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
At this time Tsuwalkai Marimi, an old woman, had reared a small boy.
His name was Tsanunewa. She called the boy grandson, and he called her
his grandmother. He was an orphan. All his kindred were dead; all had
been killed one after another, and he was alone when the old woman
found the boy and reared him.
"I want to go west and catch mice," said Tsanunewa one day to her.
"I don't want you to go away from the house. I don't want you to trap
mice; you might go astray; you might get killed," said the old woman.
Tsanunewa began to cry. He cried and teased till at last she said:
"Go, if you wish, but be careful; you may get hurt. The traps may fall
on you; something may kill you."
The old woman made acorn bread for him, and showed him how to set rock
traps and other traps, and how to bait them with acorns.
"Stay around the house," said she. "You must not go near that rocky
mountain off there. That is a bad place, a very bad place; it is
dangerous. You must not go to it."
The boy started, went some distance from the house, then stood still
and looked at the rocky mountain.
"I will go to that place," thought he; "I will go where my grandmother
told me not to go. Why is she afraid? Why did she tell me not to go
there? I will run and see."
He hurried off to the mountain, went up on the rocks, looked around
all the time; he remembered his grandmother's words, and said to
himself,--
"I should like to know who is here; I should like to know what
frightens my grandmother."
He went around the mountain, saw no one, set all his traps, big traps
and little ones; he stayed there till near sunset. After that he ran
home.
"I am afraid to eat to-night," said he. "If I eat, perhaps the mice
will not like the acorns in my traps."
"You must not eat," said his grandmother; "I do not wish you to eat
anything. You must not touch salmon this evening. You may eat a little
just at midnight. Now go and play around the house; all the mice will
see you; they are out playing and will go to your traps."
Hehku Marimi lived at that mountain. She killed all the people who
went there to trap. It was she who had killed Tsanunewa's kindred.
Next morning at daybreak Tsanunewa went to see his traps. He looked at
the first, second, third, fourth; he had not caught anything. The
traps were empty, just as he had left them. He found nothing till he
reached the last one; he saw that there was something in that trap. He
stood and looked at it; saw Hehku Marimi; she was there in the last
trap. She had made herself small and gone in. She looked ugly, and
Tsanunewa was frightened. He ran home as fast as he could; he was
pale, and trembling.
"Why are you frightened?" asked his grandmother. "What have you
caught?"
"I have caught something. I don't know what it is. I am terribly
afraid of it."
"I told you yesterday not to go to that mountain. I knew that trouble
would come if you went there. I will go myself and see what you have
caught."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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