OCR Text |
Show I CULTURAL CONTINUITY TALES 1 - ORIGIN OF THE BEAR DANCE (MAMAK:URNNAHKUP) In the fall the snow comes, and the bear has a wickiup in a hole. He stays there all winter, perhaps six moons. In the spring the snow goes, and he comes out. The bear dances up to a big tree on his hind-feet. He dances up and back, back and forth, and sings, "Um, um, um, um!" He makes a path up to the tree, embraces it, and goes back again, singing "Um, um, um!" He dances very much, all the time. Now Indians do it and call it the "Bear Dance." It happens in the spring, and they do not dance in the winter. The bear understands the Bear Dance. 2 -BEAR DANCE The old Indian people say that the Bear Dance originated from the first thunder in the spring. When all this thunder comes, the bear that has been asleep all winter wakes up and comes out of his den. He then starts moving around and running back and forth to a tree and scratches on the bark of the tree. What it means is that spring has come, and the bear feels good because he knows that grass is going to grow and there will be plenty of food for him to eat. This is what the Indians follow in their bear dance, and they follow the actions of the bear when spring comes. They gather in the spring and imitate the scratching of the bear by the drawing of notched sticks over a surface that gives out a deep scratching-rumbling sound. The Indians sing in harmony with their songs which they make up themselves regarding the season of spring. 3 -RABBIT (TAVOOCH) HAS A FIGHT WITH THE SUN Long time ago the days were very short, the sun was only a little way to the east of south, set only a little way to the west, and rose only a short distance toward the sky. The days being so short, there was little time to hunt. All the people complained of this and many times discussed among themselves how to make the day longer. At last Rabbit decided diat the day should be longer, and that he would go and conquer the sun. So he started on his journey to where the sun rose, and when he had climbed a mountain behind which the people had always thought the sun rose, he found that instead of it being the edge of the world, that it was a valley which they had never seen and beyond was another range of mountains. So he travelled all day across the valley, and the next day stood on the summit of the second range hoping to see the sun rise from behind the edge of the world, but only discovered a third valley with mountains still beyond. Again he spent a day in crossing this newly discovered valley and again appeared the next day on the summit of the mountain range only to be disappointed for still anothere valley and another range of mountains were between him and the place where the sun rose. And so he travelled for many days crossing many valleys and climbing many mountains, until at last, he stood on the edge of the world. He hid himself behind a rock and waited for the sun to rise. When it did, Rabbit shot an arrow at him and expected to see the sun fall, but he was surprised when he discovered that the arrow was burned before it reached the sun. He went a little nearer and shot another, and a little nearer and shot another, and still nearer and shot another until all his arrows were burned but two. Then Rabbit cried, and the tears ran down upon his arrows and they were wet, and he said to himself, "The sun cannot burn these arrows. I will try again." So he shot one of his two remaining arrows at the sun, and it came much nearer the mark than any of the others, but still it was burned. So Rabbit approached so near the sun that he feared he would be burned himself, and again he shed a flood of tears and in the flood he soaked his arrow. Then placing it in his bow he sent it flying at the sun and killed it. Rushing upon his enemy and taking out his flint knife, he cut him open, and took out the sun's gall, threw it up into the sky and exclaimed, "Now go up higher and make the days longer." Then he ran away, and the sun being very angry followed him. Rabbit seeing that his enemy was chasing him hid in a hole in the ground, and the sun came down to the mouth of the hole but could not enter. So he blew hot ashes in until Rabbit was scorched and was forced to flee from his hiding place and seek shelter in a tall tree, but the sun set this on fire. Then Rabbit ran down by a little lake and covered himself with mud, but the sun came so near, the mud began to steam, and again Rabbit ran away. This time he hid himself under a thorny tree which the sun was unable to set on fire for it would not burn, so he followed Rabbit no farther but returned to his own home. Then Rabbit watched to see where the sun rose, and he looked in the south where it had risen before, and it did not come up. He looked a little farther to the east but it did not come up there, and he looked a little farther to the east, and there he saw it come up. He watched it pass through the heavens until it came up overhead and then went and set in the west. So he was satisfied and said, "Now the day is long enough." Then Rabbit set out on his journey home, and he saw a squirrel sitting on a rock laughing at him. This made him mad, and he threw a stone at the squirrel which ran down into his hole. When Rabbit came to the place where the squirrel had disappeared, he lifted up the rock under which the squirrel had fled, grabbed at him and tore out his entrails and scattered them all over the country. The next day he came to a canyon and saw the people coming down the mountainside toward him, and he knew they were his enemies. He took off his hide and set it up by a rock as if he were there, and naked of his skin, he sat near by and watched what the people would do. A little boy spied the skin and shouted to his father, "Here is Rabbit." The father came up and shot an arrow at the skin, and wondered why he did not kill the rabbit, for he could not see it move. And he shot another arrow and still another, and since Rabbit's skin did not move, the people all became frightened and ran away. When they were all gone, Rabbit put on his skin and traveled on, and the next day he came to the home of the people who had tried to kill him. Seeing an old woman and her daughter in a teepee, he went in and sat down. Soon he heard the rest of the people coming, and he asked the old woman for some paint, which she gave him, and with it he painted stripes across his face. When the people came in and saw his painted face, they were very frightened for they had never seen a man with his face painted, and they all ran away. The old woman seeing how it had frightened her people said to Rabbit, "That paint is not good," and she asked him to wash it off, but he refused. At last she promised to give him her daughter if he would make his face clean, and he washed his face and sat down by the fire. After a time he heard the people returning once more, and he cut off a piece of his tail and put it in his belt as if it was game. Soon the people came bringing another rabbit which they had killed and put it on the fire to roast, covering it over with ashes. Seeing this, Rabbit put his game (the piece of tail which he had in his belt) in the fire. After awhile the people took their meat from the fire and there was no fat on it. They wondered why this was so and were very disappointed. Then Rabbit took a short stick and sharpened the point with his stone knife, stuck it in the fire and pulled out his own game which was very fat. Seeing this the people were very angry and they tried to kill him. Rabbit jumped out of his skin and ran away alive, and the people only killed the skin. When Rabbit went out, he took the girl with him and she cried. He said to her, "Why do you cry; you should laugh. Did I not escape from my enemies? Look at those fellows trying to kill my skin." Then rabbit closed the flap of the teepee where the people were trying to kill his empty skin, and set it on fire, and they were all burned. While it was still burning, the girl still cried bitterly, and Rabbit scolded her, but she kept on crying, so he threw her on the fire, and she was burned with her relatives. These people belonged to the Red Ant nation. Still Rabbit continued his journey. One day he came to a smooth plain and saw someone in the distance looking out for him. Looking closer he discovered they were many people belonging to the Louse nation. At last the chief of the Louse nation saw him coming and he said to the people, "Here comes Rabbit the great enemy: he killed the sun and is going to kill everybody else." Rabbit overheard the speech of the chief and said to himself, "Well, if I am to kill everybody, I might as well commence with you," and he took a great rock which was lying near, and hurled it through the air, crushing the chief and many of his people. The next day on his journey he came to the camp of the Vulture nation, and saw that they were whittling something. Coming near to the camp unobserved by the people, he heard the old chief say to his son, "Rabbit will come this way and when he comes I shall kill him with my sharpened claw, for I will stick it into the top of his skull." Rabbit was very angry when he heard this and he thought about revenge. So he walked boldly up to Vulture's house as if he was a friend, and asked the chief if he had heard of this great Rabbit who was going over the country, and Vulture replied that he knew nothing about him. Rabbit said, "I don't think he will come this way for I have been looking for him but cannot find him, though I have heard of his wonderful deeds." Then he sat down by the fire with them and took supper. When it was time to go to bed, Rabbit said, "I will sleep between you and your son here on the ground," and Vulture said, "That is good." Early in the night when Vulture's son was asleep, Rabbit changed places with him so that he lay on the outside and the son next to his father, and when Vulture thought Rabbit was in a deep sleep, he drove his claw into the brain of his own son thinking it was his visitor. Rabbit laughed very heartily but made no noise. When morning came, Rabbit said to the old man, "Wake up old man, wake up!" When the old man was awake, Rabbit said, "Now call your boy." The father tried to wake his son and found that he was dead. Rabbit said, "What is the matter with your son?" but the father answered not a word. Rabbit saw some arrows which the old man had and praised them and wanted to have one. At last he said, "I will let you shoot five of these arrows at me, and then you must let me shoot five at you," and Vulture agreed. So rabbit went out and sat between two trees, crawled out of his skin, which he left, and went off a short distance to one side to observe Vulture shoot at the empty skin. Taking up his bow Vulture shot all five arrows through the empty skin and was surprised when Rabbit came back, and handed him the arrows and showed him himself and told him he could not be killed. "Now," said Rabbit, "You must let me shoot at you." So Vulture took his position between the same two trees for Rabbit to shoot at him. The first arrow Rabbit sent went away to the right and he said, "Oh! I don't know how to shoot!" and he shot another which went away to the left, and he said, "Oh, I never learned how to shoot." The third he shot went much too high and again he said, "Oh, I don't know how to shoot." The fourth arrow he shot much too low saying again, "Oh, I don't know how