old man called Patak-sata. This is a name of Coyote. With him at the
same place there lived a man called Hipahipa.[7] There were many
people there at Avi-kwa'ahāθa, among them a woman called Qwāqāqta.[8]
[7] Hipahipa is a personage, or at least a name, that recurs in
other tales: see Handbook, p. 772. The word definitely refers to
Coyote: Hipa is the name given to all their daughters by members
of those lineages whose totemic reference is Coyote.
[8] The informant said the name Qwāqāqta refers to the crow or
raven, aqāqa; which sounds like an improvised etymology.--The
woman's relation to the people at Avi-kwa'ahāθa is not clear.
She may have been a Mohave who was married among Easterners.
Now there was war between the Mohave and those people. On that day
Qwāqāqta bore a boy baby. Then these people[9] won, burned all the
houses and food and blankets and broke the dishes. They threw the
newly born child into the brush, but did not succeed in killing it.
Then they set fire to the brush, but the boy baby made it rain and did
not burn.
[9] My notes say "these people," which probably means the
Mohave, but might refer to the people at Avi-kwa'ahāθa.
Then the old woman, his father's mother, ha'auk,[10] found him and
made a roof shade and a cradle for him and hung him up off the ground
so nothing could touch him while she went out to look for inyeinye
seeds for food.
[10] Father's mother is namau-(k). Ha'auk seems really to denote
the reciprocal of father's mother, namely, woman's son's child,
usually given as a'avak. This would fit in with my suggested
explanation of the grandmother being an Easterner and the boy
being born among the eastern tribe, although his mother was a
Mohave. In answer to a question who the boy's father was, the
informant said she did not know, except that he was a Coyote.
She was gone all day. The baby was intelligent and after she was gone,
he made black balls (vanyeilk) from his own breath by magic. Before
long many quail came to where he was hung up, and he snapped or
filliped (harrêmk) the balls at them and killed them. Then he piled
the birds into a heap and went back into his cradle.[11]
[11] The supernaturally precocious hero, who kills game from his
cradle and then climbs back to it, is told of in other tales of
Yuman tribes.
When his grandmother came, she said: "Who brought them here? Who did it?
I am an old woman and I surely like to eat meat, but I did not think
that someone would bring them under my shade roof." She was very angry
and began to curse who did it. She said: "Kweva-namaue-napaue."[12]
[12] "That is how Indian women say son-of-a-bitch," the
interpreter explained. The cursing consists of stringing
together the names of three grandparents, who are presumably
dead, and allusion to whom is therefore the height of shocking
offense. The three terms are: (na)-kweu-(k), mother's father;
namau-(k), father's mother; napau-(k), father's father.
The boy grew up. Then they returned to this country,[13] he and his
grandmother. The Mohave Indians went to Phoenix to fight the people at
Avi-kwa'ahāθa, and he went along. Patša-karrawa was his name.[14]
[13] "This country" can only mean Mohave valley. It is not clear
why they should be "returning" if the old woman belonged to a
tribe on the Gila River and the boy was born there, as suggested
in note 10. The whole story is involved in minor obscurities of
telling.
[14] The baby is now supposed to be grown up. His name
identifies him with the younger of the two Coyotes with whom the
first paragraph deals. It would seem that the bulk of the story
ought to precede in time, the first paragraph really being the
end of the story; but the two sections are given in the order in
which the informant told them.
Now he went ahead of the others, like a leader, to spy them out and
see where the houses were. On the desert he found his mother. She was
a slave there. He said to her: "Do not tell them when you go back home
that I met you here. Take these birds and rabbits with you, but do not
tell that I gave them to you. Say that you found them." She had on her
back her pack basket.[15] Into this she put the game he gave her. He
entered it too. He said: "Let me get into your basket. I will make
myself into a bird so that they will not know me. Carry me back, but
do not tell who I am. You may tell them tomorrow."
[15] The kūpo is the peculiar pack basket of the Mohave, which
consists of two crossed sticks bent into U-shape and wound
around with string spaced an inch or so apart.
So she returned and gave the rabbits and birds to the people. They
wanted to know where she got them, but she would not tell. Then
Patak-sata said: "Let me look at them. I think Patša-karrawa killed
these." He knew it right, but she would not admit it. In the morning
she said: "I have another bird in my basket, a dove." Then Patak-sata
said: "Let me see it." She gave it to him. "That is not a dove," he
said, "I know it. Patša-karrawa made himself into this. I can tell a
dove by its bill. And when you see a dove, it shakes its head. This
does not." Soon after, on that day, the Mohave arrived and attacked.
While the fight was going on, Qwāqāqta stood on the roof and sang as
follows:
iθauwe
ahwe-kanām abroad-tell
haθo'ilya to the sea
Then she sang:
hunapnap butterfly
mat-utšavek he made himself
mat-apui killed
meθkemewê-mote he cannot be
sumatš-ahôtem he dreamed well
Then the Mohave killed all the people at Avi-kwa'ahāθa, and took
Patša-karrawa's mother as a slave and brought her back to this
country. Then she said: "Where there is war, notify other tribes and
then gather: my son is wise and cannot be beaten."
Now he and his mother were poor and had nothing to eat. There was much
food here among the people, but no one gave them anything to eat.[16]
Then he took his mother and went west with her to Avi-hamoka.[17]
There they lived.
[16] The withholding of food is entirely unmotivated by the
narrator. Perhaps it is because they were Easterners and
foreigners.
[17] This is the place near Tehachapi mentioned at the end of
the first paragraph, where the informant dreamed of him.
Subsequently, when she was asked to give more information about
this dreaming, she said that Coyote had a man's shape; but she
now stated that it was at Ha'avulypo, at the rear of the house
there, that she dreamed of him. Her dream was of the time before
"Matavilya was born." (Perhaps a slip of my pencil for
Mastamho?)
_B: Dreamed_
This country was full of coyotes. Then we became Mohaves, human
beings: the coyotes turned into people. There is a place called
Hukθara-ny-enyêve, a small mountain south of Mukiampeve, Needles
Peak.[18] There is where Kwayū[19] lived, at Hukθara-ny-enyêve: he
belonged to this country. Whenever he saw a child, he seized it, stuck
it under his belt, and took it home. There he would put them into a
hole in the rock, pound them up, and eat them. Sometimes he ate them
raw, sometimes he roasted them in the fire. All the people were afraid
of him.
[18] Mukiampeve is the standard form of the name; Okiampeve is
what the informant was understood as saying.
[19] Kwayū means a meteor or fireball, usually conceived of as a
monster or man-eater. He recurs in the Cane story.
Now the Crayfish, Hal(y)kutāṭa,[20] killed Kwayū. He was little, but
when he became angry, he made himself into a big man. So all the
people were saved. If Crayfish had not killed him, Kwayū would have
eaten everyone up. After killing him, Crayfish took him far south to
the ocean where he lived and ate him up. So there was no more Kwayū in
this land here.
[20] Hal(y)kutāta was described as a "bug" as long as a finger,
with long legs, a back like a scorpion, living in the water in
sloughs, but not in the river: it must be a crayfish.
Kwayū was Coyote.[21]
[21] This statement is in line with the name of the place where
he lived, as given two paragraphs before.
_Children's Stories_
_C_
Coyote was hunting, but killed nothing. Then he took deer excrement,
planted them like seeds, and built a brush fence around. In four days
the deer had grown as big as dogs: then he ate them.
_D_
When Coyote was hungry, he ate his children. "My daughter, climb this
tree," he said. When she had climbed up, he piled brush around the
tree and set fire to it. The girl fell down and into the fire and he
ate her.
Stories like this are not dreamed, but are heard from other people and
are told to children.
_E_
One Coyote said to another, "Let us set fire all around to this patch
of thick brush. I think there must be deer, rats, and rabbits in it
which we cannot get at. But if we set fire to the brush all around,
they will burn up and we can just pick them up and eat them." Then
they set fire to the patch, but one Coyote went inside first and stood
in the middle. When the fire came near him, he had a song which would
make him sink into the ground to his ankle. His second song would make
him sink in to the middle of his calf (or the middle of his body); the
third, to his knee (or neck). And with the fourth song he would be
completely under the ground so the fire could not touch him. Now when
the flames began to come near him, he sang his song: hilyhavek
kerropsim, enter descend. But he did not begin to sink into the
ground. He sang again and still did not penetrate. By the time he had
sung his fourth song, the fire reached him and he burned up.
_More Stories for Children_
_F_
[The following three episodes are not from informant Mah-tšitnyumêve,
but are from the interpreter, whose recollection of them she
stimulated. He had heard them told by a young man called
Mekupuru-'ukyêve. They are recognized as stories for children.]
Coyote went out and met Quail. Quail said to him: "Pluck my feathers
and then send me to your wife to cook me." Coyote plucked him and
Quail came to Coyote's old woman and said: "He says you are to cook
your sandals."
"He is crazy."
"That's what he said. 'Cook your sandals!' Tell her that, he said."
"What for?"
"You have a pair, have you not?"
"Yes."
"Then you are to cook them."
So she started to cook her sandals. Meanwhile Quail lay down outside
under the shade roof. After a while Coyote came home.
"What are you cooking?" he asked her.
"What you sent me word to."
"What did I tell you?"
"To cook my sandals."
"Who was it said so?"
"Quail."
"Where is he?"
"Outside in the shade."
Quail was lying there laughing. When Coyote came running up, he fled
till he came to a slough. There he sat quietly on a tree. When Coyote
arrived, he saw his reflection in the water, thought it was Quail,
jumped in to seize him, and drowned. Then his old woman came too,
tried to pull him out, but fell in and drowned also.
_G_
Coyote was visiting Beaver, his friend. Beaver had nothing to eat, but
he had four or five children, so he killed them, cooked them, and
gave them to Coyote to eat. But he warned him: "Do not throw away any
of the bones. Lay them aside." When they had eaten, Beaver took the
bones, threw them in the water, and they turned into living beavers
again.
Then after a while Beaver came to visit Coyote. Coyote had no food, so
he killed his young ones and cooked them. "Do not throw away the
bones, but put them carefully aside," he warned him. Then after the
meal, he threw the bones into water. But no young coyotes came out,
and the bones were gone.
_H_
When Coyote visited Beaver, he had no food. Beaver took his bow, shot
up in the air, the arrow fell down and entered his rectum. Beaver
turned it around and then pulled it out with fat on the end. This he
cooked and fed to Coyote. This he did for four days then Coyote went
home.
Beaver came to see Coyote. Being without food, Coyote took his bow,
shot up in the air, the arrow came down, hit him in the rectum--but he
fell down dead.
VII. MASTAMHO
THE INFORMANT
This story of the institution of culture differs from most of the
preceding in that it is a pure myth unaccompanied by songs. It was
told to me at the University's Museum of Anthropology, then in San
Francisco, between November 16 and 24, 1903, by Jo Nelson, also called
Baby's Head in Mohave; with Jack Jones the interpreter as usual.
Jo Nelson, aged about sixty, is pictured in Handbook of California
Indians, plate 64, top right, and in our frontispiece. Like many
Mohave, he was interested in travel and in new lands and peoples. He
had visited widely among Indian tribes both east and west of the
Mohave and had asked questions both abroad and at home. He gave me, on
the whole, the best information which I secured from the Mohave about
other tribes, and which has been published in part in the Handbook,
though considerable detail remains unpublished. Jo Nelson was in many
ways an ideal informant for matters of fact. His memory was excellent
both for what he had seen and heard. His mind was orderly, his
procedure methodical. He distinguished between hearsay and actual
observation; and he would exhaust one topic before proceeding to the
next. These same qualities show in his myth as presented here.
CONTENT OF THE MYTH
The narrative may be described as dealing essentially with the
institution of culture by Mastamho, the second of the two great myth
heroes of the Mohave. The story assumes the cosmogony as such as
already known. I obtained one such Mohave account of the origin of the
world. This has been abstracted in the Handbook, pages 770-771, and
also in the American Journal of Folklore, 19:314-316, 1906. That was
one of the first narratives which I recorded from this tribe, and its
quality and my rendition are not of the best; but it is confirmed by
innumerable allusions to world origins in other Mohave myths and in
their discussions of their culture.
The present Mastamho narrative begins after Matavilya is dead, and its
first chapter, so to speak (A:1-6) deals with the disposal of his
body. Thereafter the tale is concerned with the planning, trials, and
execution of his plans by Mastamho, especially with reference to the
way of living of the Mohave, but first for the desert tribes nearest
them (B:7-19). Essentially Mastamho thinks of what will be good for
one or more of these tribes, causes it to come into existence, and
then explains it to the people or has them practice it. One long
section (C:20-35) is devoted to the institution of night and sleep, to
the building of houses and shade roofs, and the setting aside of
playing fields. The relation of sections like this to the remainder
will be clearer by reference to the outline of the whole narrative
given a few paragraphs below. The total story is so prolix that this
summary will be useful as a conspectus for orientation.
Another section (D:36-42) is devoted to the making of the wild plants
which spring up either of themselves, or through being planted, in the
bottoms of the Mohave valley immediately upon the recession of the
annual overflow. The Mohave distinguish between wild food plants which
grow of themselves but are harvested, wild food plants which are sown,
and domesticated food plants such as maize and beans. The second
group, in other words, are cultivated plants which also grow
spontaneously in the Colorado bottoms, but probably grow in denser
stands if sown. They were apparently seed-bearing plants which were
particularly adapted to rapid growth in the summer heat following the
June inundation; and this fact may have contributed to their not
having been diffused to other environments. At any rate, it is to be
noted that the narrator gave considerably more space to the
institution of these wild and "tame-wild" plants than to strictly
agricultural ones.
