Creation Myths of Primitive America Part 58

PERSONAGES

After each name is given that of the creature or thing into which the personage was changed subsequently.

=Hemauna Marimi=, ----; =Hitchinna=, wildcat; =Lawalila=, chicken hawk; =Paiowa=, new moon's youngest daughter; =t.i.tildi Marimi=, black bear woman; =t.i.tindi Maupa=, her brother; =Topuna=, mountain lion; =Tuina=, the sun; =Wakara=, new moon.

t.i.tindi Maupa lived at a place called Kurulsa Mauna, where he had two sisters. Three miles west of that place lived young Topuna with his father, who had a great sweat-house at Motiri Mauna.

t.i.tindi Maupa wished his elder sister to marry Topuna, his great friend, who was a good hunter and killed many deer. One day t.i.tindi Maupa told his two sisters to make ready much food,--roots, acorns, and pine nuts.

The women made these things ready and put them into a round basket. He put the basket on his back, took two otter-skins as presents, and went to Motiri Mauna.

Old Topuna was sitting at home. His son had gone off before daylight to hunt deer in the mountains. t.i.tindi Maupa saw a great deal of venison and deer fat hanging around in all parts of the sweat-house.

He looked in from the top of the sweat-house, and saw the old man cutting meat, breaking bones, and taking marrow out of them. He went in. Topuna stood up to meet him, made a fire, cooked meat, put it in a basket, and set it down before t.i.tindi Maupa. He gave him also fat and dried venison.

"I have food on the top of the sweat-house," said t.i.tindi Maupa. "I left my basket there."

Topuna went and brought it, put it down, then ate of it himself. The visitor ate much, and the two sat long together talking and eating; sat till midday, when young Topuna came home. He had killed five deer and was glad.

"You came to see us," said he, sitting down near the visitor.

"Yes," answered t.i.tindi Maupa, "and you will come soon, I hope, to my house. You will come to-night, perhaps?"

Topuna gave t.i.tindi Maupa nice venison and deer fat,--a great deal of it. "Be light and small till he takes you home," said Topuna to the meat; "then be as big as you now are or bigger."

He gave the visitor a beautiful buckskin dress, and t.i.tindi Maupa went home.

The pack was light till he set it down at home. Then it grew as big as a small house. His elder sister would not eat Topuna's venison; she did not like her brother's friend; she loved young Hitchinna, and would not look at the other man.

Topuna put on three pairs of moccasins, three pairs of thick buckskin leggings trimmed with beads; put on three buckskin blankets, and at dark he went out of the door to go to Kurulsa Mauna.

"My son," said old Topuna, when his son was going, "you will come back sorry; you will be angry in the morning; I know that woman well."

All were asleep at t.i.tindi Maupa's when Topuna came; but t.i.tildi Marimi had wished the whole house outside to be covered with sharp rocks and th.o.r.n.y brush, for she knew that Topuna was coming.

When he reached the place, he could not go in; he could not find the door, even; everything was hidden with sharp rocks and thorns. He was outside all night, and never stopped trying to find the way in; he wore out his three pair of moccasins, tore his three pair of leggings and three blankets; bits of them were scattered all around the sweat-house. At last he was naked and nearly frozen.

Topuna went home before daylight, very angry. t.i.tildi Marimi had heard him, but said not a word. He lay down in his father's sweat-house and stayed there all day.

When daylight came, t.i.tildi Marimi rose up and went out of the sweat-house; the rocks and brush were all gone at her wish; nothing there now but the nice beads that had fallen from Topuna. She went to the spring; washed there, combed and dressed her hair, painted her face red, put on a nice woven cap, took a little basket with a sharp stick, and went out on the mountain; went far; dug sweet roots by the creeks on the mountain flats.

t.i.tindi Maupa was angry at his sister all day; he stayed in bed until evening. t.i.tildi Marimi dug roots, dug a great many, singing all the time while she worked. Hitchinna heard the singing from his place and came to her. She liked him. She went to meet him; was pleased to see him; they sat down together, talked, and were glad. They parted for that day; he hunted deer, she filled her basket with roots and went home about sundown.

t.i.tindi Maupa was in bed yet. He did not raise his eyes when she came; did not look at his sister.