to shoot." Putting his fifth arrow in the bow he sent it with unerring aim through the heart of the vulture. Then he put the old man and his son on the fire and burned them to ashes. The next day on his journey the great traveller came to where the Chipmunk nation lived, and they were all out watching to see where Rabbit should come. When they saw him coming, and saw that he was only a little fellow they made fun of him. At this Rabbit was very angry, so he ran around the hill, and after awhile came up on the other side. They did not know him, and he went into the house of a chief. The chief did not know who it was, and Rabbit said, "Who were you making sport of?" and Chipmunk said, "We were laughing at that little Rabbit." Then Rabbit seized him by the legs and tore him apart and killed all his boys, all his girls and his wife, all his relatives and all his friends. The next day as he went on his way, he came near to the camp of the Striped Chipmunk nation, and they were glad to see him for he was a friend. Rabbit went into the teepee of the chief, and there he saw an old woman who did not like him. He wanted her to make him some mush. Seeing that he was very hungry, she did so but made it with cold water. Rabbit did not like this, but ate it without saying anything. When he had finished eating, he said, "I am cold; hang me up in a sack by the fire, and when I tell you I am warm turn me over and let me warm the other side for I am very, very cold." So the old woman hung him up as he directed, turning him from time to time as he desired. As he grew warm, the old woman grew cold until she was chilled and her teeth chattered. So Rabbit said, "Let me warm you now." And the old woman agreed. He hung her up in the sack over the fire. "When you are warm on that side," Rabbit said, "Tell me and I will turn you over." He held her close to the fire for some time and she screamed, "Turn me over," but instead of doing so, Rabbit held her still closer to the fire, and she screamed the more; still closer to the fire Rabbit held her, finally putting her right down on the fire, and she was burned to ashes. Then Rabbit ran to his own camp, and his friends asked him where he had been. He answered, "I have been far away to where the sun rises, and I have had a great battle and killed the sun and have made a new day. How do these days please you?" They all rejoiced with him, and they had a sun dance. When the dance was over some of them came to him and said, "Rabbit, it would be good to have it all day and no night; go fight the sun again." Rabbit replied, "That would not be good. I want you to have a part night so that you may have time for sleep, and so the man may lie down by the woman and not be ashamed, and so you can have dreams." When a person speaks in his dreams, he is said to be calling to Rabbit. 4 - COYOTE (YURG:ERVUECH) AND SENAWAHV DISCUSS MATTERS OF IMPORTANCE TO THE PEOPLE A long time ago Senawahv and Coyote met to consult about the destiny of the humans. At this meeting Coyote said, "Brother, how shall these people obtain their food? Let us devise some good plan for them. I was thinking about it all night, but could not see what would be best, and when the dawn came into the sky, I went to a mountain and sat on its summit and thought a long time, and now I can tell you a good plan by which they can live. Listen to your younger brother. Look at these pine trees; their nuts are sweet, and there is the fruit of the squaw berry, very rich, and there is the apple of the Cactus, full of juice; on the plain you see the sunflower having many seeds; they will be good for the nation. Let them have all these things for their food, and when they have gathered a store, they will put them in the ground or hide them in the rocks, and when they return they will find much, and after they take as much as they need, they will go on. But when they return a second time, there will be plenty, even though they return many times, as long as they live, the store will never fail. They will be supplied with much food without work." "Not so," said Senawahv, "for then the people will be idle and worthless. If they have nothing to do, they will quarrel and fight and will destroy each other, and the people will be lost to the earth. They must work for all they receive." Then Coyote did not answer but went away unhappy. The next day he met the elder brother and stopped him. "Brother your words were wise; let the Ute people work for their food. But how will they get honey-dew? I have thought all night about this, and when the dawn came into the sky, I sat on the summit of the mountain and thought, and now I will tell you how to give them honey-dew. Let it fall like a great snow on the rocks, and the women will do early in the morning and gather all they want, and they will be glad. "No," replied the elder brother, "it will not be good, my younger brother, for them to have so much. Finding it without work, they will think of it as having as little value as dung. What we give them for their pleasure will only be wasted. In the night it shall fall in small drops on the reeds which they will gather and heat with flails, and then it will taste very sweet, and since they will have little of it, they will prize it more." And Coyote went away sorrowing. He returned the next day and said, "My brother, your words are wise; let the women gather the honey-dew with much hard work by heating the reeds with flails. Brother, when a man or a woman, or a boy, or a girl dies, where will they go? I have thought all night about this, and when the dawn came into the sky, I sat on the top of the mountain and thought about it. Let me tell you what to do: when a man dies, send him back when the morning comes again, and then his friends will rejoice," "Not so," said Senawahv, "the dead will return no more." Coyote didn't answer, but went away in sorrow. One day Coyote was walking in the forest and saw his brother's son at play, and taking an arrow from his quiver, he killed the boy, and when he returned he did not say what he had done. Senawahv thought that his son was lost, and he looked for him in the woods for many days. At last he found the dead child and mourned his loss for a long time. One day Coyote said to Senawahv, "You made the law that the dead should never return; now you know how it is for yourself. I am glad that you were the first to suffer." Then Senawahv knew that Coyote had killed his son, and he was angry and wanted to kill him. As his anger increased, the earth rocked, groans were heard from inside the earth, darkness came on, fierce storms began, lightening flashed, thunder rolled through the sky, and Coyote fled in great terror to his father Tavooch for protection. This quarrel is said to have taken place on the Kaibab Plateau. The Cane Lakes near Kanab, Utah are said to have originated during the storm. 5 __ SENAWAHV AND TUMPWEENAEROGWEENUMP HAVE A FIGHT ON THE MOUNTAIN After Senawahv and Coyote had quarrelled, Tavooch (Rabbit who killed the Sun) gave Coyote a man called Tumpweenaerogweenump (he who wore the stone shirt) as his champion to fight his battles. He also gave him a tshowants (antelope with many eyes) to be his watchman. The first wore a tumpeentog (stone shirt) which no weapon could penetrate; the second had two eyes in his head, one on either shoulder, one on either rump, and two in the tail, and nothing could escape his observation. Senawahv wandered up and down the earth unhappy, thinking about the death of his son and determined to revenge his death, but Tshowants was ever on the alert and never failed to give warning to Coyote. Once Senawahv was camped in a valley on one side of a mountain ridge with all his people, and 8 Coyote with his companions, on the opposite side of the mountain. Tshowants and Stone Shirt were on the summit of the mountain, the one sleeping, the other keeping watch. At dawn one morning Tshowants saw Senawahv come out of his teepee and start up the mountain. Slowly he made his way among the rocks, creeping over the open spaces, evidently wanting to surprise the great champion, but the watchman wakened Stone Shirt who stood ready for the fight on the very summit of the mountain. When Senawahv arrived, at once the battle commenced, but the arrows of Senawahv fell on the shirt of Stone Shirt and did not hurt him, but Senawahv himself received many wounds. All morning the battle continued until the sun was high in the heavens, when just at noon Senawahv was slain. Then the conquerers went down in the valley, and when the people heard the news there was great rejoicing, and they sang the war song and danced the war dance. Tavooch came in the night and said to them, "Don't be foolish; the enemy will rise again; stop dancing and singing and prepare once more for war." And he sent Stone Shirt and Tshowants back to the summit of the mountain. When the dawn came into the sky once more, Tshowants again spied the enemy creeping up the mountain side, and he gave warning to Stone Shirt who met the enemy again on the very top of the mountain, and they fought this time with spears. As before Stone Shirt received no wounds, and just at noon Senawahv was slain. Again the conquerers went down into the valley and told the good news to their friends below. When the sounds of song and dance came to the ears of Tavooch, once more he went to them and stopped their rejoicing and commanded them still to watch and fight. At the very same time in the morning, in the very same way Tshowants discovered the enemy coming up to fight. This time they fought with knives. At noon Senawahv was slain, and again there was rejoicing in the camp of Coyote, and again the champions were sent back to the mountain by Tavooch. By this time Tshowants was tired of watching and he fell asleep, and when Senawahv came once more up the mountain, there was no one to give warning to Stone Shirt and he was slain. Then Senawahv rallied his men, and they poured over the side of the mountain, down into the camp of Coyote and there was terrible slaughter. Many were killed and many fled, and after that Coyote never rallied to meet Senawahv in battle again. 