By the time he comes to the latter, it is near the end of Mastamho's
career and the episode seems hurried (H:76-78). Pottery is mentioned
first and agriculture second; which may be an accident, but I suspect
that it reflects a Mohave attitude. At any rate, it is clear that they
strongly associate pottery and agriculture, which is not surprising in
view of the absence or underdevelopment of both among many of the
tribes to the west, north, and east. That the telling of the story in
this section was hurried, or perhaps shortened by fatigue, is
indicated by the fact that, strictly speaking, the instituting of
neither art is described, but they are taken for granted and then
Mastamho teaches the people the names of vessels and plants. This
creation by naming may pass as a shorthand explanation, but it is not
in the narrator's usual methodical manner.
There is a section, as might be expected, on hawks and warfare
(F:59-69), this being a subject the Mohave never tire of. It is men
who dream of hawks that become successful fighters and renowned war
leaders.
A rather unusual section deals with Mastamho's trial-and-error
attempts to teach the names for tribes, objects, and the numeral count
(E:43-58). Here the device is to begin with distortions of the Mohave
words which, however, the taught fail or refuse to learn. The
distortions are something on the order of Pig Latin or the languages
which groups of children sometimes concoct. This sort of attempt is
not commonly found among North American Indians, and the techniques of
distortion have therefore been analyzed in a separate discussion
appended to the tale itself. On account of its fixed sequence, the
numeral count perhaps lends itself best to word plays of this sort. In
not a few languages, including Mohave, succeeding numerals partly
rhyme. This feature has been further developed in the artificial
counts. The whole process is somewhat akin to the occasional instances
of the count in a foreign language being parodied by substitution of
somewhat like-sounding names in the speaker's language, a device with
which obscene or other humorous effects can easily be attained.
A fair question would be how much of Mohave culture is accounted for
in all this narrative of institution. A fair answer would seem to be:
most of the more conspicuous, concrete features of the culture, houses
and their parts, weapons, utensils, food plants. This omits certain
items from what we are wont to call material culture, such as
clothing, cradles, and the like. But the technological and economic
deficiencies of the Colorado River Yuman culture are so definite that
the omissions are perhaps in the minority.
Having done his work, Mastamho goes off and turns into the bald eagle
(J:82-84). This is spoken of as "dying" or "leaving his body." He is
said to have become "crazy," which probably means without sense,
knowing nothing, without human consciousness.
There follows a long supplement, making about a quarter of the total
story (K-N:85-102), which tells of the institution of sex, courtship,
and marriage under the leadership of a man and a woman to whom
Mastamho has delegated this task and who at its conclusion turn the
people with them into birds and themselves become, respectively, the
curve-billed thrasher and the mockingbird. The guess may be hazarded
that Mastamho is to the Mohave too heroic a figure to be credited with
undertaking the institution of these practices in person. At that, the
treatment is restrained and, from the native point of view, thoroughly
decent, though the emphasis is on festivals, playfields, and
courtship.
SCHEMATIC OUTLINE
_Main Narrative: Mastamho's Instituting_
A. Mastamho Disposes of Dead Matavilya: 1-6
1. Matavilya's death and pyre at Ha'avulypo
2. Coyote seeks fire
3. Fly and the cremation
4. Coyote's theft of the heart
5. Covering of the ashes
6. Coyote abandoned, homeless
B. Avikwame, River, Desert Land and Foods Made: 7-19
7. Mastamho promises to teach
8. Arrival at Avikwame
9. White-spring made for the Chemehuevi
10. Colorado River, fish, and ducks made at Hatasaṭa for the Mohave
11. Matavilya's ashes washed away
12. Boat tilted to widen valley
13. Avikwame mountain made from mud
14. Other mountains made
15. Four seed foods made for the Chemehuevi
16. Four plant foods made for the Walapai
17. Planning for the Yavapai
18. Foods and water made for the Yavapai
19. Languages given to Chemehuevi, Walapai, Yavapai
C. House, Shade, Sleep, and Playground: 20-35
20. Planning a shade roof
21. Ant makes dry ground
22. Two insects dig postholes
23. Shade built
24. House planned
25. House built
26. Door made
27. Insect helpers given names
28. Sunset named
29. House entered
30-32. Night; Future nights; Sleep
33. Day coming
34. Playground made at Miakwa'orve
35. More in time
D. Wild Seeds Planted: 36-42
36. Planning to plant
37. Scaup Duck plants four wild seeds in overflow
38. You will understand later
39. Planning for more planting
40. Frog told to be ready to plant
41. Frog told what wild seeds to plant
42. Return to Avikwame
E. Counting, Directions, Tribal Names: 43-58
43. Preparation for the next night
44-46. First, second, third counts taught
47. Final count taught
48. Fingers made on hand
49. First direction names taught
50. Final direction names taught
51. Mispronounced tribal names
52. Walapai and Yavapai tribes named
53. Chemehuevi named
54. Yuma and Kamia named
55. Mohave named
56. Told to stay a while
57. Doctors will dream of this
58. Mastamho takes new name
F. Hawks and War: 59-69
59-62. Four hawks given names and war power
63. Practice trial
64. Weapons to be made
65. Cremation of warriors
66. Dreamers of journey will be runners
67. Eagle unintelligent; to dream of him unlucky
68. Crane ugly; to dream of him unlucky
69. Hawks will wear morning star in fight
G. Thrasher, Mockingbird, and Mastamho's Dream Names: 70-75
70. Gnatcatcher to be rich: women will dream of
71. Tšoaikwatakwe in cottonwoods: women also dream of
72. Thrasher and Mockingbird-to-be named
73-75. Three new names of Mastamho
H. Pottery and Farmed Food Instituted: 76-78
76. Pottery vessels each given two names
77. Planted foods named
78. Chutaha singing with basket
I. Thrasher and Mockingbird Delegated to Teach: 79-81
79. Thrasher and Mockingbird appointed to teach play and sex
80. Avikwame named
81. What Thrasher and Mockingbird are to do and be
J. Mastamho's Transformation into Bald Eagle: 82-84
82. Turns into Bald Eagle at Avikutaparve
83. Floats downriver to Hokusave
84. Flies south to sea, is crazy (unknowing)
_Supplement: Thrasher and Mockingbird Institute Sex Life_
K. Courtship Instituted at Miakwa'orve: 85-92
85. Thrasher and Mockingbird face people on playground at
Miakwa'orve
86. Tortoise chosen to be approached
87-90. Sparrowhawk, Quail, Ah'akwasilye, Oriole rejected
91. Blue Heron accepted by Tortoise
92. Dove arrives: loose women dream of her
L. Transformation of Water and Valley Birds: 93-97
93. All go downriver to Hokusave
94. Noses of racers pierced there
95. Yahalyetaka's nose pierced with difficulty
96. Racers become water birds
97. Some others become valley birds
M. Mountain Birds Transformed at Rattlesnake's Playfield: 98-101
98. Rest led back to Miakwa'orve
99. Thrasher and Mockingbird at Rattlesnake's Playground teach
venereal cure
100. More songs for this
101. At Three-Mountains, Thrasher, Mockingbird, and rest turn to
mountain birds
N. Leftover Straggler Reaches the Sea: 102
102. Hakutatkole, left for pošoik sickness, goes south to sea and
becomes a bird
QUALITY OF THE NARRATIVE
So much for the content of the narrative: now as to its form. First of
all, although the story is not accompanied by songs, it is developed
according to the same pattern as the song-cycle myths. Moreover, the
informant was just as insistent as the majority of narrators that he
got his knowledge through dreaming.
However, the approach in the telling is less formally decorative and
more rational than in other narratives. There is actually less story,
in the sense of there being a minimum of events, a maximum of
explanation. The account is therefore bald and didactic. One sees the
narrator throughout aiming to be clear even at the cost of repetition
or prolixity.
In fact, repetition is deliberately indulged in as part of the
didactic style. Mastamho talks to himself of what he will do, then
perhaps tells the people that he will do it, then goes and does it;
after which, he may explain to them what he has done. Or he will have
them try the innovation, in which case it may be four times before
they learn, or before he finds the correct manner.
Accordingly, the pace throughout is tantalizingly slow. The story
could have been condensed by me, but its characteristic manner and
style would thereby have been completely discarded. There are constant
references to "This will be, but it is not yet." Such antitheses seem
to serve both emphasis and clarity. For instance, paragraph 62, "If
people dream of you, they will kill enemies; if people dream of being
in darkness, they will not kill them." Or again, paragraph 70, "I will
not let you go to a distance: I want you to stay in this country."
Balances of this sort constitute a distinct stylistic manner,
rudimentary though the devices may be from a literary point of view.
The Mastamho account contains certain minor inconsistencies, but they
are not inconsistencies of identity or kinship of person, or of
topography, as in the Cane narrative; nor are they due to sloppiness
of telling, as in the Coyote stories. The chief inconsistencies noted
are the fact that Mastamho keeps saying that he will teach the people
everything in four nights before his transformation into the bald
eagle, but then actually is six nights doing it; and similarly he at
first separates the people into four future tribes--three in the
desert and the Mohave--but then later there are six, the River Kamia
and Yuma suddenly appearing with the Mohave. These discrepancies
should not be charged too seriously against the narrator's care and
precision. The story is an exceedingly long one. He told it at
intervals during nine days. Part of my time was tied to University
duties, so that there would be whole days of interruption. While I
made no detailed record, I assume that we spent at least four working
days in the telling and Englishing. This would mean a minimum of two
days, or say twelve to fifteen hours, of Mohave narration by the
informant, distributed over more than a week. Few people could follow
one thread of telling so long as this with so few discrepancies.
MAIN NARRATIVE: MASTAMHO'S INSTITUTING.
_A. Mastamho Disposes of Dead Matavilya: 1-6_
1. Matavilya's death and pyre at Ha'avulypo.--Matavilya died at
Ha'avulypo.[1] I did not see him when he was sick, but dreamed of him
and saw him only when he died; others know of his sickness. When he
died in the house,[2] they carried him west of the door. Now Mastamho
was a boy about so high (about ten-year size). They asked: "What shall
we do with him?" Then Mastamho told them: "Burn him. When people die I
want you to burn them. That is what I wish. Now I want you, Badger,[3]
to dig a hole; and I want this man, Raccoon,[4] to bring wood." Then
after a time these two men came back into the house and said: "We have
dug a hole and the wood is ready." Now there were many people there in
the house when they said that, but not one of them spoke a word. Then
Mastamho asked them: "Have you fire?" But Badger and Raccoon said:
"No."
[1] Near Mathakeva, Cottonwood Island, on the Arizona side of
the Colorado.
[2] The door of which of course faced south.
[3] Mahwa.
[4] Nammaθa.
2. Coyote seeks fire.--Now Coyote--θara-veyo-ve, Mastamho called him,
but the Mohave call him Hukθara--said: "I am sorry because Matavilya
died: I want fire and will bring it. I will go to Fire-Mountain:[5] I
know there is fire there and will get it." So he started westward. He
was gone a long time. Mastamho waited and all the others waited. Then
Mastamho said: "I do not want it to become day, for Matavilya to be
lying here in the light. Let it remain night." Now they were all still
waiting for Coyote, but he did not return: he was still traveling
west.
[5] Avi-'a'auva.
3. Fly and the cremation.--Then θilyahmo, Fly, a woman--for there were
only people then, and no animals--who had been sitting west of the
door, went outside, pulled up dead arrowweeds, came back indoors,
broke the sticks up, and dropped them into two or three small piles;
for she wanted to try to make fire. Then she plucked off a strand of
her willow-bark dress and rubbed it fine into tinder. Then she twirled
a stick in her hands, and with this and the shredded bark she made
fire, as she sat in the corner of the house by the west side of the
door. Then she carried it into the middle of the house, saying: "Here
is fire." Now that they had fire, Badger and Raccoon carried Matavilya
outdoors and laid him down on their pile of wood. All who had been in
the house went out with them. Then Badger and Raccoon returned into
the house and brought out the fire. Lighting the pile of wood at the
north end, they went one along each side of it, setting fire to it,
until they met at the south end. There they stood. Then everyone
cried, Badger and Raccoon with the rest.
4. Coyote's theft of the heart.--Now when Coyote arrived at
Fire-Mountain, he looked back and saw the burning at Ha'avulypo. Then
he did not even stop to take the fire, but ran back at once. When he
arrived, he found the people all standing around the pyre. He said:
"Matavilya is dead and I do not know anything. How am I to? He told me
nothing." He ran around and around the circle of people who were
standing and crying for Matavilya. He cried too. Now Mastamho was
standing on a higher place to the north, looking at Coyote. Though he
was only a boy, he was thinking about him. He thought: "I know what he
wants: he is not really sorry." What Coyote wanted was to jump over
the ring of people, to seize Matavilya's heart and run away with it:
that is why he was trying to come near the fire. But the people,
standing close together, would not let him. Now they were all tall;
but Badger and Raccoon were both short. Then Coyote jumped: he
succeeded in leaping over their two heads, and he got to the fire. But
Mastamho said: "Did I not know it? That is Coyote's way: he has no
sense. When a person really mourns he does not take away the heart of
the dead. But now Coyote will go away: I do not want him here. And I
do not want him ever to know anything. I want you who are standing
here to know something, and I will do many things for you. But let him
go off and be Coyote. He will always be without a home in the
mountains. If you see him you will kill him, because he knows
nothing." After Coyote had seized Matavilya's heart, he ran
southwestward, beyond Avikwame to Amaṭa-hotave. There he stopped and
looked south. But the heart was still too hot to hold; so he dropped
it, turned around, and held his mouth open towards the north to let
the wind cool it.[6] Then as the heart lay on the ground and cooled,
Coyote ate it.
[6] Mathak, north, means windward.
