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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 0:57:35 GMT -5
HOW THE PEOPLE CAME OUT OF THE UNDERWORLD ALAIKSAI!--Attention. Before anybody's memory the Hopi lived in the underworld, which was the original place of all human life. Here, in the beginning, all life and everything was good in peace and happy. The people were governed by the chiefs (Mongwi), village criers (Chakmongwi), priests (Momwit), and high priests and all their religious rites were ruled by the high priests. The people were classed as common, middle, and first class. 1 The time came when the common and middle class of people grew wise to the doings of the priests and the high priests. All the days of their lives these poor people had been cheated of their family rights by the upper classes of the people. At times the wives of the lower class were visited by these men and by the priests and high priests, while the poor husbands of the women were away. Now all this kept on from bad to worse. By this time the wives of the priests and the higher class of men also grew wise to what had been going on for all these years, and they were greatly troubled. Then, gossip, quarreling and fighting started between the men and women. Some priests said that it was a joy to cheat and steal another man's wife and that they would pray hard and earnest for prosperity. The women in return said, "If this is so and true, would it be more joyful to you men if we did the same to you as you have done to us? Would you then pray harder still for prosperity?" This question was, of course, asked by decent women brought up before guilty men and at this, every heart was troubled. The women turned their husbands away. They had no place to go but to their gathering places, called kivas, which were the underground houses--meeting places at times of ceremonies. In these kivas some hearts were sad and some did not seem to care so very much. They were all waiting and watching to see who would leave the kiva first to go to their houses to see if their wives would refuse to let them in. Some women had declared that they would not let their husbands in, so they put their belongings outside of their doors. 2 The men left the kiva one by one, going to their homes to try their wives, but finding their things outside, they had to go to the homes of their relatives. Even there, they were not welcomed and were not invited to cat, so they were forced to take two or three ears of corn to the kiva to roast. That was all they had for their meal on that day. The night came on. What were they going to do? This was the question. Some said they would stay in the kivas and live on roasted corn as long as they could, thinking that the women might get over this trouble and their anger. While the wives were still feeling strong against their men, they called a council. Every woman was present. At this council it was decided that the men would be falsely forgiven and would be taken back by every wife. All this was followed out and the husbands were made happy. But knowing all this, the chief, Yai-hiwa, and village crier, and their families, were greatly troubled and were sad. A thought came to the chief's mind of what he should do and how he must punish his people. Now with all this he was troubled in mind. About this time, when the men had been falsely forgiven, the women were going around and running wild after the unmarried boys, so that they might break the hearts of their husbands and so be revenged. Their families were neglected and their fires and cookings were left unattended. Among both men and women there was not a soul who could be happy in such sinful days, for there was murder, suicide, and every other wicked thing that made the days darker and darker. All this worry and sorrow was on the chief. What could be done? Nobody knew. So he went calling on his wise men (Posi-wiwaimkum) personally, and broken hearted as he was, he could not help but shed tears at every call. These wise men were named Kotiwa, Tani, Sootiwa, Komay, Seytiwa, Nawiki, and Kowisa, and they were the best of all wise men, with high ideals. But everything was for the chief to say in those days, so he asked every wise man to come to his counsel on the fourth day, 3 out at a distant place away from the people. The day came and the chief was out early that morning. With his bag of tobacco and pipes he was waiting for his wise men to come to the appointed place. One by one they came, each with his bag of tobacco and his pipe. The village crier was the last to arrive, and now everyone had come who was expected. Here they kindled a fire and being weary and sad they were rather quiet, sitting around their fire. The chief filled up his pipe with tobacco, lit it and smoked, then passed it to Yai-owa, the village crier. He puffed the smoke four times, then looked up to the chief, saying, "Father." In return the chief said, "My son." The pipe was passed on around in the same manner to every man. After the chief's pipe was all smoked out, every man filled his own pipe. Every pipe was first handed to the chief. Here they had their fatherly and brotherly smoke. 4 When the smoking was done the chief said, "My dear fellowmen, I pray in hopes that the gods, our fathers, get the smell of our smoking that they may have mercy upon us. With their power, I pray we will succeed and win because of what I have planned to do. My dear fellowmen, it is this. We must find a new place somewhere and we must find some way to get out of this sinful land, either below or above. I am in hopes to save some of you people if you only could realize this and feel as grieved as I do, about the trouble we are having this very day. I pray you to help me." Everybody was silent, arms folded, heads down over their knees while the chief was speaking. Every word was heard. Then they said, "Our father, our chief, we pray with all our hearts and we are ready to help you. We will stand with you. We will walk in your path and whatever you ask of us we will do." "Very well," he said, "be watchful and look ahead in my path that I may not mislead you. I pray you all and hope that the words you have spoken are from the very hearts of you and are true." "We pray you, chief, that the words we speak are from every heart, and they are true." "Very well, my fellowmen, I thank you. We will get busy at once. Tomorrow we will make pahos 5 (prayer offerings) for our gods asking for the mercy and blessings that they bring upon us. I, the chief, Yai-hiwa, again thank you all. Be here earlier tomorrow." The men went to their homes with the hope of success in their hearts, for they were true, honest men and were loyal to their chief. The next morning being the second day of the meeting, the chief and all his wise men came to the same place where they had met the day before and here they smoked, as usual. Every man had brought his material with which to make pahos, or prayer sticks. "Now," said the chief, "my dear fellowmen, let us start our work, and let every heart be in earnest. Let no soul be discouraged for we must work till we succeed." "Our father and chief, we are strong in heart to be with you. There is no thought in us to forsake you." "Very well, I thank you all," said the chief. So here they made their prayer sticks all the forenoon and part of the afternoon. The chief had done his cutting of the pahos first, then the rest had copied after his, for he knew every sort of cut for a certain god. All this was well done." When they had finished their paho making, every man, with his tray or plaque full of prayer sticks held in front of him, again circled around the fire and filled his pipe with tobacco to smoke. With a Hopi, smoking a pipe is the most true and earnest way of showing himself in prayer. Here they let the smoke pass from their mouths onto the trays of their prayer offerings to let the gods know they were earnest. With the Hopi, the smell of the smoke is the most sincere message to the gods, and for this reason much smoking is done at the times of all ceremonies. Now the work was well done for that day, so the chief said, "This will be all for today, and tomorrow we will see again what we can do. Let us all leave our pahos here and four of you will stay to guard our things, while the rest of us will go home and get something to eat. Then we will all come back and will bring you something to eat, and from now on we will camp here to the finish." This was the third day of their session. The four men stayed to watch, so that nothing would harm their prayer offerings, for they afraid that the witches and the wizards might send a spy to find out what was going on, for it has always been believed by the Hopi that the witches and wizards could change their form into anything--into wild animals or birds of any kind. The men who had gone home all came back and brought food for the rest that had stayed. Now they were to take turns that night in watching, so that nothing could come close enough to see what kind of pahos they had made. They did this and at last morning came and the watchmen had done well. Then the chief called his men to come together and take their places in a circle, and their smoking started, asking for mercy and the blessings of the gods, and all this was done. And again the chief looked up and said, "My dear fellowmen, our work is done so far, but we must have someone--we must call somebody who is wiser than we are to do the rest, or to finish the work for us. So let us now sing the calling song." 6 With this song they called the mocking bird, Yapa. 6a Now when he came he asked them, "Why do you want me? What can I do for you?" The chief said, "We are in great need of you for you are so much wiser than us all, and you know all the songs of our gods. We need your help. We want to be sure that we make no mistakes. This is why we have called for you to come, and so we did make some pahos for you." The chief handed him a tray of pahos, and the mocking bird was very glad to receive the prayer offerings. This was the fourth day when the mocking bird was called. After receiving the prayer sticks the mocking bird said, "Yes, I am called a wise bird and one that knows everything, and of the songs I know all. But there is still somebody higher than I and he is above me, and this one is the canary bird, Si-katsi. 6b Make no mistakes, call him. If he comes and says for me to help you, then I will, for he is still the wisest of all and his advice we must follow. Now I must go and hide for I do not want him to know and grow jealous because I came first." The mocking bird left and was gone. Then again they sang their calling song for the canary bird and he came and sat on a nearby bush. "Welcome," said the men, and he flew and sat down right in the center of them. "Why do you call me?" he asked. "Why do you want me here?" "Yes," said the chief, "we called you because we are in trouble and you being the wisest of all, we need your help. With all my heart, truly and honestly I pray you to help us." "You are right," said the bird, "I am always in all prayer offerings. My feathers are always first. The trouble you are having I know all about. I wondered why you have waited so long to call me." "My dear bird," said the chief, "it is like this. Our minds are full; we are almost insane and cannot think right, so do not think we mean to pass you by." "I understand you," said the bird, "so I am here to help you. But I cannot do everything alone. I cannot perform my ceremony without the magic songs. The mocking bird must be with us. Call him at once. We need him." Again the Hopis sang their calling song and soon the mocking bird was in sight. As he came near everybody said, "Welcome." "Yes, here I am," said the bird, "Why do you want me?" "It is I," said the canary. "Without you and your magic songs nothing could be done." "Certainly, being noted for my songs I feel that it is my duty to be here and help you," said the mocking bird. Before getting things ready for the ceremony, the two birds flew back around the rocks and there they changed their form into human beings. When they came back, the Hopis saw that they were handsome tall men with long straight black hair. Now all this time the men were getting the things ready with which the Birdmen were to work and perform their ceremony. In laying the altar they spread out the sand in a small square and in the center they placed a sacred water bowl and for each direction an ear of corn was placed. Each ear of corn was of a different color-yellow for the north, blue for the west, red for the south, and white for the east. When the altar was set up, they were ready for the mocking bird to take the lead in singing. The first songs were for making up the medicine water in the sacred water bowl. After the medicine water was :made, the calling songs were to be next, but the questions arose: who would they call first? Who would have the courage and strength to go out to find a place for these Hopis to go, where they might rest and live in peace? The two Birdmen knowing all things, the Hopis left everything to them that there might be no more trouble. So they first called the eagle, Kwa-hu. 6c At the end of every song the sacred water was sprinkled to each direction. As they were singing the eagle came and sat in the midst of them and said, "Why do you call me? Why do you want me?" "Welcome," said the men. "You being strong on the wing that is why we call you. We want you to help us. We think that you might find a place for us that we may be saved, and we pray that you will." "Even though being a bird of the air and strong on the wing it is a hard undertaking. But with all my heart I am willing to help you, so let us hope for the best and pray our gods that I may come back to you alive. To be sure, which way must I go?" asked the eagle. "We wish you would go up into the skies. There may be an opening and another world up there," said the men. When the eagle was ready to fly and the prayer feathers were tied around his neck and upon each foot, the eagle said, "Pray that I may find a place up there and bring good news." Then off he went up into the skies. He circled round and round above these men and they watched him as he went up, till he was no more to be seen. At last it was getting late in the day and the people felt rather uneasy about him, but finally he was seen coming down, and now it was very late. It seemed as though he was just dropping down, and sure enough he was. He was hardly alive when he came and dropped in front of them all, exhausted, and they rushed to him and rubbed him till he came to. Soon he was quite well and had come to himself again. Then he was ready to tell the news. "I know you are anxious to hear how far I have gone and what I have seen. Well, my dear good men," he said, "to tell you the truth, the way up there is rather discouraging. When I left here and kept going higher and higher, not a living thing was to be seen above the clouds. As I went on going higher I began to wonder where I would rest, but there was nothing to light on and nowhere to get a rest. When I looked up, it seems as though there is an opening