6 -THE ONE-TWO (SOKUSWAEUNATCH) Tumpweenaerogweenump, (he who had a stone shirt), killed Crane and stole his wife, and seeing that she had a child, and thinking it would hinder them on their travels, he ordered her to kill it. But the mother, loving the baby, hid it under her dress, and carried it away to its grandmother. And Stone Shirt carried his captured bride to his own land. In a few years the child grew to be a fine boy, under the care of his grandmother, and was her companion wherever she went. One day they were digging flag roots on the bank of the river and putting them in a heap. When they had been at work a little while, the boy realized that the roots came up with greater ease than was usual, and he asked the old woman the cause of this, but she did not know, and, as they continued their work, still the reeds came up with less effort, and their wonder increased, until the grandmother said, "Surely, some strange thing is about to happen." Then the boy went to the heap where they had been placing the roots and found that someone had taken them away, and he ran back, exclaiming, "Grandmother, did you take the roots away?" And she answered, "No, my child; perhaps some spirit has taken them off; let us dig no more; come away." But the boy was not satisfied, as he wanted to know what all this meant; so he searched about for a time and finally found a man sitting under a tree. He accused him of being a thief and threw mud and stones at him, until he broke the stranger's leg, who did not answer the boy, but remained silent and sorrowful, and, when his leg was broken, he tied it up in sticks, and bathed it in the river, and sat down again under the tree, and motioned the boy to come to him. When the boy came near, the stranger told him he had something of great importance to tell. "My son," said he, "did that old woman ever tell you about your father and mother?" "No," answered the boy, "I have never heard of them." "My son, do you see these bones scattered on the ground? Whose bones are these?" "How should I know?" answered the boy. "It may be that some elk or deer has been killed here." "No," said the old man. "Perhaps they are the bones of a bear," but the old man shook his head. So the boy mentioned many other animals, but the stranger still shook his head, and finally said, "These are the bones of your father; Stone Shirt killed him and left him to rot here on the ground, like a wolf." And the boy was filled with anger against the slayer of his father. Then the stranger asked, "Is your mother in that teepee?" and the boy replied, "No." "Does your mother live on the banks of this river?" and the boy answered, "I don't know my mother; I have never seen her; she is dead." "My son," replied the stranger, "Stone Shirt, who killed your father, stole your mother, and took her away to the shore of a distant lake, and there she is his wife today." And the boy wept, and while the tears filled his eyes so that he could not see, the stranger disappeared. Then the boy was filled with wonder at what he had seen and heard, and anger grew in his heart against his father's enemy. He returned to the old 10 woman, and said, "Grandmother, why have you lied to me about my father and mother?" but she did not answer, for she knew that a spirit had told all to the boy. And the boy fell upon the ground weeping and sobbing, until he fell into deep sleep, when strange things were told to him. His slumber continued three days and three nights, and when he awoke he said to his grandmother, "I am going away to enlist all nations in my fight," and he departed. Finally, he returned bringing with him Wolf and Rattlesnake. When the three had eaten food, the boy said to the old woman: "Grandmother, cut me in two." But she refused, saying she did not wish to kill one whom she loved so dearly. "Cut me in two," demanded the boy, and he gave her a stone ax which he had brought from a distant country, and he again commanded her to cut him in two. So she stood before him and cut him in two and fled in terror. And each part became an entire man, and they were so much alike, no one could tell them apart. When the people whom the boy had enlisted came into the camp, Wolf and Rattlesnake were telling them of the wonderful thing that had happened to the boy, and that now there were two, and they all decided it was a good sign. And they started on their journey to the land of Stone Shirt. Now the boy had been told in the dream of a magical bowl, and he had brought it home with him from his journey among the nations, and the twin brothers carried it between them, filled with water. Wolf walked on their right and Rattlesnake on their left and the nations followed. There was a vast number of them, so that when they were stretched out in a line, it was one day's journey from the front to the rear. When they had journeyed two days and were far out on the desert, all the people were thirsty, for they found no water, and they fell down upon the sand groaning, and they cursed the One-Two. But the One-Two had been told in the wonderful dream that the water which they carried in the bowl was only to be used in dire necessity, and the brothers said to each other: "Now the time has come for us to drink the water." And when one had drunk out of the magical bowl, he found it still full, and he gave it to the other to drink, and still it was full, and the One-Two gave it to the people, and one after another they all drank, and still the bowl was full to the brim. But Wolf was dead, and all the people mourned, for he was a great man. The brothers held the cup over him and sprinkled him with water, when he arose and said, "Why do you disturb me? I had a vision of mountain brooks and meadows, of cane where honey-dew was plenty." They gave him the bowl, and he drank also, but when he had finished there was none left. They proceeded on their journey. The next day, they were hungry, and all were about to die, and again they cursed the brothers. But the One-Two saw in the distance an antelope, stand- 11 ing against the sky, and One-Two knew it was the wonderful antelope with many eyes, which Stone Shirt kept for his watchman, and he proposed to go and kill it, but Rattlesnake said: "It is better that I go, for he will see you and run away." But the One- Two told Wolf to go, and he started in a direction away to the left of where the antelope was standing. Rattlesnake went a little way from camp, and called to the brothers: "Do you see me?" and they answered they did not. "Hunt for me," and while they were hunting for him, Rattlesnake said: "I can see you," but they could not find him. Then the Rattlesnake came, saying: "Now you know I can see others, and that I cannot be seen. Wolf cannot kill that antelope, for he has many eyes, but I can kill him, for I can go where he is and he cannot see me." So die brothers let him go, and he went and killed the antelope. When Wolf saw it fall, he was angry, for he was proud of his fame as a hunter and wanted to have the honor of killing this famous antelope, and he ran up to Rattlesnake, but when he came near, and saw the antelope was fat, and would make a rich feast for the people, he was no longer angry. "What does it matter," said he, "who kills the game, when we can all eat it?" So all the people were fed, and they went on their journey. The next day the people again were thirsty, and the magical bowl was empty, but the One-Two, having been told in their dream what to do, transformed themselves into doves and flew away to a lake, near the home of Stone Shirt. Coming near to the shore, they saw two girls bathing in the water, and the birds stood and looked, for the girls were very beautiful. Then they flew into some bushes, near by, to have a closer look, and were caught in a snare which the girls had placed for birds. The beautiful girls came up, and, taking the birds out of the snare, liked them very much, for they had never seen such birds before. They carried them to their father, Stone Shirt, who said: "My daughters, I fear these are spies from my enemies, for such birds do not live in our land," and he was about to throw them into the fire, when the girls cried to him not to destroy their beautiful birds. Then they took the birds to the shore of the lake and set them free. The birds flew around among the bushes, until they found the magical bowl which they had lost, and taking it up, they carried it out into the middle of the lake and settled down upon the water, and the girls thought they were drowned. The birds, when they had filled their bowl, rose again, and went back to the people in the desert, where they arrived just at the right time to save them with the bowl of water. The brothers reported that they had seen Stone Shirt and his daughters. The next day they came near to the home of the enemy, and the brothers went out. Seeing a woman gleaning seeds, they drew near, and knew it was their 12 mother, whom Stone Shirt had stolen from Koorah-nooch, the Crane. They told her they were her sons, but she said she had but one son, so the boys told her their history, and she was convinced. She tried to stop them from making war upon Stone Shirt, and told them that no arrow could kill him, and that he was a great warrior, and liked to kill his enemies, and that his daughters also had magical bows and arrows, which could shoot so fast that the arrows would fill the air like a cloud, and that it was not necessary for them to take aim, for their arrows went where they willed; they thought the arrows to the hearts of their enemies. But the boys told her what the spirit had said in the long dream and had promised that Stone Shirt would be killed. They told her to go down to the lake at dawn. During the night, the One-Two transformed diemselves into mice and went to the home of Stone Shirt, and found the magical bows and arrows that belonged to the girls, and with their sharp teeth they cut the sinew on the backs of the bows and nibbled the bow-strings, so that they were worthless, while Rattlesnake hid himself under a rock near by. When dawn came into the sky, Stone shirt arose and walked out of his teepee, and sat down upon the rock under which Rattlesnake was hiding, and he sunk his fangs into his flesh. Stone Shirt sprang high into the air and called to his daughters that the enemy was near, .and they seized their magical bows and arrows and hurried to his aid. At the same time, all the nations who were surrounding the camp rushed down to battle. But the daughters, finding their weapons were destroyed, waved back their enemies, and, standing for a few moments over the body of their slain father, sang the death-song and danced the death-dance, until they sank down and died. The conquerers buried the daughters by the shores of the lake, but Stone-Shirt was left to rot, and his bones to bleach on the sands, as he had left Crane. 7 -COYOTE STEALS FIRE Coyote lived with the people and was their chief. They had no fire. They gathered large flat rocks and piled them together. Toward evening the rocks used to begin to be hot. In the morning Coyote threw water on them; then they steamed, and that made them still hotter. The other people did the same with their heaps. They all used these rocks instead of fire. Now Coyote was lying on his bed in his teepee, looking before him. Something fell down in front of him. It was a small piece of burnt rush which had gone up with the smoke and had been carried by the wind. Coyote picked it up and put it away. Without delay he went outside and called to his head men to come. They gathered in his teepee. He told them about what had fallen down; he said, "This is what I mean. This is what I want you to look at. Here it 13 is. Look at it. What do you think? Do you know what it is? Where does it come from? I wish that you all speak." They did not speak. They thought about it and were silent. Coyote said, "I do not Want that you do that. I want you to talk. In order that we may find this out, I wish you all not to be silent." Then one of the head chiefs said to him, "We do not know what this is." Then he pointed to one of his men, the Owl. "I select you; bring very many Owls." He sent another to call the Eagle people, one to bring the Crows, one to the Grouse and the Sage-Hens and the Hummingbird tribe. He also sent to the Hawk-Moths and to all the kinds of birds. They Were to send runners to other tribes, and all were to come to him quickly. Then he said to one man, "My friend, go to the river and get reeds. Bring them here." His friend went to get the reeds. The others went home. Because Coyote had told him to be quick, the one man soon came back bringing reeds. Then Coyote took a stick and crushed the reeds into