# The Pima Indians/Sophiology/Myths

Myths - Nursery Tales - Abstracts of Myths - Abstracts of Nursery Tales - Religion - Medicine-Men - Legerdemain - Cause and Treatment of Disease - Prevalent Diseases TcՈ-ûnnyikita, the Creation Myth · Coyote · Another Version of the Creation Myth · Children of Cloud · Skull and his Magic · Origin of the Horse
SOPHIOLOGY
Myths
The traditions of the Pimas are kept by those who show special aptitude in remembering them and who gradually become recognized as the tribal historians. To them the boys are regularly sent that they may listen for four nights to the narrative of how the world was made and peopled; whence the Pimas came and how they struggled with demons, monsters, and savage enemies. These tales are not usually told in the presence of the women, and consequently they know only imperfect fragments of them.
The myths are not related in the summer because of the fear of being bitten by rattlesnakes, which of course hibernate. No information was obtainable that the Pimas believe that the snakes then carry venom, nor why the snakes should bite those who disregard the tabu. The Pimas do not hesitate to kill rattlesnakes except in certain cases.
TCՈ-ÛNNYIKITA, THE CREATION MYTH
In the beginning there was nothing where now are earth, sun, moon, stars, and all that we see. Ages long the darkness was gathering, until it formed a great mass in which developed the spirit of Earth Doctor, who, like the fluffy wisp of cotton that floats upon the wind, drifted to and fro without support or place to fix himself. Conscious of his power, he determined to try to build an abiding place, so he took from his breast a little dust and flattened it into a cake. Then he thought within himself, "Come forth, some kind of plant," and there appeared the creosote bush. Placing this in front of him, he saw it turn over as soon as his grasp upon it relaxed. Advancing toward it, he again set it upright, and again it fell. A third and yet a fourth time he placed it, and then it remained standing. When the flat dust cake was still he danced upon it, singing:
Next Earth Doctor created some black insects, tcotcĭk tâtâny, which made black gum on the creosote bush. Then he made hiapitc, the termite, which worked upon and increased the small beginning until it grew to the proportions of our present earth. As he sang and danced the wonderful world developed, and then he made a sky to cover it, that was shaped like the round house of the Pimas. But the earth shook and stretched so that it was unfit for habitation. So Earth Doctor made a gray spider, which he commanded to spin a web around the unconnected edges of earth and sky. When this was done the earth grew firm and solid.
All that we now see upon the land—water, mountains, trees, grass, and weeds—was made, and then he made a dish, poured water into it, and the water became ice. Taking this block of ice he threw it toward the north, where it fell at the place where earth and sky forever meet. At once the ice shone forth as the brilliant disk we now know as the sun. For a certain distance the sun rose into the sky and then fell back again. Earth Doctor took it and threw it toward the west, where earth and sky are sewn together, and again it rose and slid back into the ground. And in the south it behaved in a similar manner, but when he threw it to the east it rose higher and higher, until it reached the zenith, and then went on to sink in the west, and thus it has continued to do until this day. As the evening glow grew dim the darkness fell in inky blackness. So Earth Doctor poured more water into the dish and it became ice, and he sang:
​Then he sang:
Earth Doctor saw that while the moon was yet above the horizon there was sufficient light, but when it disappeared the darkness was intense, so he took some of the water in his mouth and blew it into the sky in a spray, which formed the stars, but the night was still dark. Then he took his magic crystal and, after breaking it, threw it also into the sky to form the larger stars, so the darkness was less intense. Then he sang:
Next he took his walking stick, and placing ashes on the end he drew it across the sky to form the milky way.
When the earth was thus prepared for habitation, Earth Doctor created all manner of birds and creeping things. Next he formed images of clay, which he commanded to become animate human beings, and they obeyed him. For a time they increased and overspread the earth until it became so populous that food became scarce and there was not sufficient water to supply their needs. Of sickness and death they knew nothing, and their numbers grew apace. Hungering, they began to kill one another and to eat human flesh. Earth Doctor pitied them in their extremity, but could devise no plan for relieving their distress, except to destroy all, and this he at length felt forced to do.
​Out in the west beneath the toahafs bush the moon gave birth to Coyote and then went down. Coyote grew apace, and when large and strong he came to the land where lived the Pima nation.
After a time the earth gave birth to one who was afterwards known as Itany and later as Siuuhû, Elder Brother. He came to Earth Doctor and spoke roughly to him, and Earth Doctor trembled before his power. The people increased in numbers, but Elder Brother shortened their lives, and they did not overrun the earth as they had done before. But this did not satisfy Elder Brother, who announced to Earth Doctor that he would destroy the latter's people, and this is how he accomplished the second destruction of the world:
Elder Brother created a handsome youth, whom he directed to go among the Pimas, where he should wed whomsoever he wished.
He must live with her until his first child was born, then leave her and go to another, and so on until his purpose was accomplished. His first wife gave birth to a child four months after marriage and conception. The youth then went and took a second wife, to whom a child was born in less time than the first. The period was yet shorter in the case of the third wife, and with her successors it grew shorter still, until at last the child was born from the young man at the time of the marriage. This was the child that caused the flood which destroyed the people and fulfilled the plans of Elder Brother. Several years were necessary to accomplish these things, and during this time the people were amazed and frightened at the signs of Elder Brother's power and at the deeds of his agent. At the time of the commencement of these strange events Elder Brother began to make a jar or olla of some substance, either bush or gum. When this should be finished the flood would come. How? This is the way in which it came: The handsome young men, whom Elder Brother sent about among the people to marry and beget children in so short a period of time, came at last to the home of Vakolo Makai, South Doctor, who lived somewhere in the south, and who had power similar to that of Elder Brother. South Doctor was noted for his knowledge of all things and his skill in reading signs. He declared that he would put an end to Elder Brother's schemes. One day South Doctor asked his beautiful young daughter why she cried all the time. She replied that she was afraid of the handsome young man who went about marrying the young women and begetting sons and daughters. Her father told her that it was her duty to marry the young man in order that a divine plan might be accomplished. But she continued crying, so her father told her to fetch some of the topmost thorns of a cholla cactus. When she had obeyed him he placed the thorns upon her, telling her not to be afraid of the young man, but that when he ​came she should take good care of his bow, arrows, shield, war club, spear, or any other weapon he might bring. At this the maiden dried her tears and awaited with pleasure the bridegroom's coming. When he came she took his bow and arrows and carefully put them in a safe place. After exchanging good wishes for health and happiness, they went to the dwelling prepared for them. Soon the screams of a child aroused old South Doctor and his wife, who came running, desirous of seeing their grandchild. The old woman took up the babe and tried to present it to her daughter, but she refused to accept it, saying, "I am not the mother. He gave birth to the child. Give it to him." So the young man took the child away and returned to Elder Brother, but as he was very much ashamed of himself, he did not bring the baby, but left it by the wayside. Elder Brother knew what was happening, for he was finishing his olla. As the youth approached he asked, "How does it happen that you come alone and do not bring the young child that is born of you? Go bring it hither, and we will take care of it. We have been outwitted and our plan defeated, but that is the best we can do." The young man went after the child, the screams of which shook the earth and could be heard for a great distance. Earth Doctor then called his people together and told them there would be a great flood. After describing the calamity that would befall them, he sang:
He thrust his staff into the ground, and with it bored a hole quite through to the other side of the earth. Some of the people went into the hole, while others appealed to Elder Brother. Their appeals were not heeded, but Coyote asked his assistance, and he was told to find a big log and sit upon it. This would carry him safely on the surface of the water along with the driftwood. Elder Brother got into his olla and closed the opening by which he entered, singing in the meantime:
As he was borne along by the flood he sang:
The young man went to the place where he had left the child and found that its tears were welling up in a great torrent that cut a gorge before it. He bent over the child to take it up, but at that moment they both became birds and flew above the earth over which the floods were spreading. It is said that five birds in all were saved from all those that had been previously known. These were Kolivĭtcûkam, Hikĭvĭk (flicker), Vĭpisimal, Kisŏpĭ, and Nyuĭ (vulture). They clung by their beaks to the sky to keep themselves above the waters, but the tail of the flicker was washed by the waves, and that is why it is stiff to this day. Finally, as they were threatened with destruction, the god Vikârskam took pity on them and gave them power to make "nests of down" from their own breasts which floated on the surface of the waters and so enabled them to survive the flood. If anyone harms the little Vĭpisimal to this day the flood may come again. Accidental injuries to the bird must be atoned for; if it be killed, its tail feathers must be kept for a time to avert disaster; if it is found lying dead, it must be buried and appropriate gifts must be placed upon its grave.