up there, but I was getting very tired already, and if I didn't start to come back I might not be able to return here alive and tell you this news." After hearing all this they were very much troubled and deep in sadness,, and they wondered what else must be done. The eagle then received his prize of many prayer offerings and was asked to stay with them to the finish, and, of course, he was glad to be with them. By this time the two leaders--canary and mocking bird--thought of someone else to call. Again they were singing the calling song, and in singing the song it was mentioned who they wanted. Before the fourth song was half sung, a hawk, Ki-sa 6d came and circled above once and sat down in the midst of them and said, "Why do you call me? Why do you want me?" "We call you because we are in trouble and we need your help," said the men. "Yes, I do know that you are in trouble," said the hawk. "All who have a heart wish to help and save you, and I am willing to do whatever you will ask of me." "Very well," said the Hopis, "we want you to search the skies for us . You are strong on the wing and can fly high, so we feel that you might be able to find a way out of this wicked world." "Very well," said he, "I will try." So they made ready for the hawk to fly and put prayer feathers on him as was done to the eagle--around his neck and on his feet. When he was all ready, he said, "Pray with all your hearts that I may find a place for you and bring you good news." "We will," said the men, "for we want to save our families and many others who have good hearts, so may our gods take care of you while you are on the journey." Up the hawk went and circled round and round overhead, as the eagle had done. For a long time he could be seen up in the air till he was gone above the clouds. All this time the men were singing prayer and luck songs that nothing would happen to the hawk. It was getting late and everybody was rather uneasy again, and they kept watching for him very anxiously. Finally, he was seen again, but he did not seem to be alive and the eagle did not wait to be asked but went right up to meet him. Then every heart was troubled because they thought that he was surely dead. Now, before the eagle knew, the hawk had dropped past him, and then he just dived for the hawk, to catch him, and when the eagle did catch him his mouth was wide open but his heart was still beating a little. When the eagle came down with him in his claws he laid him down on a white robe and every eye was full of tears. Soon one of the men started to rub him, while the mocking bird sang the "life returning song." When he came to he was quite weak, and earnest prayers were shown by smoking many pipes for the hawk. Now by this time he was ready to tell his story. "I know," said the hawk, "you are all anxious to hear what I have found out for you up in the skies. When I left here, the first part about going up is the same as what brother eagle had seen and told you. I had gone as far as he did, then I took the courage upon myself and went on up as far as I could see up there. I am quite sure that there is an opening up there, but I was tired out and was not able to go any further before I knew that I was dropping down. I tried to turn myself over, but could not make it, for I was exhausted. Finally I felt something hurting me on my sides. I opened my eyes and found myself in the sharp claws of brother eagle. Then, I do not know how we got here, but now I thank the gods and you all that I am alive again. But let us not be discouraged, we might find someone that will make it up there and find out for us all about what is up there. I know every heart is in trouble. My heart is in trouble too because of you." After hearing this story of the hawk, there was very little light in the hearts of the men. But the thoughts with the men were still very deep of what is to be done next, or who would be the third to try the skies for these Hopis. Everything and everybody was very still and quiet--prayers were being said by the smoking of many pipes. The next morning being the fifth day of their ceremony, the wise Birdmen--canary and mocking bird--called the men to attention, to come around the altar and fill up their pipes by which to say their prayers again to the gods. After this was said and done, they started singing the calling ceremony again, but they did not know who they were calling this time. Before long something came and just went "whip," sounding like a whip over their heads many times and then sat down in the midst of them, and he was a swallow, Powvowkiaya. 6e He said, "Here I am." "Welcome," said the men. "Why do you call me? Why do you want me?" said the bird. "Yes," said they, "we need you. We want you to help us out of the troubles we are having. We want to be saved." "I know you do," said the swallow. "I was anxious and longed to be called, but I know your minds are full and of course I know the way things have happened, so I have no envy against those who were called first, because I may not be able to equal what they have already done, but do understand that I am willing to help you." "Yes," they said, "you being strong and swift on the wing, we pray in hopes that you will make it up through the skies to find a place for us, and here we have these prayer feathers made for you to wear on the way." "Thank you," said he, "I would be happy to have them, but all those might be in the way so I will go without them." "Very well," said the Hopis, "you know best of how you go in the air. May our gods bless us and have mercy upon us so that nothing will happen to you and we pray that our gods may take care of you on your journey and bring you back safely to us, so pray that no heart may be discouraged." "You have all said well. I thank you all," said he. Then he went off and in a little while he was out of sight. The men filled their pipes and were smoking. Those who were not smoking were singing the prayer songs of good luck. Again it was getting late in the day and the men were still strong with smoking and singing, while the eagle and the hawk were looking up into the skies with their sharp eyes. Finally they saw that the swallow was coming and they hesitated not, but flew right up to meet him. When they reached him he was nearly done and with a faint voice he said, "Catch me." They made a dive for him and did catch him and brought him down and right away they gave him some water and started to rub him up till he had come to himself. While he was resting the gift of prayer feathers was given to him. When the chief handed all this to him, he said, "This is our gift to you, from us all. We are glad that you have returned to us again." "Yes," said the swallow bird, "and I know you would like to hear what I have seen and done. It is too high up there. What these two brothers and I have seen is too great and wonderful, and to anybody without wings it is dangerous because the wind is strong up there. Going into the opening I got scared of the wind and was afraid to go any higher for fear I may not be able to come back. If I did I might not be alive to tell you this. What all I did see I could not begin to tell you all about it." Now the Hopis were wondering who would be the next one to fly into the skies for them, so rather hopelessly they filled their pipes again to smoke and to pray some more, and of course they were very silent. Finally the canary bird spoke up and said, "My dear fellowmen, we will make our last try so we will call brother shrike, Si-katsi 6f and see what he can do for us. He is pretty wise too, so cheerfully come to the altar and we will sing again." They all moved up around the altar and took up a little more courage, hoping down in their hearts for success. Before many calling songs were ended someone came flying very close to the ground and sat down on top of a nearby bush and from there into the midst of them. "Welcome," said the Hopis. "Yes, yes, here I am," he said. "Why do you want me in such a hurry?" (continued)
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 0:59:16 GMT -5
"Yes," said the mocking bird. "Here we are in trouble. Brother canary and I have been working here with these Hopis trying and hoping to find a place and a way to save them from this sinful land. These three brothers here have done their best up in the skies and they all seem to be very certain about an opening somewhere up there. This is why we wanted and called you, hoping that you can find another world and save us."
"With all my heart," said the shrike, "I am here to help you. I know and feel that it must be a hard undertaking because these three brothers were not able to make it. But to be sure, you must all tell me if you are all earnest in the hope to be saved. Somebody's heart must be bad here and he is the one that is holding you back and keeping you working so hard. Every heart must be true and honest. Let us all be one if we really want to be saved."
The chief of course was most troubled to think of all that time he had spent and had not yet accomplished anything, for he, himself, had good faith in his men and trusted them. Anyway, he asked the people then if there is any one of them with a false heart and who is intending to forsake them and they declared themselves to their chief and father to be all true men.
"No fault having been found in you, it gives me courage to go on and take the trip," said the shrike, "so pray for the best while I am away." He went off on a slow flight and as he went higher, he kept going faster. Soon he was no more to be seen. The men then took their pipes, filled them up and smoked with all their hearts, while the canary and the mocking bird were singing their prayer songs. The eagle and hawk were keeping their sharp eyes looking up into the skies.
Praying for many days with their pipes, every tongue was burning with the taste of the tobacco, but their courage was still strong for they were hoping for good news with all their anxious hearts. The day seemed very long.
It was very late when the shrike was seen high up in the sky and he was very slowly coming down. The eagle and the hawk saw that he was still strong so they did not go up to meet him for his little wings were still holding him up. As he was coming down nearer everybody was asked to hold their heads down with high hopes that he may land safely. As he landed they felt that their prayers were answered and they were filled with much joy. The shrike was asked to be seated in the center of them and be resting while the men joined in prayer by smoking their pipes.
When this was done the chief said to the bird, "I am more than glad and happy to see you come back to us again and it is not only I, but everybody here who is anxious to hear the news of what you have for us, so let us hear you."
"It is the same story," said the shrike, "from here on up to where these others had gotten to. When I passed that, I could see the opening and from there on the passage looked rather narrow. As I went on higher into the narrow passage, in there I found many a projecting rock on which I could light and rest myself. Then, at last, up through the opening which is just like a kiva you have down here. The light and sunshine is much better than here, but there is no sign of human life, only the animals and birds of all kinds. Now the question is, how are we going to get you up there? Because even the strongest birds carrying you one by one could not get you all up through there."
"So it is," said the chief, "that is another hard proposition, but let no heart be discouraged. Let us all be strong and we will succeed and leave our troubles behind here in this sinful world for I am more than glad and happy to know that there is another and better world up above, so if there is anyone present to give us advice of what is to be done next, I would like to hear him."
"It is I, who am called Kochoilaftiyo (the poker boy 7) said a boy who was sitting way in the back. They did not even know that he was with them all this time, for he was ranked and considered as of the low class people.
"Come forward to my side," said the chief.
And he was seated on the left side of him. Being only a poor boy it was rather doubtful to the others that he would know of any advice to give, but he was treated like the others and so they smoked their pipes together. When this was done, the chief asked him of what he had in mind.
"It is not much of anything," said the boy. "But I am with you and with all my heart I wish to help you. You know and everybody knows that I am not recognized nor respected half as much as the others."
"You have spoken the truth, but you must forget that now," said the chief. "You who are with me here, I refuse no one."
"I thank you," said the boy with eyes full of tears. "I know a little creature, kuna (chipmunk), who lives on the nuts of the pines. I think he knows how to plant and grow those pines and he may have some seeds. If he would come and plant and grow us one of those tall trees it might reach the sky so that we may climb up on it. He lives in the rocks and pines."
"Very well," said the chief, "let us call him." At this he turned to the mocking bird and asked him to sing his calling song for the chipmunk. At the altar the mocking bird picked up his rattle and started to sing. It was not very long before the chipmunk appeared over the rocks with his usual chip-chip voice, and when he did come up he ran in front of the altar.
"Why do you call me, and why do you want me?" he asked.
"It is because we are in trouble. We need your help."
"I am ready," he said.
"As you are noted for your tree planting and know how to make them grow so fast we would like you to plant one for us that will reach up to the sky and into the new world. We have been here many days trying to find out how we can get up there."
"Yes," said the chipmunk, "I do know how to plant trees, but I cannot be very sure and promise you that I could make it grow up to reach the sky, but for your sake I will try, so let us pray to our gods who really have power."
They filled up their pipes and smoked again, to carry their earnest prayers to the gods. After this was done, the little chipmunk reached into his bag for his tree seeds. 8 "This," he said, "is a spruce. We will try it first." He put it in his mouth and sang four of his magic songs. Then he took it out and set it in the ground in front of him, watching it very closely. Again he reached into his little bag and drew out his little rattle of sea shells with which he sang over his planted seed. Soon the tree began to grow out of the ground, and when it was about three inches high, he spit all over it and around the roots. With that it began to grow faster. Now, he kept this up as he was singing and his mouth began to get awfully dry so he asked for some water to increase the moisture in himself. Finally the tree was as high as a man stood and when it got this high he would run up on it and with his little paws would pull it upward at the very top. With songs and pulling it up, the tree was growing very fast indeed. The little creature kept this up till it had grown to its full height, but it did not reach the sky.