shreds. He finished this about sunset. When it was dark he called to his friends to come to him again. Then they came. They did not know his plan, and they asked each other, "Why does he do that?" He had a heap of the shredded bark of the reeds. His friends watched him. In the night he told them to go home. It was late. When he was alone he took dark blue paint; he rubbed the paint and the bark together, and the bark became blue. When he rubbed a long time the bark finally became black. It was black like human hair. Coyote could hardly sleep. Now it was morning again. After sunrise he called to his friends to come. He put the shredded bark on his head and it was like long hair reaching down to the ground. When they came he did not look to diem like Coyote, but like another person. Then he asked them, "Who knows why I am doing this? What do you think?" Not one of his friends answered. They all sat still. They did not know what his purpose was. "We do not know what this is," they said. They thought that he asked them merely to trick them, because he himself must know his purpose. Then he sent them home again. When they had gone out he took off his bark hair, wrapped it up, and put it away. Then he thought that the tribes that he had sent for must be coming near. He sent his friends on the hills to look out for them. He told them to go quickly. Then they went as quickly as possible. Coyote hardly slept. He constantly thought about what he had found. Now some of his people met the various tribes coming. The different people continued to arrive at short intervals from different directions. They were all able men. They came towards his teepee. He ordered the arriving tribes to go to the teepees of his own people and not to camp separately. "Eat quickly and come to council with me," he told them. They did so. Then all the head men came. They sat in 14 circles in several rows to listen to Coyote. It was night. Continually he asked the new people what the thing was. He asked them from which direction it came, or if it came from above. It was laid on something and handed from one man to another. Nobody knew what it was. When no one knew it, Coyote said, "I intend to hunt up this thing. I shall find out from where it comes, from what tribe it is, or whether it is from the sky. I want you to search, looking where each of you thinks best. That is why I called you. We will start in the morning." They all said, "Very well, we follow your advice. We will go behind you; we wish that you lead us. That is why we came here." Now they were ready to start. "Which way would you go?" they asked each other. "I do not know," they said to each other. The Coyote spoke, "There is mostly a considerable wind from the West; it does not come from any other direction. I think that is where this thing came from. That is what I think. Let us go there. " Coyote took his bark hair by a carrying-thong. Then they started. Then they camped for the night. That night Coyote had nothing to say. Before it was daylight they went on again. They camped overnight. Coyote said nothing. They went on again. The third night they camped at the foot of a mountain. Next day they climbed the mountain. They stopped at the crest of the range. Coyote asked his people which was the way to go, but none knew. Then Coyote himself spoke. He saw a mountain. It was far off, so that he could hardly see it. It appeared like smoke. He saw only its summit. "We will go straight to that mountain there," he said. So they went down from their mountain and camped at its foot. Coyote spoke to them there. "I think the place is much farther. I think it is near the mountain that we saw from the summit. My friends, I shall ask for scouts to go ahead." Then they travelled on and next camped in the level plain. Again they travelled a whole day. They approached mountains and made a camp. Coyote said, "We will stay here. Tomorrow I wish some of you to to go away to look, searching all over the world." The next day he sent a large Red-tailed Hawk up to search. The Hawk came down again in another place. They went towards him. Before they quite reached him, Coyote, said to him, "What did you see, my friend?" The Hawk said, "I saw nothing. I became tired. I could not fly higher. I could not see the edge of the earth. I was not high enough." "Yes," said Coyote. He thought who was the best man to send up. "You go," he said to the Eagle. "I do not think I will reach there," said the Eagle. Now he started, going up and around, up and around. They could not see him. He was away longer than the Hawk; then he came back. At once Coyote, without waiting, asked him where he had been. The Eagle said, "I could not go farther. It was hard to go farther. I was tired. I saw nothing. Only I saw that the earth looked a little smoky." Then the others thought 15 that the Hummingbird was the best to go, and that Coyote ought to ask him. "He could do better than the Eagle." So Coyote went to the Hummingbird. "Try what you can do, my friend. I think you can do something." The Hummingbird gave no answer; he continued to sit. Then he began to make a noise and flew off. They looked after him but lost him. They could see him no more. He was away a longer time than the other two birds. Coyote asked the rest, "Can you see the Hummingbird returning?" They said to him, "No." Again he asked them, "Has he not come back yet? Search about! See what has become of him; perhaps he has gone to sleep." It began to be afternoon when they went away searching. Coyote thought that they were gone a long time. When they were tired from looking for him, the Hummingbird at last came back. They could hardly see him coming down. They went to him, and all gathered around him. Coyote said, "Well, my friend, how far were you?" For a while the Hummingbird sat still; he said nothing. Then he said, "Very well, I will begin to speak now. At the edge of the earth and the sky, where they are together, I saw something standing. It was very far away. Something was there; I do not think we can reach it. It was a dark thing standing up, and the top was bent over. That was all I saw." Coyote said, "That is what I thought one of you would see. That is what we are going for. It is from this that the thing came which I found." Coyote liked very much what the Hummingbird had seen. He said, "My friend, what you say makes my heart feel good." He was very happy and went about among all his people. He could hardly sit still. He did not stay in that place the rest of the afternoon. "We will start and go a distance, then camp again for the night," he said. Next morning they started again. They went over the mountain and camped at the foot of it on the other side. Again they travelled on and camped in the plain. The next day they crossed another ridge and camped at its farther side. Then Coyote sent some of his people up again to see how near they had come. He sent the Eagle, thinking he might see it now. Soon the Eagle came down again. "My friend, what did you see?" asked Coyote. The Eagle said, "I saw nothing. It is very dangerous to go up. It is very difficult." Coyote said to the Hummingbird, "Go again, my friend, and see how far from it we are now." The Hummingbird flew up again. Soon he came back. All gathered around him. The Hummingbird said, "I saw three mountain ranges this side of it. We are approaching it." Coyote wished to go on. He started again with his people. They camped at the foot of a mountain. Crossing it, they camped at its farther side. From there they went faster, Coyote leading. They went over another range. Then Coyote said, "We will go on again to the foot of that mountain. That mountain is the last one. We will stop here and wash and be- 16 come clean and dress. I think there are people there; therefore wash and decorate yourselves." Then they did so. Coyote, too, adorned himself. He took the bark and put it into his hair. He spread it all around like hair. He parted it in the middle and wrapped up two long strands of it that reached to his feet; he wrapped them with bark. Before he had finished this he sent the Eagle up again. They were on this side of the third range. Then the Eagle came down again. He said, "We are not very far away now. I saw what the Hummingbird saw. We are near." "Yes," they all said. Then they went to the top of the range. There they counted their people and divided them into twenties. Each twenty were to go to one teepee. Coyote said that he would go to the teepee of the head chief, with twenty of his own head men. They descended the mountain. They came near a village which was on top of a flat hill. Then Coyote spoke to his friends, "We have burned nothing before now. Our fire was not fire. We have come to fire now. We will stay here two days. It is the fire for which we have come. We will take it away from them. They will have none left here. Where the origin of the fire is, there they will have no more fire. We will take it to the place where we live, and we will possess it in our own land. I will use this hair of mine to take it away from them. I will deceive these people that have the fire. I will tell them that we wish them to make a large fire. I think that is the best way to do it. What do you think?" "Yes, that is the right way," they said. Coyote said, "Before we take the fire away from them, I shall whoop twice; keep apart by yourselves, ready to go. Do not tell them why we come here. Keep it to yourselves. All of you take my advice: follow it. Do not forget it. We have not the right kind of fire to use, but after we take this, we shall possess fire in our land. We will run away. No one of us will stay. I do not think that they will let us escape easily, but they will pursue us and attack us and try to kill us." "Very well," they said. Then Coyote going at the head, they went to the first tent, and he asked where the chief lived. "That is where our chief lives," they said to him, pointing. "Very well, that is where I will live." Coyote went there. He greeted the strange chief. "My friend, I am nearly exhausted from travelling," said Coyote. The chief said to him, "Very well. You have reached my camp. It is good." All of Coyote's men arrived. "Here are my people. You can go to their teepees. You can divide and stay with them," said the chief that owned the fire. Coyote was there overnight. Then he called to his friends, the head men, to gather at the lodge of the chief. Coyote spoke first: "Well, my friend, I travelled. I came only to see you. I desire that you all make a dance for me on the second night. I came very far, and I wish to see a dance; that is what all my people like." The otiier chief said, "It is good; I am glad that you came for a dance. I like it. I will 17 make a big dance for you where I live." Before sunset this council was over. After it was dark the chief called out to his people concerning the dance, "Make a dance for these people. They like to see our way of dancing." They all agreed. Coyote said that they were to put out all the large fires when they danced. The fires in the teepees were also to have water poured on them. They should have only one large fire. Now they began to gather. There were very many. They were all in one place. All the women and children were there. None were left in the teepees. Coyote said, "Let us keep up this fire all the night." Then he unwrapped die bark and spread it. When he put it on, die people diought