When the child had been taken from them, South Doctor called the people to him and announced that a flood was coming to destroy the earth and all things thereon. Then he sang:
Some of the people came to him and were saved from the flood by passing through to the other side of the earth by means of the hole which he had made with his cane. He told the others to go with him to Earth Doctor and hear what he might say to them. Earth Doctor told them that they were too late in coming, that he had already sent all that he could save to the other side of the earth. However, there was yet hope for them if they would climb to the summit of the Crooked mountain. He gave power to South Doctor and directed him to aid the people to the extent of his ability, so the ​latter conducted the people to the top of the Crooked mountain, and as they went away Earth Doctor sang:
As the flood rose toward the top of the mountain, South Doctor sang a song which caused the mountain itself to rise higher and ever higher above the waters which raced toward them as if on the level plain. These are the words that lifted the mountain upward:
When he ceased singing he traced a line around the mountain and this marked the limit of the flood for a time, but it soon rose again and threatened to overflow the summit. Again South Doctor sang:
Four times he sang and raised the mountain above the rising waters and then declared that he could do so no more, for his power was exhausted. He could do but one more thing for them, and holding his magic crystal in his left hand he sang:
​Coyote was carried southward by the drifting log to the place where all the driftwood of the flood was collected. To this day the place is referred to as Driftwood mountain, though its exact location is not known. Coyote came out of the drift after the water had fallen.
Earth Doctor escaped destruction by inclosing himself in his reed staff, which floated upon the surface of the water. We do not know what adventures befell him, but suppose that his staff came to rest somewhere in the east, as he is next heard from in that quarter.
Elder Brother was rolled along on the ground under the waters in his olla and finally came to rest beyond Sonoita, near the mouth of the Colorado river. The olla, now called Black mountain, may be seen there to this day. It is black because the gum from which the vessel was made was of that color. After the waters disappeared Elder Brother came out and went about until he had visited nearly all parts of the land. At length he met Coyote and Earth Doctor. Each claimed to have been the first to appear after the flood, but finally Elder Brother was admitted to have been the first, and he became the ruler of the world, and is accepted as such by many to this day. Elder Brother on becoming the chief ruler told his subordinates to search for the center of the land, which is known as hĭk, navel. He sent Earth Doctor to the east and Coyote to the west. The latter returned first, and a long time afterwards Earth Doctor came in. They all went some distance east and again the messengers were sent out—Coyote east and Earth Doctor west. This time Earth Doctor returned first, so they all journeyed yet farther east before sending out the messengers. Coyote was sent west this time and again returned first. Then all moved east a little farther, and ​from that point both returned at the same time, so they knew they were at the middle of the land.
This is the song that Elder Brother sang when they reached the middle:
He then bent down and scratched his head. The lice that dropped became ants, which dried up that particular spot in a very short time, for the earth had been everywhere wet and muddy. Then they all sat down to create the various animals that had lived before the flood. Elder Brother sat facing the west, for, said he, "I came out upon the earth in the west and I am going to face that way." Coyote sat facing the south, for "I came out in the south and I am to face that way." Earth Doctor seated himself facing the east, for, said he, "I came out in the east and I am going to face that way." Each agreed not to look at what the others were making nor to tell what he was doing until all was finished, and then all that they had made should be showed at once. A moment later Elder Brother said he was ready and asked the others to show what they had made. So Coyote and Earth Doctor brought their work before him. Coyote had made all the web-footed animals, snakes, and birds. Earth Doctor had made creatures resembling human beings, but they were deformed—some having but one leg, others immense ears, some with imperforate bodies, others with flames of fire in their knees.
Elder Brother told Coyote to throw the animals which he had created into the water. He told Earth Doctor to place his creatures in the west. Both obeyed. After throwing his beings into the west Earth Doctor sank into the earth, but while his body was yet halfway down Elder Brother jumped and tried to grasp it. He was not successful, and Earth Doctor disappeared. Elder Brother in trying to hold Earth Doctor got his hands covered with dirt and blood, like those of a man killing an animal. He shook his hands and the blood sprinkled over all the earth. That is what causes all kinds of sickness among us now, for the diseases were scattered over the land and in the water.
Elder Brother and Coyote were left in possession of the land. After the images which the former had made had been kept for four days, one of the Apache group (they were divided into equal groups) came to life and said, "It's very cold," and began to sway its body back and forth, Earth Doctor said, "Oh, I didn't think you would be the first to awake!" and he was so angry he took all the Apaches ​up in his hand and threw them over the mountain. That made them angry, and that is why they have always been so fierce.
These were the Indian people of which there were four tribes: The Wä-akĭ Âp, the Apaches, the Maricopas, and, lastly, the Pimas, though they were given superior qualities—such as a knowledge of the seasons, the power to bring down rain from the sky, the ability to cure sickness, and the like.
These people occupied this country from that time forward and multiplied in numbers. The Yumas and Maricopas were at first united, but the Maricopas left the Yumas and joined the Pimas, finally settling in the Salt River valley, where they formed permanent settlements. They tried to build canals, but were not successful, on account of the hard rocks and soil.
The Maricopas asked Elder Brother for advice or assistance. He caused the ground to become soft for a while, but it hardened again, and upon being appealed to a second time he said he could do no more for them, but told them to go and see Toa’koă-atam Âks, White-eater-old-woman, Elder Brother's sister, who also had great power. She finished all the work in a single night, but Elder Brother refused to do anything more for the people. From that time on he began to do mischief, such as marrying the young women and then deserting them for others. The people began to be jealous of him and planned to destroy him.
For a time after the creation of the four tribes of men and the animals they were confined in a great house together. Rattlesnake was there, and was known as Mâ’ik Sol’atc, Soft Child. The people liked to hear hit rattle, and little rest or peace could he obtain because of their continual prodding and scratching. Unable to endure it longer, he went at last to Elder Brother to ask help of him. Elder Brother took pity upon him and pulled a hair from his own lip to cut in short pieces to serve as teeth for Soft Child. "Now," said he, "if anyone bothers you again, bite him." In the evening Tâ-âpi, Rabbit, came to Soft Child as he sat at the door and scratched him as he had so often done before. Soft Child raised his head and bit his tormentor as Elder Brother had instructed him to do. Feeling the bite, Rabbit scratched Soft Child again, and again was bitten; then he ran about telling that Soft Child was angry and had bitten him twice. Again he went to him and again he was bitten twice. During the night his body swelled and the fever came upon him. All through the dark hours he suffered and throughout the next day; often he called to those around him to prepare a place that might give him rest. No bed that they could make brought any ease to his stricken frame. He asked for sea sand that he might lie upon it and cool his ​fevered body. Coyote was sent to the sea to fetch the cooling sand, but it gave no relief. Rabbit asked for a shade of bushes that the cooling breeze might blow beneath them upon him, but this, too, failed to help him. The traveling shade likewise brought no relief. His agony increased until death came to give him peace.
For this first loss of life the people blamed Elder Brother, because he had given Soft Child the teeth that made him a menace to all who approached him. The disposal of Rabbit's body formed a serious problem to the tribes, for they feared the interference of Coyote. Said one, "If we bury him Coyote will surely dig him out." "If we hide him," said another, "Coyote will surely find him." "If we put him in a tree," said a third, "Coyote will surely climb up." Finally the Maricopas proposed that he be burned, and in order to get Coyote out of the way during the ceremony he was sent to Sun to get some fire, for he always kept the flame lighted in his house.
As soon as Coyote had gone the people called upon Tcu-utak(ĭ) Moʌaȷt, Blue Fly, to help them, and this is how the first fire drill was made. Taking a stick like an arrow, he twirled it to and fro between his hands, the lower end resting in a socket at the margin of a flat stick that lay upon the ground. Soon smoke ascended, and the first fire began to glow. Gathering fuel, they proceeded to burn the corpse.
When Coyote left them he was suspicious of their intentions, and said to himself, "I think they have some purpose in sending me away." So he looked back frequently as he went along, and soon saw the smoke ascending. With excited heart he turned and ran back as fast as he could go. When he made his appearance the people formed a circle and tried to shut him away from the burning body. "Let me see my brother! Let me see with one eye!" he cried as he rolled upon the ground. No one would listen to him, so he ran round and round the circle seeking an opening. There was a weak spot in the cordon where two short men were standing, and he jumped over their heads, bit out the heart of the burning body, and ran away with it. The people pursued, but Coyote outstripped them. South of the Sierra Estrella Coyote stopped and laid the heart upon the an bush, but the people came up and he fled again. To this day that halting place is called Anûkam Tcukwoanyĭk, Place of the ​Uprooted An Bush. Near Kihâtoakʽ he stopped again upon a mountain to eat the heart, but he saw that it was covered with ashes, so he shook it and the ashes fell and covered the mountain, so that it is white to this day, and is called Gray mountain. Again the people overtook Coyote, and he ran northward across the Gila, where he ate the heart, and as he did so the grease fell upon every stone of the mountain, which accounts for its appearance and the name it bears to this day—Mo’hatûk, Greasy mountain. From that place Coyote ran to live in the sea in the south.