"I have done my best," said the chipmunk. "The tree will grow no more."
The high hopes of the chief sank again because the tree did not reach the opening up in the sky.
"Being called to help you," said the chipmunk, "I will try again, so keep your hopes and do not be discouraged. I think it has weakened this tree making it grow too fast, so this time it will be a little slower."
And he reached into his little bag for another seed which was a fir-pine. This he planted, with the same performance as the first time. Again, the little tree began to grow and the chipmunk repeated his same songs with new and strong hopes that he might make it reach the hole in the sky. Going up on this tree he would take his sacred meal and at the very top, with his prayer, he would throw this meal upward as high as he could, hoping that this would make it grow up through the opening.
While he was busy growing his tree every man was smoking his pipe and they were making their earnest prayers from their very hearts. Finally the chipmunk came back down to the ground again and said, "My tree has stopped growing again, although it has passed the first one by four men's height, but be not discouraged, I will try again. First, I must have prayer."
He reached into his bag and out he brought his little pipe and smoked. While he was smoking he kept a seed in his mouth which was a long-needle pine. When he had finished he set the seed in the ground again, and started his performance in the same manner with all the hopes of making it reach the sky, but this was also in vain, though it did pass the two first trees.
Now not only the chipmunk, but all the rest of the people were very much troubled and crying in their hearts to think that the trees had failed to reach the opening in the sky. The chipmunk, with a broken heart, filled up his little pipe and smoked, thinking very hard of what he could do next, because he thought himself powerless and knew that only his gods had unlimited power so with his smoking he prayed the gods for more wisdom. He could see that every heart was sad for the men were sitting around with their heads down upon their folded arms over their knees.
A thought came to him now, so he slowly raised his head and said, "We are all very sad but I will try again, so I wish to ask you from your very hearts if there is someone here who is not very willing to go and hates to leave behind the ones he loves or there may be some of you that still have evil thoughts in your hearts. All this work and many sleepless nights are getting heavy on our father, our chief. We must confess ourselves to him and to our gods that we will do right and will try to live the right kind of life in the upper world."
"We are all true," said they, "If we were not true we would not have stayed to this day with our chief."
The chipmunk left them and went to a place where the bamboo tree grows." Here he took a little shoot of a bamboo plant and with this he brought a tiny piñon shell full of water. These he set on a small basket tray and smoked his pipe over it, which was his earnest prayer. Others followed in the same manner. When this was done he put the piñon shell of water in the ground, at an arm length deep and on top of it he planted the bamboo shoot and he covered it up. He took his sacred corn meal in his right hand and stood over the plant and said his prayers in silence. Then he threw the meal high up toward the sky. Then the others followed one by one.
"Now," he said, "this being the last plant I know that will grow high we must give all our hearts to our gods that they may believe and answer our prayers and make this tree grow up through the opening in the sky.
When all their preparations were made and their sacred corn meal was thrown up toward the sky, the two birdmen started to sing their magic songs and the rest all joined with them because by that time, they knew the songs so that they could follow along with them. After the songs were ended, the little chipmunk ran up the tree and when he got to the top he pulled on it and he ran back four times up into that tree. Then he came down and filled up his pipe and started smoking.
He was always keeping time with the singing and he knew just when to run up the tree, and he just kept this performance up till the tree was high enough, and still they were singing and then, while they were singing, they asked the four other birds that had made their attempt to go up into the sky to find the opening, to fly up and see how high the tree had gone up, because by that time, the little chipmunk was tired, he couldn't run up the high tree again.
Now these birds, that is, the eagle and the hawk and the swallow bird and the shrike, made their trip up into the sky to the top of this tree four times and each time, when they came back they told the people that it was coming nearer to the opening. Toward the last, it was only the shrike that could go up and he made this trip up four times. But the last trip he made he stayed up on the top limb, and with him on the top limb the tree went through the opening. Of course, the old shrike felt very safe because he knew he could come back down, resting on the limbs of the tree.
When he came down he told the people that the tree had gone through the opening. Now the chipmunk was very glad that it had gone through, and of course you know that he was overjoyed. Then the chipmunk told them that it would be rather impossible to climb up on the tree. He told them that this tree was hollow inside and he started to gnawing on the bottom of the tree to cut an opening into it. While he was gnawing away all the men circled around the little fire and started their prayers again by smoking. After all this was done the chief said that as it was rather late in the day they would start their prayers and songs for the people at dawn. Now they were all very anxious to see the morning come and before it did come the chief had appointed two birds--the eagle and the swallow, to be on the look-out, so that no wicked people might pass.
Now on this day, before they started out, the chief said to the wise men that they must give an order for some kind of a guard that would hold back the bad people and the witches and wizards that would try to steal their way into the reed with the rest of the people. So the chief told the wise men to make their pahos for each four directions. These were to represent the closing of all the different trails from all directions. When these were made he sent out the One Horned Society 10 or priests who were supposed to guard the North and West, and the Two Horned priests to guard the South and East. When they got to the four directions they made four lines out of sacred corn meal about six feet long and on both ends of the lines they set a paho falling backward--not toward the bamboo. Whoever steals their way into the bamboo and crosses this line will perish, which means that they will drop dead. Of course, many people tried to cross from different directions and were found dead.
This is how two of the societies or religions were started; Kwakant (One Horned Society) and A-alt (Two Horned Society), which are still in existence today. Whoever came to the bamboo by the set path came safely to the chief, to join in going to the Upper World.
The time came for them to sing their calling songs and before they started to sing they renewed their altar on which they had laid their prayer offerings. They made four of these prayer offerings and set them up on four sides of the tree to hold it up. These prayer offerings were about the span of a man's hand. When they started to sing they had to sing around the altar and the two birds were watching the opening at the bottom of the tree so in case the wicked people should start to come through they could drive them away. The two birds were appointed because they had sharp claws. When they started to sing their calling song, being a magic song, it took effect and they found the names of men who were in this ceremony following one another because the calling song as it began, named all the wise men who were serving in the ceremony. Before long the people were coming up one after another--that is, one family after another family.
When the people were gathered there, the chief had his prayer offering ready and at the foot of the tree he set this little prayer offering down in front of it. Then with his sacred corn meal he made a line pointing into it and then he walked in and his family followed and the rest of the royal families came after him, like the family of the village crier and the families of the others who had a high position, such as the high priest.
As they were going up through the tree the shrike started outside, because he was rather light and he could rest on the limbs. They didn't know how far they were going up. It took them quite a long while and the chief was rather anxious to get up to the top and after a long time they finally came up to the opening. When the chief got up there the shrike was waiting for him and when he crawled out of the tree the rest followed and as some of these people came out they started to sing the same songs that they were singing down at the bottom. These songs were limited and they were only to be sung four times, because they were awfully long songs. In a ceremony like this everybody was so anxious to get to the top it didn't seem so long and before all the people were through, the songs were ended and there were still some more people gathered around the tree. Then everywhere there was trouble down below, for those who hadn't been able to get up while the songs were being sung had to stay at the bottom, because the ceremony couldn't be sung any more.
Then the One Horned Priests who remained below had to cut the tree down for fear that someone might steal their way up, so they cut down the tree and this tree still had some people in it, so that is why the bamboo is jointed--because the people in there stuck in the tree and the tree kind of shrunk in between them.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:00:11 GMT -5
MASAUWU Now the chief was pleased to be on top, but of course, he was rather kind of suspicious for fear that some witches or wizards might have come through. They found that there was sunshine and birds and rather a prosperous looking world--sun, grass, flowers, trees and everything else up above. When they had been up a few days, the chief asked his people if any of them had brought up anything with them to eat, or seeds of any kind. They searched one another and they found some corn and of course it was rather late in the season to plant anything now, so they didn't plant, they lived on game and wild fruit and seeds of the different kinds of plants. Before very long there was a little girl who took sick and died suddenly. When this little girl died the chief held a council to find out if they had brought up any witches with them. Finally one of the girls had to admit that she was one of them. Of course they were very much troubled over her and got ahold of her and tied her up and were ready to throw her back into the underworld. The girl didn't want to be thrown back into the underworld so she told them not to be troubled because after death you went back into that underworld and were safe, that you returned to your own people down there again. They asked her to prove it. "Well," she said, "I can easily prove it if you come to the kiva (opening). We can look down and see the little dead girl playing around down there just as happy as she can be." And so they went to the kiva hole and looked down and saw this little girl playing around with the rest of the children below. When the witch girl had proved this to the people the chief had to permit her to stay. On the fourth night after they came up to the world on top, they saw a fire a little distance away and they wondered who it could be, so the next morning the chief sent his braves to see where the fire had been. No sign of fire was to be found, only huge footprints of a big man or a giant, for these footprints were larger than any living man's. The braves came back to the chief and told of what big footprints they had seen, and they were all very much frightened. The chief thought the only thing to do was to have a ceremony of prayer offerings or paho making and offer these to their neighbor, the giant, for fear that he might be a man of some power, who might do them harm someday. The village crier was called to announce the day for this ceremony. When the people came to the chief they found him to be sad of heart and they all knew why he was so sad. The chief told his fellow men what he thought it was best they should do, that they might make these prayer offerings to the fire or whoever it was that had the fire. As usual they all smoked their pipes before they set to work to make their pahos. When all was done they put these offerings together on one plaque, which received their earnest prayers as they smoked their pipes, and all this was done before it was taken to their strange neighbors. Before it was taken over, the chief called for volunteers, to see who would step forward to take these prayer offerings to the being at the fire. They were to be taken at night and someone would have to carry it who was very brave. Four young men offered themselves and said they would take the offering over to the fire for among the Hopi four was the limit, and they were permitted to go. Going over with the tray of prayer offerings they saw at first in the distance only a faint light and they were very much afraid. Coming closer, they could see someone sitting by the fire and facing away from them and they could only see the back of his head. This head was of rather a great size, like the biggest squash, and there was no hair on it. As they came closer they were more and more frightened, but at last they got to him. He would not turn his face toward the fire, so they called to him and asked him who he was, but he would not answer. They called to him a second time and he ref used again to answer them. They called to him a third time, and again they received no answer. They called again, a fourth time, and asked him if he had some other language and did not understand them. Then he answered and said he was surprised to see that they had come to his fire because no one had ever gotten so near to him before. When he said this he turned around toward the light and his face was all bloody and he had a mask on; his head was big and his mask was terrible looking. These four men were very much frightened and all felt something creeping back of their heads. Finally they got over their spell and told him what they had brought him, which the chief had sent over with his wishes that he would be their good friend and neighbor and not try to make them any trouble. They handed him the tray of pahos which he gladly received and was very much pleased with them, and he said that he prized them very highly. Then he told these young men who he was. He was their god--the god of the Upper World, and it all belonged to him. Although being the god of the Upper World, he could not walk about in the day time, but only at night by the light of the fire. So he told these young men to tell their chief who he was--that he was now his god, who walked in the dark and is called the Masauwu. 11 He was the god of death and life. He told the young men to tell the chief not to be afraid, that he being the god of death, whoever died would go to him first and he would show him back to the underworld by way of the kiva, through which they had come out. When the young men went back to the chief, they told him the man at the fire received his offering and prized it very highly as it had been a long time since he had received any offering of pahos like that. This was the first time they had ever seen this man who said he was their god and ever since he has been worshipped by the Hopi. Since he told the people he was the god of death, they always go to him when they go on the warpath and ask him to paralyze their enemies with fear so that they may be victorious.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:01:09 GMT -5