he was adorning himself for the dance. He danced all night without resting. He danced continually. At the beginning of daylight he whooped as a signal. Then he said, "I do not mean anything. I only whooped to show that I like this very well; to show that I like this dance. I never had this kind of dance in my land. It makes my heart good to see all these women and fine girls and your way of dancing. I mean nothing wrong." "Very well," they said. Then it began to be a little lighter. Coyote got close to the fire and whooped again. He was very close to the fire dancing about it. Now his people separated from the others; they got ready to start. Coyote took off his bark hair, and seized it in his hands. With it he hit the fire and put it out. The fine shredded bark took all the fire. Coyote was not slow: it was just as he started to run that he hit the fire. He ran as fast he could. All Coyote's people ran. They made a noise like many horses. There was nothing left for the other people; all the fire was out. They said, "That is what he intended to do; now let us kill all his people." Then they pursued him. Coyote was already over the ridge. They could not catch him at once. Then Coyote said to the Eagle, "You can run fast; take this, my friend." "Yes," said the Eagle. So the Eagle carried the fire for a distance. Then the Eagle said to the Hummingbird, "My friend, I am nearly exhausted. You take this." "Very well," said the Hummingbird, and took the fire. Coyote was far at rear of his tribe talking to them. "If any of you are tired and are exhausted, hide somewhere; in this way you will save your lives. When we get over this adventure, we shall be safe. In this way we shall be saved by hiding." They continued to exchange the fire as diey became exhausted; different birds took it. The Hummingbird said to the Hawk-Moth, "I am nearly exhausted. Take it, my friend. I diink you are good yet." "Very well," said the Hawk-Moth, and took it. Then the Hawks and the various slow birds became exhausted and hid, but die others continued to go on, and at last only die best and fastest birds were left. Coyote saw die other people coming near. He diought who of his people might be the best yet. Then he selected the Chicken-Hawk as the swiftest, and gave him the fire to carry. Coyote asked his friends if diey 18 were tired. Then he took the fire himself and ran with it, telling all his people to run after him as hard as they could. Then Coyote held it out, saying, "Some one take it quickly!" And the Hummingbird took it and flew ahead. "Stop! The fire is nearly out," said Coyote. Then die Hummingbird was angry and gave the fire back to Coyote, though he was already far in die lead. Hummingbird went aside and hid, because he was angry with Coyote. Only four were left now, - Coyote, the Eagle, the Chicken-Hawk, and the Hawk-Moth. The rest had scattered as they became tired. The pursuers were near Coyote. They were intending to kill him. The Eagle and the two others became exhausted and hid, and Coyote alone was left, running, carrying the fire. There was a little hill. Coyote ran over the top and went into a hole and closed it up with a stone, so diat it looked like die ground. He was inside, holding the fire. Only a little spark of it remained. Then he came out again, and, changing his direction, ran through a ravine that he saw. After a while the other people saw him again. They they started to pursue him once more. At last they said to each other, "Let him go. We will cause rain and then snow. We will make a hard storm and freeze him to death and put the fire out." Coyote continued to go, and it began to rain much, just as if water were being poured on him. It rained still more, and soon the ground was covered by water. All the hollows were filled, and the valleys were nearly knee-deep with water. Coyote thought that the fire would soon be gone. He thought, "I am carrying this fire now, and perhaps it will go out soon. I wish I could find someone, some animal living in this land," He saw a small hill with a few cedars on it. He thought he might stand on the hill and be safe under die cedars, as the valleys would all be filled with water. So he went towards the hill. Before he reached it, he saw a Black-tailed Rabbit sitting right in the water. Coyote said to him: "Quick, my friend! I have been getting fire from far away. I have it now. It is diis fire that has brought me into difficulty, that has caused this rain. This fire will kill me. I am tired. You should know something. You should do something. You should know how to save this fire. Perhaps you do know some way. My friend, you must do it. I think you know something." He gave him the fire holding his hand over it. The Rabbit took it and placed it right under himself. "Do not do that. You are in the water. It will go out. You will put the fire out," said Coyote. So the Rabbit handed it back to Coyote. When he handed it back to him, more was burning than before. Then Coyote said, "Well, my friend, take it, keep it." "No," said the Rabbit. But he told Coyote, "There is a cave in the rock over there; go into it. It will be good." "Yes," said Coyote. When he reached the cave, he found some dry sagebrush and dry cedar lying there. Standing by the brush, he thought, "I will make a fire out of this." So he heaped it, and place the fire under it, 19 and blew. Then it began to burn. Then he spoke to die dry cedar, "I shall use you. I shall make a large fire out of you. You will be burned." So he piled the cedar on the sagebrush. He had been shivering, but soon the fire made him feel good. When the rain was over, the snowstorm and West wind came as die people had intended, in order to freeze him dead. Now they began. It became very cold. Coyote was in the cave. There was deep water on the ground. This began to become ice. Coyote felt good from the fire. He did not think that he would freeze to death. He began to sleep. During the night he dreamed that it was clear; that everything was gone from the sky and tiiat there were no clouds. In the morning he awoke. He looked out and saw that the sky was clear; everywhere was ice. Then die South wind came, and the ice all melted. Then he went back to the cave. He took a piece of old dry sagebrush; he bored a hole through it. Then he filled it with coals of fire, and closed it up. He thought that the could carry the fire safely this way. Then Coyote put the fire under his belt and went away with it. He went away witiiout looking around, and without watching, just as if he were at home. Then he got back home. He laid down his tube of sagebrush containing the fire. He called together die few men who were left home with the women and children. After they came, he took the fire. It looked only like a stick. He took an arrow point and bored a small hole into the stick. Then he whittled hard greasewood. "Now look, you people," he said. He told two men to hold the sagebrush firmly to the ground. Then he bored it with the greasewood and picked up the borings and put them into dry grass. Blowing upon this, he soon had a fire. "This dry pine nut will be burned hereafter. Dry cedar will also be burned. Take fire into all the teepees. I shall throw away the rocks. There will be fire in every teepee." Thus said Coyote. Now all the birds that had become tired and had hidden arrived. Then they all flew back to the places from which they had come, and from that time on they were birds. 8 -THE INDIANS OF LONG AGO A long time ago the Utes had litde to eat. All the time they drank water. If anything grew on the ground, they would eat it, and diey ate roots also. They had no woollen blankets but made blankets of cedar-bark from the cedars on the mountains. They used sage-brush for blankets also, and somehow slipped them on themselves. Sometimes they used deer-hide with the hair on, and sometimes made deer-hide leggings and moccasins. They had no guns - only bows and arrows - witii which to kill deer. They took mud and made cups of it to drink water; they made kettles too and cooked in them. 21 Coyote caught fire and gave it to the Indians. The Indians kept the fire, and never lost it again. It made light and heat. It was cold, and if there had been no fire the Indians would have all died. The fire kept them alive. Coyote said, "It is very good to do that." He gave life to the Indians. 9 -THE BEAR-EARS' COUNTRY A Bear met some Indians. They asked, "Where are you going?" He said, "I'm going to die Bear-Ears' country. I am looking for the country. Back here, over there, is the best country, with bull-grass, strawberries, and good eating. That's what I am looking for." 10 -THE MEXICAN AND THE BHID-WOMEN A man was hunting. He went on a flat-topped hill. Looking into the valley below, he saw two young Deer running away from him. When they were on the side of the hill opposite, they stopped, and looking back said to him, "Do not shoot us. Stop! We will tell you something." "Very well," he said. Then they came towards him. When they reached him, they said, "We will tell you something." He asked, "What will you tell me?" In this way they spoke to each other several times, the man asking, "What will you tell me?" and the Deer answering, "We will tell you something," At last he said, "Well, tell it to me." One of the Deer said, "I was about to tell you that there is some one on the other side of that ridge that you see; there are two women there. As soon as you climb the ridge you will see a small lake. At the end of diis stands a cedar, and near it a young cedar. Dig under the small tree, hide there, and watch the lake. As you lie in hiding under the small tree, you will see a bird come. It will sit in the tree. When it alights on the ground, it will be a woman, who is pretty, and wears a light red dress. This first bird is not a good bird. The woman will go into the lake to take a swim. Do not touch her. Let her put on her clothes again and fly off. Then another bird will come, and it will be a good one. When she is in the water, show yourself. Take her clothes, roll them in a bunch, and clasp and sit upon them. When she comes out of the water and asks for her clothes, do not let her have them at once; do not give them to her until she says, "I will marry you, and we will go away together." If you give them to her before she has said this, she will fly off very quickly. You will hardly see her." The man went off and did as he had been told. He allowed die first woman, though she was good looking, to become a bird again. She sat in the tree awhile and then flew off. Then a blue bird came and sat on the same tree. When it touched the ground, it was a fine looking woman, dressed in blue. Taking 22 off all her clothes, she swam in the water. When she came out, she asked him to give her her clothes. Finally she said, "If you give me my clothes, I will marry you." "Truly?" he asked. "Indeed," she said, "it is die truth. I will marry you and we will go away together." Then she told him to go a little distance off while she was dressing. When she was dressed, she called him, and they went off. When they had gone a little way from the lake, she said, "Let us camp here." Then she asked him, "Who are you? To what tribe do you belong?" He said, "Who are you!" She said, "Did you not see me? I have wings. If you will tell me who you are, we will be married. We will have a boy, then a girl, then a boy, and so on. I have been all over the