmftlmIltIIIlllllllWlllu.nllllllllmlUllllnUllllllfJlIUnllllllllllltlllllUUIIIII,11J11iIIIUlIIUIIIIIUlIt Some 500 Penobscot now live on a reservation comprising 4,500 acres at Indian Island, Old Town, Maine. PEQUOD The Pequod, or Destroyers, once a much-dreaded Algonquian people, were originally part of the Mohegan tribe. They occupied a strip of land reaching from what is now New London, Connecticut, into Rhode Island. The Pequods were conquered by English settlers in 1637 during the so-called Pequod War. Spurred on by Puritan preachers who called the Indians "fiends of hell" and "children of Satan," the settlers stormed the Pequod village on the Mystic River in Connecticut, slaughtering and burning to death more than 600 of the inhabitants. Surviving prisoners became slaves of New England colonists; some were even sold to West Indian planters. In 1832 there was a remnant of about 40 mixed-blood Pequods left. In the early 1900S about 12. people remained who considered themselves in some way the descendants of the Pequods and Mohegans. They are now considered completely exterminated. PIEGAN (See BLACKFOOT) PI MA The Pima, and their closely related neighbors and cousins, the Papago, are thought to be descendants of the ancient Hohokam-Those Who Have Gone Before--prehistoric makers of a vast system of irrigation canals. Members of the Uto-Aztecan language group, the Pima live in southern Arizona near the Gila and Salt rivers. Their earliest contacts with Spaniards occurred in 1589, when they lived in scattered rancheTias tending their fields of com, beans, squash, cotton, and tobacco. Like their Hohokam ancestors, they had an advanced system of irrigation. They were consistently peaceful and hospitable to whites. The typical old-style Pima house was a windowless daub-and-wattle dwelling shaped "like an inverted kettle." Today these dwellings have been replaced everywhere by the typical Southwestern adobe house. The Pima are possibly the best Indian basket makers. Their women weave beautiful baskets of aU shapes, designs, and from huge, man-high storage baskets to miniature horsehair baskets. Most Pima, together with members of the Maricopa community, now live on the Gila River Reservation in Arizona, with headquarters at Sacaton. POMO The Pomo are a large and thriving community in northern California, well known for their beautiful basketwork. IlIlfftllllJlUllltlllIUnUllm"nlllllUfllllUURll1l1ll1nlllllllmllllllmllllllftllllllII111QJ11I1IW'1fli1lm111l1lRJIlfl111111ll1f1111111101111111U1111l1l11111l11n1111IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIflIIIII PO N CA The Ponca, a Siouan tribe closely related to the Omaha, Kansa, and Osage, lived in permanent villages of earth lodges. They planted corn, hunted buffalo, and adopted a number of Plains customs, including the annual sun dance, which they called the Great Mystery dance. After several migrations, the Ponca lived for some time near Lake Andes, South Dakota. There, according to their traditions, they received the gift of the sacred pipes. They finally settled at the mouth of the Niobrara River in Nebraska where. Lewis and Clark reported in 18°4, their number had been reduced by smallpox to a mere 200. For reasons never quite satisfactorily explained, the Ponca land was given to the Sioux in spite of the fact that the Ponca had always been friendly to the whites while the Sioux had fought them. By 1870 their numbers had increased to about 800 but later, due to the enmity of their Sioux neighbors, they were removed to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Half of them died as the result of their forced removal, malnutrition, and new diseases against which they had no immunity. A few Ponca remained behind in Nebraska seeking a home among related tribes. SALINAN The Salinans, a Californian Indian language group, were named for the Salinas River, which Rowed through their territory in the Monterey-San Louis Obispo area. Their native name was Hokan. In the late I 700s. the Spaniards established two missions among these small tribes. After contact with Europeans, and especially after the gold rush, their numbers declined rapidly. Though they had once been counted in the thousands, by 1906 there were only 20 persons described as Salinans. The tribe is now practically extinct. SAN JUAN San Juan, the home of one of the authors of this book, is the largest Tewaspeaking pueblo. Located on the banks of the Rio Grande 25 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, it is a traditional village in which the old culture, language, and ceremonies are still maintained in spite of some intermarriage with whites. Its native name was Oke, but in 1598 the Spanish Governor Onate established his capital at this pueblo and renamed it San Juan de los Caballeros. In 1782 the village was ravaged by epidemics introduced by contact with Spaniards. Today some 700 Tewa Indians occupy about 12,000 acres of San Juan