Now the tribes of men began to learn how they should provide for themselves, how they might gather food, hunt, and till the soil. Mavit, Puma, and Rsu-u-û, Wolf, joined their fortunes and went hunting together. One day Wolf said, "I wonder where is our brother, Coyote; suppose I call him." So he took the kidney of a deer and roasted it and the wind carried the appetizing odor toward the south. When Coyote smelled it he said, "Surely, these are my brothers, who wish me to return." So he ran to the place where Puma and Wolf were living. When he reached them he was in great distress, for when he ate food it fell from him as wheat fulls from the broken sack. Finally, Puma and Wolf stitched his skin until it retained the food he ate. Then they all went in search of wives. Coyote found a woman and called to the others, who came to see her. She became the wife of Puma, but Coyote said he would take her home. On the way he fell and pretended to be in great pain. The woman was frightened and knew not what to do. Coyote said, "I shall not get well unless you strip off my clothing and your own and carry me on your back for a few yards. That is the way my brothers treated me when I was in this condition before." So she obeyed and made their clothing into a bundle, which she carried on her head, as is the Pima custom. Coyotem humeris sustulit, sed cum paucos modo passus ingressa esset, "Siste! Siste!" exclamavit Coyote, "Doleo; paulum me dimitte." Ubi quod poposcit fecerat, copulare potuit. Mulierem turpiter dum domum iebant Coyote egit. This was the cause of much trouble, for she belonged to a tribe that had great magic power. They tried to induce her to return, but she would not. Furthermore, Puma refused to restore her to her friends. Then the Rsarsûkatc Â-âtam, magicians, revenged themselves by driving the deer, the antelope, and every animal that is swift of foot and soft of fur and useful to human kind into a cave in the Aloam or Yellow mountain, which lies south of the present Pimería and northeast of Baboquivari. This deprived the tribes of men of their chief support, and messengers were sent to see if some means could not be found by which the imprisoned animals could be liberated. One by one these agents failed to ​accomplish the task assigned to them. Year after year they returned without success. At last Coyote was sent to liberate the inhabitants of the cave, who exclaimed as they saw him coming, "Now, we have a visitor who will do us harm." They thought to appease his appetite by offering a piece of meat in the hope that he would eat it and go away. When Coyote had roasted the meat in the fire and looked about him, he saw the gate of the cave and this is what happened: "Where shall I put this meat? It is hot. Where shall I put it? It is hot," he said, and then ran straight to the door of the cave. Before the occupants could recover from their alarm he threw open the door and out swarmed the deer and other game animals as pour forth the bees from a newly opened hive.
Coyote ran for his life and the people pursued him, but he escaped and went to live in the water in the west.
When A-anhitŭpakĭ Si’van$^y$, Feather-breathing Si’van$^y$, was a boy he was mischievous and troubled his grandmother. He went to the cave of the Winds and saw the bow. He made one like it and showed it to his fellows, but they handled it and so took away its power. He made several bows, but the people ruined them by looking at them or handling them. At last they ceased troubling him and he was able to kill rabbits and give them away.
Seeing that he was a good shot, the people told him to take his stand at the two hills and close the gap. He went as directed, but instead of shooting the deer as they were driven past he paid no attention to them, but occupied himself in building a fence of brush from one hill to the other.
Again they told him to perch in a tree above a game trail and watch for anything that might pass under him. He did so and saw the game running, but did not shoot.
A third time they drove the animals toward him and instructed him to shoot the pregnant ones, as they would be fat. He took his place and shot a pregnant woman instead of a doe.
The fourth time they told him to shoot an old one (meaning a deer with large antlers), and he killed an old man.
Then he showed that he had magic power, for he was able to go out and bring in deer without taking days of time like other hunters. He built a house (Va’-aki, now one of the ruins of Salt river), married, and settled down. Väntre was a thief, gambler, liar, and profligate who came to the house of A-anhitŭpakĭ Siʼvan$^y$, who, knowing his character, did not wish to see him. Väntre brought four reeds filled with tobacco, lighted one, and smoked it. A-anhitŭpakĭ Si’van$^y$ would not speak to him and Väntre finally went away. This happened three nights, but not a word was spoken until the fourth night, when A-anhitŭpakĭ told Väntre he would be his friend if Väntre would stop lying, stealing, and the like. He would make the sticks called ​ki$^n$tcs, and with them Väntre might win if he wished to gamble. He placed such magic power in the markings on the sticks that no one could win from Väntre. Elder Brother recognized the power in the sticks and told the people that they were powerless to win from Väntre. Elder Brother told the man at whose house Väntre gambled that if he would let his son and daughter work for him (Elder Brother), he would arrange it so that Väntre could not win from others. The man agreed. Elder Brother sent the sun to a roosting place of large birds to get feathers. The boy brought the feathers to the house. The girl was told to singe the feathers, grind them into a powder, and mix them with some pinole.
​When Eagle was away Earth Doctor climbed the cliffs to his house, singing as he ascended:
He then carried on the following conversation with Eagle's wife:
"Can this baby talk?"
"No; he doesn't say very much and doesn't seem to know anything; he's too small."
"Does Eagle ever sleep in the daytime?"
"No, not very often; but sometimes, if I sit down with him and scratch his head, he will go to sleep."
"Do that next time I come."
At that moment Eagle was again heard approaching with a roar that shook the mountain like a tree in the wind. He brought four living men, whom he threw from a distance upon the rock, where they lay groaning for a time before breathing their last. Eagle asked his wife if anybody had been there and she said no one was about. He declared that he smelled some one, but finally concluded that he had been mistaken. After he had eaten he lay down, and as she sang the following song and rubbed his head he quickly went to sleep:
When Eagle returned, the baby tried to tell him what had happened, and his father inquired, "What made him say that? He never talked that way before; besides, I smell somebody. Some one must have been here."
"No, nobody; we have been here alone."
Then in the form of a fly Earth Doctor concealed himself among the dead bodies that were corded up like wood and sang:
When he had gone to sleep she began to whistle. He awoke and said:
"What made you whistle like that?"
​So he went to sleep again and again she whistled; he awoke again and asked:
"Why did you whistle?"
"Oh, I was just playing with the baby."
So the third time he went sound asleep, and she whistled softly, but he did not awake. Then she whistled louder and Elder Brother came out and resumed his natural form. He beat the head of Eagle until it was flat. He cut Eagle's throat and that of his son, sprinkled their blood upon the dead bodies, whereon they all regained their lives. He asked them where they belonged, and on finding where each lived he sent him home. When he came to the last bodies he found that they spoke a different tongue, so he sent them to a distant land, where they practised their peculiar customs. The Pimas suppose that these were the whites, who became white from lying under the others until decayed.
Elder Brother then went home and told the people how to conduct themselves when they had killed an enemy, such, for example, as the Apaches. On his return he found the people singing and dancing. He arranged four periods, and each period contained four days. So to this day the man who kills an Apache must live sixteen days in the woods and subsist upon pinole.
While these events were occurring here the people about Baboquivari wished to have Elder Brother come to them.
At the time when Elder Brother transformed Văntre into an eagle strange things happened to the people of Casa Grande. There is a game called tâkal played by the women. One day the women were playing tâkal, and among them was the daughter of Si’al Tcu’-utak Siʼvan$^y$. Suddenly a strange little green lizard dropped in front of her while she was standing among the other women. The earth about the spot became like the green part of the rainbow. They dug there and found some green stones (stcu’-uttŭk hâ’taiʼ), which became very useful for necklaces and ear pendants.
There were people living at some tanks on the east side of the mountains (Ta’-atûkam) north of Picacho, and among them was a man named Tarsnamkam, Meet the Sun. He saw the beautiful stones used at Casa Grande and wished to get some of them; but how was ​he to do it? He made a fine green bird, stcu-utûk o’-ofĭk, parrot, and sent it to Casa Grande, telling it to swallow all the green stones it could find about the houses. The parrot went to Casa Grande and was found one day by the daughter of Si’al Tcu’-utak Si’van$^y$. The bird was kept several days, but it would not eat, so it was turned loose. It went about until it found a piece of turquoise, which it swallowed. The daughter of Si’al Tcu’-utak Si’van$^y$ saw this and told her father, who directed her to give the bird all the turquoises she could find in the house. The people gathered to see the bird that ate stones, but as soon as it had eaten until it was full to the mouth it flew away. Tarsnamkam was glad to see it come safely home. The parrot vomited the stones, which its owner gave to the people to use, and there were plenty for all. Si’al Tcu’-utak Si’van$^y$ was angry when he learned that the bird had been sent to steal all his turquoises. He sent the rain for four periods, or sixteen days, to destroy Tarsnamkam, but the latter also possessed magic power and was not injured. At the end of the sixteen days Tarsnamkam sent a man with a fine football (rso’nyikĭvol), directing him to give it to Si’al Tcu’-utak Si’van$^y$'s daughter, whose name was Pia Kŏnĭkam Of’(i). The messenger went near the woman's house as she was at work and kicked the ball so that it rolled close to her. She took it up and hid it under her dress and told the man there had been no bail there when he came up to inquire about it. He declared that it stopped close by her, but she again said no, she had seen no football. The man went off, but-the young woman called to him to come and get his football. When he came back she searched for the ball, but it was not to be found. It had gone into her womb and become a child. When this child was born it was a strange-looking creature. The people wanted to destroy it, but the mother said it was her child and she wished to care for it.