world, but I have seen no tribes like you, nor animals like you." It was because he wore trousers tiiat she asked him what he was. The sun went down, and it was a little before night. She began to ask him again, "What tribe are you?" Then he said, "I am Mexican." "What do you mean?" she said. "I never heard that word. What do you mean Mexican?" She could not understand him. She asked him, "From what direction are you?" He pointed to the East. Then she did not like him. She thought that after he was asleep, she would leave him, and she resolved never to be a woman again, but to remain a bird. The man slept soundly and in the morning got up alone. No one was with him. He went to the lake again, thinking that she would come back there. He stayed there five days, but no one came. Then he went back to find the two Deer. He saw their tracks, which had become very faint. He followed die tracks very far for a long time, thinking that the Deer might tell him more. But at last he stopped, without having overtaken them, and went back home. 11 __ NOOCHEE'S ADVENTURES WITH THE BIRD-GIRLS AND THEHl PEOPLE Noochee (Ute) was wandering alone in die land. He thought how he would like to have a home, a teepee, and many children. Then he came to a hill where there were plenty of service-berries, and he ate some. He spied a deer and crouched down behind the bushes. He was just going to shoot, when the Deer saw him and cried, "Hold on! Don't shoot me, and I'll tell you something. I saw two girls over there swimming in the lake. It is a fine lake, and many people swim there. The water is neither cold nor hot, but just right. All the girls swim there. It is just over the hill, with a fringe of willows all around it. Go and look dirough die brush, and maybe you will see something." So Noochee went on until he came to the lake. He went close and peeped through the willows and saw two girls swimming. They looked something like birds - one yellow, the other green. He looked around till he found their dresses, and took them a litde distance off. Then the girls noticed him, and 24 said to each other, "Why has he taken our dresses?" And they cried, "Bring our dresses here!" Noochee then came up to them, and said, "Well, if you like me, then I'll give them to you." One of the girls said, "Why should we like you? Give me my dress." "We'll talk about that pretty soon," said Noochee. Then she said, "Well, I like you," and Noochee gave her, her dress. The other girl said nodi-ing. Then the girls talked together so that Noochee did not hear. They talked about some fine ear-ornaments they had left under their dresses when they undressed. They prized the ornaments very much. Noochee had not seen the ear-ornaments, but if he had taken them the girls would have said they liked him very quickly. Then one girl got dressed and put on her ear-ornament without Noochee's knowledge. The odier girl then said, "All right, I like you," and Noochee gave her her dress. When she had put on her ear-ornaments, she told him that if he had taken the ornaments, they would have married him, but since he had overlooked them, they would not. Then Noochee told them about the service-berry bushes, and they all went and ate some and also some choke-cherries. The girls had brought some bread and meat along to eat. Now it was night, and Noochee was sleepy. He said, "Let us sleep here tonight and go home tomorrow!" "Our home is a long ways off," said the girls. So they all lay down to sleep. Now it was midnight. Noochee was sound asleep, but the girls only pretended to sleep. Then they got up and ran away. At daylight he woke up and looked around. "Where are my girls?" he cried, for he liked them very much. He resolved not to go back, but to hunt for them, so he followed their tracks. They led up to the top of a hill and then disappeared, just as if the girls had flown away. Then Noochee walked back to the lake again. It was now noon, and there were three boys swimming in the lake. He lay down in the willows for a while. Now it was afternoon, and he went down to the lake-shore. "Halloo, Noochee!" cried the boys. "What are you doing here?" "Oh!" said he, "I came over to take a swim." "Do you swim here?" they said. "We never saw you here before." "What people have you seen here?" asked Noochee. "Oh! We see everybody here; we've seen many girls swim here, three or four kinds." "What color girls?" asked Noochee. "Oh! all colors," they replied. "We've seen black ones, white ones, sometimes a little red, sometimes a little white, sometimes blue, sometimes red, sometime yellow and green ones." "They are the ones," said Noochee. "Where are they from? What teepee?" "Oh, their teepee is very far off," said the boys. Then they told him all about the girls. "They have nice ear-ornaments - green ones for the green girl, and yellow ones for the yellow girl. When they come to swim, they put die ear-ornaments under their dresses. Maybe Noochee will come along and like 25 the girls. If he takes the dress and ornaments - that's the best way to catch the girls. If he keeps the ornaments, but gives them the dresses, then the girls will say, 'Let's go home to mother and make everything right!' Then he will be married." Then the boys said to him, "You don't know much! If you do that, then you'll be married." Then they said, "Maybe you are Noochee. We think so. You took only their dresses. You don't know much." "Yes," said Noochee, "But where do the girls live?" "Far to the east," answered the boys. "You go about a hundred miles, and then you come to a big mountain. From there you can see another big mountain about a hundred miles farther on. You go straight to this mountain, and from its top you can see a little house, about fifty miles away. Here one of the girls lives." Noochee dianked the boys and started off. He travelled very fast, and when he had gone halfway to die mountain, he rested awhile on a high hill. Then he continued on to the mountain, where he slept for a night. In the morning he started off for the next mountain, but he felt rather tired and soon sat down for a rest. Then he went on a long distance through a river-bottom, and soon he saw two boys playing on a little hill. He went up to them. "Halloo, boys!" he said. "Halloo, man!" They answered. "Where have you come from?" "Oh, I came along the trail." he answered. "I don't know the trails around here. Where does this one lead to?" "It goes to the big mountain a long ways off," they replied. "But why are you coming this way?" "I am hunting for my girls," he replied. "What girls?" they asked. "Two of them - one green and one yellow." "What kind of ear-ornaments had they?" asked the boys. "Green and yellow ornaments and dresses," he said. "Yes," answered the boys, "we saw them. They are very far off yet a long distance past the big mountain. Maybe you won't be able to walk there. It is very far." Now the boys had some fine large eagle-feathers with them. "What do you do with those feathers?" asked Noochee. "Oh, we just use them to fan ourselves when we are tired," replied the boys. "No," said Noochee, "now tell me the truth." "Well," they answered, "we use the feathers to fly." "How do you use them?" asked Noochee. "We hold some feathers in each hand and cry, 'Fly, fly!' and then we go." "Let me see them!" said Noochee, and he took the feadiers in his hands. Then he noticed a cloth on each boy's arm. "How do you use die cloths?" asked he. "We spread them over ourselves, and then no one can see us," they answered. "Let me see diem also!" he said, and they gave diem to him. Then he spread out his arms with the eagle-feathers in his hands, and cried, "Fly, fly!" He rose into the air and flew rapidly over the big mountain. He looked behind, but die boys could not come after him. Soon he stopped safely in front of the house he sought. Noochee then spread the cloth over himself and walked around the house. In die door sat an old woman and inside the room an old man. In the other 26 room he heard a girl singing. Then he walked slowly in die door. He looked at die old couple, but neither of them saw him. Then he looked into the odier room and saw the green girl cooking meat. She put the meat down, and Noochee ate it all up, for he was hungry. Then the girl turned around and saw that the meat was gone. She cried, "Where's my meat? Who took it?" Then she went out to the old woman and said, "Mother, did you eat my meat?" "No," her mother answered. "I guess you ate it yourself. Maybe you are joking." Then the girl came back into the room. Noochee took off his cloth, and the girl saw him. He put his hand over his mouth as a signal to be quiet. Then she shut the door and greeted him, saying "How did you come here?" "Right through the door," he answered. "Didn't my father and mother see you?" "No." "Are you hungry?" "Yes, very." "Well, come here tonight. My father is harsh, and maybe he will bother and scold you, but after supper he will go to sleep." Noochee said, "All right!" Then he put on the cloth and went silently out of the door. He went out a little ways to a hill, where he lay down and slept, for he was tired. When he awoke, it was nearly nightfall. Near him he saw some people who had not observed him. He crawled up close and saw a man with two girls. The girls, who were all black, said, "We saw a man called Noochee over at the lake far back there." "Well," said the man with a conceited air, "is he a much better looking man than I?" Then he stood up and posed. "Do you like that man Noochee?" he asked. "No," they replied, "that Noochee is a nice man, but do you see Green Girl over there? She likes him. He caught her and Yellow Girl at the lake, and now they want him all the time." Then the man said, "What's die reason they don't like me? Why do they like him? What tribe does he belong to? I'm a good man." Then he posed again. But the black girls smiled and said, "No, the girls like Noochee." Then man said, "Why don't they like me? I'm a good man. I'm going to see them to-night." Now it was nightfall. The old father ate his supper, and then his daughter said to him, "You'd better go to sleep, old man; you're pretty old." So he went to bed. Now Noochee came in and sat down and she gave him plenty to eat. Then Noochee said, "Another fellow is coming to visit you to-night." "What kind of fellow is he?" asked the girl. "He was with some black girls," explained Noochee. "Oh," said the girl. "I don't like him, and my father and mother don't like him either." Noochee said, "Then let him come in." Soon there was a knock at the door. Noochee put on his cloth, and the green girl opened the door. "Why do you come here?" she asked. "You had better go home." "Oh, I have come to visit you." said the man. "No," replied she, "I'll tell my mother." "What's the reason you don't like me?" he asked. "You'd better go home," she replied. "Do you like somebody else?" "No." "What's die matter with me?" he asked, as he strutted with pride. I'm a good 27 man. Look me over." '"No," she said, "you are not. You haven't any nice ring. I'll tell my mother if you don't go home." "All right," he said, "I'll go." and he went. Then Noochee took off his cloth. She said to him, "Maybe father won't like you and will tell all the people around here. They are bad people and may kill you." In die morning the green girl got up and got the breakfast for the old couple. Then she said to Noochee, "Come and get your breakfast." The old