5. Covering of the ashes.--Now Coyote thought: "I will go to
Aksam-kusaveve and tell Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye." So he went to
Aksam-kusaveve and told Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye: "Matavilya has
died: go to see him: I am announcing it everywhere." Then
Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye went to Ha'avulypo. When he found where
Matavilya had been burned, he thought: "What shall I do with these?"
So he rolled himself over the ashes. No one had covered Matavilya's
ashes and it was that which Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye did not like to
see exposed; that is why he covered them with sand by rolling over
them. Then he returned to Aksam-kusaveve.
6. Coyote abandoned, homeless.--Now Coyote too came back to
Ha'avulypo. No one was there now, for Mastamho had taken the people
away to Kwaparvete, a short distance southward. He had seen Coyote
coming and had thought: "I do not want to tell him what I know: I want
him to be foolish and know nothing: I do not want him to hear what I
say. I will let him go. He will be the only one like that, the one I
call Coyote. He will not know his own home: he will want to run about
the desert and do what is bad. If someone is not at home, Coyote will
go there; but if a person is in his house, he will not come; and if
anyone sees him, he will run off."
_B. Avikwame, River, Desert Land and Foods Made: 7-19_
7. Mastamho promises to teach.--Now Mastamho said: "There is no house
here, and no shade roof.[7] I have not made everything as yet; it will
take time to do that. I know you are hot or cold, and hungry, and
without houses; but I will provide everything. The sun and the night
have not yet been made, but I will make them; and I will tell you what
to eat. Then you will know how to live."
[7] Ramada, arbor.
8. Arrival at Avikwame.--Now they went downriver to Avikwame. There
was no mountain there then; the land was level. Mastamho said: "Now we
have come to this place and I will do something for you. I want you to
learn how to make pottery, and then to know what food is good to eat.
You will learn how to know day and night. And you will not be hungry
nor thirsty. When you are cold, you will know it[8] and will make a
fire, and will have a house to live in. And so when you are hungry you
will eat, and when you are thirsty you will drink. I will make
mortars, metates, cooking pots, drinking cups, and water jars. I will
tell you all about those things. When Matavilya died, you were
ignorant, but I thought and knew. Therefore I will do these things
that I say; only I cannot do them now, at once. It will take a long
time yet to do them." Now Mastamho had no one to help him, no one to
join with him in talking. He was alone: while there were many people
there, they did not speak. Then he thought: "After I have done other
things for them, I will give them names." Now the people did not
sleep, but constantly stood, or sometimes sat, and when the sun went
down Mastamho talked to them. For four nights he spoke to them.
[8] "At that time they felt neither cold nor hunger, but walked
on and on."
9. White-spring made for the Chemehuevi.--On the fourth morning he
said: "Now I am old enough. I will go west. I will not go far, I will
take only four steps, but I will do something for you." He was
intending to make a spring. So as soon as the sun had risen, he walked
four steps west to Aha-kwi-nyamasave.[9] He put his weight on the
ground, thinking: "Let me see if it is hard." As he stepped on it, he
found that it was soft, like mud. So he went toward the north four
steps. There he stood, stretched out his hand backward, and had in it
a stick of sandbar willow, a forearm long.[10] This stick he set into
the ground. When he pulled it out, water came with it. Then he put his
foot against the water as it flowed out, and pushed earth over it,
until there was only a small stream. Then he returned. When he was
again at Avikwame, he said: "If I had been so sorry for my father[11]
that I had immediately turned myself into a bird, you would now know
nothing. But I want to do everything for you: I want to make things
for you. I call you Hamakhava, Mohave. Now I have made a spring in the
west: I will give that to the Chemehuevi. Those sitting here on the
west side will be the Chemehuevi. Now I will stay here four days and
then I will go north to Hatasaṭa."
[9] "White-water (spring)."
[10] Magically obtaining things by reaching out for them is a
frequent incident in Mohave and other Yuman tradition.
[11] Nakutk, my father. Other accounts, perhaps less influenced
by Christianity, make Mastamho the younger brother of Matavilya.
The narrator subsequently added: Mastamho said: "Matavilya is my
father. I was born at night. Then he said to me: 'I give you a
name. I call you Tinyam-humare, night-child.'" After Matavilya
died, Mastamho no longer liked to hear this name and called
himself Mastamho.
10. Colorado River, fish, and ducks made at Hatasaṭa for the
Mohave.--After four days he went to Hatasaṭa. From there he went west
a short distance to Hivθikevutatše. He said: "They are not named, but
I will give these names to these two places. I will not go farther but
return." He had with him the stick he had got at Aha-kwi-nyamasave,
was using it as an old man uses a cane. So he came back to Hatasaṭa,
and there he set the stick into the ground. When he drew it out, water
came with it. With his foot, he pushed earth over it, thinking: "What
beings shall I let issue with the water, animals that will be useful
for the Mohave?" Four times he allowed water to come and stopped it
again. The first time Atši-mikulye[12] emerged. The next time
Atši-yonyene[13] swam out, and the third time, Atši-hane.[14] The
fourth time Atši-tšehnap, also called Atši-tšeheθilye,[15] came out.
Mastamho thought: "I will give these to the Mohave." Next
Av'akwaθpine[16] came out, and then Puk-havasu.[17] Then there came
Hanemo.[18] Then Hanyewilye, the mudhen, emerged. As each came out,
fish and ducks, he did not let them go, but kept them there. He made
only a little water, enough to hold them. Whenever he left his stick
plunged into the ground, the water did not issue; but when he drew it
out, the water and the fish and the birds came out. When he had
finished making the fish and the ducks, he said: "These are for the
Mohave, but they do not yet know how to catch them. I will teach
them."
[12] A small edible fish with few bones. Atši is fish.
[13] A similar but larger fish, Colorado salmon.
[14] A large fish.
[15] A small, yellow, humped fish.
[16] The scaup (?) duck.
[17] "Beads-blue," that is, blue or green necklace. Probably the
mallard duck.
[18] Hanemo is the name commonly used for ducks generically. It
is also the specific name of the pintail or wood duck. The four
ducks mentioned here reappear with other water birds in par. 96.
11. Matavilya's ashes washed away.--Then he drew out his stick
entirely, and the water came unrestrained, with the fish and ducks in
it, and flowed southward.[19] Mastamho ran ahead of it on the west
bank, to Ha'avulypo where Matavilya had been burned. There he set his
stick into the center of the ashes, for he did not like to see them
and wanted the water to wash them out. He called to the water, and it
ran where he held his stick, and the ashes were washed away. So they
were gone, and the river flowed through the place where they had been.
[19] As the Colorado River.
12. Boat tilted to widen valley.--But Mastamho went back up to
Hatasaṭa. Putting his stick into the same place as before, from which
the water now issued, he stirred it around. Then a boat, kasukye, came
out. Mastamho called it kanuθkye,[20] but the Mohave name is kulho. As
the boat emerged, Mastamho put his foot on it, held it, entered it,
and floated down. Where the river was not broad enough to suit him, he
stood on the edge of the boat until it lay far on its side. Then the
river became wide there. Thus he went down to Avikwame, where the
people were. As they saw him coming down the river and then going by,
they thought that he would leave them. At Aqwaq-iove[21] he waved his
hands to them, meaning: "Stay where you are: I will return." When he
approached the lower end of Mohave valley, he thought: "I think some
one else has taken the boat long ago,[22] and that it will not be
suitable for the Mohave. So I cannot let them have it: I will let it
go." And when he came near where Mellen is now, he jumped off the
boat, shoving it away with his foot: so that it floated downstream.
Mastamho stood at Mepuk-tšivauve[23] and watched it going down. When
it came to Ahwe-nye-va,[24] it no longer drifted tilted, but floated
level. Then the valley land there became wide, and the river also; but
wherever the boat floated tilted, the river and the valley were
narrow. Then Mastamho returned to Avikwame.
[20] Compare the word distortions below, in par. 44 seq., and p.
67.
[21] Near Fort Mohave.
[22] Probably meaning that Hīko or Haiko, white man, already
possessed the idea of the boat.
[23] About eight miles below Needles City.
[24] Near Parker, Arizona.--Here it is the boat's floating
_level_ that widens the _valley_, whereas, just above, Mastamho
_tilts_ the boat to widen the _river_.
13. Avikwame mountain made from mud.--Now there was no mountain at
Avikwame at that time. There was only a flat and the river. The people
stood on the bank. But the water was not near them; as the water
receded, it left mud. Mastamho took up some of this mud and let it
drop. As it fell, he said: "Goloto," as little boys say when they
splash mud in play. He did that repeatedly. He said: "Let it be
higher, and let the river flow by it. After this mountain which I am
making is dry, I will make a house for you: You will be in that."
14. Other mountains made.--Thus Mastamho made Avikwame. When he had
finished it, he made the mountains west of the river, Satulyku,[25]
Ohmo,[26] Mevukha,[27] Hatšaruyove,[28] Avimota,[29] and
Avi-kwi-nyamaθave.[30] All these he made and named.
[25] Near Needles peaks, south of Needles City.
[26] West of Needles City.
[27] South of Ibex.
[28] North of Java.
[29] The same mountain range farther north.
[30] The northernmost end of the range.
15. Four seed foods made for the Chemehuevi.--Then he went westward to
Hukθara-tš-huerve. He took up a handful of fine gravel, put it in his
mouth, then blew it out, wishing to make something to eat for the people
who would live in these mountains that he had made. He thought: "I will
make kwaθapilye seeds: they will be good for the Chemehuevi." Then he
took more gravel and spat it out in another direction, but also
westward, saying: "I now will make ma-selye'aya seeds. They too will be
good for Chemehuevi; they will grind and parch them with coals and have
them for food." Then he ran northward to Avi-nyilyk-kwas-ekunyive, put
gravel into his mouth and spat it out over the ground. "This that I
plant is malysa,"[31] he said. Again he took up gravel and blew it out,
saying: "This that I plant is tšilypeve." When he had planted these
four kinds for the Chemehuevi, he said: "That is all that I can do. You
have seen me: it is all that I can make. No one will be able to sow
these and make them grow: they will grow by themselves every year." Then
he returned to Avikwame and told the Chemehuevi and the Paiute: "I have
planted food for you. I have planted kwaθapilye and ma-selye'aya and
malysa and tšilypeve for you. But wait: do not hurry."
[31] Black seeds resembling those of cane.
16. Four plant foods made for the Walapai.--Then he said: "Next I am
going east, to make mountains there; I want people to live in them. I
will start in four days." After four days he started, crossed the
river, and went downstream to Avi-veskwi.[32] There he stood and
looked back down toward the river, and thought: "It is not very far.
Let me go farther east, to Kitšehayare."[33] So he went on till he
came to Kitšehayare. There he did as he had done before. He put gravel
in his mouth and spat it over the earth. He said: "This is what I
plant: I plant vannata."[34] Again he took a handful of sand and blew
it out. "This that I am planting is vaδilye,[34a] mescal." From there
he went north and said: "I call this place Coyote's water;[35] it will
be good for Coyote. He has no home: when he finds this water he will
drink of it. I do not make it for him, but he will find it." Now he
stood there. Then he stripped the leaves from the tops of the brush
called kamomka and put them into his mouth. He blew them out and thus
made iδitša, the wild grape. "I want it to grow in this spot," he
said. Then as he stood there he scraped his foot to one side, and
grass came up. He said: "I thought when I did that it would grow."
Then, covering it up again with his foot, he took of the sand with
which he covered it, put it in his mouth, blew it out, and kumδur[36]
grew. Now he had made four things for the people who were to be here.
He had made each of these kinds of plants in only one place, but from
that they came to grow in many places. Then he returned to Avikwame.
[32] Boundary Cone, a pinnacle near the east edge of Mohave
valley, part of the Black Range.
[33] A small hill in a large valley, west of Kingman, Arizona.
[34], [34a] Vannata is a root which is peeled and dried, roasted
in the fire like vaδilye, mescal (Agave), and tastes sweet. It
grows in the valleys, while the mescal grows in the mountains.
The habitat and name suggest Yucca, Walapai menat, but the
Walapai speak of cooking the fruit, not the root.
[35] Hukθara-ny-aha.
[36] The tall stalks are eaten by the Walapai.
17. Planning for the Yavapai.--Now he said to the people: "When I tell
you: 'Be Walapai!' you will be Walapai and will live in that country.
When I tell you: 'Be Chemehuevi!' and 'Be Mohave!' you will be
Chemehuevi and Mohave. But that is not yet. First I want to make
something for the Yavapai. So I will go to their place next." He still
had his stick of sandbar willow with which he had made the river. He
said: "I do not want to put this away for when I arrive there, I will
thrust it down and make water: not much, but a little, enough for
everyone to drink. If they have no water at all, they will not be able
to live. So I will go and prepare for them what they will eat and
drink. I will make a small country, enough only for a few. In four
days I will make the land for the Yavapai. I will go to
Amaṭ-ko-'omeome and to Amaṭ-katšivekove and plant seeds there."
18. Foods and water made for the Yavapai.--Now in four days he went
there. When he arrived, he looked about: "It is not a good place to
plant; it is not level enough; too many mountains. I will go to
Avi-ke-hasalye." So he went to Avi-ke-hasalye. He said: "This is where I
want people to live. It is a good place: there is a long plain on each
side." Again he took gravel, put it in his mouth, and blew it out. "I
plant kalya'apa[37] for the Yavapai: I give it them for food. I give
them also a good small stream of water." Again he put gravel in his
mouth and blew it out over the valley eastward. "This that I plant will
be a'a,"[38] he said. Then he started and went to Ah'a-'ikiyareyare,
thinking: "I will go and make cottonwood trees (ah'a) grow." When he
came to Ah'a-'ikiyareyare, he stood and pointed his stick to the west,
to make water flow from there. Then water came towards him: it washed
white sand. Taking a handful of this sand in his mouth, he faced east
and blew out. Then kam'ipoi[39] grew up. "That will be for the Yavapai,"
he said; "they will eat the seeds." Then he said: "I want this little
water to be here always. I do not want it ever to become dry." Then,
taking up sand, he blew it north: akwava[40] grew up in that direction.