The people wished to destroy the child, because it had long claws instead of fingers and toes; its teeth were long and sharp, like those of a dog. They gave it the name of Hâ-âk, meaning something dreadful or ferocious. This female child grew to maturity in three or four years' time. She ate anything she could get her hands on, either raw or cooked food. The people tried to kill her, because she killed and ate their children. She went to the mountain Ta’-atûkam and lived there for a while in a cave. Then she went to Baboquivari for a time and then to Poso Verde, where she was killed by Elder Brother. As Elder Brother and the people were preparing to overcome the magic power of Hâ-âk they sang together:
When he kiJled Hâ-âk a great feast was made, just as when Eagle was killed, and to this day the cave remains there where Hâ-âk was killed, and 2 or 3 miles distant is a stone inclosure, Hâ-âk moakkût, Place where Hâ-âk was killed. The people formerly placed offerings within the inclosure to bring them good luck.
Another version of the same story states that Vaktcuktcĭthâp, the mosquito hawk, wished to marry the virgin at Casa Blanca, who had many suitors. He went to the Sun, who gave him a many-colored ball, which he took to the woman Pia Kŏnĭkam Of’(i). When near her he kicked it as the Pimas do the kicking ball, so that it rolled near her. She placed it in the fold of her blanket and became pregnant.
​After the people had killed Hâ-âk they followed the tracks of the boys, who had gone toward the east with their parrots. The pursuers raised a cloud of dust as they went along, which betrayed their presence on the trail to the boys, who exclaimed, "What shall we do!" At length they set free the parrots, which flew up into the mountains, where they concealed themselves in the forest. Following their example, the boys hastened to the same place, where they successfully eluded the pursuers. After the people had abandoned the search the boys went back to their former home and found that their grandmother had been killed. She had left directions which they carried out. They gave the body proper burial in the sand. At the end of four-day periods she had told them to visit her grave until they saw a plant growing out of it; four days after it appeared they were to gather the leaves, and in time they would learn what was to be done with them. The boys obeyed her commands and obtained tobacco, which they learned to use through the instruction of Elder Brother.
After killing Hâ-âk Elder Brother made his home at Baboquivari for some time. Hearing of the fact that the boys were living alone at their old home, he visited them. He inquired about their welfare and seemed to be disposed to befriend them. Finding the tobacco leaves, he inquired if they had been used yet, and was assured that they had not been. Elder Brother then revealed the purpose for which the leaves had been intended. "These are to be rolled in corn husks and smoked," said he; "I will give you, also, earth flowers to mix with the tobacco when you smoke if you desire to gain the favor of the women." He showed them how to collect the bark of the tree which induces sleep. "Make this into a powder," said he, "and when you wish to overpower anyone just shake this before them." Then Elder Brother left the youths, who followed his instructions and found the love philter and the sleeping powder to be irresistible. But the people were incensed at their use of the charms and finally killed them.
Elder Brother continued to live in the cave at Baboquivari for some time. He went about the country from village to village seeking to do mischief. He sang the song of the menstrual period and accompanied it by reviling the family of the young girls. At last the people could endure his pranks no longer and drove him away. He went to Mo’hatûk mountain, north of the Gila, and the people there gathered to destroy him.
Elder Brother went into his house and the people came and clubbed him to death. They pounded his head until it was flat, then dragged ​him into the woods and left him there. The news was spread about the country that he was dead, but the next day he reappeared among the people. They were afraid, but gathered together and killed him again. After carrying him to the woods they cut his flesh and scattered the pieces, pounded his bones into powder and cast it to the winds, but the next day at the same hour he was about among them again. Again they killed him, and this time his body was burned to ashes. Yet he was among them the next day as before. Then a great council was called and they discussed plans for getting rid of Elder Brother. Some declared that if they did not kill him the fourth time they would never kill him. So they called on Vulture, who had been saved with Elder Brother at the time of the flood, thinking that he must have magic power or he would not have survived the flood.
Vulture was a man who transformed himself into a bird with his own magic power and had gone through the openings in the sky and thus saved himself from destruction during the flood. After he came down from the sky he wandered about the country and finally built a va’-akĭ, magic house, the ruins of which yet remain, south of where Phoenix now stands, between the Gila and Salt rivers.
Vulture was living in this vaʼ-akĭ when the people came to him with their complaints concerning Elder Brother. They asked if he could do anything to help them. Vulture said he had never used his magic power, but he would test it. He asked the people to come to his va’-akĭ and he would make the trial in their presence.
After the people had gathered in the house and the doors had been closed he brought on darkness with his magic power while it was yet daytime. The darkness was so heavy that the people could see nothing. A beam of light arose which grew stronger and stronger until during the second night of their sojourn in the house it became as brilliant as sunlight. There were four colors, four threads of light, that extended upward until they reached the sun. Vulture then ascended each thread in turn, telling the people that he must have magic power or he could not have done so. He told the people that in four days Elder Brother would fall dead. On the fourth night he reached the sun and remained there. All the people who were in the va’-akĭ saw these miracles performed.
​After his death his skeleton was exposed for a long time, until one day some boys were playing near where it lay. They heard a strange noise like thunder that shook the earth, though there were no clouds in the sky. The boys saw that Elder Brother was regaining life and power. He sat up and rocked back and forth like a drunken person. The boys ran and told their story to the people, who were perplexed and alarmed. They gathered together, bringing all their weapons, and finally surrounded Elder Brother, who was by this time in full possession of his power. As the people came about him with their bows and arrows in hand he began to sink down into the earth, and in spite of their outcry he disappeared before their eyes.
Elder Brother sank through the earth and found the people that Earth Doctor had assisted to reach that side in order to escape the flood. Elder Brother told the people there of his ill treatment and asked them to come through and fight with him and to take the land away from the Indians. After four months' preparation they set out upon their journey, first singing the following song:
Eider Brother told Gopher (Tcuʼohŏ) to bore a hole for the people to come through. Gopher made a hole through the earth like a winding stair.
Coyote learned that these people were coming out in our country and he went about looking for the place of their emergence. He finally discovered them coming through like ants from their hills. Elder Brother told Coyote not to go near them until all had come forth. Coyote did not heed the caution, but went and looked down the hole and laughed, which caused the opening to close. Five gentes had come out, and it is supposed that those that were shut in belonged to yet other gentes. Upon their emergence Elder Brother and his followers danced and sang as follows:
About half of these people came out and followed Elder Brother's leadership until they had killed all his enemies and captured young and old that did not resist.
Elder Brother's greatest enemies were the people living in the large pueblos, the ruins of which yet remain scattered about the Gila and Salt river valleys. He and his supporters approached one of the easternmost of these pueblos on the Gila, which is now known as Casa Grande, singing:
They attacked and defeated the forces of Morning-Blue Siʼvan$^y$, and then moved about 18 miles northwestward to Santan, where they sang:
The chief of this extensive pueblo was Kia-atak Siʼvan$^y$. His forces were defeated and his pueblo overrun by Elder Brother's warriors, who next moved to the villages about 4 miles west of Santan, where they sang:
The chief of this place was called Tcuf Baowo Si’van$^y$, and after he had been overcome the conquerors moved across the Gila toward the pueblo of Sweetwater, singing as they approached:
The leader, Ta’-a Si’van$^y$, was easily defeated, whereon the victors moved upon the pueblo of Casa Blanca, singing:
​He knew that they would defeat him, yet he struggled bravely to save his people and at the last to save himself. He first took some soot from his chimney, powdered it in the palm of his hand, blew it into the air, and darkness immediately fell so dense that Eider Brother's warriors could see nothing. Tcu’tcûk Tâ’tai Siʼvan$^y$ then threw down his dwelling and made his way through the midst of his enemies. But the god of darkness dispelled the night and the escaping leader was seen in the distance. Elder Brother's warriors succeeded in getting ahead of him and were about to surround and kill him when he wiped the tears from his eyes and blew the drops among the men about him. This produced a mirage which concealed him from view. But the god of the mirage caused the veil to lift and again he was seen fleeing in the distance. Again Tcu’tcûk Tâ’tai Siʼvan$^y$ was headed and in danger; but this time he took out his reed cigarette and blew puffs of smoke, which settled down upon his pursuers like a heavy fog through which he continued his flight. The god of the fog drove it into the sky and he was seen escaping. He now realized that he had but one more chance for his life. When the fog had formed clouds in the sky he took his belt and threw it upward and climbed up and laid himself against the clouds as a rainbow. It was impossible for the god of the rainbow unaided to bring him down; he made several unsuccessful attempts before he hit upon the expedient of making some spiders which he sent after the rainbow. They formed a web over the bow and brought it to the earth and destruction.