man looked at him and said, "What is this man doing here?" "I met him a long ways off at the swimming lake," replied the girl. "He took our dresses and gave them back again. That's the reason he comes here to see me." "Well," said the man. "I'll go out and see my friends about it." So he went out and told everyone he met, "A man came and stayed with my girl. What shall I do?" "Let's kill him!" said all the people, so they told a number of boys to go and get him. Then they made a great fire, and put a big pot full of water over it. Soon it was boiling. Then they brought up Noochee and held him firmly. They said, "Now we are going to put you in. If you don't cook, if you live, then you can have the girl." Then they all laughed, for they thought that he would certainly be boiled. But Noochee thought, "Maybe I won't cook; maybe I will cool the water like ice." So he said, "All right, but put my legs in first. I'll boil upwards !" Then several strong men seized him and put him in the pot, standing, while all the people laughed. But as soon as his feet touched the water, "pssst!" It sounded as if a cold object had been thrown in. Noochee walked around in the pot and then jumped out. He was not hurt. All the other people were much frightened and started to run, but Noochee caught one young man. He was quite angry. "Now it is your turn," said he, and he threw him in the pot and held him in. In a few minutes he was entirely cooked. Then Noochee walked back to the green girl. Now all the people were greatly afraid of him. They talked to each other, saying, "What tribe can he belong to?" "And how can we kill him?" "Let's make an iron fork with many sharp points. Then we will tell him, Tf you can run into this fork and not be hurt, then you can have the girl.' " This they did, and told Noochee. "All right," said he, "I'll do it first, but one of you must do it after me." They agreed. Now Noochee thought, "Maybe I will break the iron; maybe it won't hurt me." So they made a great iron fork. Noochee ran full into it, but the points all broke. They would not hurt him. "Now fix it up the same way," he said, and they did so. "Now you run," said Noochee to a young man. He did so, and the iron points ran clear through him. Now the people were greatly afraid of him, and wondered, "How can we get rid of him?" So they took him to a great forest of timber. "Can you chop all this timber?" they said. "Yes," he answered. Then they gave him an axe and put him to work. "When 28 you chop it all," said they, "you can have the girl." He worked hard all day, but cleared only a little ground. At nightfall they said, "Well, Noochee, go home now, and chop some more tomorrow." So Nooche went home and had supper with the green girl. Then he sharpened his axe and went to bed. But soon he got up, took his axe and went to the forest. He felled each tree at one stroke, and by morning all the timber was down. Then he came back home. Next morning the people saw what had happened, and they were even more afraid of him. "We can't beat this fellow Noochee," they said. "What tribe can he belong to?" And the green girl said, "No! You can't beat anything he does. If you try to, many of you may be killed." So Noochee lived with the green girl many days. Soon there was a girl born to them. Now Noochee wanted to go and see the yellow girl. He put on his cloth and took the eagle-feathers in his hands, and soon he was at her home many miles away. She also had a father and mother. Noochee slipped past them in the house where the yellow girl was. Then he took off the cloth. The yellow girl laughed and said, "Where did you come from? Did you come to see your girl?" "Yes," he replied. "Then you like me?" "Yes." Then she said, "But maybe my father and mother will not like you. Maybe diey will tell all the people around here, and they will kill you. They will kill anybody here." In the morning the yellow girl got breakfast for the family. Then her fadier said to Noochee, "Well, Noochee, do you want my girl? We will go out and see all the people and fix it up." So they went out together. The people thought, "How can we get rid of him?" Then they decided to heat a pot of water and put him in. "If you are not hurt, they said, "then you can have the girl." They thought it would certainly kill him, but Noochee was not afraid. He knew now that the hot water would not hurt him; so he said, "If I am not hurt, one of you must jump in after me." "All right," said they, and they laughed. Then they put him in, feet first, but he jumped out unharmed. "Now you try that," said he, as he threw another man in. Then he came back to the yellow girl. "Weren't you afraid you would be cooked?" she asked. "They are pretty bad people." But Noochee just laughed. Now the people were very much afraid of him, but they disliked giving him the girl. So they led him to a tall pole, and said, "Now Noochee, if you can climb to the top of this pole, you can have the girl." "Very well," said Noochee, and he climbed it. "Now you do it," said he. "Who can beat me?" But all those who tried it fell off. They could not beat Noochee. But they thought they must somehow get rid of him. "Let us make him walk a rope," said they. "If you fall off, you cannot have the girl." But Noochee walked easily over the rope. He could not fall off. Then he said to the others, "Now you walk 29 that." Two odier men then tried it, but they fell off and broke their backs. "What can we do now?" they said. "He is a very clever man." Then they all went to the girl's fadier. "Let him have the girl," he said, and so Noochee married the yellow girl. Soon his fadier-in-law said, "Well, Noochee, go hunt deer and buffalo. You'd better ride the mule." But the yellow girl heard what her father said, and she went to Noochee. "That's a pretty bad mule," she said, "But just say to him, 'Don't hurt me; I'll give you something good to eat. But kill that old man.' Then let him feed on good grass while you hunt." So Noochee rode the mule. When they came to a good pasture, he got off and said to the mule, "Mule, look here! Don't kill me; I will give you good feed. But kill that old man who starves and beats you." Then he went out and killed a deer. He packed it on the mule's back and came home. When he got home, all the people were standing around. They were surprised to see him, and said, "What's the reason the mule didn't kill you?" Noochee unpacked the meat and took it into the house, and the yellow girl cooked it. Then the father said to one of the men, "Put the mule in the corral and whip him." So one of the men took him in. He hit him on the head and said, "Why didn't you kill him?" but the mule only shook his head. Then the man beat him. This maddened the mule so that he bit the man in the neck and carried him to the river. Then he dropped him in and came back. Now the yellow girl said to Noochee, "That's a bad mule. You'd better go out and feed him." So Noochee went and asked about the mule. Anodier man came into the corral, asked the mule about the first man and began to beat him. Then the mule grabbed him by the neck and dropped him in the river. Then the people said, "We'd better kill that mule. He has killed two men." The yellow girl heard this, and said to Noochee, "They are going to kill the mule tomorrow. Let's run away on him!" So at night Noochee went to the mule and said, "The people are going to kill you. We two will ride you away, and you must go fast." Then Noochee packed up some food, paints, and all the girl's things. They got on die mule and started off, and loped all night at a good pace. When the yellow girl's fadier arose, die sun was up high. "Why don't you get up and get breakfast?" he called. But the yellow girl was gone. Then he woke his wife and told all die people. He went over to the corral and found die mule gone also. He told all the people, "My girl has run away with Noochee. Let's kill them both!" Now, the mule kept going, and at last they came to a very wide river and swam across. They saw the people close behind them; so Noochee said to the mule, "We'll stop here and fight. We'll kill diem all." So they jumped off. Five of the people swam across 30 after them and found the trail and followed it. Then die mule rushed at them. He was very angry. He bit and kicked them until all were dead, and Noochee captured all the horses. They were of all colors, - bay, yellow, black, white, and roan. Now he had five horses and one mule. The yellow girl said to him, "These horses can ride a long ways." He asked, "They won't balk, fight, bite or kick?" "No," said the girl, "they are all right." Then Noochee said to the mule, "Well, you are all right, too." Then diey set out again with the mule and horses. After many camps, twenty days, they came to Noochee's house and settled there. Soon they had children - two boys and a girl. Soon the boys were grown and able to ride horses. The green girl's daughter was grown also. She asked her modier one day, "Who is my father? I don't know him. How was I born?" "Your father is far away at the other side of the swimming lake. His name is Noochee," the mother replied. "Let us go to see him!" said the daughter; so they set out. Now, Noochee told his boys, "Over there is a nice lake where we used to swim. It is a little hot and a litde cold." "Let's go to see it!" said the boys; so they went. They undressed and went in to swim. Now, die green girl and her daughter came up to the lake. The boys saw them and said, "Let's go and speak to them!" so they dressed and went to them. The green girl saw that the boys were all yellow. One of the boys had his sister's ear-ornament which belonged to the yellow girl. The green girl recognized it, and she said, "Who are your father and mother?" "Our mother is Yellow-Girl, and our father's name is Noochee," answered one of the boys. "Now I know you," said the green girl. "Girl, these are your brothers. These are Noochee's boys. How many of you are there?" "Three," the boys answered. "One girl at home" "I will go and see my father," said the green girl's daughter. Then she and the boys went to Noochee's house, but the green girl went back to her home. They came up to the house, and the yellow girl's daughter saw them coming. "My brotiiers are coming," she said, "and one green girl with diem." Her mother said, "That must be my friend's girl." When they came up, she said, "Why didn't your modier come too?" "She went back to her father and mother," replied the girl, "for they are old." Then they welcomed her into the home. Soon Noochee returned from the hunt and greeted his daughter. The green girl's daughter stayed witii Noochee for a year. Then another Ute came to woo her. She asked Noochee how he liked him, so Noochee talked to him. "Have you a father and mother?" he said. "Have you many relations?" "Yes," answered the boy. "Many over there." Then Noochee questioned him further. "You are a good fellow? Never get angry? Know everything? Got a father and mother, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandfathers, grandmothers, all relatives? Are you a good worker and good hunter - deer, buffalo, everything? You are an honest man?" "Yes," replied the boy. Then 31 Noochee asked all his family what they thought of him. "Yes, he's all right," they all said. Then he told the boy, "All right. You are married now. Don't whip your wife, and don't hurt her. Hunt all the time and be honest." One day he said to