He thought: "I will thrust my stick far down into the ground. When I
draw it up, a cottonwood will grow. That is why I will call the place
Ah'a-'ikiyareyare. I will make only one cottonwood, but later there will
be many." He did this and thought: "Now I have finished everything here:
I will go back." So he returned to Avikwame. He returned early in the
morning, after sunrise.
[37] A cactus.
[38] Sahuaro or giant cactus.
[39] A plant about two feet high, with seeds "like wheat, but
much smaller."
[40] The young stalks that spring up after a flood are eaten.
The seeds, which are black, are roasted and ground for food.
19. Languages given to Chemehuevi, Walapai, Yavapai.--Then Mastamho
said: "I have made something for you Yavapai. I have finished it, but
I have still to tell you how to use it. If I do not tell you, you will
not know how to cook and eat what I have made; after I tell you, you
will know and it will be well. But I will not tell you yet." As he was
speaking, they all listened: no one said a word. He said again: "I
have given you all these things, but I have not finished. Now I will
show you how to speak. I want you to talk like this," he said to the
Chemehuevi. "I want you to speak like this," he said, and gave their
language to the Walapai. "And I want you to speak like this," he said
to the Yavapai. But he gave nothing to the Mohave as yet. Then he
said: "Now it is all made. I have prepared it. You can go, you
Walapai, and scatter in the mountains there. You need not go into one
place. You can go all about, for I have made springs everywhere. You
can live in one spot, and when you want to live in another you can do
so. You Chemehuevi can do the same, and you Yavapai too. But I will do
differently for the Mohave. They will have everything along the river:
whatever grows there will be theirs. It is well."
_C. House, Shade, Sleep, and Playground: 20-35_
20. Planning a shade roof.--Now he was thinking of building a shade,
av'a-matkyalye.[41] He said: "I have spoken to the Mohave. Later on
someone will dream what I have told them, and will do accordingly. To
each of you, to all four tribes, I have given something, and you will
know it. I shall not die like Matavilya, but will become a bird. And
there is something more that I will do for you, you Mohave. It will be
difficult for me and will take a long time. I want someone to build a
house. This is no house where we are now. When I have had a house
made, I want you all to enter. Then I will tell all of you what I
shall be. This will be, not soon, but in the future."
[41] A brush roof on posts, ramada or arbor.
21. Ant makes dry ground.--Now the ground was still wet at that time.
Then Hanapuka, the small ant, came up out of the ground, piling up
little heaps of dry sand; as Mastamho walked about, he saw them. He
said: "I wish it were all like this. I wonder who it is that has made
this come out of the ground? I think I will call him Hanapuka." It was
the ant who had done it; it is he who made the earth dry.
22. Two insects dig postholes.--He said again: "Ant has made a dry
place: now mark it out around. I want the house to be built there. I
want the Mohave to enter it; and only they. You, Amaṭ-kapisara, I want
you to begin building it. I want you to dig the holes to set the posts
in. And you, Namitša,[42] carry, and throw the sand farther away when
he digs." Now these two men dug holes and brought poles for the house.
[42] Namitša is a large reddish insect, perhaps a wasp, that
throws earth as it burrows; or perhaps the ant lion?
Amaṭ-kapisara is evidently also a burrowing insect: amaṭ is
earth.
23. Shade built.--Then Mastamho said: "Wait! Listen to me! I call the
posts av'ulypo. Say that, you Mohave! Say av'ulypo!" Then all said:
"Av'ulypo." When the posts were set and they were ready to lay the
girders across them Mastamho said: "Call them iqumnau!" Then all said:
"Iqumnau." Then Mastamho said: "When you lay on the roof poles, call
them av'a-tšutara! Now say that! Say av'a-tšutara!" and they all said:
"Av'a-tšutara." He said again: "When you place the thatching of
arrowweed on the poles, call it av'a-tšusive." Then they said,
"Av'a-tšusive." He said again: "When you lay willows or any other
brush over the thatching, call it av'anyutš." So they said:
"Av'anyutš." Then he said: "Now you have a shade. It will be good for
you. When the sun shines and it is hot, you will go under the shade.
That is what it is for. Now that it is finished, I want all you Mohave
to come under it." Then the Mohave sat under the shade. The Chemehuevi
sat to the west of it. On the east the Walapai sat to the north and
the Yavapai to the south. None of these tribes said a word, and none
of them entered under the shade.
24. House planned.--Then Mastamho went to the edge of the shade and
stood leaning against the post at the southeast corner. He said: "Now
I will build a house. I will make you understand: you know nothing
now. You do not know when a man is hungry or thirsty or cold. You only
know that if he has no shade and stands in the sun, he becomes hot.
You know now that it is good under the shade." Then he entered the
shade again, went to the northwest corner, and stood there. Then he
said: "Amaṭ-kapisara and Namitša, build another house. Build
av'a-hatšore. It will not be well to sit under the shade always. When
it is winter the wind will come: perhaps it will rain and be cold. But
if you build a house, you can make a fire inside of it when the rain
and cold come. That is why I will make a house for you Mohave. I will
build a house here at the back of the shade."
25. House built.--Again he told Amaṭ-kapisara and Namitša to dig holes
in the ground and to bring posts. Then as he still stood, he said to
the people: "When you are about to build a house, and you dig holes,
call them amaṭ-ahuelkye." He wanted them to learn that word. Then, as
they built, he told them to call the different parts av'ulypo,
iqumnau, av'a-tšutara, av'a-tšusive, and av'anyutš as before, and they
repeated each one. Then he said: "We have done all that. We have
covered it with brush. Now put sand on the brush, so that the rain
will not come through. Call that av'a-ta'ive! Say: 'av'a-ta'ive!'" He
gave them that to say and they said it. He said again: "When there is
wind, build a house of timbers and brush and sand. When you make a
house only of posts and thatch, call it av'a-tšoamkuk. But when you
cover it with sand also, call it av'a-tapuk."
26. Door made.--Then he said again: "Now that the house is finished, I
will tell you how to make a door. You will see dead cottonwoods: strip
the bark from them,[43] weave it together, and make a mat longer than
it is wide. Fasten it at the upper corners to a stick. Then call it
av'a-pete."
[43] The inner bark is called hanuθkwilye. "The Mohave now use
black willow bark, iδo, but they learned that themselves;
Mastamho taught them to employ ah'a, cottonwood."
27. Insect helpers given names.--Now the house was complete, but he
did not yet let the people enter. He said: "I want you, Amaṭ-kapisara
and Namitša." He took them to the people and said: "I will give these
two men names for their work. When they dug, they worked quickly. When
they built the house, they finished it quickly. So I will give them
names: listen well, so that you can all say them. This man's name
(Amaṭ-kapisara) is Ikinye-mastšam-kwamitše.[44] Thus I give him a
name, and when you dream you will see him. Do not forget what I tell
you. In future some man will dream and see him. No one will see me
then, but they will dream of me, and in that way they will know all
that I have said. They will have heard everything. Now I have given
this man a name. Now I will give the other one a new name too. I call
him Umas-amtše.[45] People will dream and see him too."
[44] "Boy-throw-far."
[45] Perhaps from amtške, to travel, move about. The insect is
described as noisy and restless. Umas- occurs in other names and
may be a form of humar, child.
28. Sunset named.--Mastamho said: "The house is finished; but I will
not yet take you into it. I said that I would give you food; I will
not tell you about it yet: nevertheless I will give it to you. After
you enter the house, I will tell you what you will plant and what you
will eat. When I enter, I will tell you about what my body will be.
You know the sun, and sunset, and night. When the sun goes down, we
will enter the house. Now, when it is nearly down, the time is
anya-havek-tšiemk. Call it: anya-havek-tšiemk!"
29. House entered.--When the sun went down, Mastamho entered and said:
"Come in, all of you." Then all the Mohave entered the house. The
Chemehuevi stayed outside on the west. On the east were the Walapai
and Yavapai, the latter to the south. Mastamho sat down, leaning back
against the southwestern one of the four middle posts. He was thinking
about the people inside and those outside. He said: "There is a fire
just within the door. Charcoal is piled up there. That is what makes
the house warm. Now you understand: that is how it is done; you have
learned that." As he spoke he was leaning against the post thinking.
He put his hand behind him.
30-32. Night; Future nights; Sleep.--30. He said: "The mountains will
always be here; but I cannot live forever. Darkness is here forever
and day is here forever, but I cannot live like the sun and like the
mountains: I must die. I could tell you about that, but I will not
tell you tonight, because you must sleep. You know now that it is
night. You know how to sleep. After you get up in the morning, I will
speak to you again and will tell you those things. I will not tell
everything as yet."
31. Now he no longer addressed them as Pautšyetše-vukwiδauve as he had
done at first; he called them Patšumi-'itšitš-vukwiδauve[46] now. But
he did not tell them much. He spoke only a short time. He told them
two or three or four or five words and stopped. He said: "This is not
the only night: tomorrow will be another. When one day is gone,
another comes. It will always be so. This is the first night: there
will be three more."
[46] Patšumi, food; kw-iδau, have, hold.
32. That same night he said: "Say: 'Tiniamk!'[47] Say: 'Osmamk!'[48]
Say that when you want to sleep. When you want to enter the house,
say: 'Av'alye pok!'[49] Now say it." Then they all said it. Now they
were still sitting up. Then he said to them: "Lie down. Say:
'Kupam!'[50] After you are lying down, say: 'Upam.'"[51] Then they all
lay down, said nothing, and slept quietly.
[47] "It is night."
[48] Sleep.
[49] In-the-house enter.
[50] Lie down!
[51] I lie.
33. Day coming.--When it was nearly day, Mastamho said: "Day is
coming, but I will not yet let you go outside: I want you to stay here
for four days and nights. Then on the fourth night, toward morning,
when it is still dark, I will let you go to where you belong. It will
not be during the day, but in the night."
34. Playground made at Miakwa'orve.--When the sun had risen, Mastamho
went and stood outside the house. He said: "I want to make a level
place." Then he leveled with his feet a place that had been rough. He
said: "Call it Miakwa'orve.[52] Can you say that? Say: 'Miakwa'orve!'"
Then all said: "Miakwa'orve." He told them: "That is right. I will
make a hill close to the river below Miakwa'orve: swallows[53] will
live there: I will call it Avi-kutaparve. Now say 'Avi-kutaparve!' All
of you say it! That is right. That is the way I say it."
[52] Important later: see par. 85 ff.
[53] Hamkye.
35. More in time.--Now he stayed at Avi-kutaparve that day, preparing
the place for the swallows. At sunset he returned to Avikwame and
entered the house. He said: "I have made two places: made them for
you. When you come there, to Miakwa'orve, those who are footracers
will run. Those who can sing will sing. Some will dance, and some will
gamble.[54] But that is as much as I will tell you: I will not tell
you everything now; in time I will tell you more about those places.
And I do not want you to live there: your houses will not be there.
When you want to sing or dance or speak to the people and tell them
what you know, then go there; but do not live there."
[54] With the hoop and dart game.
_D. Wild Seeds Planted: 36-42_
36. Planning to plant.--That night, in the middle of the night, he
said: "I am going down to Av'a-θemulye and Amaṭ-kusaye and
Hatšioq-vaṭveve.[55] There there are good places to plant after the
river has receded, and seeds will grow there. Av'akwaθpine,[56] who
came out when I first made water in the north, and who has floated
down on the river, knows about that. I will have him plant seeds for
you Mohave; I will tell him to do that for you. I think it will be a
good place to sow. In the morning I will go and have him plant for
you. When I return, I will tell you what he has sowed. I will not tell
you now, but in the evening, after I come back." When he had finished
talking to them thus, he sat leaning forward with bent head, thinking
of what seeds he would plant. He thought, but did not speak aloud.
Then, in the morning, he said to them: "Now I am ready to go. I told
you that today I would go to Av'aθemulye and Amaṭ-kusaye, and
Hatšioq-vaṭveve. I told you that when I had been there and had
returned, I would tell you what seeds had been sown. Now I am going."
[55] Two of these places are mentioned in Vinimulye-patše, II,
1. They seem to be in Mohave Valley, on the west side of the
river, and Amaṭ-kusaye (or -kusayi) is downstream from
Hatšioq-vaṭveve.
[56] A duck, probably the scaup, mentioned before, note 16.
37. Scaup Duck plants four wild seeds in overflow.--Then he went to
Av'a-θemulye and Amaṭ-kusaye and Hatšioq-vaṭveve. When he came there,
Av'akwaθpine was walking about in the mud like a boy at play. He was
entirely covered with mud. When Mastamho saw him, he said: "I have
been thinking about you. I want you to plant four kinds of seeds:
akatai, aksamta, ankiθi, and akyêse.[57] It would be hard if I were to
give you all kinds of seeds to plant: therefore I give you only these
four. Now plant those." Then Av'akwaθpine took the seeds. They were in
four gourds, each kind in one gourd. In the gourd to the southwest
were akatai seeds. Holding the gourd in his left hand, Av'akwaθpine
took the seeds from it with his right hand, put them into his mouth,
and blew them out over the mud. Then he took aksamta seeds from the
northwest gourd and blew them out to the northwest. The ankiθi seeds
he took from the gourd on the northeast and blew them out in that way.
Then he took the akyêse seeds from the southeast gourd and blew them
out to the southeast.[58] Now all four kinds began to grow in the mud.