HOW THE MOCKING BIRD GAVE THE PEOPLE MANY LANGUAGES AFTER awhile the chief said that they must move away from the kiva for fear that some of his people might become discouraged in some way, or lose courage and want to go back. They might die or want to die, so he didn't like to be near the kiva for fear the people might be going back and looking down toward their old home. Even though the Chief had decided to move the people away from the kiva he was very much troubled and wondered how the kiva should be regarded by them, whether it should be thought of with apprehension and fear. So the chief called his wise men together to consult them on his ideas regarding this matter, but none of these men could give him any help or find him an answer. They could only ask him what he had in mind, saying that whatever the chief wished, their gods may consent to fulfill. "Very well," said their chief, "let us make some pahos and with these offerings we will ask the big waters to come and cover up the kiva and that will make it impossible for anyone to go back there." When all these were made the young men were asked to take them to the southwest, toward Patuwakachi (the ocean) and at a good distance away from the kiva these pahos were set with the wishes and prayers of the chief that the waters may only come as far as the spot where the offerings were placed. Now every day, for four days the young men were sent back to this place where they had put these pahos to see if there were any signs of moisture or the coming of Paso (the roaring waters). Now every day the water was seen to be creeping up on these pahos and at the end of the fourth day the people began to feel the damp air. Then the big wind came and it kept up for many days and at last Paso had come and it had covered up all the land around the kiva so that no one could reach it. This was, of course, a very fearful thing to all the people. 12 Of course, no one knows how long they lived around that place, but after a great many years they increased and they started to have more trouble among themselves. The chief was afraid that something might happen again so he had a council with his men once more, and he asked them what should be done. One of the men said that the only thing that he thought of was, if they only could speak different languages and learn to eat different kinds of food from one another, they might start away or become parted in many divisions. "Why," said the chief, "how could we do this?" Someone said, "Well, don't we have the mocking bird who knows many songs and why shouldn't he give us many different languages?" "Well," said the chief, "I think that is a very good idea." Then he asked the men to come the next day so that they could make their prayer offerings for the mocking bird. So the next day the men came over with their trays and some materials with which to make their prayer offerings. They started work that morning and kept on until late in the afternoon. When all their prayer offerings were finished, the crier called out for the men to bring him their presents of food for them all to eat. After they finished their meal they started singing the calling songs for the mocking bird, and at the end of four songs the mocking bird came. When he came he asked them why he was being so anxiously called. The chief answered him and said, "It is because we are in trouble and we wish to have some changes made, if it would be possible." Then the mocking bird asked what kind of changes. "Well," said the chief, "would it be possible that we, living here as one people, could be given different languages'?" The mocking bird said, "It can be done." The chief asked, "How soon can you do it?" The mocking bird said that it would take overnight to give them different languages. The mocking bird asked the chief if he would like to speak some other different language, but the chief said he would rather keep his own language. Well, that night it was only the chief and the mocking bird who stayed up to see how this thing would work out. During the night the mocking bird went from camp to camp and at each camp he would take something out of the fireplace and then turn right around and bury something in the fireplace again. He had a sort of buckskin pouch and whatever he took out of the fireplace he put into this pouch and he was holding on tight to this pouch for fear that something would escape out of there. Just about dawn the mocking bird finished his job. He took his buckskin pouch to the chief and told the chief to dig a hole in the ground. The chief did this and the mocking bird told him to put the pouch in the hole and bury it there and build a fire over it. Now when the morning came, the people woke up with different languages and they couldn't understand one another. They were very much troubled because they couldn't understand one another and they came up to the chief and the chief couldn't make them understand. The mocking bird was the only one that could understand, so he was the interpreter. "Well," said the chief, "you are a pretty wise bird. Now you and I will travel the same direction toward the rising sun and the sun may be our god, 13 great and wise. With its light we can see and walk. Wherever this place is where the sun rises, I would like to see who will get there first for there we may learn who is our true god. If not, the sun itself is our god for there must be some spirit, somewhere, that really does look after us. If either you or I should get to the sun first, the great star will appear and many other stars will fall from the heavens, by which those who are still on the journey will know that one of us has reached the journey's end. Then the one who has arrived with his people must settle down and look forward to meeting his brother when he comes with wisdom and truth that he may teach the true religion of god."
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:02:40 GMT -5
THE HOPI DECIDE TO SEEK A NEW HOME. HOW CERTAIN CLANS RECEIVED THEIR NAMES ALL THIS time while the people were together, they learned to eat some of the wild seeds besides corn and different kinds of fruit and wheat. The mocking bird asked the chief to get all the different kinds of foodstuffs together and call the people to come and gather there, and decide and choose their food, or the chief food, that they wished to live on as they traveled along. Of course in those days the chief had charge of all the foodstuffs. So he asked the people to gather all this food together and when they had gotten all they could collect he sent word out for no more people to come. When everything was gathered in, the chief sent word for the people to come together. Of course, all this time the mocking bird was still with them, because they could not go without him. When the people came the chief asked them to look this foodstuff over and choose what they would like to take along in case they wanted to separate and travel along in different directions. Now that the mocking bird had given the people different languages and they couldn't understand each other they thought it would be best to separate. After he had said all this the men shook hands to show that they were brothers and they started out on the race for the same point, as they were both anxious to learn and to find out who is the true God. Before they parted they said they would start out on their journey on the fourth day from that time, but during these three days the people of these two men and the women folk were getting ready the foodstuff for them to take along. Of course each of them had quite a number of people besides just their families. On the fourth day all the tribes came together--Navajo, Supai, Paiute, Apache, Zuni, Utes and the Bahana. 14 When they came up, the chief had all the different kinds of seeds of corn and grain, of melon and fruit, laid out for them to choose. Then he asked the different tribes to step forward and take their choice. The Navajo slipped forward hurriedly and picked out the largest ear of corn, which he thought was the wise thing to do. But the chief and the others knew that the long ear of corn could not last long and was not easily raised. Afterward the rest of the tribes took their choice in turn. The Hopi took the shortest ear of corn and also squash and beans. The Apache didn't take any, for they said they would rather live on game. Supai took some peaches--he preferred the fruit most. The Zuni took corn and wheat. Paiute didn't take any, he too said he would rather live on wild game and fruit. Utes didn't take any either. The Bahana (White man) took his choice last and was rather slow and considered well and finally he took some wheat which was not so heavy and he could carry more of it than the corn. When they started out, for a few days they were kind of looking out for one another and keeping track of the time. They travelled on for many days and it got so that it was rather discouraging for they never had thought that the sun rose so far away; they thought that the sun rose only a short distance off. Finally they got so they didn't count the days any more. As they traveled along, the first party came on a dead bear. They thought that they would name themselves the "Bear Clan" (Hona-wunga) and by this they could be recognized. They took the paws off the bear and took the flesh and bones out of them and stuffed them up with grass. The second band came along and they too, found the dead bear. They had so many things to carry that they thought they needed some straps, so they took the hide off the bear and made straps of it. Then they thought they would take the name of "Strap Clan" (Biaquoiswungwa) by which they would be known. Then it was many days before the third band came along. When they came to the dead bear it was all bones and the ribs were sticking up in the air and the bluebirds were sitting on them. Well, seeing the bluebirds there they thought they would call themselves the "Bluebird Clan", Chosh-wunga, by which name they would recognize each other. Then they went on, following the rest who were ahead of them. They must have known in some way that the two other clans were ahead of them. Not very long after the "Bluebird Clan" had left this place, another band came along and they too found the dead bear. Inside of the skeleton of the bear was a spider web. Seeing the spider, they thought they would call themselves the "Spider Clan", Koking-wungwa. Then the next band came along not very far behind them, and they too came to the same spot. They found gopher mounds around the skeleton of the bear so they thought they would call themselves the "Gopher Clan", Mui-wunga. Maybe a few years later, another band came up and they too came to the same place and found that the skeleton of the bear was all in pieces. They found the skull with the greasy eye cavities, and they thought they would call themselves the Wikurswungwa Clan, "The greasy eye cavities of the skull." (Clan now extinct.) These groups were all going eastward, toward the rising sun and of course, the man who was to be the Bahana, went on and got ahead. As they were following one another, of course they all had it in mind to see the Eastern Star. Their brother, Bahana, had gone on and they thought he might be held up somewhere and they hoped to get ahead of him for they all hoped they would reach the rising sun first. Of course, out of all these clans the Bear Clan was ahead. Each clan wished to get ahead. One day the Spider Clan came upon a spider lying outside of its hole, and of course the leaders stopped and wondered if this spider could speak to them. So the chief called his people and they all gathered around the spider, wondering at it. Finally the Spider Woman spoke to them. She called them her children and grandchildren. Then she said that if they needed to be helped she could help them. They said they would like to be helped, because they rather thought they were getting away behind the rest of the people. So the Spider Woman said that they would have to stay with her a few days and that she would get them something to travel with so they could go on faster. They said they would like to travel faster because on account of the children they were getting behind. So the Spider Woman asked them if they would like something to ride on so they wouldn't have to travel on foot, and they said they would. "Well," she said, "I can make you a tame animal" that would carry your stuff and probably you can have him pack your things and you can walk behind him. If you don't carry any thing on your back you might travel faster." "Well," the man said, "what could you make it of?" The Spider Woman said "It has to be a part of you, so you go to that little room with the jar of water and take a bath and whatever rolls off your body--all that dirt--you gather it up and bring it to me." So this man took a jar of water and went into a little room and started to take a bath. Of course, you know, having travelled many days thinking that he would get to the rising sun, why he never did stop to think about taking a bath and he was awful dirty. All afternoon he spent rubbing himself and all that dirt began to roll off of him. When he got through and gathered it up he almost had a handful. He came out and handed this to the Spider Woman and wondered what sort of an animal it would make and how big it would be, because he thought the dirt that rolled off himself wasn't big enough to make an animal of any kind. Then the Spider Woman went to work and she brought out a little white robe. She laid this down and put the lump of dirt on it and covered it up with the robe and folded it over. Then she sang the magic songs. Every once in a while she would peek in under this cover and see if it was coming to life, and finally the thing started to move. The Spider Woman finished her songs. She took the little cover off and there was a little gray burro. Well, the Spider Woman told these people that they would have to stay there four days because in four days this little animal would then be strong enough to travel. Every day the Spider Woman would feed this little animal something and wrap him up. Being a wise old woman, she would feed it some of her medicine--magic stuff--rubbing its legs to give it strength. Finally, in four days, the animal was ready to travel. The people packed up the burro with their stuff and they went on. Well, they found it was much easier to have something packing their stuff than to be packed up themselves. Having made a burro for these people, this same Spider Woman made a man with knowledge and instructed him to go after these people and help them along, to train animals for them that they might catch up with brother Bahana. But not following the Spider Woman's instructions, this man stole the little burro and went on himself, thinking that he would get ahead of the Bahana and reach the point of the rising sun first. So one day these poor Hopis could not find their animal and they looked for many days. Finally, they found somebody's tracks driving the burro. He had funny shoes and whoever he was, he had slipped up on them and stolen their animal. Now they were made sad because they had to pack their own stuff again. Later, they came upon another Spider Woman who told them that this man was a Castilian who had stolen their burro. By this time these people had almost forgotten about the rest of the Hopi and they hadn't heard of where they were all this time. They were traveling away behind and they were rather slow because they would stop to cultivate the land and raise corn to supply them for a few years. They thought that they would build houses and make pottery by which they would mark this land as they went along, because they believed the day would come when their brother would find the rising sun and that they would all come back this way with more power and more knowledge. Of course, they would be true to their brother, but there may be others who would come back with him and they would be the ones who would try to cheat him out of the land, so in order to have some kind of mark in this country they built homes and made pottery.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:03:41 GMT -5
