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
In Yana tales, Damhauja, the moon during the last quarter, plays or
rather played, a great part. I say played, since, unfortunately, we
have but a fragment of Yana lore left after the events of 1864.
Damhauja's sons-in-law on the west side of the river, in this tale,
were various Mapchemaina people,--that is, beings who somewhat later
became beasts, birds, plants, rocks, and insects on earth. All the
stars were his children. His daughters, stars, were married to
Mapchemaina people, except the two of whom Juiwaiyu had dreamed. His
sons, stars also, lived near him, and were at enmity with his
sons-in-law.
THE FLIGHT OF TSANUNEWA AND DEFEAT OF HEHKU
It is not so easy to decide who Hehku is. Her most usual, if not her
regular and normal, form is that of a horned serpent; but she changes
herself into various forms. When angry, or rather when raging, she
becomes a Putokya,--that is, a skull person, like Hitchinna. These
Putokyas seem to be the cyclone or tremendous wind which moves in a
narrow path and makes a clean sweep of everything.
The gambling scene in Jupka's sweat-house is good. Hehku has easy work
till she meets the master, who to his incomparable power adds deceit.
The game, connected here with Jupka's sweat-house, is played by two
persons sitting opposite each other. One of these holds a small
"Jupaiauna" bone or stick in one of his closed hands, and the other
guesses which hand it is in. The process of playing is as follows:--
Each person has ten little sticks or counters at the opening of the
game. One holds the "Jupaiauna," and begins action by placing his
hands behind his back and deciding in which hand to hold the bone for
that time; next, he closes his hands firmly, and brings them out
before his breast. He holds them back downward, the little finger of
each hand touching that of the other. The person sitting opposite
guesses where the bone is; the other opens both hands then, and shows
his palms. If this bone is in the hand indicated by the guesser, he
wins; if not, he loses. A game is finished when one side holds the
twenty counters; that is, when one side has won the ten little sticks
given to the other at the opening of the game.
As Hehku sat with her back to the west, her right hand was south and
her left north. When her opponent guessed south, if the bone was in
her right hand she sang it into her left (the north),--literally,
enchanted it north. If the bone was in her left hand, she let it stay
there, and thus she won in every case.
Jupka, by limiting the game to one guess, and by his quibble of words,
proved himself a keener trickster than Hehku, whose predicament is
described fairly well by the Russian saying, "Kosá nashlá na kámen,"
the scythe met a stone; or the biter bitten, as we might say.
THE FIRST BATTLE IN THE WORLD AND THE MAKING OF THE YANAS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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