The following four spirit songs are from my Wintu collection. Two I give in the original, with literal translation; the other two, in translation only. The lightning song, by referring to the connection between lightning and the sucker, which has one of the most formidable spirits, enables us to suspect why the sucker is so much feared by Wintus. In the Olelbis song, the great one above is the cloud-compeller, as in classic mythology. The tanning is described in "Olelbis." In the Hau song, the celestial Hau is described as travelling along the Milky Way. This is the Wintu comment on the text. Many readers will agree, I think, that the Polar Star song, the fourth, is composed on a scale truly immense. The lightning song sounds wonderfully like an extract from the Sanscrit, "Rig Veda." SONGS OF SPIRITS 1. Walokin tsawi, Lightning's Song. Mínom tóror wéril chirchákum sáia Dúne wérem winwar dún bohémum. I bear the sucker-torch to the western tree-ridge. Look at me first born (and) greatest. 2. Olelben tsawi, the Song of Olelbis. Olél bohéma ni tsulúli káhum síka ni. I am great above. I tan the black cloud (there). 3. Song of Hau (red fox). "On the stone ridge east I go. On the white road I, Hau, crouching go. I, Hau, whistle on the road of stars." 4. Song of Waida Werris (the Polar Star). "The circuit of earth which you see, The scattering of stars in the sky which you see, All that is the place for my hair."[5] [5] Hair in Indian mythology, as in other mythologies, is the equivalent of rays of light when connected with the sun and with planet luminaries. THE YANAS As a preface to the few myths of the Yanas which have survived, I beg to offer the following words touching this ill-fated people: Previous to August, 1864, the Yanas numbered about three thousand, as I have been informed on the sound authority of reliable white men. Taking the names and population of villages given me by surviving Indians, I should say that this estimate is not too large. During the second half of August, 1864, the Yanas were massacred, with the exception of a small remnant. The Indians of California, and especially those of Sacramento Valley, were among the most harmless of human beings. Instead of being dangerous to settlers, they worked for them in return for fair wages. The Yanas were distinguished beyond others for readiness to earn money. White men occupied in tilling land knew their value, and employed them every season in haymaking and harvesting. At the present day the Wintus, and the few Yanas that are left, go down the valley and labor during the season in hop-fields and vineyards. Why were the Yanas killed?