He said: "See how fast they grow. It will not be long." Then Mastamho
said: "That is good. I will go back and tell my people about it."
[57] "Wild" seeds planted in the overflow. Handbook, p. 736.
[58] Clockwise circuit, beginning with southwest.
38. You will understand later.--Then Mastamho returned to tell his
people about what Av'akwaθpine had done: "He has planted for you what
will be your food. You will know about it later, for as yet you have
no dishes, no pots, and no jars, and do not know how to cook. I will
tell you what to do to eat. Now you think that it is merely necessary
to take with your hands what you want to eat: that is because you do
not yet know. But I will make you understand. In time you will eat,
and you will be happy then. In time I will also tell you about my
turning into a bird. For I shall not die, but shall live as a bird.
Before that happens I will tell you everything."
39. Planning for more planting.--Then Mastamho said: "I have told you
what Av'akwaθpine has planted for you. Now there is something else. In
the morning I will go downriver again, below where I was. I will go to
Avi-halykwa'ampa, Amaṭ-kaputšora, Amaṭ-kaputšor-ilyase, and
Amaṭ-θonohiδauve.[59] There I will get something else to grow. Grass
will grow there of itself, without being planted by people. I will
make Frog[60] plant it for you. He knows the water, for he lives in
it. I do not know him. When I made the river, I saw various kinds of
beings come out with it; but I did not see him. He was born after the
river was flowing. And so he knows the places where the grass will
grow. Now it is three nights, and tomorrow will be the fourth.[61]
Then you all will remain awake the whole night. You will not sleep and
I will tell you what I will do for you. I will tell you that tomorrow.
And this is all I will say today. Now all sleep!"
[59] I cannot place these spots, but judge they are still in
Mohave Valley.
[60] Hanye, the small frog.
[61] The number of nights is correct in contrast with the same
statement made by him two nights later in par. 42; see note 62.
40. Frog told to be ready to plant.--Mastamho remained awake all
night. When it became daylight outdoors, he looked about. Then he
stood in the door and said to his people: "Now I am going down to
Avi-halykwa'ampa, Amaṭ-kaputšora, Amaṭ-kaputšor-ilyase, and
Amaṭ-θonohiδauve." Then he went downriver until he came to
Avi-halykwa'ampa. There he stood on the mesa and looked. Near by,
below, was Amaṭ-θonohiδauve. He thought: "That is a good place. It is
level. I think it will be a good place for growth whenever the river
recedes." Then he went there. He saw Frog sitting there facing the
north and making a noise. He said to him: "I hear you making a noise.
I know what you mean: you want the river to flow toward you. I know
what you are saying: 'I want the water to come here.'" Frog said:
"Yes, that is what I said." Mastamho told him: "After the water has
risen and when it has become dry once more, I want you to plant
something. That is why I came here." Frog said: "Yes, I will plant
it." Then Mastamho went back to Avikwame. He said to his people: "I
saw Frog. I told him I wanted him to plant; but I have not told him
what to plant. I am going back to him tomorrow. Then I will tell him
what seeds to plant."
41. Frog told what wild seeds to plant.--Next morning he went to
Amaṭ-θonohiδauve once more and saw Frog again. He told him: "Now I
will tell you what to plant. I want you to plant akwava, kupo,
hamasqwere, ankike, kosqwake, and aksama: those are the ones. Persons
do not plant them: but you will plant them, and when the water recedes
they will grow by themselves. No one knows about them: only you know
them, you who live in the water. But all will see them after the high
water has gone down. Those plants grow by themselves without having
been sown, I will not tell you where to make them grow, for you will
know. Plant them wherever you like. I want them to grow of themselves,
like cottonwoods and willows. So cause them to spring up wherever you
think best. I do not even know how you will plant them. Perhaps you
will put seeds into your mouth and blow them about; perhaps you will
blow out water from your mouth, or perhaps mud, and it will sprout and
grow. I do not know how you will do it, but I know that you know how,
and so you can do as you like."
42. Return to Avikwame.--When he returned to Avikwame, Mastamho said:
"Well, it is done. You will all scatter along the river on both sides
of it. Everything has been arranged. I will not tell you more now. I
will not speak all night. Tonight is three nights; tomorrow will be
the fourth.[62] Tomorrow I will not let you sleep: you will remain
awake and I will tell you what I shall become; that I shall not die,
but turn into a bird. That is what I will tell you about on the fourth
night, but not today." Then they slept that night.
[62] The narrator has lost his count: it is the fifth night, not
the third. See pars. 31, 36, 39, 40, 42, with the events of par.
44 seq. for the sixth night. It should be said in his behalf
that owing to other duties, I was able to work with him only
intermittently, and that it was now several days since he had
begun his narration to me.
_E. Counting, Directions, Tribal Names: 43-58_
43. Preparation for the next night.--In the morning Mastamho went
outside. He wanted a place to put the people outdoors. He said:
"Tonight some of you will become Mohave, some Chemehuevi, some
Walapai, some Yavapai, some Yuma, some Kamia;[63] and some of you will
become birds. I will tell you about that tonight, but not during the
day."
[63] Another inconsistency, and expansion from four to six, by
the sudden inclusion of the Yuma and Kamia. In pars. 9-19 and
23, it is Chemehuevi, Walapai, and Yavapai as set off from the
Mohave.
44-46. First, second, third counts taught.--44. When the sun set, all
went into the house, and Mastamho stood up. He said: "You are alive
now. I will tell you what you will eat. I will tell you about corn and
beans and melons and other food. But first I will teach you how to
count. I will show you how to use your fingers. When you want to say:
'Four days,' do like this." And he held up four fingers. "When you
want to tell of as many as all these fingers, show them all. Now
listen. All be quiet and listen to me counting. Then perhaps you will
like it. If you do not like it, you can listen to another way. Sintš,
tšekuvantš, tšekamuntš, tšekapantš, tšekaθara, umota, kutšyeta,
koatša, kwisan, noe.[64] Can you say that? How do you like that
counting?" Now those who were to be Mohave did not say a word. They
could not count that way.
[64] The distortions of this and the two following imperfect
counts are analyzed in a separate discussion following the myth.
45. So Mastamho said again: "Count like this: sinye, mivanye,
mimunye, mipanye, miranye, miyuš, mikaš, nyavahakum, nyavamokum,
nyatšupai, nyavali, nyavalak. Can you say that? Do you like that
counting?" But they were silent. There were too many words in that:
more than ten.
46. So Mastamho counted for them again: "Hatesa, hakiva, hakoma,
tšimkapa, θapara, tinye, sekive, kum, ayave, apare.[65] Now I have
counted ten. Perhaps you will like that." Again they did not speak a
word.
[65] This third try at a count interchanges the consonants of
the stressed syllable in the normal Mohave words.
47. Final count taught.--Then he said: "Well, I will make it four
times: I will count once more; that will be all. Then I will teach you
other things: for you do not yet know east and west and north and
south: I will teach you that. Now I will count. Seto, havika, hamoka,
tšimpapa, θarapa, sinta, vika, muka, paye, arrapa. Do you like that?
Can you say that?" Then they all said it after him. They could count
and liked it; they knew how to do it and clapped their hands and
laughed.
48. Fingers made on hand.--Now their hands were not yet as now: their
fingers were still together. Then Mastamho tore them apart and made
five fingers. "I want you to call this one isalye tšikaveta.[66] Call
this one isalye itma-kanamk.[67] I want you to call this one isalye
kuva'enye; this one isalye tokuv'aunye; and this one isalye
kuvapare.[68] Now I have made your hands for you, too."
[66] The thumb.
[67] The index. Kanamk is "point."
[68] Middle, fourth, and little fingers, of course.
49. First direction names taught.--He said again: "Now we are here in
this house: all will know and hear it. Now when I mean here," and he
pointed his hand to the north, "all say: 'Amai-hayame.'" But they did
not do so: they kept their hands against their bodies; they wanted
another name; they did not like that word. Then he said: "And there is
Amai-hakyeme; all say that!" And he pointed south. But again all sat
still: they did not want to call it that. He said again: "Well, there
is another: there is the way the night goes.[69] I do not know where
its end is, but when we follow the darkness that is called
Amai-hayime." He said that, but none of the Mohave said a word: they
sat with their hands against the body. Then Mastamho said once more:
"You see the dark coming. I do not know where it comes from: I did not
make it. But where darkness comes from, I call that Amai-hayike."
Again they sat still and did not point.[70]
[69] The Mohave, like the far-away Yurok, constantly speak of
night coming from the east and traveling west.
[70] The plan underlying the twisting of the terms of direction
is less clear than for the other series of words. See discussion
at end.
50. Final direction names taught.--Then Mastamho said once more: "I
have named all the directions but you have not answered. Well, there
are other names. Listen: I call this (the north) Mathak. Can you say
that?" Then all said, "Yes," and stood up, and pointed north, and
said, "Mathak." He said again: "This (to the south) I call Kaveik. Can
you say it?" Then all said, "Yes," and pointed and called the name and
clapped their hands and laughed. He said again: "I told you that the
night went in that direction. I gave it a name, but you did not say
it. There is another way to call it: Inyohavek. All of you say that!"
Then they all said: "Yes, we can say that. We can call it Inyohavek,"
and all pointed as he directed them. He said again: "Where the dark
comes from, you did not call that as I told you to. There is another
way to call it: Anyak." Then all said: "Anyak," and pointed east and
clapped their hands and laughed. Then Mastamho said: "That is all."
51. Mispronounced tribal names.--Mastamho said: "Some of you are
outside, east of the house: I want you to be the Hamapaivek. Some of
you are outdoors west of the house: I call you Hamivevek. You people
in the house, just west of the door, I call you Hamitšanvek. You just
inside the door, near these last, I call Hamiaivek. You people near
the fire here, not against the wall, I call you Hamahavek." He called
them by these names, but all the people did not answer. They did not
say: "Yes, we will be called that." All of them said nothing.[71]
[71] These distorted forms consist of prefix Ham-, a
suffix -vek, and the accented syllable (plus preceding
unaccented vowel) of the correct Mohave name for the tribe. See
discussion at end.
52. Walapai and Yavapai tribes named.--Then Mastamho said again: "This
time I will call you who are on the east Havalyipai."[72] Then those
people called that name easily, and all those indoors said: "Now they
are the Walapai." Then he said again: "Those will be the Yavapai also.
I want them (the Walapai and the Yavapai) to live near each other in
the mountains." Those are the ones that at first he had called
Hamapaivek.
[72] Or Howalya-paya.
53. Chemehuevi named.--Then he said again: "Those outdoors on the
west, whom at first I called Hamivevek, I now call Tšimuveve. All say
that!" Then all said: "Chemehuevi."
54. Yuma and Kamia named.--He said again: "Those just inside the door
on the west of it I called Hamitšanvek. Now I call you Kwitš(i)ana
(Yuma)." He said again: "You near them, whom at first I called
Hamiaivek, I now call Kamia. You two will live near each other."
55. Mohave named.--Then he said: "I have made you all to be tribes,
Walapai, Yavapai, Chemehuevi, Yuma, and Kamia: you are all different.
I also spoke the name Hamahavek. Now I call them Hamakhave. All will
call you that, you Mohave, and will know you by that name."
56. Told to stay a while.--He said: "I have told you where I want you
each to go. You know the places and you know the way. I will not take
you there: you can go by yourselves. But it is too dark yet: you may
go in the morning." They had been ready to go, and had stood up, even
though it was still night. He told them: "It is too early now. If you
go during the night, you will become confused. Listen to me, and do
not mix with one another: stay here." Then he drew lines with his foot
for the three tribes inside the house, and told them to remain within
the marks. He went outside and drew marks for the Chemehuevi, telling
them: "Stay here," and the same for the Walapai and Yavapai on the
west. As he said to each, "Stay here," he waved (flapped) his hands
downward from his extended arms.
57. Doctors will dream of this.--Mastamho said again: "Follow me, and
do the same. Listen! In future some men will dream: they will be
doctors. If you dream of me at night, you will be crazy. Some men will
be doctors who can cure sickness by touching with their hands. They
will not tell of me, but only sing about me. If you wait here, you
will hear of this and know about me."
58. Takes new name.--He walked about. He stood at the north end of the
house. He said: "My name is Pahutšatš-yamasam-kwakirve. That is my
name now. First my name was Mastamho. But I have left that, and now it
is Pahutšatš-yamasam-kwakirve. Whoever dreams about me will know me by
that name."
_F. Hawks and War: 59-69_
59-62. Four hawks given names and war power.--59. Now in the middle of
the house four men were sitting leaning against the posts. Mastamho
said to them: "You will be birds. You," he said to one, "your name is
Soqwilye-akataya.[73] Stand up! I will give you another name: I call
you Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-kuly-ve.[74] I want you to talk. When you speak
there will be wind and rain and dust. I want you to tell about
fighting: I want you to direct war."[75] This man had a blue stone[76]
ornament in his nose.
[73] A species of hawk.
[74] "Dust-dash-through."
[75] Men who dream of him will always be brave and ready to go
to war. When they narrate what they have dreamed, wind and rain
will follow.
[76] Avi-havasutš.
60. Then he called another one of the same name[77] and said to him:
"I want you to make dust four times, each place behind the other. I
call you Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-kunuly-ke-va.[78] I want you to rush and seize
and kill and fight and take slaves."
[77] Also called soqwilye-akataya, but a smaller species than
the last.
[78] Said also to refer to dashing through dust. The name is the
same except for the "infixes" -nu- and -ke-.
61. He called out the third one,[79] and gave him the name
Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-var-ve.[80]
[79] A hawk described as blue-billed.
[80] "Dust-stay-on-this-side-of."