Elder Brother's warriors were so astonished at the prowess of Tcu’tcûk Tâ’tai Siʼvan$^y$ that they thought he must have a strange heart, so they cut it open to see and, sure enough, they found within it a round green stone about the size of a bullet. The stone is kept to this day in a medicine basket which they captured with his grandson, Before he had undertaken his flight he had told the boy, Kâʼkânyĭp, to go with his basket and hide under a bush; after the grandfather should be killed the lad should come, touch him, and swallow the odor of the body and he would acquire the power of the Siʼvan$^y$. But a warrior named Sʼhohany discovered the little Kâʼkânyĭp and after a time sold him to the Papago chief, Kâk Si’sivĕlĭkĭ, Two-Whirlwinds. The box is yet kept by the Papago living 30 miles south of Gila Bend. If it is disturbed a severe storm is produced end cold weather prevails in Pima Land.
After capturing the pueblo at Sweetwater and destroying its chief the invaders moved against Vulture's pueblo, 6 miles west of where they fought the last battle.
They then sang:
Moving on to Gila Crossing, Elder Brother and his party sang:
In the battle which ensued Tcu-unarsat Siʼvan$^y$ was defeated, whereon the victors proceeded to Mesa; and before the pueblo of Aʼ-an Hiʼtûpaki Siʼvan$^y$ they sang:
After capturing this pueblo the conquerors moved against the Viʼ-iki-ial Ma’kai Si’van$^y$ near Tempe, singing:
They then proceeded westward against other pueblos, which they destroyed, and afterwards returned to take possession of the Gila valley.
While the war raged along the Gila some of the inhabitants of the Salt River pueblos sought safety in flight toward the Colorado. They descended that stream to the Gulf of California, the east coast of which they followed for some distance, then turned eastward and finally northeastward, where they settled, and their descendants are the Rio Grande pueblo tribes of to-day.
Kâʼkânyĭp married Kold Ha-akam, the daughter of Kâk Siʼsivĕlĭkĭ, and lived with his father-in-law in the Salt River valley near where Phoenix now stands. There his wife became pregnant and would eat nothing but green plants and game found in the mountains. So one day Kâʼkânyĭp went to the mountains to search for provisions for his wife. He killed a deer which it took him some time to dress. In the meantime the Apaches surrounded him. He fought bravely, but they succeeded in killing him. His father-in-law awaited his coming during the evening and through the night; then he called the people together and told them that his son-in-law had disappeared. All searched until his body was found. This they burned to ashes before ​returning to their homes, After this event the people moved southward as far as Santa Rosa. There Kâʼkânyĭp's son was born. He was named Patʼ Aʼ-anukam, and under his mother's care became a brave and noted man. While yet a boy he one day accompanied the people on a hunting expedition. Some of the hunters asked him many questions to learn if his mother thought about marrying them. He told his mother about these inquiries, which caused her to weep bitterly. She told him how his father had been killed. After hearing this sad story he went into the council house and told the people that he wished to see the springs and other places where the Apaches obtained drinking water, and also to see the trails they used. His further adventures are related in the texts, page 353.
COYOTE
At the time of the destruction of the earth, Coyote was saved in the manner already described, and he again appeared at the emergence of the underworld Pimas that Elder Brother brought up to fight his own battles. Then it was that Coyote looked down the opening to see the humans struggling upward like a long line of ants ascending a tree, and the sight provoked him to laughter, an act that caused the earth to close up and prevent many people from reaching Pima Land. After that Coyote disappeared again. Now we are to hear the story of his subsequent life.
Coyote wandered about alone somewhere in the West after we last heard of him, until one day he made two other coyotes from his image, which he saw reflected from the water; one he called the elder brother or Sandy Coyote, and the other. younger brother or Yellow Coyote. He told each to fetch a log. When they brought the logs he told them to embark upon the sea and seek for land beyond it. They followed his directions and sailed for days and nights across the water, the younger always behind the other. One day the elder said:
"Younger brother, why are you always behind? Why don't you come faster?"
"My log will not go any faster, that is why I am not with you," replied Yellow Coyote.
"How are you traveling, with your eyes wide open or with them closed?"
"My eyes are closed," answered Yellow Coyote.
"Oh, that is why you are so slow. Look up and open your eyes and your log will travel fast."
Yellow Coyote opened his eyes, but when he looked upon the water the wind blew the foam into his face and blinded him. "I am blind," he cried.
Sandy Coyote stopped and tried to restore his sight, but without success, finally concluding that they had better return to their father ​Coyote for assistance. After they had returned to land and Coyote had restored the sight of Yellow Coyote the two brothers went to dwell in the land lying between the Pima country and the Mohave territory, near the mouth of the Grand Canyon. There they built a house with the doorway toward the east, as is the Pima custom. When it was finished Sandy Coyote said, "Go in and take your choice of sides. You need only half the house, and I will take the other half."
Yellow Coyote said, "You take your choice and I will take what is left."
And so they continued telling each other to go in and take the first choice until the house grew old and fell down. They built a second house, and again their dispute lasted until it fell. The same result was reached with the third house, but when the fourth was built the elder brother went in and chose the south side of the house, leaving the north side for the younger.
When they went to gather the screw bean the elder brother took the beans on the south side of the trees and the younger brother took those on the north side. One day the elder said to the younger, "How do the beans taste on that side of the tree."
"They are very good," replied the younger, but when they returned home in the evening he was taken sick.
"It is caused by the beans you ate," said Sandy Coyote. "The beans on the north side are not ripened by the sun as are those on the south side. To-morrow you shall see the difference." And so the next day they went again and found the screw beans sweeter on the south side of the trees.
Every evening they sat and split sticks with which to build bins, log cabin fashion, for the screw beans that they gathered. One day the elder brother said, "Let us play some kind of a game and bet our screw beans, and then we will not sleep too soon." So they made some ki$^n$tskût. The younger lost all his screw beans that night and the next day the elder said, "We will not go for beans to-day." So that day the younger went hungry, and for many days thereafter, for the game of ki$^n$ts continued until the beans were rotten and not fit to eat. Then they wagered their arrows and other property. Sandy Coyote won the arrows, bow, sinew, and feathers belonging to Yellow Coyote and then went out and brought in all the large and fierce animals, but Yellow Coyote without a weapon could get nothing but the small creatures which were of little use to him.
In these straits Yellow Coyote sought the aid of Finish, who lived in the West. "I need your help, for I am losing a great deal," said he. Finish accompanied Yellow Coyote to the latter's home. When they reached the house Yellow Coyote went in first, but when the stranger tried to enter he was caught by sticks and held fast in the doorway. ​He saw that the house was divided into two parts before him; even the fireplace was divided, and no one said a word to indicate which side he should enter. For a long time he was silent. Then he said: "What kind of people are you that you do not speak to me? It is the custom to ask a stranger 'Where are you from?' or, if they come at night, 'Where were you when the sun went down?' Why are you not thus courteous? Am I a thief, a murderer, or a ghost that makes you speechless with fright?"
After the stranger had spoken, Mountain Lion got up, took his tobacco, rolled and lighted a cigarette.
"Ha, you are here also," said the stranger, "and have said nothing to me." But Mountain Lion put away his tobacco without offering any to the other, who exclaimed: "Do you think I have no tobacco? Don't you see that I am caught here in the door because I have so much tobacco in my bundle that it will not go through?" Then Yellow Coyote invited him to come to the south side of the house.
For many nights they played different games, but Yellow Coyote continued to lose at all of them. At last he told Finish that he had hit upon a game that he believed they could win with. So he called Tcoʼkokoi, or Black Beetle, and told him that they wanted him to run a football race with Vapʼkai-ĭki, Duck. When Black Beetle heard that the south division of the house wanted him to run a race he said, "While you people were planning for this I had a dream. I dreamed that I had in my right hand a green ball, which I threw or kicked with my right foot toward the east. After I had kicked four times I reached the place where the sun comes up. When I turned around the darkness came behind me, but I kicked the ball four times and reached the place where the sun goes down, and the darkness did not catch me."