Noochee, "We will go to see my mother-in-law." Noochee said, "Take along the mule to pack, but leave him outside the village, where there is good grass." So they packed the mule arid set out on horseback. "Go along fast," they said to the mule. For fifty days they travelled, and at last they came to the town. Then young Noochee said to the mule, "Stay here and watch the horses, for maybe die men here would kill you. Listen to me!" Then he hung the saddles on a tree, and said to the mule, "Watch these saddles." Then they walked over to the house. "This is my mother's house," said the girl. Her mother saw her, and cried, "Halloo, my girl! have you come home?" And her grandfather said, "What man is this?" "Oh, he's my husband; he's a good man. Where's my grandmotiier? Halloo, grandmother! This is my husband. He's a nice man." "What kind of man have you for a husband?" said her grandfather. "Oh, he's a Ute, Noochee, just the same as my father." "Where has your father gone? Where's his home? Did you see a mule over there? Where is he?" asked the grandfather, who had heard of the mule from the yellow girl's people. "No, I never saw any mule," she answered. Then the young man went to work. "You know how to work corn?" asked the grandfather. "Yes." The old man watched how he worked. He worked well, making straight rows, and letting the water flow in between. "My father does this way," he said. Now all the people were evil. They said, "What kind of a fellow is this? What tribe? Let's kill him!" "No, said the old man, "he's a good worker." "This old man says 'no,' " said the people. "Let's take him to some other town!" So they took him to Yellow- Girl's town. "Let's go see Yellow-Girl's father!" they said, and so they went to see him. "What tribe do you belong to?" asked the old man. "Are you a Ute? Where did you come from?" "Oh, far back diis way." "Do you mean north, west? Did you see Noochee and Yellow-Girl? Another Ute stole my girl, and we don't know where he went. She took along all her things, and a mule ran away with them. I think my girl talked to that mule. She told him somediing, and that's the reason he went. We were very angry, and some people went after him. But he crossed the river and killed five men. Do you know where he lives?" the old man asked. "Has he got many people over there?" "Yes," said the young man. "He lives far off this way. You can't kill all his people." "Well, III go after him," said the man. "I will hunt my girl. All the tribe will go next month, and we will kill him and the mule. You'd better come along with us and show the way." "No," said Noochee. "I'll stay and work." "I want another man to go with me," said the yellow 32 man. "We will kill him with guns and arrows. We will fight all the Ute people over there." "All right," said the young man, and he went back to the green girl's town. The yellow man said, "Now shall we try to kill him?" but the other people said, "No, this Noochee is Green-Girl's husband. We like him. He's a good worker." "Well," said Yellow-Man, "I'll go and see Green-Girl's father." They talked a long time. "How do you like this man?" asked Green- Man. "What kind of man is he?" "Oh, we want to try to kill him, for we are angry with him. Old Noochee stole my girl and mule. We went after him, and he killed five men at the crossing, so we are going to hunt him." "Well, this boy is all right," said Green- Man. "He's a good worker, a good young fellow. I think you can't kill a good man. If you do kill a good man, then his friends will be angry and kill all your people. Then you lose everything. That's very foolish." But Yellow-Man only said, "All right. I'll go after my girl and my mule. We start in about a month." Young Noochee heard all they said. After a few days he went out to see the mule and horses. He hid some good dry buffalo-meat there and talked to the mule. "That Yellow-Man is angry. Next month he is going to kill you and Noochee. Pretty soon I'll come here again, and then we'll go and tell Noochee that another tribe is coming to fight. You had better wait here and watch the horses, for there is nice grass and feed here." Then he went back. He took some of the dry buffalo-meat with him, and gave it to the women. His wife gave some to the old couple. The old man tasted it, and said it was good. "I brought it all the way from my father's," said the girl. "We call it buffalo-meat." "Is that so?" "Yes, all people eat it over there." Very soon Yellow-Man started with all his tribe. Then young Noochee said to his wife, "We'll go and see your father, for he must fight pretty soon. We will tell your grandfather." But the girl said, "No, we won't tell the old man. We'll run away." So Noochee went to the mule and put his saddle on. "Well, mule," said he, "let's go home fast!" The old mule was quite fat, but he jumped and kicked. Noochee packed the mule and saddled the horses, and they went home, fast. Young Noochee said to old Noochee, "Well, Noochee, this Yellow-Man is coming very soon. He will fight and kill everybody - the mule and all the people - for he has guns, arrows, tomahawks, and other weapons." But old Noochee said, "Oh, we don't care! We've got plenty of men. You'd better take another horse, ride around and tell all the Ute people. Get arrows, guns, and all weapons." So young Noochee took a horse and rode all around. He saw all the Ute people, all the Ute chiefs, and told everybody the bad news. All the Utes gatiiered around. "Yellow-Man is angry," he told them. "Noochee stole his girl and his mule. You must all fight. Fix your guns, arrows, and everything." "Let's fight!" they 33 said, and they all came over. Then all got arrows, service-berry sticks, stone clubs, and all their weapons, and fixed them up. They watched for Yellow-Man's band everyday, and at last they saw them coming. The next day they arrived, and they came close to die house where all the Ute people were ready. The war chief had a white horse, and he rode out in front and talked to Yellow-Man. "What are you going to do? Fight?" "Yes," said Yellow-Man. "All right," said the war chief. "Fight! We like it!" Then all the Ute people began to fight. The war chief hit the yellow people with his tomahawk. Young Noochee rode a horse, while old Noochee had the mule. He said to him, "Let's kill all those people! Ride into them and knock them down. Arrows and spears won't hurt you." Then he rode the mule fast and whipped him hard. All the yellow people shot at them, but die mule knocked them down, and Noochee hit them with his tomahawk. Then all the Ute men went home to dinner. After dinner they fought again till sundown. The mule kept going and arrows and weapons could not hurt him. Many of Yellow-Man's people were dead, and they were forced back to stay for the night. Then the war chief said, "Come on! Let's fight some more! Would you like some more fighting? All right! We'll fight more in the morning!" They began to fight again in the morning. Almost all the yellow men were killed, and the Ute people surrounded them and closed in. They stopped shooting when Noochee came close on die mule. He talked to Yellow-Man. "Well, do you want to fight some more?" "No," said Yellow-Man, "we want no more fighting. You are my girl's husband; you are my son-in- law. All right. I'm not angry." Then he saw die mule. "Nice mule," he said. "You're all right. We won't be angry any more. We will fight no more. I will go and see my girl, and then I'll go home." Noochee said, "Well, your people must not fight us any more. We must be friends with everybody." Then he said, "I went to see Green-Girl's people, to see her father. I saw bad men there. They can't hurt anybody, but they are very bad men. Maybe he would like to fight! We could whip him surely. I am angry at him, because he tried to cook and stick me. I made him stop, and he will never do diat again. After that I went to see your people, and you tried to kill me in the same way. You tried to cook me! You tried to make the mule kill me, but he ran away, for he does not like you. You told the mule to kill people, and that's die reason he is bad. He wouldn't do it himself; diis mule would not hurt anybody. If you stop doing everything that's bad there will be no more trouble. Next time die mule may kill all your people." The Yellow-Man said, "Yes, I hear. I will go after I see my girl." Then die Yellow-Man went to see his daughter. The mule watched him closely, and went behind him and laid his ears back. Yellow-Man was frightened, 34 but Noochee told the mule "You must not hurt him." "Halloo, girl!" said Yellow-Man. "Halloo, father! These are your grandchildren - one girl and two boys." They all shook hands and kissed each other. Then she cooked some buffalo-beef, and gave her father some to eat. "That is nice eating," he said, "but I must go home pretty soon." The next day the two boys went out hunting. They shot buffalo, deer, elk, and mountain-sheep, and brought the meat home. Then they dried and pounded it, and packed it in parfleches. They made blankets out of the buffalo-hides and packed all on a horse. Yellow-Man took it along. "Well, you must come and see me some time," he said. "All right," they said, and he went home. He left the mule behind. "All right," he said, "you can have this mule," for he was afraid of it. It was a long ways to Yellow-Man's home. He found only the women and children left, and they were all crying, for nearly all the men had been killed. Soon afterward young Noochee went hunting. He shot many animals, and dried and pounded the meat. Then he packed the meat and went with his wife to see the green people. He left the mule at home; it was a long journey. The green men asked him what the yellow men did. "We talked to the yellow men," they said. "We said, 'You can't kill good men. Maybe they will kill all your people.' " Noochee told them, "We saw the yellow men back there. They fought with the Ute people. They had arrows, bows and tomahawks, but the Utes beat the yellow men and killed over half of them. Then they surrounded them and Noochee said, 'We will fight each other no more.' That is all. Maybe Yellow-Man will come over here to see you, and tell you all about it." Green-Man said, "All right. Go and work now. Your crops are all right." Then the girl brought out the sacks of meat, and gave her grandfather some. "This is buffalo- meat," she said. "This is deer-meat, this elk-meat, this antelope-meat." He tasted all. "That's all right," he said. "It is nice meat. I am not hungry any more." The Yellow-Man came over. The girl saw him coming, and said, "It looks as if Yellow-Man is coming." He came into the house and saw Green-Man. "Halloo, my friend!" said he. "All right, sit down and tell me everything you have been doing." "All right. I'm tired. I've been a long ways about two moons ago. We are tired of war, tired of fighting. We had a big fight, and we are very tired. Nobody hurt me. All the others are dead or hurt, and I alone am not injured. One man fought us all. We thought we killed most of them, for we shot many times and saw many fall. After that I quit. A war chief told me to stop. 'You must fight no more,' he said. 'We will not fight you any more; let's make friends and have no more fighting; then any one can visit any one else anywhere!' - 'All right,' I said, and so I came to tell you. I went to see my girl over there. I have three grandchildren - two boys and a girl. 35 |