land. SENECA The Seneca, meaning Place of the Stone, were one of the tribes making up the Six Nations League of the Iroquois. They were also known as the People of the IIIlfUJlfllllltlllJlIIlIIlIUlIIlIIllIllllllfllIlIlIUlIlIIlUmmlllftfUllllmtlllunntnttlllllmmmfUUJll1IIIUlltlllllUlllnllllllllllltUIUIIIIUIfiIiIllIIIUIIIIIIIIIUillJIlIlll,1I11111HutHH Mountain and in the confederacy occupied the place of "keepers of the great black doorway." The great Iroquois religious leader and prophet, Handsome Lake, was a Seneca. He combined traditional Iroquois religion with certain white concepts, teaching his people to build houses like those of white farmers, to work hard, to instruct their children, and to abstain from the white man's intoxicating drinks. The code of Handsome Lake is still kept by many Iroquois people. The Senecas originally lived west of Lake Erie and along the Allegheny River. Believing that the English would protect them against land-grabbing colonials, they joined the Mohawks under Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) to fight for the British during the American Revolution. They now live in various places in the Northeast, including the Allegheny, Cattaraugus, and Tonawanda Reservations in New York State. In the 1950S the Army Corps of Engineers built the Kinzua Dam, which inundated a great part of the Allegeny Seneca Reservation, in spite of a treaty of 1794, signed by George Washington himself, guaranteeing the Indians this land inviolate and in perpetuity. SERRANO The Serrano still live in California, though a long history of contact with white missionaries and other settlers has eroded their cultural integrity considerably. SHASTA The Shasta were a group of small tribes in northern California near the Klamath River and in the Mount Shasta Valley. They were sedentary and lived in small villages of half-sunken plank houses. Their main food was fish, particularly salmon, which they netted, trapped, and speared. They preserved their fish for winter by drying and smoking it. Acorns, seeds, and roots augmented their diet; hunting played a comparatively small role, and their main weapon was the bow. The intrusion of gold miners and prospectors in 1855-1860 spelled the Shasta's doom, and they have now virtually vanished. S I A The Sia, or Zia, are a small Keresan-speaking pueblo in New Mexico. S I OU X The Sioux nation is comprised of three divisions, the Lakota or Teton-Wan, the Dakota, and the N akota. Lakota or T etons are the seven westernmost trans-Missouri UlutlfllllllllllllfllllllJllllltntllllllllmnUlI1llllUliflIllllllfffllUtlldl1IIIJUUUUfUIlUllftllltlllhlUlIllllIIlllIIllfillUlIIlUlllfIIWlllflllllllllllfllllllllUll1UUflllllllillfIIIIlIUtiltU ~p6 Sioux tribes; they refer to themselves as Ikche-Wichasha-the Real Natural Human Beings. The Seven Tribes, or Ocheti Shakowin (Seven Campfires), which compose the Lakota are the Hunkpapa, the Oglala, the Minneconjou, the Brules (also known as Sichangu or Burned Thighs), the Ooenunpa or Two Kettles, the Itazipcho or No Bows, and the Sihasapa or Blackfeet, not to be confused with the Algonquian Blackfoot (Siksika) of Montana. The Lakota are the hard-riding, buffalo-hunting Plains Indians par excellence, the Red Knights of the Prairie, the people of Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse. Theirs was the nomadic culture of the tipi and the dog-later horse-travois. They worship Wakan Tanka - Tunkashila, the grandf;:tther spirit-pray with the sacred pipe, go on vision quests involving a four-day-and-night fast. and still practice self-torture (piercing) during the sun dance, the most solemn of all Plains rituals. Originally friendly to the whites, the Lakota fought hard when they were finally forced to defend their ancient hunting grounds. They defeated General Crook at Rosebud, and annihilated Custer on the Little Bighorn. They fought their last battle against overwhelming odds, and in the face of quick-firing cannon, at Wounded Knee in 1890' SLAVEY The Slavey Indians (whose name, incidentally, has no connection to the English word "slave") lived inland in British Columbia, and are related culturally and linguistically to the Plains tribes to the south. Their Plateau region culture, as it is termed, represents a transition between the northernmost of the northwest Plains tribes and those of the subarctic. They still make their living as hunters, fishermen, and trappers in this economically marginal geographic area, too far north for much agricultural productivity. SNOHOMISH The Snohomish lived in tiny communities scattered across the Olympic Peninsula in what is now western Washington. Only remnants of the original tribes still exist. SNOQUALMIE The Snoqualmie or Snoqualmu were a small Salishan tribe of the Pacific Coast. Salmon was their main food, canoeing their form of traveling. The men fished and hunted, the women wove baskets and made mats of cedar bark. They believed they were descended