HOW THE HOPI SELECTED SHUNG-OPOVI FOR THEIR HOME THE Hopis had forgotten about the other tribes by this time and did not know where they were. They were hoping to see the Eastern Star so that they could settle down and not travel any more. Well, finally the Bear Clan did see the Eastern Star and they were ready to settle down, but they didn't know just where would be a good place for them. They thought that they would do better cultivating by depending on rain, so they went out onto the Painted Desert to Shung-opovi (the place by the spring where the tall weeds grow). Being out here in such a desolate place they thought that they would be safe from other people, who would not think that they had anything worth taking. By that time the other Hopis were down around the vicinity of Sunset Crater, Canyon Diablo and the Little Colorado River. After a good many years these other Hopis heard of the Bear Clan being out at Shung-opovi, so the Strap Clan who were settled along Canyon Diablo, thought they would go out and join the Bear Clan. So they started out. When they did start out they stopped along the ridge below Ma-teuvi, which is now called Big Burro Spring. From there they sent off a messenger to Shung-opovi to tell the Chief that his brothers, the Strap Clan, would like to join him. 16 When the messenger came to the Chief of Shung-opovi and told him what the Strap Clan leader wished to do, he could not very well answer his message just then. So he sent word back that he would like to have the Strap Clan chief come himself. When the Strap Clan leader heard this word he went up to Shung-opovi with his bag of tobacco and his pipe. Of course, in those days, they had guards that were always on the lookout for someone coming, for fear it might. be an enemy. Well, this man was seen coming and the Chief was notified. He knew who it was, the man being alone, so he went out to meet him and he met him at the place called Teuviovi (point that runs out south of Shung-opovi Day School). When they met there, they greeted one another by smoking their pipes. After they had smoked their pipes, the Strap Clan leader told the chief of the Bear Clan how he had followed his trail and that he had taken his clan name from the same dead bear that he had. So for that reason, he considered himself as his brother and he would like to join his establishment, because he thought being of the same clanship the Bear Clan was not any greater than the Strap Clan was. So the Bear Clan told him he could go back and bring his people. Well, the Strap Clan leader went back and told his people this good news and asked the people to get ready, as they would start for Shung-opovi in four days. On the fourth day they started out and when they got to Shung-opovi they were very well received. When the Strap Clan entered the village they thought they would have the same rights as the Bear Clan but the Bear Clan did not like the way the Strap Clan felt about their rights and the way they were acting, so finally they had to have a council and talk this over. They decided the Bear Clan would give the Strap Clan a chance to become a royal clan and to rule the village. Of course, after this the Strap Clan was always looking forward to this agreement. Now later, the other clans began to drift in. When they came up to the town they would send word up to the chief and the chief would usually send for the leader to come to see him, because it was not his business to go down and meet the people. They had to come up before the chief. He would always ask the leader about his religious rites or ceremonies--of how he had been serving his people in the way of prosperity, if his ceremonies have any effect on the gods and if his ceremonies would bring rain. And of course this chief would have to tell what he did to bring rain or how he did it. Then, if the chief thought he was rather bragging about himself, or exaggerating his ceremonies, he would tell him to stay away, because if he could take care of his people that way, he could get along all right by himself. The chief knew that no human would have such power and that he had to ask the gods or make prayers for rain to make his crops grow. Many a time some clan leader had to go up to the chief four times before he was permitted to enter with his people. Every time when a band or clan was received, the chief would allot them so much land. The last few clans to arrive were just the common class of people. They didn't have a high priest, or ceremonies of any kind, and they were the ones that had a hard time getting into the village. They were not alloted any land. 17 They wished to have land also, so they asked the chief. The chief asked them what they could do--or what right they had to be given that land. They said that they were willing to have the land on the edges and they would guard his people and keep away the enemies, so since they told him all this, they were given all the outside land which was not allotted to any other clan. After this was all settled, another clan came along and they were also a common class, and the chief asked them if they had any ceremonies of any kind by which they lived, or by which they prayed to the gods to bring them rain. They said no, they didn't have any and they told him they didn't have any time for ceremonies, they were nothing but warriors and had to fight their way up there, for the country was full of other tribes that were enemies of these people. So the chief said that if they were warriors and had to fight their way up there, they would be his braves. This was the Sun Forehead Clan. Then the chief went to the Parrot Clan (Gash-wunga) and asked them if they would give up some of their land to the Sun Forehead Clan, that they too might take their place in guarding the chief's rights and those of his people. The Parrot Clan was very glad to do this, so from then on the Sun Forehead Clan had to be out first if enemies made an attack. Then, later on, another clan came along, the Sun Clan. They too were without a religion and ceremonies. This Sun Clan was given the same treatment as the clan before them and the Sun Forehead Clan gave up part of their land that the Sun Clan might guard the rights of the people, so to this day, their lands are still on the edge of the Hopi lands.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:04:27 GMT -5
HOW THE CROW CLAN ARRIVED AND SETTLED AT MISHONGNOVI LONG before this time the Crow Clan had made a little settlement at what is called the first Mishongnovi, on the west side of Quang-oufovi Mesa, or Bald Mesa. The leader of this clan was called Mishong, or Black Man, on account of his dark color. They lived there for awhile, but they were much troubled, for there was some sort of a great reptile that lived there, which seemed as if it had no end to it, and sometimes in the morning he would be all over the place, the great coils of him going round and round the little houses on the steep terraced mesa. He had one little pair of wings and Tok-chi-i, he was called. On account of that snake they were having great trouble. It was rather harmless, but they were afraid of it. When this great snake gathered himself together he formed a shape like a plaque and then he would take off into the air and was gone for a long time, and it might be months before he returned again, but when he did return he piled himself up on that little village again. On account of him the people left the place and went to Shung-opovi and settled down about three-fourths of the way to the top of the Mesa. When the Shung-opovi people found out that there were only seven families of them there they called their place the Seventh Point--Chung-ait-tuika. While living at this place they were constantly asking the Shung-opovi chief if they could join with his people, but he refused them every time, because they were a dark colored people. Of course, they didn't have any land to farm and what little gardening they did was on the bench where there was only a few inches of dirt on top of the rocks. Finally the Mishongnovi leader went to the Shung-opovi chief again. Now about this time Walpi was established, and when the Shung-opovi people heard about it they decided they would let the Mishongnovi people go to guard the Corn Rock which was a very important shrine. So the chief of Shung-opovi said, "If you want to become a part of my people, I have a shrine by the Corn Rock and I need someone to take care of it. If you wish to be a part of my people you must settle there." The chief of Shung-opovi continued, "The eastern star has come up so that we are expecting the Bahana, our savior, a white man. We want to know him when he comes, so I delegate the Crow Clan to look for the Bahana. The Bahana, our savior, will do away with all evil people. But if the Bahana is not the true Bahana it will be your duty to make away with him." So Mishong and his people settled by the Corn Rock, founding Mishongnovi, and the Crow Clan has handed down the idea that they are the ones to look for the Bahana. Other clans joined this pueblo so the Crow Clan became the royal family of Mishongnovi. When Mishong's people were settled there they were given some land to the southeast. Now the chief of Walpi thought they were taking some of his land, so the Chief of the Shung-opovi went to Walpi and told the Chief that he had the right to give the people that much land as he was the first one to serve them. So then they made a boundary line from one of the points on the North Mesa to the South Mesa. The North Mesa is called Po-noteu-we (shrine that looks like a fat person). The South Mesa is called Aku-haivi (meaning "a little pool or deep rock tank" and here they could easily dip water with a ladle (aku) which always hung there.) This seemed to be satisfactory to both sides, so they settled on that question of the boundary line. About this time all the other villages were just beginning to be established, like Awatovi, and the others on the Jeddito, and it was found that the Awatovi people were speaking the same dialect as the Mishongnovi people. 18 Of course at that time there was nobody at Shipaulovi.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:05:15 GMT -5
HOW A FAMILY QUARREL LED TO THE FOUNDING OF ORAIBI LIKE all the other people, the Shung-opovi chief and his brothers were usually having some kind of trouble or argument over something, and about this time he found out that his younger brother was too bold. He was rather taking too much authority upon himself and didn't have much respect for the other people. He never would do much of anything in the way of work, but he would always be down in the fields when the crops were ripe and he helped himself to the things the other people had grown. Since he was one of the royal family no one had a right to say anything to him, and he was always grabbing corn from other people's fields at the time of the harvest and that was where he got his provisions, for he didn't grow anything himself. Now the people were rather tired of this and they were all turning against him, but no one dared say anything. One day they had baked sweet corn and the men were there husking it, and this man came down and picked out as much as he could carry of the best corn the men had. It happened that his brother, the Chief, was there at the time and his brother, having the same right or being a little above him, called him down. Then all the other men thought that was their chance to say something to him and they all called him down. That hurt him more than anything else and he left all the corn right there and went home. When night came on he left Shung-opovi. The next morning he was missing and no one knew where he had gone and from then on, they were always looking for him and would send out searching parties but they never could find him. Nobody ever heard anything about him. All the other villages were asked if he had gone to one of them, but he was not in any of them. One day they went out hunting and at that time Third Mesa was a hunting place where they hunted cottontails among the rock. Now while they were there hunting, they found this man. He was living in one of the little caves. His name was Ma-chito. When they found him they tried to get him to talk but he wouldn't speak to them, so they tried to bring him back home but he would not go with them. When they got home they told his wife that her husband was over on the mesa and asked her to go and see if she could get him to come home. The next day she went but he told her he would never return to Shung-opovi--that he had left his people for good. He wanted to see how his brother would get along without him, because he considered that he himself had witchcraft power and that it was he that knew all the different songs and all the ceremonies that were being carried on at that time. His wife made four trips over there but she could not get him to come home, so she decided to go over and join him. So when she got there, they went up on top of the mesa and built up there. From then on, in the other villages, whoever was mistreated or got mad at something went over there to live. When other clans drifted in, Ma-chito didn't have many questions to ask of them, but just brought them in, for he wanted to get ahead of his brother and have more people in a short time.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:06:25 GMT -5