62. The fourth[81] he called Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-min-ve.[82] He told them
all how to fight: "If there are four or five men on the other side of
where you have made it dusty and dark, you can dash across to the
enemy. If people dream of you, they will kill enemies in battle; but
if they dream that they are in the dark and cannot see, they will not
be able to kill in battle."
[81] A large yellow-billed hawk.
[82] "Dust-pierce." All four names contain ampoṭ, dust; -em;
kutšu-; a verb stem (respectively kuly, kunulyke, var, min); and
the suffix -ve or -va.
63. Practice trial.--Now a man was standing outdoors, north of the
house: his name was Ampoṭ-kwasanye. Mastamho said: "Let us see who of
you will be lucky, who will kill men." Then Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-kunuly-ke-va
rushed through the darkness and caught this man. Thus he learned how to
do, and all shouted and laughed. Mastamho said: "Now you four know how.
You will be the ones to do that."
64. Weapons to be made.--"Now I will tell you what to make in order to
fight with. Make the bow of black willow. Make the arrows from dry
arrowweed. Make the knobbed war club[83] from (bean-) mesquite.[84]
Make the straight war club[85] from screw-mesquite.[86] That will be
four weapons. Sometimes birds' feathers will fall on the ground. You
will pick them up and use them on your arrows.[87] That is how you
will fight."
[83] Halyahwai, potato-masher shape, for end-thrusting from
below into faces.
[84] Analye, Prosopis glandulosa.
[85] Tokyete, for cracking skulls.
[86] Aya, Prosopis pubescens.
[87] War arrows simply had the end of the shaft sharpened--no
head or foreshaft.
65. Cremation of warriors.--"Perhaps later on, when people fight, some
will have dreamed badly and will be killed. Then, when they are
burned, their bows and arrows, their clubs and their feathers, will be
laid on their breasts.[88] Now here you are, you four. I have made you
brave. I have given you everything with which to fight. In the morning
I want you to become birds. I myself will become one."
[88] This seems to be a hereditary privilege, being performed
also for the relatives of brave men, and not limited only to
those killed in battle.
66. Dreamers of journey will be runners.--Mastamho said: "You know
what I did: when I went to plant seeds, I went a long way, to several
places; that was what I did. Some will dream of that journey of mine,
and they will be foot racers."[89]
[89] Because Mastamho traveled far and fast.
67. Eagle unintelligent; to dream of him unlucky.--He said: "There is
a large man here, with long hair. His name is Ampoṭ-em-makakyene. He
is a good-looking man, but he is not intelligent. When I say anything,
he does not look at me: he looks away. If he had looked at me when I
spoke, he would have been an important man. But since he turned away
and did not listen, he will not be a chief. He does not talk loudly,
and no one listens to what he says. Some will dream of him: they will
be great men among the people, but they will not live long. This man
too will be a bird in the morning. He will be Eagle."[90]
[90] The golden eagle; Mastamho himself becomes the bald eagle.
Both are treated depreciatingly compared with the hawks
(falcons).
68. Crane ugly; to dream of him unlucky.--He said again: "There is
another one here who is large and good-looking: his name is
Ampoṭ-hamθarka. He also will not be important. If you dream of him,
you will be quarrelsome, taciturn, poor, and lazy. I call him
Umas-akaaka.[91] He, too, will turn to be a bird, and will be called
Crane.[92] He will stand on the sand flats at the edge of the water
and will eat fish. He will not be good-looking, and men who dream of
him will not be good-looking."
[91] Umas (from humar, child?), common as first element in myth
names.
[92] Nyaqwe.
69. Hawks will wear morning star in fight.--He said to (another one
called) Soqwilye-akataya:[93] "I call you Ampoṭ-malye-kyita because
you talk of fighting and stand by the dust. You will be chief over the
others. I give that to you, and you will know what I say, and will
teach it to some people. You will do that before you turn into a bird.
I myself shall be a bird before you are. Before you change, I want you
to say everything that I have told you. When there is war, put
katšetulkwa-'anya-ye on your shoulder. It is bright: that is how you
will be able to see clearly." He called it katšetulkwa-'anya-ye and no
one understood him; but he meant the morning star.[94] "You will see
it in the morning," Mastamho said.
[93] Said to be the largest of the hawks, and distinct from the
four mentioned before.
[94] Hamuse-ku-vataye, "great star."
_G. Thrasher Mockingbird, and Mastamho's Dream Names: 70-75_
70. Gnatcatcher to be rich: women will dream of him.--He said again:
"There is Ampoṭe-ku-vataye,[95] a small man. He is the older brother
of Eagle's father; but he is smaller than Eagle. I give it to him to
be a rich man. He will have much food, and all the people will come to
him to dance. They will sing and dance and jump and wrestle and play.
Whoever dreams of Ampoṭe-ku-vataye will be such a man. But you,
Ampoṭe-ku-vataye, will be Gnatcatcher.[96] I will not let you go to a
distance: I want you to stay here in this country.[97] I want you to
be near the river. There you will live."
[95] "Great dust."
[96] Hanavetšipe. Described as building small-mouthed nests in
mesquite trees.
[97] Evidently the narrator has in mind the Mohave country,
though Mastamho is still at Avikwame.
71. Tšoaikwatake in cottonwoods: women also dream of.--He said once
more: "There is another man: you, Ampoṭe-'aqwaθe. When you have become
a bird your name will be Tšoaikwatake. I want you to stay below where
Gnatcatcher will be. You will be among the cottonwoods and the sandbar
willows. Gnatcatcher will take the land where the mesquite grows; you
will have the overflow land. Between you, you will divide the low
valley. You, Gnatcatcher, when the mesquite-screws are ripe, and you
want to store them, ask Tšoaikwatake for arrowweeds with which to make
a granary; he will give them to you. Not men, but women, will dream of
you two."[98]
[98] Such women are diligent and never tire of work.
72. Thrasher and Mockingbird-to-be named.--Again he said: "There is
one to whom I give it to tell what he knows. He will talk to you. I
shall go south and become a bird and tell you nothing more: then he
will teach you. His name will be Ikinye-istum-kwamitše.[99] With him
will be Hatšinye-kunuya,[100] a woman: I name those two. They will be
the ones who will show you how to be happy. They will tell you how to
feel good."
[99] Boy-istum-cry (?).
[100] Girl-kunuya.
73-75. Three new names of Mastamho.--73. "Now I have made everything.
I have also given you those who will tell you more. Now I am standing
here. When at first I stood in the north, you knew the name I had
then. It was Pahutšatš-yamasam-kwakirve. Now I stand in the west and
have another name. Now my name is Pahutšatš-yamasam-kuvatš-kye."[101]
[101] Food-white-walk-about.
74. Then he stood at the southwestern corner of the shade. The
Mohave stood north of him. Then he said: "Now my name is
Pahutšatš-yamasam-kuvatš-inalye.[102] Watch me! I shall be a bird:
but I shall have told everything before I become a bird. There was a
large house, the oldest house.[103] I was a boy then, and came here
and built the house here. Now all raise your arms." Then all raised
their arms, laughing, and pulled at the posts and made the shade
shake. Then he said: "The house I built is still new and young. It
still moves and shakes."
[102] Food-white-stand-off-from.
[103] Ha'avulypo.
75. He went off a short distance and stood, away from the people. He
said: "There is another name by which I will call myself. It is
Pahutšatš-yamasam-kuvatš-kaδutše.[104] That is four names that I
have." Now he was standing still farther towards the south[105] from
them than before: he had stepped backward. Each time he moved farther
away and took a new name.
[104] Food-white-stand-at-a-distance.
[105] One would expect a circuit, but the directions are N, W,
SW, S.
_H. Pottery and Farmed Food Instituted: 76-78_
76. Pottery vessels each given two names.--Again he said: "This is the
last before I become a bird. But no, I have forgotten one thing. I
want you to use something to bring water in: mastoyam. And I want you
to use something to cook in: umas-te-tooro and umas-te-hamoka." But no
one understood him. He said again: "You do not understand. You call
them water jar,[106] and cook pot,[107] and large stew pot.[108] I
also want you to have umas-uyula, but you do not understand me. I mean
spoon.[109] I want you to have what I call han'ame, but you do not
know what I mean. It is an oval food platter.[110] And I want you to
have what I call umas-kasara. I mean the stirrer.[111] You do not yet
know it, but when you boil food you will stir with this. I am telling
you these things, though you do not understand me, because I want you
to know everything. Some of you are listening to me and know what I
say: they will be doctors. But some do not understand me and do not
listen. And there will be what I call umas-iaδa. You do not know what
that is, but it is a bowl.[112] There will be another one: I call it
umas-eyavkwa-havik. I mean the parching dish.[113] You will use that
when you toast corn and wheat."
[106] Hapurui.
[107] Taskyene.
[108] Tšuvave, set on three supports; hence the name applied by
Mastamho: hamoka being three.
[109] Pottery spoon or ladle, kam'ota.
[110] Kakape.
[111] Three or four sticks tied together in the middle and used
to stir stews; called so'ona.
[112] A round bowl without lip: kayeθe.
[113] Katele of pottery, pointed at two ends.
77. Planted foods named.--"I will tell you also what you will eat
without cooking: you will eat umas-kupama. I mean melons.[114] But
there will also be umas-kupama which you will cook: I mean pumpkins.
And there is still another thing. You will have corn and wheat and
beans to grind. To do this you will use umas-oapma. I mean the
metate.[115] And I will show you tšamatš-ke-hutšatše: I will give you
that. You do not know what it is; but I mean food (tšamatš). I mean
white beans, yellow beans, black beans, spotted beans;[116] and white
maize, blue maize, red maize, white-and-yellow mottled maize, and
yellow maize.[117] You will see all these: you will call them thus.
Now I have given you these names, and this food: I have finished
that."
[114] Topama, melons of all kinds.
[115] Ahpe, the grinding slab or "saddle quern."
[116] Beans are marika, teparies: the colors are,
respectively, -nyamasave, -akwaθe, aqwaq-itšierqa (deer
excrement), hatša (Pleiades).
[117] Maize is taδits: the colors, in order, are:
-nyamasave, -havaso, -ahwaṭa, -arrova, -akwaθe--five
in all, where four or six would be expectable.
78. Chutaha singing with basket.--"And if you dream about these
things, you will sing Tšutaha. I will tell you what you will use, for
singing that. You will beat umas-ekyire: I mean a basket, karri'i."
Then all said: "Karri'i." "And I say: Umas-ihonga. When you strike the
basket with your hand, it will make a noise: hāng. At Miakwa'orve you
will have samelyivek and itšimak. You will call that arro'oi, play.
You will do that at Miakwa'orve: all the people will dance; that is
what I mean."
_I. Thrasher and Mockingbird Delegated to Teach: 79-81_
79. Thrasher and Mockingbird appointed to teach play and sex.--Then Mastamho
said again: "Now everything is finished. You, Ikinye-istum-kwamitše, and
you, Hatšinye-kunuya, are the man and the woman I have appointed. Now they
do not yet marry each other and do not love. You two will make it that all
will marry. You will marry. Then you will have a child: it will be another
person. I give it to you to do that. All will do what you do and as you
say."
80.--Avikwame named.--He said again: "This mountain Avikwame that I have
made and where I have built my house, I call it avi-nyamaθam-kuvatše.[118]
Men who are not doctors will call it Avikwame, but some of you will dream
about me and they will call it avi-nyamaθam-kuvatše. That is what I mean."
[118] -nyamaθam for (?) nyamasam, white; kuvatše, stand (?).
81.--What Thrasher and Mockingbird are to do and be.--Meanwhile
Mastamho had walked backward from where the people were, until now he
had reached Avi-kutaparve.[119] From there, still looking north, he
saw Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya, whom he had appointed
to arrange about marriage, making the people stand in a row in order
to talk to them. So he said to them: "That is right: that is what I
want. You will do that: you will tell them everything about marrying.
Then when you have told them all, you also will be birds, as I shall
be. You, Hatšinye-kunuya, will do that. When a woman dreams of you,
she will be loose.[120] You, Ikinye-istum-kwamitše, will be dreamed of
by some men. Those men will be ugly, but they will be successful with
women;[121] they will always be marrying. When you turn into birds,
you, Ikinye-istum-kwamitše, will be Curve-billed Thrasher.[122] You,
Hatšinye-kunuya, will be called thus while you are a girl, but after
you are a woman, you will be called Kuvuδinye. When you have said
everything that I have told you, and have become a bird, you will be
Mockingbird: Sakwaθa'alya is how people will call you."
[119] Near Fort Mohave. See ante, par. 34. It is near
Miakwa'orve of note 52 and par. 85 ff.
[120] Kamaluik. Cf. note 148.
[121] θenya'aka-'itθak.
[122] Hotokoro.
_J. Mastamho's Transformation into Bald Eagle: 82-84_
82. Turns into Bald Eagle at Avi-kutaparve.--Mastamho was standing at
Avi-kutaparve. Now he proceeded to leave (change) his body. That is
why the little mountain there is now white in one place. Mastamho was
looking to the north, standing close by the river. He wanted to have
wings and flap them. He moved his arms four times to make them into
wings. Then he said: "See, I shall be a bird. Not everyone will know
me when I am a bird. My name will be Saksak."[123]
[123] The bald or white-headed eagle; or possibly the
fish-diving osprey.
83. Floats downriver to Hokusave.--Then he turned around twice from
right to left, facing south, and then north, then south and north
again, and lay down on his back in the middle of the river. Four times
he moved his arms in the water. Thus he reached Hokusave.[124] Then he
had wings and feathers, and rose from the water. He flew low above the
water so that his wings touched it.
[124] About eight miles north of Needles City, in California,
not far from the Nevada line.