from mythical animals, such as the wolf. By 1854 the Snoqualmies had shrunk to a population of some 200. A handful of Snoqualmies finally went to the Tulalip Reservation in Washington to settle among their Snohomish cousins. IIJIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1111111IIIUIIUllllfllll1lllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIItmlWllllllmlllIHfUllIlR&lIlllllUlllllllnlllllllRIllUllmllUllnlllllllllllnllllll1IIIIII1IIUflllUllillUIIIUlIlii TEWA The Tewa are a group of Pueblo Indians related by language. Today they live in six villages near the Rio Grande, all north of Santa Fe, namely, Nambe, Pojoaque, Tesuque, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and San Juan. According to legend, the Tewa entered this world by ascending from Sipofene, a mythical place beneath a lake. In some Tewa villages it is said that the people climbed up a Douglas fir rising out of the lake, and that the first one up was Poseyemu, the T ewa culture hero, a supernatural being sometimes called the son of the sun, who taught the art of living to the people. Ancient beliefs and traditions are still strong among the Tewa. Their pueblos are divided into two parts, so-called moities, the summer and the winter people. TI WA The Tiwa (in Spanish, Tigua or Tiguex) form a Pueblo language group. Tiwaspeaking villages are the northern Rio Grande pueblos of Taos and Picuris and the more southern villages of Sandia and Isleta in the Albuquerque region. The early Spanish explorers described the Tiwas as cultivating corn, squash, beans, and melons, and as wearing cotton garments and long robes made of feathers. The Spaniards plundered and destroyed several Tiwa pueblos, killing, according to their own chronicler, Castaneda, every male and enslaving the women and children. It was in Taos pueblo that the great Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was planned by Pope, a Tewa spiritual leader from San Juan pueblo. Taos is the northernmost of the pueblos, a natural meeting place for Pueblos and southern Plains Indians. The people of Taos therefore show a number of Plains traits, such as the braided hair worn by the men. TLINGIT The Tlingit, the northernmost of the great Northwest Coast tribes, lived in numerous villages from Prince William Sound down to the Alaska Panhandle. Like the Haida, Tsimshian, and Kwakiutl, they occupied large, rectangular, decorated and painted wooden houses; fished in big dugout canoes; held potlatches upon the death and burial of important persons; and made war to capture slaves as well as the booty necessary for giveaways during the potlatch. The sea provided nearly their entire diet. The Tlingit were also great sculptors and carvers of totem poles, masks, ceremonial rattles, bowls, and painted boxes. Their women wove the famous Chilkat blankets and also fine, multicolored baskets. Their dress was highly decorative, often covered with the images of eagles and other animals, the outlines formed of round pieces of pearl shells or buttons acquired from whites. Women wore ornaments in their lower lips, so-called labrets. The Tlingit were harshly treated and exploited by Russian fur traders. Today some 250 Tlingits live at Craig on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. 11111UllllllllllllllllltlllflllUJlftlllltIUlIIIIIIIIUI'fUlllIlIWlfIIlllIDImUlIllIIJllUUllllttUmttllllllUDIIIQlllHUlIUllmlllllllraJIIllnUUIUUlllIlllIlllIlUllftIItIiIlUnlllllllumn" 51 8 TOLTECS The Toltecs created a splendid civilization in the Valley of Mexico, their chief cities being Tula and Teotihuacan, the latter the site of the great Pyramid of the Sun thirty miles northeast of present-day Mexico City. The Toltec cities, in which must be included Chichen Itz:i, the Mayan site in Yucatan once dominated by the Toltecs, were as much ceremonial centers as they were population centers. Traders and artisans, workers in metal, clay, cotton, obsidian, stone, and feathers, the Toltecs spread the cult of the gentle god Quetzalcoatl, represented by the Plumed Rattlesnake, as well as the practice of the ritual ball game. The T olte~s' empire reached its zenith around A.D. 900 and later declined as a result of foreign and civil wars. TSIMSHIAN The Tsimshian, or People of the Skeena River, are a typical Pacific Northwest Coast tribe, culturally related to the Haida and Kwakiutl and, like them, artistic carvers and weavers of Chilkat blankets. Their main food was salmon, halibut, cod, and shellfish, and they also hunted whales. Their original home was on the Skeena River in British Columbia. In 1884 a Church of England clergyman persuaded them to move to Alaska. About a thousand Tsimshian now occupy the Annette Island reserve of 86,500 acres in southeastern Alaska and take an active political and economic role in the state. UTE The Utes, who belong to the Uta-Aztecan langUage family, are a Shoshonean tribe of western Colorado and eastern Utah. They shared many