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
Juiwaiyu rested awhile, and thought of the beads he had lost. "I wish
my beads would return to me," said he. That moment the beads were on
his neck. They were as beautiful as ever.
"My beads, you must not go again from me. You must stay with me, and
you must be in plenty. Pahnino Marimi, I wish you to send your
daughters for leaves, wood, and water. Be kind when I come to you. Do
not kill me. Let us go on," said he to his uncle.
They went forward, and soon they saw two girls, one holding the other
by the hand. These girls were coming toward the mountain, swaying
their hands and singing. Juiwaiyu came to the ground, hid behind a
tree, and said, "Let there be wood here in plenty, wood for these
women." The wood was right there in one moment.
The two girls set down their baskets and filled them. "I wish that man
would come," said one sister to the other, "the man we dreamed of last
night."
They put down their hands to take the baskets. Juiwaiyu caught their
hands. They looked around, saw him, and were frightened.
"Why are you frightened? I dreamed of you last night, you dreamed of
me. Go home, go ahead, hurry forward, I will follow; I will be at your
father's house soon."
They put the baskets on their backs, ran quickly, reached home soon,
threw down the baskets outside the doorway, and rushed into the
sweat-house.
"What are you scared at, my daughters? You saw some young man in the
woods, I think," said Pahnino, their mother, who was making acorn
bread outside the doorway. "I think that some brother-in-law was
watching you near the mountain."
"You have never seen the man we met," said the sisters.
Pahnino went to look; she looked carefully, but saw no man coming
toward her from any side. The two sisters spread a black bearskin and
sat on it, sat near each other and waited. The old man went out to
look, put his hand over his eyes to see a new son-in-law, but could
see no one. Juiwaiyu was on the house now; he went down through the
central pillar, passed through the ground, and came up between
Damhauja's two daughters. Pahnino Marimi walked in at that moment to
scold her daughters. She looked, and saw Juiwaiyu between them.
"Some one is sitting with our daughters," said she to the old man.
Damhauja went for his pipe, put in crushed bones of Mapchemaina, and
handed the pipe to his daughters.
"Give this to my son-in-law," said he.
They did not like to take the pipe, but they could not refuse their
father, they could not help themselves. They were crying.
"You must not smoke this," whispered they; "we will give you another
kind." They took the tobacco out and put in some of the common sort.
The old man did not watch sharply at first; he was thinking only to
see Juiwaiyu drop dead. The girls handed back the empty pipe to their
father.
Jupka, who was sitting on his nephew's head, laughed in his own mind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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