84. Flies south to sea, is crazy (unknowing).--He flew southward,
looking for a place to sit. He settled on a sandbar. But he thought:
"It is not good: I will not sit here"; and he went on again. He sat on
a log, but thought again: "No, I do not like this," and went on. He
sat on a bank, but thought: "No, it is not good," and went on. So he
went far down to the sea where the river emptied into it. There he
stayed, and lived near the river eating fish. Now he was crazy and
full of lice and nits.[125] Now when he had told everything and was a
bird, he forgot all that he had known. He did not even know any longer
how to catch fish. Sometimes other birds kill fish and leave part of
them. Then Saksak eats them, not knowing any better. He is alone, not
with other birds, and sits looking down at the water: he is crazy.
[125] Hatšilye, "louse-excrement." When a bald eagle is killed
it is said to be always lousy and to smell of fish. People who
dream of Mastamho after he became the bald eagle know nothing
and are crazy (yamomk) like him.
SUPPLEMENT: THRASHER AND MOCKINGBIRD INSTITUTE SEX LIFE
_K. Courtship Instituted at Miakwa'orve: 85-92_
85. Thrasher and Mockingbird face people on playground at
Miakwa'orve.--Now when Mastamho had died,[126] the man and woman he
had left at Miakwa'orve, Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya,
took his place. So wanting to make a field for play, matāre, they drew
their feet in a line over the ground for the people to stand on facing
north. "No, it will not do;" they said. Then they drew lines for them
to stand on facing east, and south, but again they said: "No." Then
they drew a line so the people could look toward the west.[127] Then
they said: "Yes, that will be right." Now they marked four such lines
and made the people stand along them in four rows, one behind the
other, all facing west. In the middle, between the first and second
lines, they set a stick of sandbar willow.
[126] Left his human body.
[127] Sunwise circuit beginning in north.
86. Tortoise chosen to be approached.--Then they said: "Who is a
beautiful woman? I think Pahutšatš-yamasam-iarme. Mastamho did not
call her by that name, but he told us to. After a while she will turn
to be Tortoise: then she will be called Kapeta." Now that woman stood
there, with long hair reaching to the middle of her thighs and white
paint[128] on it. The two said: "Some of you go to her. If she does
not like you, she will not have you; but if she likes you, she will
marry you. Go and try to take this good-looking woman's hand. If she
takes yours, it will be because she likes you; but if she does not
like you, she will refuse to let you take her hand. In future there
will be men who dream that they have taken her hand: such men will
always be able to become married as they like. When she turns to be a
tortoise, those who dream of her will sing Kapeta.[129] And other men
will dream of what we are making you do now, making you stand in four
rows. Those men will sing Yaroyare."[130]
[128] Amaṭ-ehe.
[129] There is a reference to Kapeta or Tortoise singing and
story in Handbook, p. 763.
[130] There is little on record about the Yaroyare song-cycle.
The narrator, on another occasion, coupled Yaroyare and
Ipa-m-imītše (person-wail) as dealing with Matavilya's sickness
and death at Ha'avulypo, of the dreamers laying their hand on
him, and the like. They sing and tell about this at people's
death, he said. He knew one man who had dreamed this: his name
was Kolhonyešuδuk (alive in 1903), who was a doctor, but only
for ahwe'-ahnok, "foreign sickness" due to eating alien tribes'
food.--Another informant, Atšyôra-hunyava, did not mention
Yaroyare but coupled Ipa-m-imītše with Humahnān, a cycle named
after a black, hard, stinking beetle. Both singings use no
rattle or other instrument and belong to doctors who cure
sickness due to eating hawk-wounded birds, or birds killed by
oneself, or to birds which cause young babies to be sick with
white stools.--All this does not sound like having much to do
with courtship and play.
87-90. Sparrowhawk, Quail, Ah'akwasilye, Oriole rejected.--87. The
people were still standing in four rows, facing west.[131] Before
them, at the southern end of the rows, stood Ikinye-istum-kwamitše,
looking at them all, and Hatšinye-kunuya stood at the stick they had
set up. Now the first who went to take the hand of the woman was
Sparrowhawk.[132] As he came up to her, he said: "Liklik."[133] But
the woman said: "That is a bad word to say to a woman,"[134] and all
four rows of people laughed.
[131] Mohave dancing is described in Handbook, pp. 746, 765.
[132] θinyere.
[133] The bird's call.
[134] Have-lik or have-kwet means clitoris.
88. Now when a man will have great supernatural power he dreams of
Hoatšavameve and Amaṭ-ku-matāre.[135] Quail[136] came from those
places. He was a good-looking man, with fine eyes, and hair tied at
the ends below his hips. Now as he approached the woman and tried to
seize her hand, she, knowing that where he came from was where they
gave power, was dissatisfied with him and folded her arms, so as to
cover her hands. So Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya said:
"This is not the place to acquire power and learn to be a doctor: we
are teaching other things: we are showing how to sing and dance. This
is no place for a doctor to come to." Then Quail went back, and stood
at a distance, and all the people laughed and clapped their hands. Now
these two men, Sparrowhawk and Quail, were good looking, but it was
with them as it is with some men now, who are good looking but fail to
marry women they want. As Quail came from where doctors are made and
was not wanted, people now are afraid of doctors.[137]
[135] East of Avikwame, close to the river in Arizona. The
second name means "playfield-place."
[136] Ahma.
[137] One of the rather rare explicit "because then, therefore
now" explanations.
89. Now there was a man called Ah'a-kwašilye,[138] who came from
Avi-kunu'ulye.[139] He went and stood before the woman holding his
privates in his hands. Then the woman said: "I do not want him! I do
not want that sort of a man to come here: it is bad." So he went back
to Avi-kunu'ulye.[140]
[138] A bird with red wing pits. It lives in cottonwood trees.
[139] A small peak, sharp and erect, about six miles north of
the Hoatšavameve just mentioned. Ku-nu'ulye, tumescence.
[140] "Some men dream of this place or this man. Then they will
fail to obtain wives. They will say of a woman: 'I should like
to have her,' but they will never marry her."
90. And there was a man called Yamaθame-hwarme. When he became a bird,
he was called Oriole.[141] Now he too approached the woman. He was a
man who knew too much and spoke constantly. Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya said: "He talks too much: he chatters."[142] When he
came to the woman, she swung her arms and pushed him back. So he
returned and stood at the rear of the four rows, and all laughed.[143]
[141] Sakumaha.
[142] The oriole is reputed noisy.
[143] The three preceding suitors did not come from among the
people standing in rows at Miakwa'orwe, and are evidently
thought to have returned to their homes after being rejected.
91. Blue Heron accepted by Turtle.--Now when Mastamho had turned into
a bird and gone south, one other man went also. His name was
Ampoṭ-yamaθam-kuvevare. He, too, reached the sea. Now he said: "I
thought that everything had been made and that all had turned into
birds: but it is not finished yet. I hear a noise at Miakwa'orve: I
will go there." Then he started to return. He came to Aksam-kusaveve,
and from there he went on to Hanemo'-ara, where there is a lake.[144]
When he looked into the water there, he saw little fish, atši-mikulye,
and caught four. He put leaves of black willow through the gills of
the four fish, and so made a head dress like the feathers worn on a
stick at the back of the head: he called it atši-sukulyk. From there
he went on to Miakwa'orve. He did not go among the rows of people, but
stood at the side and looked at the woman. He had whitened his face
with dust which he had rubbed on his hands on the ground. Now he
stretched out his arm toward the woman. She put out her hand, and he
took it and pulled her over to where he stood. Then they said: "That
man has her: he is married to her." And all laughed. He was Great Blue
Heron.[145] He is not a handsome bird now and was not a handsome man
then, but he was easily married. So some men are ugly but dream of
him, and then easily obtain women, even virgins, and if they leave
these, they readily secure others. And so now all the people said: "He
has taken Pahutšatš-yamasam-iarme: she is his wife: her husband is
Heron." Now Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya said: "That was
what we wanted you to see and to learn. Now when you want to marry, do
that way."
[144] An overflow lake or slough from the river. Hanemo means
duck.
[145] Atšqeuqa, the American bittern, or great blue heron, whose
cry is qau, qau.
92. Dove arrives: Loose women dream of her.--Now there was a girl
called Hatšinye-kwora'e. When all went away from Ha'avulypo at night,
after the house there had been burned, she came back next morning
alone, looking for food that might have been thrown away. From there
she did not go with the others to Avikwame and Miakwa'orve, but
traveled westward[146] until she came to Otahvek-hunuve.[147] There
she made with her hands a round level place on top of the mountain.
Now, as she stood there facing north, she heard the noise from
Miakwa'orve. Then she started for it. When she came to Oyatš-ukyulve
and Hokusave, she stood still and heard the noise from Miakwa'orve
more loudly and saw the dust rising. So she went on and reached
Miakwa'orve. Then Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya said to
her: "We have made every thing: it is finished, and the people here
have the knowledge. But we will tell you the same that we told them.
You are a handsome girl. In future, some women will dream of you. Then
they will be loose.[148] And you will turn into a bird. You will
become Dove."[149]
[146] Through the valley in which Ibex lies.
[147] South of Ibex.
[148] Kamaluik, as in note 120. Such women do not stay with one
husband, but have no children and change from one man to
another.
[149] Hoskive, the mourning dove.
_L. Transformation of Water and Valley Birds: 93-97_
93. All go downriver to Hokusave.--Then they said: "She was one who
was away and did not see what we did; but now all have come and have
heard. Now you will all become birds. We will go with you to
Oyatš-ukyulve and Hokusave[150] and there we will turn you into
birds."
[150] Where Dove had just come from, and where Mastamho rose
from the river (par. 83).
94. Noses of racers pierced there.--Then they started to go to those
two places. When they arrived, Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya made a large circle on the ground. Then, standing to
the west of it, they said: "Let us see you all run with your mouths
shut tight, holding your breath. Do not breathe until you have gone
around the ring. If you breathe only then, you will be footracers."
Then they pierced the septum of the nose of those who were about to
run, for four at a time; when four had been pierced, they ran. Then
Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya would pierce another four,
and these ran. Now some of them could not run all the way. Some went
part way and breathed out, "Wh!" and everybody laughed because such as
these could not run well. Then Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya pierced the noses of four and with them of
Kasunyo-kurrauve,[151] so that five of them ran together. The other
four became exhausted after one circuit, but Kasunyo-kurrauve ran
around four times with his mouth still shut. Only after the fourth
circuit, he said: "Wh!" Then Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya
said to him: "You are the one who can run. Those who will dream of you
will be racers."
[151] Kasunyo is the American gold-eye; kurrauve seems to refer
to running.
95. Yahalyetaka's nose pierced with difficulty.--Now all of the
runners had had their noses pierced, and Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya said to them: "Now we will throw you into the water."
But there was one left inside the ring, who sat crying because no hole
had been made in his nose. He wanted his nose pierced too, but it
could not be done, for it was too flat to perforate; therefore he
cried. He said: "If you do not pierce me, I shall not be able to go
with the others but must stay here." So he sat crying with his hands
together, and all stood there about him. Some said: "Well, why can we
not pierce his nose?" But others said: "It cannot be done. It is too
flat, like my hand." "Well, let us try it anyway," they said. Then
Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya went to him and, by drawing
out his nose, succeeded in piercing it. Then he was glad. He is
Yahalyetaka.
96. Racers become water birds.--It was not all the birds who had had
their noses pierced, but only those that live in the water.[152] There
were Scaup Duck,[153] Mallard, Wood-duck,[154] Mudhen; also
Hwat-hwata, Tšuyekepuyi, Sahmata, Minyesa'atalyke,[155] Moviθpa,[156]
Sakataθere, Western Grebe,[157] and Minyesahatša.[158] They said: "Now
we all have holes in our noses. Hereafter, people who dream of us will
have their noses pierced and will be able to go far without becoming
tired or hungry. Some who dream of us will be chiefs: they will have
ornaments hanging from their noses and people will know them and say
'That is a great man.'" Then they ran a short distance and returned
four times; then they jumped into the river. "Now we shall be water
birds," they said.
[152] That is, dive, evidently.
[153] Av'akwaθpine. The identification is not sure.
[154] Or pintail? Hanemo. Cf. note 18.
[155] Probably red-headed, since the name was misapplied to a
specimen of a pileated woodpecker.
[156] A bird similar to the king rail.
[157] Halyekūpa, to be distinguished from halyepūka, the loon.
[158] Said to be a land bird, the varied thrush; see
minyesa'atalyka just above.
97. Some others become valley birds.--Then Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya said to the others: "You know in what places you will
like to live, whether among the willows or the cottonwoods or
elsewhere. This country will belong to you, and you will stay
here."[159]
[159] They became land birds.
_M. Mountain Birds Transformed at Rattlesnake's Playfield: 98-101_
98. Rest led back to Miakwa'orve.--Now some of them had not yet turned
into birds. Then Ikinye-istum-kwamitše said: "We will go back to
Miakwa'orve: we want to do something more." Then he started with
Hatšinye-kunuya and with those that were still people. When they came
to Avi-kutaparve, they stood there. Then Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya said: "We have done what he wanted us to do: we have
made them birds. We have made it that those who will live in this
country in the water and near the river will be here. And they know
how to marry: they will have children and so they will continue. You
know how: you saw Ampoṭ-yamaθam-kuvevare become married. Those who
will live here have learned from that. But some will marry a woman and
feel well, but later they will become sick. We will tell about that
also. There will be men who dream about that, and such men will know
how to cure venereal disease. We will not tell you that here, but we
will go where the darkness goes, and when we come to another place
like Miakwa'orve, we will tell you there. Rattlesnake's
Playground[160] is that place. We will make you birds there, mountain
birds, who will not be about here. And there will be some who will
dream about us at that place."