cultural traits with the more northern Plains tribes; they performed the sun dance and lived in tipis. They acquired horses in 1740 and ranged from southern Wyoming down to Taos. The Utes were generally friendly ta the whites; their best-known chief, Ouray, made a treaty of peace and friendship with the government. He was a welcome guest, as well as host, among white silver miners. The Utes now raise cattle for a living. Some 700 southern Utes live on a reservation of 300,000 acres at Ignacio, Colorado. The northern Weminuche Utes consist of some 1,800 people on 560,000 acres on the Ute Mountain Reservation in Colorado. Still another 1,200 Utes live on the million-acre Uintah and Ouray Reservation at Fort Duchesne, Utah. WASCO The Wasco (meaning "small bowl of hom") are a Chinookian tribe of sedentary fishing people living along the banks of the Columbia River in Oregon. Their fUllllIIUlffUllIIllllUllllllllllllUllllllliliUlllUUUllllIlWllUlIlUIRllfllllrmrmIDlIIUUllUlllmtlUlllllfn,ltlmmllulliUlUHllIIIlmnUIIIIIIIIIUUItIUIIIIIIIIIUIIlItlIIUfllIUfltl1 food, such as salmon, sturgeon, and eels, came mainly from the river. They caught salmon in the spring with dip nets or by spearing, and bartered pounded and dried salmon with other tribes. During the cold season they lived in partially underground winter houses with roofs of cedar bark; in summer they moved to lighter dwellings made of fir poles. They maintained ceremonial sweat houses, practiced head flattening, and performed puberty rites for both boys and girls. The Wasco are famous for their beautiful twined baskets. They share the Wann Springs Reservation in Oregon with the northern Paiutes and Warm Springs Indians. WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE (See APACHE) WINNEBAGO The Winnebago (from Winipig-People near the Dirty Water), a Midwestern woodlands tribe, belong to the Siouan family. Among their deities and supernaturals, to whom they made offerings, are Earth Maker, Disease Giver, Sun, Moon, Morning Star, Night Spirit, Thunderbird, Turtle, and the Great Rabbit. The tribe is divided into two so-called phratries, the upper or air people, and the lower or earth people. During the War of Independence and the War of 1812, the Winnebago sided with the British. Between 1829 and 1866, whites forced the Winnebago to give up their land and go to new homes no less than seven times. Some Winnebago joined Black Hawk in his war of 1832. They were removed to the Blue Earth River in Minnesota but were driven from there by white settlers, who were afraid of Indians after the great Sioux uprising. Today some 800 Winnebago live on their own reservation in Thurston County, Nebraska. W I NT U Wintu refers both to a language group and a tribal community, several of which still occupy what is now northern California, above the Bay Area of San Francisco. YAKIMA The Yakima occupy the high mountain country of eastern Washington and live on one of the biggest reservations in the northwest. It is a large and thriving community with a very viable and intact culture. IIUlrlllllUfIIlfillfIIlfllHlllIllUlIiUllflllUUftttllllUfIIllUJlfflilltllnOllllllU1II11111HmiUlIummumnmlllllllUIIIHIIIIIIUtfllllllttlnUllmllfllllllllilltlllllliliIllIInllllllUUtll1 520 YAVAPAI The Yavapai, People of the Sun, also known as Mojave-Apaches, once roamed over a large part of Arizona. A tribe of hunters and gatherers, they are linguistically and culturally related to the Hualapai and Havasupai. Nomads in search of wild crops, their staples were mescal, saguaro fruit, sunflower seeds, pinon nuts, and other wild plants. They also raised corn and hunted deer and rabbit. They lived in caves or primitive brush shelters which could be put up in a short time. Their beliefs were shamanistic. About 700 Yavapais now live on the Camp Verde and Yavapai Reservations in Arizona. YUMA The home of the Yuma (from Yah Mayo-Son of the Chief) was situated on both sides of the Colorado River. They were primitive but effective farmers, growing com, melons, mesquite beans, and pumpkins. Onate visited them in 1604-1605 and reported that they were fine physical specimens. Early Spaniards said of them: "The men are well-formed, the women fat and healthy," and gave the collective name "Dieguenos" to a small group of Yuma tribes and rancherias near present-day San Diego. Some 60 Yumans now live on the 600-acre Cocopah Reservation in Yuma County, Arizona. Z U til I The Zuni were the first Pueblo encountered by the Spanish. Fray Marcos de Niza saw the Zuni village from afar. The light adobe walls glistened like gold in the evening sun, and he reported back to. the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City that he had found the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, whose streets were paved with gold. As a result Don Francisco de Coronado, with a large party of heavily armed adventurers, appeared in 1540 at Hawikuh and, on July 7th of that year, stormed and