Creation Myths of Primitive America: In relation to the Religious History and Mental Development of MankindCurtin, Jeremiah
Religion
Creation Myths of Primitive America: In relation to the Religious History and Mental Development of Mankind
Curtin, Jeremiah
Creation -- Mythology; Indian mythology -- North America; Indians of North America -- Folklore
That day the sisters went to the mountain top, looked westward. Soon
Sedit came to the same place and worked, put two or three handfuls in
his basket, heard singing, heard it plainly, stopped, strained his
eyes to see who was singing, saw no one. Again he dug, again they
sang; again he stopped work, again they ceased singing; again he
worked, again they sang. Sedit thinks now how to follow the singers,
tries to whistle their music--cannot catch it--looks around, sees no
one. "Well, I must sing," says he. He sings, and this time he catches
the music.
The sisters sang now in response to him. They moved on, as he
thought, and he followed. But they were not moving, they stayed in one
place. They simply made their singing seem farther each time.
Sedit followed till they stopped at last, would not sing any longer.
He could not tell what to do. "It is better for me to go back to my
basket," said he at last. He went back, put his basket on the bank
east of the pit, and said: "Now, my basket, I will leave you a while,
I am going away. I place you east of the pit. Rootstick, I place you
east of the basket. If Satok Pokaila asks where I am, you will move
east, basket, and you will fall east, rootstick. She will know which
way I went."
He went eastward, went a short distance, forgot the song, stopped,
thought what to do. The song then came back to him. The sisters began
to sing again. Sedit followed their song.
Satok Pokaila waited for red earth, waited till midday, then thought,
"I'll go and see if Sedit has a headache." She found the basket partly
filled with red earth, and the stick standing east of it. She looked
in the pit where Sedit had dug, and thought, "He must be here
somewhere." She searched, but could not find him.
"Where is Sedit?" asked she of the basket. "Where did he go?--Where is
Sedit?" asked she of the rootstick.
The basket moved eastward till it reached the stick, the stick fell
toward the east. Old Satok knew now what had happened. She took the
basket and digging-stick home with her, put them up safely.
Sedit followed the sisters, sang himself, and listened to their song.
The song went southward, went away from the mountain. He followed till
he reached Tayam Norel. Sedit sat down. People asked where he came
from, where he was going. He would not tell, would not talk, did not
care for people's words. He thought of nothing, heard nothing but the
song of Kele's daughters.
He sat only a little while, and went away singing and listening to the
song of the sisters. Now it went eastward. He followed it to a
mountain, where he saw an old man setting a trap. This was old Pokok.
"Uncle, where are you going in such a great hurry?" asked Pokok.
"I am going east," replied Sedit. "You will not see me pass this way
again."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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