[160] Hayekwire-nye-matāre, a dry lake bed which the railroad
crosses between Mojave station and Kramer. It is described as
about fifteen miles east of Mojave, wide, level, entirely
without vegetation, and surrounded by mountains.
99. Thrasher and Mockingbird at Rattlesnake's Playground teach veneral
cure.--Then they started; and near sunset they arrived at
Rattlesnake's Playground. Then Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya said: "When you have intercourse, you will think you
feel good. But some of you will be sick from that. Some women will
have a baby. When it is born, it will cause them great pain in the
belly. The pain will go back into them and will be a sickness in the
bones." Then they hooked their middle fingers into the middle fingers
of the people who were still with them and swung them to the left.
This they did to all of them, saying: "You will understand." After
they had been swung, all sat looking at the ground, and appeared thin
and sickly. Then the two talked to them again, and sang four songs.
When they had sung the four songs, the flesh had returned to them and
they were healthy once more; and they all shouted and laughed.
100. More songs for this.--The two said to them: "You have seen us do
that: you all know it now. When someone dreams about us, let him tell
what we have said. When they cure sickness, let them say what we have
said, and the sick person will get well. Sometimes a man will like a
woman. She will sleep with him and soon he will be sick. Or she will
like him, and kiss him, their saliva will come on each other, they
will become sick, and have pains in the body. Then sing about us and
you will cure them." Then they sang again for them.[161]
[161] Making the total number of songs used by the doctors of
such sickness much greater than the four first mentioned. In
addition, the narrator stated, Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya sang other songs, later learned by other people,
to cure different kinds of sickness; but of that he himself did
not dream.
101. At Three Mountains, Thrasher, Mockingbird, and rest turn to
mountain birds.--Now in the morning Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and
Hatšinye-kunuya wanted them to try to fly; they wished them to learn
flying. Four times they all rose into the air and settled again,
Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya with the others. Then they
flew off, northward to Three Mountains.[162] When they arrived there,
they were birds, and no longer knew where they came from. Then
Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya said: "Now we know nothing.
Now we think no more, for we are birds. We are Thrasher and
Mockingbird. When you dream of us, and tell of us and of Three
Mountains, for a person that is sick, you will cure him. Say: 'I saw
them do that: I heard them say that.' Then the person will become
well. Tell them that we said so and so."
[162] Avi-hamoka, described as being "near Tehachapi."
_N. Leftover Straggler Reaches the Sea: 102_
102. Hakutatkole, left for Pošoik sickness, goes south to sea and
becomes a bird.--Now when the others had all flown off to Three
Mountains, one of them, Hakutatkole, nevertheless had stayed at
Rattlesnake's Playground. He was sick with pošoik[163] in his mouth.
Ikinye-istum-kwamitše and Hatšinye-kunuya had said: "We do not want
that kind of man with us," and had left him. So he went south, alone,
until he reached Halyuilyve. Now at Konyokuvilyo and Ha'tana there was
another man, Himeikwe-halyepoma, who also taught, but about other
things. Hakutatkole, coming to where he lived, approached him with his
hand over his mouth; but Himeikwe-halyepoma, coming to meet him,
pulled away his hand from his mouth, and said: "Do not come here!" and
pushed him away. So Hakutatkole went south to the sea,[164] and there
he, too, became a bird.
[163] A minor skin disease, for which the Mohave do not employ
doctors. They fear it as contagious, however, and others do not
use the clothing or food dishes of the person afflicted.
Hakutatkole is said to have received this sickness from
swallowing sea fog: the bird is spotted inside the mouth.
[164] Cf. his illness being from sea fog.
THE LISTS OF MANUFACTURED WORDS
The most concise analysis of the counts in paragraphs 44-47 of the
story is given by a comparative tabulation such as follows. With its
subjoined notes, this table probably is as explanatory of the
processes followed in the distortions as is possible in the present
lack of analytic understanding of the Mohave language.
_First try_ _Second try_ _Third try_ _Final_
1. si-ntš si-_nye_ _ha_-TESA seto
2. _tšeku_-va-_ntš_ _mi_-va-_nye_ _ha_-KIVA havika
3. _tšeka_-mu-_ntš_ _mi_-ma-_nye_ _ha_-KOMA hamoka
4. _tšeka_-pa-_ntš_ _mi_-pa-_nye_ tšim-KAPA tšimpapa
5. _tšeka_-θara _mi_-ra-_nye_ θa-PARA θarapa
6. *umo-_ta_ {_mi_-*yu-_š_ TIN-_ye_ sīnta
{_mi_-*ka-_š_
7. _ku_-*tšye-_ta_ _nya_-_va_-hak-_um_ _še_-KIVE vīka
8. *koa-_tša_ _nya_-_va_-mok-_um_ KUM mūka
9. *kwisan _nya_-_tšu_-pai _a_-YAVE pāye
10. *noe {_nya_-_va_-*li _a_-PARE arrapa
{_nya_-_va_-*lak
_Underlined_: jingle increments.
CAPITALS: metathesized parts.
* Asterisks: stems or bases not found in any Yuman language (except
possibly 6, *umo-, cf. Yuma xumxuk; 7, -*tšye-, cf. Yuma pāx-kyê-k).
Remaining syllables are those parts of normal Mohave count words which
have survived the playful mutilations. They are of course not the
etymological bases, except sometimes by accident.
2, 3, 4 in actual Mohave appear also as havik, hamok, tšimpapk.
* * * * *
The made-up directional names, paragraph 49, do not yield to analysis
or relate to the standard forms.
_Trial_ _Standard_
_ha_-YE-_me_ matha-k
_ha_-KYE-_me_ kavei-k
_ha_-_yi_-_me_ inyohave-k
_ha_-_yi_-KE anya-k
The trial names for tribes, paragraph 51, are built around the
accented syllable of the normal Mohave form of the name. To this is
prefixed _ham_-, followed by the vowel -_a_- or -_i_-. This prefix may
possibly be taken from the Mohaves' name for themselves, Hamakhava or
Hamakhave. There is also a suffix -_vek_; which may or may not be
suggested by the final syllable of Hamakhave and Tšimuveve. These
devices yield a list that jingles with initial and final rhymes: but
the parts seem unetymological.
_Trial name_ _Mohave name_
_Ham_-_a_-PAI-_vek_ Walya-PAI (Hoalya-paya)
Yava-PAI (Yava-paya)
_Ham_-_i_-VE-_vek_ Tšimu-VE-ve
_Ham_-_i_-TŠAN-_vek_ Kwi-TŠAN-(a)
_Ham_-_i_-AI-_vek_ Kam-i-A(I) (Kamia)
_Ham_-_a_-HA-_vek_ Ham-ak-HA-ve
_Underlined_: jingle increments.
CAPITALS: retained accented syllable of real name.
The concocted names of objects having to do with preparation of food
seem not to be made by jingles or twistings, but to be descriptive
ritualistic circumlocutions somewhat like the long compound names of
myth personages. I cannot translate most of them; but there are a few
indications. The large tšuvave cook pot is called umas-te-hamoka
because it rests on three (hamoka) supports in the fire. Katela, a
double-pointed parching bowl, is spoken of as umas-eyavkwa-havik, the
last element meaning two. The frequent prefix umas- occurs in the
names of many myth personages; it seems to be a form of humar, child;
why it is used here is obscure. Umas-ekyire seems to be a distortion
of karri'i, the usual word for basket. Tšamatš-ke-hutšatš for tšamatš,
food, suggests Pa-hutšatš, another name for Mastamho, as in paragraphs
73-75; also his name in the Goose myth (Handbook, p. 767). The name
may mean "food person."
APPENDIX I: MOHAVE DIRECTIONAL CIRCUITS
These seven stories contain mentions of eight or nine directional
circuits, as per the list. Four of these circuits are sunwise; five,
if a half-circuit be included, run counter-sunwise. Three begin with
north; three with west; one with south; one with east; one with
southwest. None of the circuits has color associations; such do occur
in other tales, but they seem to be as variable as the directions and
starting points are variable here.
KEY:
A _Myth_
B _Paragraph_
C _Footnote_
D _Direction_
E _Begin_
F _End_
G _Reference_
A B C D E F G
Cane 81 71 Counter N E Dive to become beautiful
(Ct. n. 72)
Nyohaiva 34 65 Counter S W Create wand magically
Raven 4 10 Sunwise W S Create gourd magically
Raven 30 27 Counter E S Walk before transforming
Deer 5 13 Counter W N Look about
Deer 22 39 Sunwise W S 4 actual mountains cited
Mastamho 37 58 Sunwise SW SE 4 kinds of seeds planted
Mastamho 75 105 Counter N S _Half_ circuit, withdrawal
Mastamho 85 127 Sunwise N W Dancers' lines face
There are also cases of the directions being named in opposite pairs
instead of in a circuit. Thus in Cane, I, 7b, 11b, 15, 17b, girls are
obtained successively from W, E (as wives for the younger brother), N,
S (for the older). The cages of the girls' birds are twisted,
successively, of red and white, red and blue, (unstated), and red and
blue cloth. In Mastamho, paragraphs 49-50, the direction names are
taught in the order: N, S, W, E.
It is evident that the Mohave like the formalism of four times, of
cardinal directions, and often of a circuit; but that, especially as
compared with Hopi, Zuni, and Navaho, they are untrammeled as to turn,
start, end, color, or other associations. This is evidently because
they wholly lack strict rituals such as these other southwestern
tribes have developed so abundantly with manipulations, altars, cult
objects, schematized songs, fetishes, and priests.
APPENDIX II: MOHAVE NAMES RECURRING IN TWO OR MORE OF THE SEVEN TALES
1. PLACE NAMES
Aha-kwi-nyamasave, V:21, VII:9, 10.
Ahtšye-'aksāmta (-'iksāmta), I:39, III:4.
Amaṭ-kusaye (-yi), II:1, VII:36, 37.
Aqwāqa-hāve, II:9, III:15a, 32.
Avi-hamoka, VI:A, VII:101.
Avi-halykwa'ampa, (-hilykwampe), II:16, VII:39, 40.
Avi-kutaparve (-kwu-), I:37, II:24, 26, V:14, VII:34, 35, 81, 82, 98.
Avi-kwame, I:1a, 5, 24, 28, 77, 98, V:12, 13, 22, VII:4, 8, 12-18,
35, 40, 42, 80, 92.
Avi-kwi-nyamaθave, V:11, VII:14.
Avi-melyehwêke, I:54, V:22, 26.
Avi-mota, I:101, 102, VII:14.
Avi-('i)tšierqe, II:26, V:12.
Avi-veskwi, V:20, VII:16.
Ha'avulypo, IV:1, V:1, VII:1, 4-6, 11, 74, 92.
Hakutšyepa, I:51, II:11, IV:15.
Hotūrveve, I:44, III:9.
Hukθara-tš-huerve, V:11, VII:15.
Iδo-kuva'īre, I:39, 102, III:2, V:14.
Kamahnūlya, I:42, III:5, V:17.
Kwaparvete, II:15, VII:6 (probably different places).
Miakwa'orve, III:1, IV:25, VII:34, 35, 78, 85, 91, 92, 98.
Mukiampeve, I:104, VI:B.
Qara'erve, I:39, 98, V:15.
Selye'aya-'ita, I:56, II:11.
Selye'aya-kumitše, I:40, 91, II:22, III:4, V:16.
2. PERSONAGES, DEITIES
Kwayū, Meteor, I:37, 74-83, 104, VI:B.
Mastamho, V:1, VII:1-91.
Matavilya, I:1a, IV:1, 3, V:1, VII:1-5, 8, 11, 20.
θarra-veyo, θara-veyo-ve, Coyote, VI:A, VII:2.
3. ANIMALS
Hanye, frog, shell-ornament, I:65, 85, VII:40, 41.
Hotokoro, curve-billed thrasher, I:17b, IV:22, VII:81, 85-101.
Hukθara, coyote, V:9, VII:2.
Masohwaṭ, mythical (?) bird, I:86, IV:20.
Mahwa, badger, I:51, VII:1.
Nume, wildcat, I:42, V:17; nume-ta, jaguar, V:1, 22.
Sakwaθa'ālya, mockingbird (or magpie?), I:25, IV:23, VII:81, 85-101.
θinyere, sparrowhawk, I:25, VII:87.
θonoθakwe'atai, I:35, tonoθaqwataye, V:6, yanaθa-kwe-'ataye, III:4;
an insect.
4. KINSHIP
Havīkwek, younger sibling, III:11, 15e, navīkwek, my sibling, twin,
III:28, navik, my father's older brother, I:75, 77.
5. INANIMATE
Aksamta, a plant, I:82a, VII:37.
Hapurui, apurui, jar, V:9, VII:76.
Karri'i, basket, I:73, 75, VII:78.
Kupo, carrying basket, twine-wound, VI:A, VII:41.
Transcriber's Note
Variations in hyphenation, accent usage and spelling are preserved as
printed, except where there was a very clear error:
Page 6--Tšitsuvare amended to Tšitšuvare--Then Tšitšuvare said,
"Well, she is yours."
Page 12--Tasekyêlke amended to Tasekyêlkye--Tasekyêlkye sat by
him combing her hair with her fingers; ...
Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.
In a few sentences there may be a missing word, due to either author
or printer error. Alternatively, there may be no error at all, and the
phrasing is simply that of the original narrator of the story. In all
cases these are preserved as printed. The noted occurrences are as
follows:
Page 16, para 90--The boy wanted them to kill somebody with.
Page 17, para 92--His wife gave him to eat.
Page 31, para 15d--... and they, though saying it, nevertheless
gave her to eat; ...
Page 31, para 15e--I would like to know how they will do.
Page 53, para 4--How am I to?