plundered the pueblo. At the time of their reconquest by the Spaniards in 1692, twelve years after the Pueblo Revolt, the Zuni fled to one of their strongholds on top of a high, inaccessible mesa. Eventually they built one single village on the site of their ancient pueblo of Halona, and have dwelled there ever since. Today about 5,000 Zuni live on their 40,ooo-acre reservation some 30 miles south of Gallup, New Mexico. IItlmmlllllllllllUlIUlumnrUiUllnlllllllltllUlUlllllmmtJlUUlllUImmlli1iHlIIUI'bI'lm'hDIlIIUUlmUIIDtlmIUIIUUIIIUlfl1l1lll1lll1UIllItIIIIUlIIUflllllIlllllllllltlUllltllIJ • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • •rI'••••••rI'••""'.............................rI'............. BIBLIOCSRAPHY Barbeau, Marius. Haida Myths Illustrated in Argillite Carvings. National Museum of Canada Bulletin no. 127. Anthropological Series no. 32. Ottawa: The Museum, 1953:52-56 and 184-185. Barrett, Samuel. Pomo Myths. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, vol. 15, p. 373. Milwaukee: The Museum, 1933. Bell, Robert. "Legends of the Slavey Indians of the Mackenzie River." Journal of American Folklore 14 (190 I): 26-28. Benedict, Ruth. "Serrano Tales." Journal of American Folklore 39 (1926): 8. ---. Tales of the Cochiti Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 98. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1931; Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1981. ---. Zuni Mythology. Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, vol. 2~. New York: Columbia University Press, 1935. Boas, Franz. Chinook Texts. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 20. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1894. ---. "Tales of Spanish Provenience from Zuni." Journal of American Folklore 35 (1922): 62-98. ---. Tsimshian Mythology. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report no. 3I. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1916. Bright, William. The Karok Language. University of California Publications in Linguistics, vol. 13, p. 215. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957. Catlin, George. North American Indians. London: The Author, 1841, 1856. Clark, Ella. Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966. ---. Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1953. Curtis, Edward S. The North American Indian. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The University Press, 1924­ Curtis, Natalie. "Creation Myths of the Cochans (Yuma Indians)." The Craftsman 16 (1909): 559-567. ---. The Indians' Book. New York: Harper & Bros., 1907; Dover Publications, 1968. nUIIIII'IIIIIIUIiItUIIIIIIIIIUJIIIllIUJltflIIIlIllIlIIIlIIIIlIlInJllfllIIIUllUlIllimItJllllUllfllllllllllllnntfUlIUlllftllrtUlllllltmlmlllllllUlIlllntltJIIJIIlJllltllIllIllll1IIlUunllfllltu ---. "The People of the Totem Poles: Their Art and Legends." The Craftsman 16 (1909): 612-621. Cushing, Frank Hamilton. Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report no. 13. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1896. ---. "A Zuni Folk-tale of the Underworld." Journal of American Folklore ; (1892): 49-56. ---. Zuni Folk Tales. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1901; AMS Press, 1980. DeAngulo, Jaime, and William Ralganal Benson. "Creation Myths of the Pomo Indian." Anthropos 27 (1932): 264. DeAngulo, Jaime, and L. S. Freeland. "Miwok and Pomo Myths." Journal of American Folklore 41 (1928): 236-237. Deans, James. "The Story of the Bear and His Indian Wife." Journal of American Folklore 2 (1889): 255-260. Dixon, Roland B. Maidu Myths. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 17, p. 95. New York: The Museum, 1904. ---. "Some Coyote Stories from the Maidu Indians." Journal of American Folklore 13 (1900): 269-27°. Dorsey, George A. The Cheyenne. Field Columbian Museum Publication 99, vol. 9, no. I. Chicago: The Museum, 1905. ---. Traditions of the Caddo. Washington: Carnegie Institute, 190;. DuBois, Constance Goddard. "The Mythology of the Dieguefios." Journal of American Folklore 14 (1901): 181-182. DuBois, Cora, and Dorothy Demetracopoulou. Wintu Myths. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 28, pp. 320­ 322. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1931. Fletcher, Alice C., and Francis La Flesche. The Omaha Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report no. 27. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1911. Forde, C. Daryll. Folk-lore. Vol. 41. London: William Glaisher for the Folk-lore Society, 1930. Frachtenberg, Leo J. "Shasta and AthapascanMyths from Oregon." Journal of American Folklore 28 (1915): 224-228. ---. "Traditions of the Coos Indians of Oregon." Journal of American Folklore 22 (1909): 27-28. Gifford, Edward W. Californian Indian Nights Entertainments. Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark, 1930. ---. "Coast Yuki Myths." Journal of American Folklore 50 (1937): 170. ---. "Western Yavapai Myths." Journal of American Folklore 46 (1933): 402-40 3. Goddard, Pliny Earle. Jicarilla Apache Texts. American Museum of Natural History Papers, voL 8. New York: The Museum, 1911. Golder, Frank Alfred. "Eskimo and Aleut Stories from Alaska." Journal of American Folklore 22 (1909): 10-24. Goodwin, Grenville. Myths and Tales of the White Mountain Apache. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, vol. 33. New York: J. J. Augustin, 1939. Grinnell, George Bird. "Cheyenne Obstacle Myths." Journal of American Folklore 16 (1903): 108-II5. IliflUlffllllltlltttUflllfllJllIIlIIUlllffllllllllHllmnmllftlllllllUlfHlummuumulimllmlfHllllttUfHmlHlUlIIUtllnllllllllfUhllllUmlllltlflflllftlllfIJlflllllHlIllIlIlIUIfUfllUI ''''J United States Go ---. Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales. New York: Forest and7/'-/'­ Publications, 1889; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, If/§J// Harrington, John P. Karuk Indian Myths. Bureau of American no. 107, pp. 12-13. Washington: 193 2 • Jacobs, Melville. Kalapuya Texts. Unive~ Anthropology, voL II, pp. 173-17§r" 1945· Judson, Katharine Berry. Jl.'1Y-' A. G McClurg, Kelly, Isabel T. " 372-3.'7 ~//. K~ /~ / /p// M '1 Mase. forn '. Berh Matthew. Society, McClintock, Blackfeet, 1968. McDermott, Lo. \ (1901): 24°-~ \ Mooney, James. 197-200. ---. Myths of ty, \ no. 19. Washington efF, Mary L 1912): 59-60. 'olar, Joseph. The Life, \tss, 1893. ~s, Elsie Clews. 'ico Press. / / ,. "Pima t The 1 'UiUlltIlJIIUIIUlUJllIIlIUllUliUltllllllllllllllUumm o How Beaver Stole Fire from the Pines, 343 How Coyote Got His Cunning, 382 How Grandfather Peyote Came to the Indian People, 65 How Men and Women Got Together, 41 How Mosquitoes Came to Be, 192 How the Crow Came to Be Black, 395 How the People Got Arrowheads, 356 How the Sioux Came to Be, 93 How to Scare a Bear, 375 Husband's Promise, The, 295 Iktome and the Ignorant Girl, 358 Iktome Has a Bad Dream, 38r Iktome Sleeps with His Wife by Mistake, 372 Industrious Daughter Who Would Not Marry, The, 308 Jicarilla Genesis, The, 83 Journey to the Skeleton House, A, 442 Keeping Warmth in a Bag, 143 Kulshan and His Two Wives, 321 Land of the Dead, The, 438 Legend of Devil's Tower, A, 225 Legend of Multnomah Falls, A, 306 Legend of the Flute, The, 275 Life and Death of Sweet Medicine, The, 199 Little Brother Snares the Sun, 164 Little-Man-with-Hair-All-Over, 185 Little Mouse Counting Coup, 247 Man Who Married the Moon, The, 298 Man Who Was Afraid of Nothing, The, 435 Meeting of the Wild Animals, The, 413 Men and Women Try Living Apart, 324 Montezuma and the Great Flood, 487 Moon Rapes His Sister Sun, 161 Neglectful Mother, The, 417 Old Man Coyote Makes the World, 87 Old Woman of the Spring, The, 26 Origin of Curing Ceremonies, The, 37 Origin of the Gnawing Beaver, 392 Origin of the Hopi Snake Dance, The, 455 Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog, The, 53 Owl Husband, The, 399 People Brought in a Basket, 109 Playing a Trick on the Moon, 168 Powerful Boy, The, 20 Pushing Up the Sky, 95 Quillwork Girl and Her Seven Star Brothers, The, 205 Rabbit Boy,S Raven, The, 344 Remaking the World, 496 Revenge of Blue Corn Ear Maiden, The, 409 Rolling Head, 209 Sacred Weed, The, 62 Salt Woman Is Refused Food, 6r Scabby One Lights the Sky, The, 166 Seer Who Would Not See, The, 473 Siege of Courthouse Rock, The, 254 Serpent of the Sea, The, 327 Skeleton Who Fell Down Piece by Piece, The, 446 Snake Brothers, The, 404 Son of Light Kills the Monster, 211 Spirit Wife, The, 447 Spotted Eagle and Black Crow, 260 Stolen Wife, The, 285 Stone Boy, 15 Story of the Creation, The, 156 Sun Creation, 129 Sun Teaches Veeho a Lesson, 162 Tale of Elder Brother, A, 122 Tatanka Iyotake's Dancing Horse, 267 Teaching the Mudheads How to Copulate, 279 Teeth in the Wrong Places, 283 Theft of Light, The, 169 Three-Legged Rabbit Fights the Sun, 139 Tolowim Woman and Butterfly Man, 290 Transformed Grandmother, The, 451 Turkey Makes the Corn and Coyote Plants It, 352 Two Bullets and Two Arrows, 248 Two Ghostly Lovers, 432 Uncegilia's Seventh Spot, 237 Vision Quest, The, 69 Voice, the Flood, and the Turtle, The, 120 Wakiash and the First Totem Pole, 423 Wakinyan Tanka, the Great Thunderbird, 218 Walks-All-Over-the-Sky, 136 Warrior Maiden, The, 252 Well-Baked Man, The, 46 What's This? My Balls for Your Dinner?, 339 When Grizzlies Walked Upright, 85 Where the Girl Saved Her Brother, 264 White Buffalo Women, The, 47 White Dawn of the Hopi, The, 1I5 Why Mole Lives Underground, 305 Why the Owl Has Big Eyes, 398 Woman Chooses Death, 469 Woman Who Married a Merman, The, 312 umlUUUUJuUtUUJllllUtllInnllllllllJlIllJlUlJllllllllllllluumumurrwrm.HUIIIIIIIIIIIWIIHurmlllUOOJlIlIlIIIlIl1I1U1UllnUUfllllllinUlIIllllllltllfUJJlJfllUfllllllllJfllllfllI p --~-. "'The People of the Totem Poles: Their Art and Legends." The Craftsman 16 (1909): 612-621. Cushing. Frank Hamilton. Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report no. 13. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1896. ----. "A Zuni Folk-tale of the Underworld." Journal of American Folklore 5 (1892): 49-56. ---. Zuni Folk Tales. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1901; AMS Press, 1980. DeAngulo, Jaime, and William Ralganal Benson. "Creation Myths of the Pomo Indian." AnthrDpos 27 (1932): 264. DeAngulo, Jaime, and L. S. Freeland. "Miwok and Pomo Myths." Journal of American Folklore 41 (1928): 236-237. Deans, James. "The Story of the Bear and His Indian Wife." Journal of American Folklore 2 (1889): 255-260. Dixon, Roland B. Maidu Myths. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, voL 17, p. 95. New York: 'The Museum, 1904. ---. "Some Coyote Stories from the Maidu Indians." Journal of American Folklore 13 (1900): 269-27°' Dorsey, George A. The Cheyenne. Field Columbian Museum Publication 99, vol. 9, no. 1. Chicago: The Museum, 1905. ---. Traditions of the Caddo. Washington: Carnegie Institute, 1905. DuBois, Constance Goddard. "'The Mythology of the Dieguefios." Journal of American Folklore 14 (1901): 181-182. DuBois, Cora, and Dorothy Demetracopoulou. Wintu Myths. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, voL 28, pp. 320­ 322. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1931. Fletcher, Alice C., and Francis La Flesche. The Omaha Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report no. 27. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 191 1. Forde, C. Daryll. Folk-lore. VoL 41. London: William Glaisher for the Folk-lore Society, 1930. Frachtenberg, Leo J. "Shasta and Athapascan Myths from Oregon." Journal of American Folklore 28 (1915): 224-228. ---. "Traditions of the Coos Indians of Oregon." Journal of American Folklore 22 (1909): 27-28. Gifford, Edward W. Californian Indian Nights Entertainments. Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark, 1930. ---. "Coast Yuki Myths." Journal of American Folklore 50 (1937): 170. ---. "Western Yavapai Myths." Journal of American Folklore 46 (1933): 402-40 3. Goddard, Pliny Earle. Jicarilla Apache Texts. American Museum of Natural History Papers, voL 8. New York: 'The Museum, 1911. Golder, Frank Alfred. "Eskimo and Aleut Stories from Alaska." Journal of American Folklore 22 (1909): 10-24. Goodwin, Grenville. Myths and Tales of the White Mountain Apache. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, vol. 33. New York: J. J. Augustin, 1939. Grinnell, George Bird. "Cheyenne Obstacle Myths." Journal of American Folklore 16 (I903): I08-II5. I1mnlilUlIIIIIIU1UlllftlllllllllllUfilumnlluUllllllmlUlllllllllllllmtl,wnnaumlmrllllUmllmlllllltmUn"U,lIltlJlltllln1l0nIlIIIIIlIlIIllIllIftIUIIlIlIllIIIlIllIIl1IUUlfUlIlIl ---. Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales. New York: Forest and Stream Publications, 1889; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1961. Harrington, John P. Karuk Indian Myths. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 107, pp. 12-13. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 193 2 • Jacobs, Melville. Kalapuya Texts. University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 11, pp. 173-178. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1945· Judson, Katharine Berry. Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest. Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1910. Kelly, Isabel T. "Northern Paiute Tales." Journal of American Folklore 5I (1938): 372-375. Kroeber, Alfred L. "Cheyenne Tales." Journal of American Folklore 13 (1900): 161-19°' --. "Wishosk Myths." Journal of American Folklore 18 (1905): 85-107. ----. Yurok Narratives. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 35, no. 9. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1943. Kroeber, Alfred L., ed. Walapai Ethnography. American Anthropological Association Memoir, vol. 42, PP' 16-24- Menasha, Wisconsin: The Association, 1935. Leland, Charles Godfrey. Algonquin Legends of New England; or, Myths and Folklore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes. Boston: Houghton MifHin, 1884. Lopez, Barry. Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping with His Daughter. New York: Avon Books, 1977. Lummis, Charles Fletcher. The Man Who Married the Moon and Other Pueblo Indian Folk-Stories. New York: The Century Company, 1894­ Marriott, Alice, and Carol K. Rachlin. American Indian Mythology. New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1968. Mason, John Alden. The Language of the Salinan Indians. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 14, p. 109. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1918. Matthews, Washington. Navaho Legends. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, vol. 5, pp. 68-7 I. Boston: Houghton Miffiin, 1897. McClintock, Walter. The Old North Trail: Life, Legends, and Religion of the Blackfeet Indians. Pittsburgh, 1910; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968. McDermott, Louisa. "Coyote Kills the Giant." Journal of American Folklore 14 (1901): 240-2 41. Mooney, James. "The Jicarilla Genesis." American Anthropologist I I (1898): 197-200. ---. Myths of the Cherokee. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report no. 19. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1902. Neff, Mary L. "Pima and Papago Legends." Journal of American Folklore 25 (1912): 59-60. Nicolar, Joseph. The Life and Traditions of the Red Man. Bangor, Maine: C. H. Glass, 1893. Parsons, Elsie Clews. The Pueblo of Isleta. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. fJllllllllnlll'lllIUllfIIlllltJlllfllllllllllttJllllllnnmunUUt,mllUlfJUIIIIIIIIIIIIUlmn.lIllllll11U1l1nUnIlJlflJUUfllllllllfrnUlllnIllRlIIlIlIIIlIfUlIIIitUilmUllllIIlfIlIIIIUtllllUf ---. Taos Tales. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, vol. 34. New York: J. J. Augustin, 1940. Pradt, George H. "Shakok and Miochin: Origin of Summer and Winter." Journal of American Folklore I5 (1902): 88-90. Russell, Frank. "Athabascan Myths." Journal of American Folklore 13 (1900): 11-18. ---.The Pima Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report no. 26. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1908. Sapir, Edward. Yana Texts. University of California Publications in American A:rchaeology and Ethnology, vol. 9, pp. 38-93. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1910. Sapir, Edward, ed. Wishram Texts: Together with Wasco Tales and Myths. Collected by J. Curtin. Leyden: E. J. Brill, 1909; American Ethnological Society Publications, vol. 2, 1909, pp. 257-259. Swanton, John R. Haida Texts and Myths. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 29. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Talayesva, Don C. Sun Chief: The Autobiography of a Hopi Indian. New Haven: Yale University Press for the Institute of Human Relations, 1942. Voth, Henry. The Traditions of the Hopi. Field Columbian Museum Publications in Anthropology, vol. 8. Chicago: The Museum, 1905. Wood, Charles, Erskine Scott. A Book of Tales: Being Some Myths of the North American Indians. New York: Vanguard Press, 1929. lIIuttnllllJutullllllllllllllllnlJlIIlIIlll,lIl11l1llt1llnlUUlummllllllmtfmUUllIllUlmllUJlm'utflUIIIIIIIIII,UllU1IIUIIIUfUIIIIUlunnUIIIlIIllUfIlUlllUlnrmnUIIIIlllllllllilt .111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 • .....••...••.................. lira •• Ira • r. Ir.~" • r ..,. ••• r •••••• • ~ I N D E T A Adventures of Great Rabbit, 347 Always-Living-at-the-Coast, 362 Apache Chief Punishes His \-Vife, 291 Arrow Boy, 29 Bear and His Indian Wife, The, 419 Big Eater's Wife, 453 Blood Clot, 8 Blue Jay Visits Ghost Town, 457 Bluebird and Coyote, The, 346 Brave Woman Counts Coup, 258 Buffalo Go, The, 490 Butterflies, 407 Chase of the Severed Head, 230 Cheyenne Blanket, A, 251 Chief Roman Nose Loses His Medicine, 256 Children of the Sun, 119 Coming of Thunder, The, 216 Coming of Wasichu, The, 491 Contest for Wives, A, 326 Corn Mother, II Coyote and the Mallard Ducks, 318 Coyote and the Origin of Death, 470 Coyote and the Two Frog' Women, 384 Coyote and Wasichu, 342 Coyote Dances with a Star, 385 Coyote Fights a Lump of Pitch, 359 Coyote Gets Rich Off the White Men, 369 Coyote, Iktome, and the Rock, 337 Coyote Kills the Giant, 22 3 Coyote Places the Stars, 17 I Coyote Steals Sun's Tobacco, 377 Coyote Steals the Sun and Moen, 140 Coyote Takes Water from the Frog People, 355 Coyote's Rabbit Chase, 368 Coyote's Strawberry, 314 Creation of First Man and First Woman, 39 Creation of the Animal People, 14 Creation of the Yakima W orId, I 17 x o F L E Daughter of the Sun, 152 Death of Head Chief and Young Mule, The, 477 Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden, 173 Dogs Hold an Election, The, 403 Doing a Trick with Eyeballs, 379 Double-Faced Ghost, The, 439 Earth Dragon, The, 107 Earth Making, 105 Elk Spirit of Lost Lake, The, 475 Emerging into the Upper World, 97 End of the World, The, 485 Faithful Wife and the Woman Warrior, The, 315 Fight for a Wife, The, 281 First Ship, The, 229 Fish Story, A, 415 Flood, The, 472 Flying Head, The, 227 Foolish Girls, The, 158 Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee, The, 48' Ghost Wife, The, 462 Girl Who Married Rattlesnake, The, 397 Gloescap and the Baby, 25 Glooscap Fights the Water Monster, lSI Glooscap Grants Three Wishes, 365 Gnawing, The, 484 Good Twin and the Evil Twin, The, 77 Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun, 154 Great Medicine Dance, The, 33 Great Medicine Makes a Beautiful Country, II I Great Race, The, 390 Greedy Father, The, po Gust of Wind, A, 150 Hiawatha the Unifier, 193 Hopi Boy and the Sun, The, 145 IltltllUUlllIIlllUIIUllllfllllUlUIIUmUlflltlllUllIflllnhllltJIffJIIllilllUllrJIIIfHlRlllfIIlllllt"uurnllllllUllftrllllfllftlllUtlUIIIIIIIIIIIUUttllllltUUlIlltIlltlllllltmUllflUII'111111 526

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