Next morning she rose early; rose at daylight. She had promised Hitchinna to meet him a second time. She washed, combed her hair, painted her face, took a basket with a root stick, and started.

She had not gone far when her brother sprang up, hurried to the river, swam in it; went back to the sweat-house, striking his hair as he went with a stick to make it dry quickly. Then he ate, and said to his younger sister,--

"I am going away; I must leave you; you will cry, I think, because I am going."

He put on rich clothes, then tied a string of nice beads to a staff, and fastened the staff in one corner of the house corners.

"If I die," said he, "those beads will fall to the ground; do not touch them while they are hanging, and say to our sister not to touch them. When she comes, do not say that I have gone; if she knows herself, you must not show her the way that I have taken."

Then he turned to each thing in the house and said, "You, my poking-stick, must not tell my sister how I have gone, nor you, my baskets, nor you, my fire, nor you, my basket of water, nor my roots; not one of you must tell her." And he told everything except the acorn flour; he forgot to tell the acorn flour.

"Now I go," said he; and pus.h.i.+ng up the central post of the house, he went in to the ground, and the post settled back after him. He went under ground until he reached a spring of water. From the spring he turned back and went west, then back; went north, then back; went south, then back to the spring. Next he went in circles around his house to mislead his sister, so that she might not track him. At last he went west two or three miles; then he rose to the top of the ground, and went off on a trail.

When she went to the mountain flat on the second morning, t.i.tildi Marimi stood a while thinking. She knew that her brother was out of bed, that he was very angry. "My brother will go away to-day," thought she. "I must be home again soon."

She threw down her stick and basket quickly and hurried home. She saw that her brother was not in the house, that her sister was crying.

"Where is my brother," asked she; "tell me, my sister."

The sister would not speak, gave no answer; held down her head and cried bitterly.

"Tell me quickly. The sun is high. If I cannot come up with him, he will die; if I do not find him, his enemies will kill him." The sister did not answer.

"Tell me, you rock, which way my brother went; tell me quickly. Tell me, you poking-stick; tell me, baskets." Nothing gave answer. "Post, tell me, tell quickly; it is too late almost, he will escape me." She asked everything and got no answer, till at last she said, "Acorn flour, will you tell me?"

"Your brother is gone," said the acorn flour. "He is angry because you injured Topuna, his friend; he is very angry, and does not wish you to follow him."

"Which way did he go?"

"Under the post."

"That is well."

She was glad then. She made ready quickly; put on nice, new things, took her best bow and a big otter-skin quiver filled with arrows, put on leggings like a man.

"My sister, be well, take good care of yourself," said she. "I don't want my brother to die. He thinks that the journey is pleasant, that the journey is easy. I will go, too; I will help him."

She pushed up the post and followed her brother; went to the spring, came back, followed him everywhere; came out at last on the trail and tracked him, followed him, toiled along over Backbone Mountain. She followed hard and fast, gained on him, kept gaining; still she was afraid that she could not come up with her brother. She turned then to Sun and called out,--

"O Sun, I wish you to be slow. Go very slowly to-day, O Sun. Let the day be long. Give me time to come up with my brother."

The Sun went more slowly, gave her time, and she hurried on.

t.i.tindi Maupa all this while was hurrying, going on quickly; and he sang as he went. His song was of Paiowa, Wakara's youngest daughter, a maiden far off in the west.

Wakara had a great many daughters. All the stars in the sky were his children, and all his daughters were married but this one, the youngest, the one whom t.i.tindi Maupa was going to marry if her father would give her.

He went along the Daha, went as the stream flows, swam across and sat down to smoke. When he had emptied his pipe, he went up on the mountain ridge west of the river, reached the top, and walked some distance down on the western slope, sat again and smoked a second time. Now t.i.tildi Marimi, his sister, had crossed the river and was following. She came to where her brother had sat to smoke the first time.

"I will come up with you soon," said she. "You cannot go from me now;"