All his party were glad to hear of Black Beetle's dream, saying that it was a sign of good luck. So the next day Yellow Coyote said to his brother, "We will draw a line here for the starting place. If your man kicks his ball back over this line first he will be the winner and if my man kicks his ball first over the line I shall be the winner." They agreed that whoever won should have the privilege of marrying at the end of four days.
Duck and Black Beetle started off and ran for miles, and after a long time the latter came in, kicking his ball first over the line, thus winning the race for Yellow Coyote. At the end of the four days Sandy Coyote acted in bad faith, for he went away in the evening and toward midnight returned with a wife whom he had taken among the Va-aki Â-âp, who lived northwest of the Coyote home. Her name was Itany Ofʼĭ. Yellow Coyote said, "I am going to build a fire and see what kind of looking woman my elder brother's wife is." ​But the fire would not burn, and he got angry, exclaiming, "What shall I do? Here is that dirty syphilitic woman. I know her. I have passed her house many times, and I never thought she was to be my brother's wife. When she came in I smelled her breath, and the odor filled the house. What a lunatic my brother is to bring such a woman into the house." Then he covered the embers of the smoldering fire and laid down to sleep.
After four days Yellow Coyote went away in the evening toward the southeast and came home with a wife at midnight. She belonged to the people living on the Gila river supposed to be the ancestors of the Pimas, and her name was Ho-ony Ofʼĭ, Corn Woman. When they entered the house Sandy Coyote said, "I am going to build a fire and see what kind of looking woman my younger brother's wife is." But the fire would not burn, and he became angry, exclaiming, "What shall I do? Here is that dirty syphilitic woman. I know her. I have passed her house many times, and I never thought she was to be my brother's wife. When she came in I smelled her breath, and the odor filled the house. What a lunatic my brother is to bring such a woman into the house." Then he covered the embers of the fire and lay down to sleep.
After a time they began to play ki$^n$ts again, and Yellow Coyote lost as before. After he had lost all his property he wagered his body and soul, which Sandy Coyote won. Then the latter killed him and ate his flesh. Yellow Coyote's wife was pregnant at that time and later gave birth to a boy. When this boy was about nine years old he went out one day and met Sandy Coyote, who was bringing in a deer on his shoulders. A piece of the deer fat fell, and the boy picked it up, concealing it in his armpit. Sandy Coyote asked him if he had seen anything of the fat, but the boy said he had not. Sandy Coyote searched him and found the fat, which vexed him so that he thought to treat the lad as he had his father. "Let us play ki$^n$ts together," said he. The boy told his mother about it, and she cautioned him not to gamble, as that was the cause of his father's death. For fear that he might de so she took him that night away toward the east. It was raining, but she carried fire with her in a small olla. She took up her residence in the Superstition mountains, where they lived upon herbs and grass seed. One day while the mother was away gathering seed the boy killed a bird with his little bow and arrows. When she returned he declared that he had killed a bird, but she would not believe that he had done it. But they buried the bird in the ashes and ate it. After that the boy killed many birds, rats, cottontails, and large hares. From time to time his mother made larger arrows and a heavier bow for him. One day he came running to his mother asking for a yet larger bow that he might kill a mule deer. She told ​him that only a grown man and not even he single handed could kill a mule deer. But he insisted, saying that he could kill it. So she made the large bow, and he went away with it. When he reached the place where the deer was and was creeping close upon it a soft whistle reached his ear. He looked around and saw Mountain Lion coming toward him. When Mountain Lion came up he said, "Wait here and I will kill the deer for you." He was as good as his word and brought the deer and also gave the boy his bow, arrows, quiver, and clothing, at the same time telling him not to let his mother know who had killed the deer, but to tell her that a man had given him the other things. The mother went with the boy and tried to find a track, but she could find nothing. After that the boy killed plenty of deer. One day he shot a deer which escaped with an arrow in him.
One day as Vulture was returning to his home near Maricopa he saw a dead deer with a strange arrow in it. He took both deer's meat and arrow home with him and showed it to the people who gathered according to their custom about him. He asked whose arrow it was, but no one could tell him. Sandy Coyote was in the company and recognized the arrow, but was too much ashamed to speak, Then Vulture said, "I think I know the arrow. I have heard of a boy living in the west who was ill treated, so that he and his mother were driven away to the mountains. I think they must have found a home somewhere in this country, for this is his arrow."
Sandy Coyote admitted that it was his son's [nephew's] arrow. "Give it to me, and I will some day go there and give it to him," he said. The next day Sandy Coyote searched for and found his brother's widow and her son. When he reached their house he went in and saw them eating a dish of meat. "Here, take your arrow," said he. "You shot a deer, which carried it away and your father's brother found it, brought it to his home, and inquired whose it was. At last they said it was yours, so I bring it to you." The boy said nothing, but took the arrow and put it away. After the boy and his mother were through eating they put away the remaining food without a word.
Sandy Coyote turned to leave, making an attempt to whistle to show his indifference to the coldness manifested toward him, but he only succeeded in shedding tears. "What is the matter with you that you cry so?" said the boy; "when I was younger and lived with you, you never gave me meat, but I did not cry."
A long time after that the woman said to her son, "I am going home to my own people, where I may get something to bring to you, and then you may go and play ki$^n$ts with Sandy Coyote, who killed your father; I think you are clever enough to beat him now." For many days he waited for his mother to return, and at last he went ​after her. On the way he saw two attractive girls approaching him. Turning aside, he lay down beside the trail and began to sing a pleasing song just after the girls had passed him. Surprised at hearing a voice behind them, they looked back to see whence it came, but could find no one. They saw nothing except a dead body that was well advanced with decay. When they started on they heard the singing again, but when they renewed the search they could find no living person. The younger said, "It must be this decaying corpse that is singing."
"Let us go," said the elder; but the younger refused, saying, "I am going to take that dead body, for I can see it winking." So she took it to her home and left it while she went to gather grass seed. Soon the younger girl wanted to return to the house.
"You want to go back to that putrid corpse," said the elder; "you crazy thing!"
"Well, I am going; and if you are going to stay here, stay as long as you like." So the younger woman got ready to go home, but the other also got ready and accompanied her. When they reached the house the younger went in and found a handsome young man, to whom she went without a word. The elder girl called her several times, asking her to come and help cook some food. At last the elder girl came and discovered the young man, and she also came to him. But the younger said, "You scolded me for bringing him here; now you may go out and leave him to me."
Finally the young man said, "Go out, both of you, and cook something for me to eat; I am hungry." So they both went to do as he wished. The next day the husband of the two young women came home, and was very angry at finding the young man there.
"Put up one of your wives," said he, "and we will have a game."
The young man said, "I have nothing to wager." But the husband replied, "Put up one of your wives." Then the young man said, "You must put up your shirt." And it was the turn of the husband to reply, "I have no shirt."
"Yes, you have."
"No, this is my skin," he answered, scratching his breast until the blood came.
"It is not your skin; it is your shirt. If you do not believe me, I will take it off you and then I shall win the wager from you." "I agree," said the other. So the young man took the husband of the women up by the hands and shook him, and he dropped dead out of his skin.
At this time the young man's mother came, and they took the two young women with them to their home. Soon he went to play ki$^n$ts ​with Sandy Coyote, taking with him beads, deerskins, and other things to wager. As he journeyed he sang:
As he went along he took some white stones, which he made to resemble white birds' eggs. These he put in a little nest which he made. When he reached his uncle's house he told Sandy Coyote that he had come to play ki$^n$ts with him. They got ready to play and put up their wagers, but the young man said, "It is about time the birds laid their eggs."
"No," said Sandy Coyote, "it will be two or three months from now before they begin to build their nests."
"As I came along I saw that the dove had already laid her eggs."
"No; you are lying to me."
Then the young man said, "Well, if I go and bring those eggs to you and show you that I was telling the truth I shall win our wager, if I do not bring them you shall win." So the young man went out and brought the eggs. After the wager had been paid they prepared for another game and another wager was laid. When they were ready the young man cut his toe nail and threw it into the west, where it hung, looking like the rim of the new moon.
"Look at the moon there in the west," said he.
"No; we are having a full moon now," said Sandy Coyote, "it is in the east; you are lying to me. How could the full moon be in the west in the evening?"
"Well, suppose you look. If you find any moon you shall pay me the wager, and if you do not then I shall pay you." So Sandy Coyote looked and saw the supposed moon and came back and said, "You win."
Again and again they played and again and again the young man won.
When they were ready to play ki$^n$ts Sandy Coyote said, "Sit there; it is your father's place."
But the young man answered, "No; I shall sit here and you may sit there. If you wish me to sit there you must carry me there. If you can carry me there you will win all we have wagered this game; if you can not, then I shall win."