HOW THE SPANIARDS CAME TO SHUNG-OPOVI, HOW THEY BUILT A MISSION, AND HOW THE HOPI DESTROYED THE MISSION IT MAY have taken quite a long time for these villages to be established. Anyway, every place was pretty well settled down when the Spanish came. 19 The Spanish were first heard of at Zuni and then at Awatovi. They came on to Shung-opovi, passing Walpi. At First Mesa, Si-kyatki was the largest village then, and they were called Si-kyatki, not Walpi. The Walpi people were living below the present village on the west side. 20 When the Spaniards came, the Hopi thought that they were the ones they were looking for--their white brother, the Bahana, their savior. The Spaniards visited Shung-opovi several times before the missions were established. The people of Mishongovi welcomed them so the priest who was with the white men built the first Hopi mission at Mishongovi. The people of Shung-opovi were at first afraid of the priests but later they decided he was really the Bahana, the savior, and let him build a mission at Shung-opovi. 21 Well, about this time the Strap Clan were ruling at Shung-opovi and they were the ones that gave permission to establish the mission. The Spaniards, whom they called Castilla, told the people that they had much more power than all their chiefs and a whole lot more power than the witches. The people were very much afraid of them, particularly if they had much more power than the witches. They were so scared that they could do nothing but allow themselves to be made slaves. Whatever they wanted done must be done. Any man in power that was in this position the Hopi called Tota-achi, which means a grouchy person that will not do anything himself, like a child. They couldn't refuse, or they would be slashed to death or punished in some way. There were two Tota-achi. The missionary did not like the ceremonies. He did not like the Kachinas and he destroyed the altars and the customs. He called it idol worship and burned up all the ceremonial things in the plaza. When the Priests started to build the mission, the men were sent away over near the San Francisco peaks to get the pine or spruce beams. These beams were cut and put into shape roughly and were then left till the next year when they had dried out. 22 Beams of that size were hard to carry and the first few times they tried to carry these beams on their backs, twenty to thirty men walking side by side under the beam. But this was rather hard in rough places and one end had to swing around. So finally they figured out a way of carrying the beam in between them. They lined up two by two with the beam between the lines. In doing this, some of the Hopis were given authority by the missionary to look after these men and to see if they all did their duty. If any man gave out on the way he was simply left to die. There was great suffering. Some died for lack of food and water, while others developed scabs and sores on their bodies. It took a good many years for them to get enough beams to Shung-opovi to build the mission. When this mission was finally built, all the people in the village had to come there to worship, and those that did not come were punished severely. In that way their own religion was altogether wiped out, because they were not allowed to worship in their own way. All this trouble was a heavy burden on them and they thought it was on account of this that they were having a heavy drought at this time. They thought their gods had given them up because they weren't worshiping the way they should. Now during this time the men would go out pretending they were going on a hunting trip and they would go to some hiding place, to make their prayer offerings. So today, a good many of these places are still to be found where they left their little stone bowls in which they ground their copper ore to paint the prayer sticks. These places are called Puwa-kiki, cave places. If these men were caught they were severely punished. Now this man, Tota-achi (the Priest) 23 was going from bad to worse. He was not doing the people any good and he was always figuring what he could do to harm them. So he thought out how the water from different springs or rivers would taste and he was always sending some man to these springs to get water for him to drink, but it was noticed that he always chose the men who had pretty wives. He tried to send them far away so that they would be gone two or three days, so it was not very long until they began to see what he was doing. The men were even sent to the Little Colorado River to get water for him, or to Moencopi. Finally, when a man was sent out he'd go out into the rocks and hide, and when the night came he would come home. Then, the priest, thinking the man was away, would come to visit his wife, but instead the man would be there when he came. Many men were punished for this. All this time the priest, who had great power, wanted all the young girls to be brought to him when they were about thirteen or fourteen years old. They had to live with the priest. He told the people they would become better women if they lived with him for about three years. Now one of these girls told what the Tota-achi were doing and a brother of the girl heard of this and he asked his sister about it, and he was very angry. This brother went to the mission and wanted to kill the priest that very day, but the priest scared him and he did nothing. So the Shung-opovi people sent this boy, who was a good runner, to Awatovi to see if they were doing the same thing over there, which they were. So that was how they got all the evidence against the priest. Then the chief at Awatovi sent word by this boy that all the priests would be killed on the fourth day after the full moon. They had no calendar and that was the best way they had of setting the date. In order to make sure that everyone would rise up and do this thing on the fourth day the boy was given a cotton string with knots in it and each day he was to untie one of these knots until they were all out and that would be the day for the attack. 24 Things were getting worse and worse so the chief of Shung-opovi went over to Mishongnovi and the two chiefs discussed their troubles. "He is not the savior and it is your duty to kill him," said the chief of Shung-opovi. The chief of Mishongnovi replied, "If I end his life, my own life is ended." Now the priest would not let the people manufacture prayer offerings, so they had to make them among the rocks in the cliffs out of sight, so again one day the chief of Shung-opovi went to Mishongnovi with tobacco and materials to make prayer offerings. He was joined by the chief of Mishongnovi and the two went a mile north to a cave. For four days they lived there heartbroken in the cave, making pahos. Then the chief of Mishongnovi took the prayer offerings and climbed to the top of the Corn Rock and deposited them in the shrine, for according to the ancient agreement with the Mishongnovi people it was their duty to do away with the enemy. He then, with some of his best men, went to Shung-opovi, but he carried no weapons. He placed his men at every door of the priest's house. Then he knocked on the door and walked in. He asked the priest to come out but the priest was suspicious and would not come out. The chief asked the priest four times and each time the priest refused. Finally, the priest said, "I think you are up to something." The chief said, "I have come to kill you." "You can't kill me," cried the priest, "you have no power to kill me. If you do, I will come to life and wipe out your whole tribe." The chief returned, "If you have this power, then blow me out into the air; my gods have more power than you have. My gods have put a heart into me to enter your home. I have no weapons. You have your weapons handy, hanging on the wall. My gods have prevented you from getting your weapons." The old priest made a rush and grabbed his sword from the wall. The chief of Mishongnovi yelled and the doors were broken open. The priest cut down the chief and fought right and left but was soon overpowered, and his sword taken from him. They tied his hands behind his back. Out of the big beams outside they made a tripod. They hung him on the beams, kindled a fire and burned him.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:07:34 GMT -5
RETURN OF THE SPANIARDS TO HOPI COUNTRY. SHIPAULOVI FOUNDED AS A SANCTUARY AFTER all this had happened the Hopi were sure that the Spaniards were going to come back and make an attack on them and they figured that they would be wiped out. The chief of Shung-opovi thought there should be someone saved who would keep a record of these happenings in the best way they could. Now just about that time the Sun Forehead Clan was admitted into the village. They came from Homolovi. The chief sent one of his relations of the Bear Clan and his family to Shipaulovi and with them he sent half of the Sun Forehead Clan. He told them that this Shipaulovi village would be recognized as an innocent town, and that whenever the Hopi were attacked by any of their enemies whoever wished to live, could go there. After all this the chief just simply waited for the attack to come from the Spanish, for knowing that he was guilty, he would not hesitate to give himself up to the Spaniards. He waited quite a long while about 20 years--but nobody knows just how long. Finally the Spanish came. When they did come, instead of going up to the village they camped about three-fourths of a mile below the old Shung-opovi town and the whole village was in terror. The chief went down to the camp to ask them if they had come then to be friends, or to destroy. 25 The captain of the army told him that they had only come for the guilty. Then the chief said that the whole village was guilty, because everybody that could had put a hand on the priest. Then the captain said that could not be, because there were a good many people in the village and he couldn't understand how everyone could have put a hand on the priest. Then the chief said, if he was guilty all the people were guilty for he was their chief and leader. The captain asked the chief to have all the men of the village descend down there, so the chief called his men to come. When all the men got there, the captain lined them up and then he asked the chief to pick out the men that were really guilty. Before the chief said a word, the men declared they were all guilty; but the captain would not believe them. During all this excitement there was one Hopi had the heart to come out with the truth. He stepped out and said he didn't like to see all the men get killed, for some of them were too young. They might become good runners or warriors and have long lives to live. This man turned around to the chief and accused him of simply sacrificing his men because he didn't want to be put to death alone. He said that if he saved some of these men or convinced the Spaniards that these men were not all guilty, he himself would be willing to take the place of the chief and be the leader of the people. He was a man of the Strap Clan, closely related to the Bear Clan to which the chief belonged. This man was angry to think that the chief would sacrifice his men for nothing. Then after this man had said he would be the leader of the people, he asked the chief to step forward and be honest and point out the ones who were really guilty. But the chief still wasn't man enough to do it, and he was asked four times before he would pick out the guilty men. The men were those who held positions in different kinds of ceremonies. With the Hopi, things like the doing away with the priest are not discussed with the common people--only among the leaders. When these men were picked out, their hands were tied behind them and they were taken prisoners with the chief. The man of the Strap Clan took his men back to the village and the people coming out to meet them and seeing these men, declared him the chief. The next morning the men that were taken prisoners were shot at sunrise. Then the captain sent word up to the village that if they wished to bury the dead they could come and do it, but the people would not go down for fear they might get killed, so they waited until the Spaniards went away. The new chief took everything in his hands and went down with some of his men and buried the dead. Each man was buried with his possessions, turquoise and shell beads. In those days the father's relatives would give presents of pottery to be buried with the dead. So they were buried with all those things. 26 Now the people of Shung-opovi had lived in the same village until the Spanish came back. Then the Strap Clan leader led the people to the top of the mesa and founded the new Shung-opovi, for he was afraid if they stayed down below, there would be more Spanish attacks. From then on the Strap Clan people were leaders in Shung-opovi. During the next few years things were very prosperous, but it happened that they failed again--another drought came. At this time the people held a council and made an agreement that every clan be given a chance to take their turn at leadership. So from then on, each clan took its turn and it finally came back to the Bear Clan (each clan held leadership for four years) and when their turn was up they refused to give it up for they claimed it was theirs originally. Since they refused to give up their leadership they have remained the royal family ever since. About this time another company of Spanish soldiers came and old Mishongnovi was still inhabited at that time, for all the people had not yet moved up on top. 27 They stopped on the other side of Mishongnovi and asked the chief if he would make an agreement to let them in. He refused them four times. Then the captain of the Spanish soldiers said he had to destroy their village. Of course the people were very much afraid then, for they had seen what had happened at Shung-opovi and how the Spanish had killed the leaders of the trouble over there. Shung-opovi was then partly in ruins for the people were carrying away the beams to build their new homes on top, but somehow the Spanish didn't make an attack that time but went away again." After they had gone away the Mishongnovi people wanted to stop up their spring, called Yo-niai-va (Antelope Chipmunk), which was a good spring at that time. They closed it up and had a paho-making ceremony. After they made their prayer offerings every man spun some cotton and when this was done they selected four different kinds of pahos and then wrapped cotton yarn over them. It made a round roll, about 10 inches long and about eight inches in diameter. With this they blocked up the water hole. Then in front of it they put a plaque and sealed it up around the edges with sweet cornmeal mush. 29 They did this so that if the Spanish ever came back they would find no water there. This spring was to be opened up when the good white man or his brother came back, but today nobody knows just where the spring really is. When they had done this they started to move up on top of the mesa, but before they had all moved, the Spanish came back again. Finding no water where they had camped before, they went right into the village and destroyed it. No one was killed and the few people who were left escaped and moved up to the mesa top. Their, the Spanish tried to get to the new village on top, but there was no trail and the people had piled up stones which they rolled down on the Spanish so that they were unable to climb up. Shipaulovi was pretty well established at this time, but was under a sub-chief of Shung-opovi, as Mishongnovi was too. After all these happenings the chiefs of the three villages held a council and made an agreement that there should be a limited place where the next white man should stop. This place is where the Sunlight Mission now stands. It was put up to the Mishongnovi chief that it was to be his duty to look out for that. There was also another limited line--between Shipaulovi and Mishongnovi. If any attack should come from the outside on Mishongnovi, whoever wished to save his own life could go over to the Shipaulovi side, where they were not supposed to be touched. Shipaulovi was the place of safety and was not supposed to have any blood stain. No one there could fight and no one was supposed to fight them. For a long time these two villages were under Shung-opovi, but finally it was too much for them to handle, on account of the great number of ceremonies they were supposed to have. Finally, Mishongnovi was given its freedom. Shipaulovi today is not altogether under Shung-opovi, but the people still go to Shung-opovi for their initiation ceremonies (Wuwuchime).