​When they were ready to throw the ki$^n$ts the young man said, "Your cane is looking at me very sharply; I would like to have it turned the other way."
Sandy Coyote replied, "No one can move it in any way. I can not, nor can you."
"Well, suppose I pull it out and turn it the other way, then I shall win the wager; and if I can not, then you shall win."
The other agreed; so he got up and moved the cane around as he wished, thus winning the final wager. Then the young man grasped Sandy Coyote by the hair and shook him until he dropped down dead. Taking all that he had won, the young man went home.
After a time his mother said she would like to go to where her people were living. After some preparation they started on their journey. At the end of the first day they camped. During the night the mother turned herself into a gray spider. The second day they went on again and camped in the evening. That night the elder wife turned herself into a black spider. At the end of the next day's journey they camped again, and that night the remaining wife turned herself into a yellow spider. The young man was left alone the next day, but he hoped to reach his mother's people, and so journeyed on until nightfall, when he camped. During the night he turned himself into a rough black lizard.
Even to this day Coyote is known as the wise one. It is dangerous to kill or harm him, for he will avenge himself by stealing or doing worse mischief. He knows well the house of the one who tries to injure him, no matter where the deed may have been performed. And yet he is not always unfriendly, for if he is heard to cry out as if jumping it is a warming that the Apaches are near and danger menaces.
ANOTHER VERSION OF THE CREATION MYTH
before the earth was made nothing but darkness. It has been found only wind blows came rolling from one place to another, nothing but wind. at the time there was a man in the darkness alone. and has told that this man was wandering from point to point.
This has been for quite awhile. and no pleace for to rest on. So the man feel himself and know that he was a man by himself. and more of he found a push called (Shiquia) and after he found this, and he call (Shiquia)
And also he made the earth. and so he call himself a God. now at the ​time this darkness was still on yet. so the first he made water. when he had done this work, he took the water and throught up in Heaven. which means stars. also he made the moon and mialk-way. to give more light. he also made the sun. which is greater then what he made. now in those day's there. at a ceatan day. He sitted himself to made a first man out of a very hard mud. and there was another man name (Sis Hia.) and (Gia- (via mack)
These two men begain too make all kinds of living creaters. and when these two men made men out of hard mud the pleaced at a house to see what will be, in a day or two.
now when these men pleaced at. they want a little way to see what will be done with they work. so the haerd sone one speacking in that house. but could not understand. next there was another one speacking in our Lounger and Sie Hia) said that he understand that will be great wares to all nathion, not very long after this poeple at Mesa trying to make a ditch, so they gather one day saking each other of way to get water.
And one of these pearty said that there was man name Cea-gens who knows much about ditch, so the send for, when this Cea-vens) came to there camp. and told them that the must make a spath out of a tree call (Oie a came) so they work on for quite a while.
while the working this man Cea-ven went away for some reason, while he way. these poeple at mesa had a great trouble anong themself.
there where begain they war.
so they call a day, which these poeple to make Bows and arrows. Sho-jiak, (Caveid)
and so these poeple start way down near Florince and then come to Casa great Rounen, and so on to Casa Planco.
A mowan who's name (Stoke qui tham) his two son's one of them name (Parhane) another (Par-lrad)
one day when the were at home. thire mother told about an eagle of there owne. and one day these boy's wanted to go and see what there mother been told them. So the start for there Eagle.
when the were at the plaece. the youngest said to his brother. that he may try first. to clime up for the birds. he tryd But could not make. then the oldest one. got them. and bring them down. the youngest brother took the oldest bird. and there begain to quirral about these two birds, the oldest said to his brother that he might have the youngest becouse he was the youngest.
CHILDREN OF CLOUD
[Told by Inasa]
When the Hohokam dwelt on the Gila and tilled their farms about the Great Temple that we call Casa Grande there was chagrin among the young men of that people, for the prettiest woman would not receive their attentions. She would accept no man as her husband, but Cloud came out of the east and saw her and determined to marry her. The maiden was a skillful mat maker, and one day she fell asleep when fatigued at her labor. Then Cloud sailed through the skies above and one large rain drop fell upon her; immediately twin boys were born.
Now all the men of the pueblo claimed to be the father of these children. After enduring their clamors for a long time the woman told her people to gather in a council circle. When they had come she placed the children within the circle and said, "If they go to anyone it will prove that he is their father." The babies crawled about within the circle but climbed the knees of no one of them. And so it was that the woman silenced them, saying, "I wish to hear no one of you say, 'these are my children,' for they are not."
When the boys had reached the age of 10 they noticed that their comrades had fathers and they inquired of their mother, "Who can we call father? Who can we run to as he returns from the hunt and from war and call to as do our playmates?"
And the mother answered: "In the morning look toward the east and you will see white Cloud standing vertically, towering heavenward; he is your father."
"Can we visit our father?" they inquired.
"If you wish to see him, my children, you may go, but you must journey without stopping. You will first reach Wind, who is your father's elder brother, and behind him you will find your father."
They traveled for four days and came to the home of Wind. "Are you our father?" they inquired.
​"Show me that you are my children," said he; "if you are, you can do as I do." Then the younger sent the chain lightning with its noisy peal across the sky. The older sent the heat lightning with its distant diapason tones. "You are my children," exclaimed Cloud, "you have power like unto mine." As a further test he placed them in a house near by where a flood of rain had drowned the inmates. "If they are mortals," thought he, "they will be drowned like the others." Unharmed by the waters about them, the children demonstrated their power to survive, and Cloud then took them to his home, where they remained a long time.
When they longed to see their mother again, Cloud made a bow and some arrows different from any that they had ever known and gave to them. He told them that he would watch over them as they journeyed, and admonished them against speaking to anyone that they might meet on the way. As the boys were traveling toward the westward, they saw Raven coming toward them, but they remembered their father's injunction against speaking and turned aside so as not to meet him. They also turned aside to escape meeting Roadrunner, Hawk, and Eagle. Eagle said: "Let's scare those children." So he swooped down over their heads, causing the boys to cry from fright. "Oh, we just wanted to tease you, that's all; we don't mean to do you any harm," said Eagle.
Thus they journeyed on until they met Coyote. They tried to turn aside in order to avoid him, but he ran around and put himself in their way. Cloud saw their predicament and sent down thunder and lightning, and the boys by their magic power added to the bolts that flashed before the eyes of Coyote until he turned and fled.
It was on the mountain top that the boys were halted by Coyote, and one stood on each side of the trail at the moment when they were transformed into the largest mescal that was ever known. The place was near Tucson.
SKULL AND HIS MAGIC
Once there was a pretty girl who was unwilling to marry anyone. All the young men brought presents of game to her parents, but none found favor in the eyes of the critical maiden. At last to the surprise of neighbors and kinsmen she chose for her husband one who was a man by night and a skull by day. Then all laughed at the marriage, saying, "One man in this valley has a bone for a son-in-law."
One morning the crier of the village made this proclamation: "To-day we hunt deer in the mountains to the northward!" Skull went ahead of the party and hid in a defile in the mountains. When the hunters came driving the game before them the deer all fell dead at the sight of gruesome Skull; so the people had an abundance of venison without the trouble of trailing and killing. Thus it was that Skull rose in their regard and ridicule was no longer heaped upon him.
The next day had been appointed for the foot race in which the runners would kick the ball. Skull entered as one of the contestants, though his neighbors laughed and said: "How can one ball manage another?" But when he reached the goal a winner the last voice of contumely was silenced.
ORIGIN OF THE HORSE
Two brothers who lived apart from their kinsfolk were skillful deer hunters. Day by day they followed the deer and antelope, and when their chase was successful they carried the game home on their shoulders. This was heavy work, and at last the elder in the goodness of his heart took pity on his younger brother, saying: "You must help me to carry out my plans and I shall become transformed into something that will be useful to you. Shoot an arrow through my body from front to back and another from side to side; cut me transversely into four pieces and throw them into the water. In four days you may come back and see what has happened."
When the younger man, sorrowing and wondering, had obeyed he returned to find four strange animals which we now call horses, two males and two females, colored black, white, bay, and yellow or "buckskin." He was not frightened, for his brother had given him warning, and he had provided himself with a rope, which he tied around the neck of one of the horses, took a half hitch in its mouth, and rode it home, driving the others.
Another version
At the time when the Rsârsûkatc Â-âtam confined the game animals in the cave at Aloam mountain our people were living between Casa Grande and Tucson. Among them were two unhappy brothers, one blind and the other lame. One day as the elder was lamenting, crying, "Why am I lame?" and the other was saying, "Why am I blind?" they suddenly heard a peal of thunder and a voice said, "Take care! Take care!" At this they were frightened, and the younger opened his eyes to see and the elder sprang to his feet and walked.
Then they went to hunt for game, but the Rsârsûkatc Â-âtam had cleared the ranges of every living thing that could supply the Pimas with food, so that the brothers wandered over mountain and mesa without success until they were gaunt with hunger. Then the elder told his brother that he would die for the latter's sake and that after a time the younger brother should return to see what had been the result of his sacrifice. When the young man returned he found two horses, a male and a female.
* ↑ "Smoke talk," from tcu-utc, smoke, and nyiâk, talk. This myth is also called Hâ-âk Akita, "Hâ-âk Telling."
* ↑ Termes flavipes Koll. It was formerly believed that if anyone ate food prepared from grain that was contained in anything upon which this insect lived that person's teeth would fall out.
* ↑ Pedro Font has given the following version of this myth in his Diary, pages 23 to 24a of original manuscript: "He further said that after tho old man, there came to that land a man called El Bebedor (the Drinker), who became incensed with the people dwelling there and sent so much water that it covered all the land. He then set out for a mountain ridge, which may be seen from that place, called the Ridge of Foam, whither he brought with him a little dog and a coyote. This ridge is called the Ridge of Foam, because at its summit, which ends gradually and, accessible after the fashion of the edge of a bastion, may be descried near the very top a white crest like a cliff, which follows horizontally along the ridge for a good space. The Indians say that this is a mark of the foam of the waters which reached that height. The Bebedor remained above and left the dog below, so that he might warn him when the waters reached that height. When the waters rose to the crest of foam, the beast warned the Bebedor (for in those days animals could speak) and the latter raised him up from below. A few days later the Bebedor sent the Humming-bird (Sheparosas) and the coyote to bring him mud, and when it was brought he made from it various men, some of whom turned out good and others bad. These men spread over the land up end down the river. Not long afterwards he sent some of his men to see if those who dwelt up the stream could speak. They set forth and shortly returned, saying that although they spoke, they could not understand what they said. At this the Bebedor was greatly incensed, namely, that those men should speak without having received his permission. Thereupon he sent other men downstream to look after those who were there. They returned, saying that they had been well received and that the people there spoke another language, which, however, they had bean able to understand. Then the Bebedor told them that the men who dwelt downstream were the good men, who extended as far us the Opas, with whom they were friendly; and that the others who dwelt upstream were the bad men and were the Apaches, their enemies. The Bebedor once grew wrathful with the people and slew many of them, converting them into Saguaros in that land. The Saguaros is a green trunk, aqueous, of fair height, of uniform circumference, and perfectly straight from its base to its top, with rows of thick thorns which extend along its whole length and usually with two or three branches of the same shape which look like arms. Once again did the Bebedor become wrathful against men and caused the sun to descend to burn them. Thus they were on the point of being destroyed when the men entreated him earnestly not to burn them. Then the Bebedor said be should not now burn then, and ordered the sun to ascend once mare, but not to such a distance as before, saying that he left it lower down in order that he might burn them with it if they should again anger him. For this reason it is so hot in that land during the summer. At this point he added that he knew other stories which he could not relate because the time did not permit, and he agreed to relate them to us another day. But inasmuch us we made some fun of his stories, which he told quite seriously, we could not afterwards persuade him to tell us anything else; for he kept saying that he knew no more. All this story I have related in the phraseology you have doubtless noticed in order better to adapt it to the fashion In which the Indians explain it."
* ↑ There is no generic name for these monsters. Earth Doctor is supposed to have created them thus in order that they might not become rivals to his underworld people for the possession of the earth.
* ↑ "Go in Ap." An unknown tribe that is believed by the Pimas to have lived somewhere in the northwest, perhaps the Hualapis [Walapai.]
* ↑ "When Matyavela died, Mustam-ho, by his direction, started in to cremate him. The Coyote wanted to eat the corpse. At that time there was no fire on earth. The Blue Fly put a star in the sky; 'Go over there and get me some of that fire,' he said to the Coyote. The Coyote was fooled, and scampered off to bring in the star. He didn’t know that the Blue Fly had learned the art of rubbing sticks together and making fire. While he was gone the Blue Fly made a big fire and Matyavela was burnt up. "The Coyote happened to look back; he sew the blaze, and knew that something was up. He came back on the full run. All the animals were present at the funeral; they saw the Coyote returning, and formed a ring round the fire to keep him away from the corpse. The Coyote ran round the ring until he came to the Badger, who was very short. The Coyote jumped over him, seized the heart of Matyavela, which was the only part not burnt up, and made off with it. He burnt his mouth in dong this, and it's black to this day." John G. Bourke, Notes on the Cosmogony and Theogony of the Mohave Indians of the Rio Colorado, Arizona, Journal of American Folk-Lore, II, 188.
* ↑ The mirage that distorts the early morning landscape in Pimería is callud rsarsûkatc, and it is believed that it is the spirits of the ancient magicians returned to earth.
* ↑ "Mr J.D. Walker, an old resident of the vicinity of Casa Grande, who has been to me personally an excellent friend and valuable informant, told me this tale: "'The Gila Pimas claim to have been created on the banks of the river. After residing there for some thine a great flood came that destroyed the tribe, with the exception of one man, called Ci-ho. He was of small stature and became the ancestor of the present Pimas. The tribe, beginning to grow in numbers, built the villages now in ruins and also spread to the north bank of the river. But there appeared a monstrous eagle, which, occasionally assuming the shape of an old woman, visited the pueblos and stole women and children, carrying them to his abode in an inaccessible cliff. On one occasion the eagle seized a girl with the intention of making of her his wife. Ci-ho thereupon went to the cliff, but found it impossible to climb. The girl, who was still alive, shouted down to him the way of making the ascent. When the eagle came back Ci-ho slew him with a sword, and thus liberated his people from the scourge.'" A.F. Bandelier, Papers Archeol. Inst., ser. IV, pt. II, 462–463.
* ↑ The stone referred to is the one thrown against the cave walls by Hâ-âk when she was entrapped. In proof of the story we may see the stone there to the present day.
* ↑ Tcuwut hiâsik, a whitish lichen gathered by the Pimas and kept in little bags or in hollow reeds 3 or 4 inches long.
* ↑ Kâʼsĭtakŭt ("to make sleep"), said by the Papagos to stand on a mountain about 40 miles aouthwest of Poso Verde. So powerful is it supposed to be that those who go to gather the bark are overcome with sleep if they do not hasten when cutting it.
* ↑ Said by Thin Leather to be in the Estrella mountains. Antonio thinks it is in Baboquivari mountain.
* ↑ See p. 197.
* ↑ See p. 175.
* ↑ Itany is the name given a saltbush, Atriplex sp., the seed of which is eaten by the Pimas.
* ↑ There is a conflict of opinion as to which of these two women was married by Sandy Coyote.
* ↑ It seems worth while to present here the version of the cosmogonical myth which was written for the author by a young Pima who had learned to write English during the term of several years which he spent at a Government school. It illustrates the confusion existing in the minds of the younger generation; to some extent, also, the order of words in the Pima sentence, as well as the difficulties that must speedily beset the ethnological investigator as soon as the older people shall have gone.
* ↑ Rsukoi.
* ↑ Club.
* ↑ Shield.
* ↑ Bourke mentions this myth in his notes upon the Mohaves: "This Earth is a woman; the Sky is a man. The Earth was sterile and barren and nothing grew upon it; but by conjunction with the Sky (here he repeated almost the very same myth that the Apaches and Pimas have to the effect that the Earth was asleep and a drop of rain fell upon her, causing conception) two gods were born in the west, thousands of miles away from here." Journal of American Folk-Lore, II, 178.
* ↑ Among the Navahos Sun is the father of the twins who grow to manhood in four days and then set out to find their parent. See Washington Matthews, Tho Navajo Mythology, in American Antiquarian, V, 216, 1883.
* ↑ A similar version of this myth was related to Lieutenant Emory by the interpreter of the Chief Juan Antonio Llunas. This man said: "That in bygone days a woman of surpassing beauty resided in a green spot in the mountains near the place where we were encamped. All the men admired and paid court to her. She received the tributes of their devotion—grain, skins, etc.—but gave no love or other favor in return. Her virtue and her determination to remain unmarried were equally firm. There came a drouth which threatened the world with famine. In their distress the people applied to her, and she gave corn from her stock, and the supply seemed to be endless. Her goodness was unbounded. One day as she was lying asleep with her body exposed a drop of rain fell on her stomach, which produced conception. A son was the issue, who was the founder of a new race which built all these houses." When he was asked if he believed the story he replied: "No; but most of the Pimos do. We know, in truth, nothing of their origin. It is all enveloped in mystery." W.H. Emory, Notes of a Military Reconnoissance, S. Ex. Doc. 41, 83, 30th Cong., first sess., 1848.
* ↑ Twenty-five miles southwest of Tucson.