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:08:24 GMT -5
THE RETURN OF THE BAHANA, THE WHITE MAN ALL THIS time the Hopi seemed to know that the real Bahana was coming, but they were warned to be careful and patient, for fear it might not be the true Bahana who would come after the Spaniard or Castilian. So if he ever did come they must be sure to ask him about his books, which they thought would contain his secrets, and it was said that the book of truth would not be on top, but at the very bottom, after all the other books. If he asked the Hopi for the privilege of teaching them his language and taught them how to write, they must be sure to ask that they would like to be taught in the book of truth, because if he was a true Bahana he would quickly consent to teach them of this book. For their belief is, that if he is not the one they are looking for he will refuse to teach them his religion. Now if they learned his religion they would compare it with their religion and ceremonies, and if these were alike they would know that the Bahana had been with them in the beginning. Most everybody was anxious to see the Bahana come, for they were so afraid that he might not come during their lifetime and they would not be able to enjoy all the benefits that he was to bring back with him-for the Bahana was supposed to bring great knowledge with him. These people were telling their children that the Bahana was wise and with his inventions had reached the rising sun and was coming back to them again, for they had seen the big eastern star and that was a sign and they were waiting for him. Every grandfather and grandmother was telling their children that they were growing so old that they would not see the Bahana. They would tell their grandchildren to go out in the mornings before sunrise with sacred corn-meal to ask the sun to hurry the Bahana along so that he would come soon. Well, I guess many years had passed, probably a century. You know, some were rather superstitious and they would say that when the Bahana came he would know who was practicing witchcraft and that he would know them by sight. They said that he was to come and make peace and do away with all evil so that there would be no more trouble. And so, for this reason, the people who had so much trouble were the most anxious to see him come. Well, finally they heard that the Bahana was at Tsehotso (Navajo for Fort Defiance) 30 which means "range of sharp-pointed rocks." He was calling for the Hopi chiefs to come to that place to meet him. Now at that time all the tribes were on hostile terms with one another and it was dangerous. The Hopi wanted to go and see what this Bahana looked like. The chiefs from all the villages went there and they told him if he was the true Bahana they would shake hands and lay down their weapons, for they had a "theory" that when the Bahana came there would be peace forever. 31 Well, at this place they were given cloth of different kinds, flour and sugar and a few tools like axes and knives. That was the first time that they had ever tasted sugar. When they brought these things back home this caused much excitement in all the towns. Of course, they would have to go back and take more men with them but they were always afraid of attacks from the Navajos and the Paiutes. So the Hopis, knowing that the white man was at Fort Defiance and that he had promised to let his soldiers protect the friendly people, knew also that if they were attacked by the Navajos and fighting with them, the soldiers would come. So every time the Navajos made an attack the Hopis would have to fight and if they made a retreat they would follow them up. The Hopis got so that they were good fighters themselves. The Navajos were not much of fighters, for they made up war parties and went places looking for trouble. Well, when they were doing this they thought it was great fun. The Hopi said that if they sighted some hogans they would hide out in the day time and move up at night. These Hopis would have signals like the call of an owl (there are two different kinds of owls--hoot owl and small owl that makes a whistling noise) or a crow. During the night they would circle around the hogans and would signal back and forth imitating the owls or crows to see if the Navajos were all awake. They would surround the place and wait until sunrise before making an attack. Some old men who used to tell about this said it was great fun and like chasing cottontails on a rocky hill. They (Navajos) would be so scared they couldn't run and all they had to do was to hit them on the head with a club. These old men said that when they had grown old, they knew what a great wrong they had done.
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:10:34 GMT -5
HOW THE HOPI MARKED THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN THEIR COUNTRY AND THAT OF THE NAVAJO NOW with all this fighting and the Navajo coming in around them, the Hopi were always thinking of their boundary lines and of how they should be marked in some way. But how? What sort of a mark could they put that would be respected by other peoples? It must be something that both the Hopis and the Navajos would remember. So just at this time there were two men at Walpi who were rivals over a woman named Wupo-wuti. Now both these men were looking for a chance to show this woman how brave and strong they were. Finally they thought of this boundary line and the "theory" of their people that it should be marked in such a way that everyone would always remember. So these two men thought that this was a chance for them to prove themselves and to really do something for their people at the same time. They thought they would plan a fight with the Navajos as near the boundary line as they could get and there they would sacrifice themselves 32 and leave their skulls to mark the line. In this way they thought that they would prove that they were brave and good fighters and they would really be doing something for their people, and so it was agreed upon. Then Masale (feathers crossed) said they would go to Fort Defiance. So they both made an agreement that they would go early in the fall. Tawupu (rabbit skin blanket) thought they were going alone, but later he found out that there was going to be a party going over. He thought they were sacrificing too many lives, but, of course, he had made the promise to this other man so that he could not tell on him or give him away at that time. The crier made an announcement that whoever wanted to go to Fort Defiance with this party was welcome, and that they must prepare themselves and be ready to go soon. Masale had a son named Hani and he loved him, so he thought that he would take him along. He figured that if he should be killed it might be best for the boy to die also. Of course, this being a time of war, everyone was asked to take his bows and arrows along. Masale asked his boy to come along and to be sure to make some new arrows. The boy, of course, being ignorant of his father's plans, was glad to go with them. By this time the people had found out that the two rivals were going together to Fort Defiance, and they figured out that there was something going to happen--that they were going out to give themselves away, or sacrifice their lives. The morning of the day they were starting out, one of the relatives of this boy, Hani, asked him if he was going along with his father and he said he was. This man said to the boy that it would be better for him not to go with them. But Hani said he was all ready and the man, being his father, he was going along with him. "Well," this relative said, "if you are, I will warn you right now. Wherever you camp you want to be sure where you lay your weapons or your bows and arrows, for your life will be in danger." He told him never to lay his bow and arrows under his head, but that he must lay them at his feet. "Because," this man said, "if you are lying on your back with your bows and arrows at your feet and you are waked up suddenly you will jump up forward. Having your weapons there at your feet you will lay your hands on them every time." He also told him that he must try not to sleep too soundly; that he must remember he was in danger all the time. Hani, after getting his warning, started out and was the last one to leave. At that time the trail was through Keams Canyon. When he was quite a ways through the canyon, an eagle flew over his head and it was flying low. He thought that if the eagle settled down somewhere on a rock he would kill it and take the feathers along in case he wanted to make some more arrows on the way, so he kind of hid himself in the brush. Finally the eagle landed on top of a rock and Hani crawled toward him and took a shot at him. He did get him and the bird fell from the rock. Hani ran over to the place and found that his eagle was a buzzard. This seemed kind of strange, for he really had seen an eagle. That made him sort of suspicious. He thought it might be a warning or witchcraft, but as he was on his way already, he couldn't very well turn back. Well, finally he came up with the party, in the late afternoon. That night when they made their first camp he had the warnings in his mind and he couldn't sleep. Anyway, he must have fallen asleep for a while and when he opened his eyes he was wide awake. He heard two men talking but he didn't make any noise and pretended he was sound asleep. He recognized his father's voice and also the voice of the other man, Tawupu. He overheard Tawupu asking his father why he had brought his boy along and his father said he couldn't very well leave him behind because he loved him so dearly. He said that if his boy should refuse to come along with him he would back out too, and he said it would be better for both of them if they got killed. When the boy began to move the two men rushed back and crawled into their beds. Now, after Hani had overheard what the two men had said, he couldn't sleep. From then on the boy was rather uneasy every night when they made camp. After they lay down to sleep he'd keep awake quite a while because he knew, then, what the two men were up to. All the rest of the party didn't seem to know anything about it. They were ignorant of the plans of the two men. After several days on the road, they finally reached the place--Fort Defiance. There they were welcomed by the white man and were asked to stay several days with them. There were twelve or fifteen men in the party. Four being the sacred number of the Hopi, they decided to stay four days. On the fourth day, when they were getting ready to go back home, the Bahana gave them flour and sugar and coffee and different kinds of cloth, besides yarns. So the next morning when they were ready to leave, every burro they had with them was pretty well packed. Before they left they were asked if they would like to have a guard to go along with them. In case they were in any danger, they would have someone to show that they were the friends of the white man and they were not to be harmed, but since they didn't see any signs of danger when they were coming over they refused to take a guard along. Having been granted all their wishes for things that they had wanted for so long, they were very happy when they left there. They were two days on the road before they reached Ganado, and the night before they reached Ganado this boy, Hani, overheard the two men talking with some other man. This time there were three men sitting around the camp fire quietly smoking. The boy could not really understand just what they were saying because it was all in a whisper. Then , of course, he couldn't help but move and when he did, one man rushed off and the other two men went to bed. One man was an outsider, a Navajo. The next morning the boy was more suspicious than ever, but still he could not ask his father what this night meeting was about. So that day they traveled all day (on the other side of Ganado). On this day camp was made rather early and they said they wanted to get settled before dark. So they got everything ready before the sun went down, which was northwest of Ganado in the red hills. They said that they would have a good supper that night, so they cooked a great deal of their food that they had gotten at Fort Defiance--with bacon and some beef that they had brought along. Having an early supper, they said they would go to bed soon and would get up early in the morning, for they figured on reaching home the next night. This man, Masale, the boy's father, seemed very happy that night. Before going to bed they cut a lot of branches off the cedars and brush that was around and put them clear around the camp, as a windbreak, you might say. Against this they put their saddles and all the packs that they had. That night Hani kept awake quite a long time, but he could not stand it very long so he finally fell asleep. During the night sometime, Hani thought that he was dreaming and that there was a heavy hail storm coming up for he thought that he heard the hail dropping. First he heard it dropping slowly and then faster. When he was wide awake he knew what was going on. They were being attacked and when he did come to, all the men were up. About this time his father spoke at the top of his voice in Apache, then in Navajo and then in Zuni. He was asking who it was that was attacking them. The boy did not forget where to have his bow and arrows every night, so when he did jump up he had his hands right on his bow. By this time arrows were coming from every direction. When Hani was well on his feet all the enemy rushed into the camp, and as this was during the night he did not know who was who. Anyway, he started on a run and they chased after him. It happened that some Navajo had a corn patch near there and in the corn patch he had some squash with very long vines. Hani thought the whole country was full of enemies, so he hid under the vines, breathless and excited. He heard his father make his last groan and he was very angry. Dead or alive, he decided to go back, but found himself with only a few arrows, two or three left. So he ran back to the camp and when he got there he found his father dead, with many arrows sticking in his body. His scalp was gone. He thought that before doing anything else he must find his arrows and he found them rolled up in his blanket. This little blanket was only half the size of a double saddle blanket. Now the enemy thought that he was one of their party so he was not shot at until he had shot at them. As the enemy followed him he ran backward, holding the little blanket in front of him to stop the arrows. The moon was just going down below the horizon and it was getting quite dark. At first he did not realize that he had been shot, for being a good runner the enemy could not keep up with him, but when he got up to the hills they were rather too steep for him to climb, because he realized then that he was shot, one arrow in his stomach, one in his hip and one between his shoulders. He pulled out two, the one from his hip and the one from his stomach, but he couldn't reach the one in his back. Well, anyway, he thought himself dead when he started to crawl up the hill. When he was halfway up the hill he cried for his dear life and prayed to his gods that if he should die, some day his skull would be found there. He didn't know how many of the party were killed or saved; he didn't know whether they were all dead or not. When he said his prayers, he cried some more, but he couldn't cry very loud, for he'd rather die in peace than have the enemy find him and use a club on him. As he was going up, it began to show that it was dawn. He could see the daylight over the horizon and he wished that he would not die. If the sun did come up in time, he believed that it would give him strength. Of course, he couldn't help from groaning as he crawled up, and then he heard someone speak to him from the top of the hill, which scared him nearly to death and he thought some enemy had headed him off, so he did not answer. The voice came again and it was in plain Hopi. It said, "Are you hurt badly?" And he said, "Yes." And then the other said, "Will you be able to make it up here?" But he said, "No." So this other man came down and helped him up. When they got up he recognized this man and it was a man by the name of Mai-yaro. Well, this man said to the wounded boy that they would try to travel on together, as he was not wounded. He had been in the party, but had got away safely. Hani told him to go on and leave him alone for he was done for and was ready to die, but this other man refused to leave him. He said that if the enemy should head them off and follow them, he would be willing to die with him. So they went on walking slowly, and while they were going along, another man named Tochi (Moccasin) joined them. He was hiding too. Hani asked them both again to leave him and run on home but they both ref used. They asked him which of his wounds hurt him most and he said the arrow in his back hurt him the worst. So they thought they would pull this arrow out, but it was stuck fast in the bone. They tried it, but the shaft came off from the point. Then it was even harder to pull out. So they both tried their teeth on it and finally they pulled it out. One of these men was asked to scout ahead and the other to scout behind. So each man was supposed to be about one-fourth mile from the wounded man. They were going very slowly. Finally they went down into another valley. It was about sunrise. As they were going along Hani saw a rabbit, a little cottontail on the side of the trail, and he wanted to shoot this rabbit because he said he was hungry and needed something to eat. Well, the other man said not to kill the rabbit. He said, "You belong to the Rabbit Clan and you can't kill that rabbit. It might bring you luck if left alive. It might bring us both luck." So he said, "Let the rabbit live." They thought of a spring around the point, for they were both tired and thirsty. Instead of scouting ahead, the third man, Tochi, had run home. When they got to the spring Mai-yaro would not let the wounded boy have a big drink, thinking that his stomach was injured. When they got kind of cooled off, Mai-yaro thought he would look back over the hill and see if the enemy was following. Before he left, he told the wounded man not to drink any more, for if his stomach was injured badly it would not hold water. But just as soon as he left Hani took a big drink and he felt much better. Well, Mai-yaro went over the hill and as he looked down on the trail he saw a Navajo walking back and forth over the trail. He watched this Navajo for quite a while and he saw that he was very much discouraged. Well, finally, the Navajo turned back, so Mai-yaro went back to the spring and when he got there Hani told him he had had a big drink and felt better and he asked to have some more. Then they both started back for the trail. This man, Mai-yaro, said he would go back to the trail and see what the Navajo was doing. When he got where they had seen the rabbit he found that the rabbit was gone. So he investigated there and found that the rabbit had gone over their tracks three times, So the rabbit had disappointed the Navajo who thought the men had passed him in the night long before daylight. It was about the middle of the day, and it was hot, so they got in among some rocks. Hani was pretty well tired out and he said he would like to lie down for awhile and cool himself off. So he did lie down under one of the rocks and fell right asleep and the other man kept awake. Well, this man on the watch would close his eyes every little while and as he was doing this, he saw the shadow of a little bird on top of a rock. It was a little rock sparrow and it was very much excited about something. The man thought this was a warning to them, so they got right up and started on. As they were going along it began to show signs that it was going to rain. Clouds were coming up. When it did cloud up they felt very much better, for they were cooled off. Then it started to rain. They thought they would not stop for shelter, but kept right on going while it rained. Finally, it poured down on them and there was a regular cloudburst. It rained so hard on them that it washed all the blood off Hani. He said that he felt very much better, so Mai-yaro asked him to try himself out on a trot. The man asked him if he felt his wounds hurting him and he said, "No." Then he asked him to go a little faster, and then he asked him again how he felt. Hani said that he felt all right, so Mai-yaro asked him to run as fast as he could. Then he asked him again if the wounds hurt him. Hani said, "No," and thought that he was well, so Mai-yaro said, "Let's go then." Now when Tochi reached Walpi and told the people what had happened, Hani's mother heard that he had been wounded badly and might die, so she wrapped up some piki and some sweet corn meal and she started out to look for him, all by herself. Now this was a very brave thing for a Hopi woman to do. She thought that she might find him dead somewhere and if she did she would roll his body under a ledge of rock or a bank of earth and cover him up with heavy stones and she would leave the piki and the sweet corn meal there for him. But near the head of Jeddito Canyon she saw two men coming and then she recognized them for it was her boy Hani and Mai-yaro with him. And when they met they could not help but cry for joy. They hurried on home from there and when they came to the edge of the mesa south of Walpi, they saw clouds of dust in the valley coming toward them. They wondered what it was and thought it was an attack on the mesa. So they said to themselves, if there was an attack they would go on and meet the Navajo. So they went on and were met halfway and they found that this was a war party sent out to help them. When they met the whole party hurried back to the mesa and there at the foot of the mesa the whole village was crying for they found that only six men were saved out of the party that went to Fort Defiance. Hani chose his godfather at the foot of the mesa, and of course it was Mai-yaro who was the first one to find him wounded, so instead of going to his own house he went with this man to be washed up and cared for the next day. When this was done he fasted four days. On the fourth day he was given his new name, "Hani." From then on he always had in mind to get even with the Navajos in that part of the country, and so he did, for later he led war parties to that country often and brought back a scalp every time. He was considered one of the greatest and bravest men of the Walpi villages. 33
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Post by wren on Nov 18, 2006 1:11:39 GMT -5
HOW SOME HOPIS RESISTED SENDING THEIR CHILDREN TO SCHOOL AND THE TROUBLE THAT RESULTED OUT this time the agency was established at Keams Canyon 34 and of course the Hopis knew that this meant peace. So all the chiefs from every village went there and told the white man that they were his friends and brothers and they told him that they would like to be protected by him from all their other enemies. For this reason they thought the agent ought to settle all their troubles which they had been having right along. Later, a school was established there 35 and all the Hopis were willing to send their children to school. Everything was going all right until they had an initiation ceremony (Wuwuchime) at Shung-opovi and the young men at old Shung-opovi and Shipaulovi were to be initiated. So they were not sent back to school that year and of course, at that time, these ceremonies were not very well understood by the white man, so the agent sent out policemen (two First Mesa men and three Navajos) to fetch the young boys. When they got to Shipaulovi they found the young men in the kiva and they asked the chief to give them up so that they could take them back to school. The chief said he would not let them go until the ceremony was over and he told them that he would be quite willing to let them go then. But the policemen insisted that they must take them at once because they had orders to bring them in. But the chief just flatly refused. So the policeman said that they would take the chief instead. He said he would be willing to go with them after he had seen his friend, the missionary. 36 So he went off and as he was leaving, he asked the policeman to stay on top of the mesa and wait for him until he came back. He started off for the Sunlight Mission by way of Mishongnovi. The policemen thought that he was going to fool them, so they followed him and caught up with him as he was going around the village. They took hold of him and dragged him off the mesa, so he did not get to see the chief at Mishongnovi either. He intended that they would both go down to the mission to see what information they could get from the missionary. In both villages there was much excitement and all the people were on the housetops as they were very much troubled to see the chief dragged off the mesa by the policemen. The three sons of the chief ran out after them and they caught up with them just as they were at the bottom of the mesa, and, of course, they could not help but fight these men to defend their father. But finally they all got to the mission. When they got there, the missionary took the side of the chief and told the policeman to let him go. Then he wrote a letter to the agent asking him to let him know what orders he had given these policemen to come out to do. While he was writing this letter the chief asked him to put in this message to the agent, that he was through with the school and that he would not be his friend any more. And he said that he was a friend of the missionary only and that he would do anything for him. So he said that if the agent were man enough he could come and get his scalp. Then he said, "I am the man, Tawahonganiwa. If you ever want to come out, get no one else but Tawahonganiwa. I am not your friend." When this was written the missionary enclosed the letter in an envelope and gave it to the policeman to take into the agency. This was how the two factions and all the trouble over sending the children to school was started among the Hopi. From then on, Chief Tawahonganiwa had many followers in both Mishongnovi and Shipaulovi and every now and then he would hold a council with his fellowmen. Then later, many people of the other villages took up his side, excepting First Mesa. When they split those that wanted to go to school went right on; but the Chief's relatives had to take his side and held their children back. This was about 1888 or 1889. Every once in a while the agent would send out the policemen. If they were expecting them, the parents would have to go out early with their children to the hiding places under the cliffs. Not finding any children, the policemen would go back. 37 Finally the policemen thought of the scheme of coming into the villages at night. In that way they got quite a few children and they took them off to Keams Canyon to boarding school. Of course, this was very unpleasant for the Hopis, for they never before had parted with any of their children. So the Chief at Mishongnovi thought that it would be best to let their children be sent to school with their own consent. About this time, the army (a troop of negro soldiers) was sent out to the Hopi villages to see if they could make the old chief at Shipaulovi change his mind about sending his children to school. They did not stop at Shipaulovi very long, but went on to Oraibi where there were more people. There they were met by the chief, Lololama, and he was very friendly to them and said he was willing to send his children to school. He wanted to take advantage of what the outcome would be of sending the children to school. After he made this agreement Youkioma jumped on him and they quarreled. This was the first time that Lololama had found out that Youkioma was the leader of this other faction. But Lololama, being the chief, said that the children who were old enough to go to the Keams Canyon School could be taken. Now from then on these two men were against each other and each man wanted to see how many followers he could have. These hostile leaders would have meetings at every other village ever so often and they would lecture to the people, telling them that the ones who were sending their children to school would be in worse trouble because the Bahana who established the school was not their true brother who had come up from the underworld with them. If he was, he would have shown the Hopis his written tradition to compare with their tradition. So this faction felt that they would rather wait for their Bahana brother to come with this written story of their ancestors. This sort of trouble got very bad among the people themselves and the leaders of each faction of course, were working against one another to see who would have the most followers. On account of many good useful things, like tools, such as axes and hoes, clothing and sugar and coffee some of the hostile faction people began falling off, thinking that the idea of being a hostile was just the idea of preventing the people from having these things. Finally it got so there were very few hostiles left at Shipaulovi and Mishongnovi, but there were quite a number at Shung-opovi, so the ones at Shipaulovi moved over to Shung-opovi. This move occurred in 1899. 38
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