Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
The Kúja sisters said: “We will fix your eyes so no matter how dark it
is, you will see the trail and get home. We will open our eyes wide,
and give you some of our light.” The youngest sister opened her eyes
wide and looked into Galaíwa’s eyes. Right away a little black spot
came inside each of the old woman’s eyes. Then everywhere it seemed
bright and light to her; she traveled fast; she didn’t have to look for
the trail. Since then all of her kin can see as well at night as in the
daytime.
Early the next morning the Kúja sisters went to hunt for deer. The
youngest sister started the fires around a mountain, then they sat down
on flat rocks and waited for Yahyáhaäs to come. While they were sitting
there, they asked one another: “Which of us will try first?” The eldest
sister said: “I will.” The youngest sister said: “You must fix your
mind on what you are going to do, then think of nothing else.” She got
red all over; her arms and legs and eyes were as red as fire.
They saw Yahyáhaäs coming. He started in the southwest, went toward the
north, then turned west, and came to their mountain. They watched him
all the time. When he saw them, he squatted down and began to creep
toward them. He crept behind every tree and stone and every blade of
grass. Every step he took he thrust his cane down under the earth.
Each sister had a bunch of woodpecker’s feathers in a hole in her nose.
As Yahyáhaäs came along, the eldest sister took a feather out of her
nose and stuck it under the ground. It came up a streak of fire in
Yahyáhaäs’ cane; he was so scared he almost lost his mind. When he got
near, she took out a second feather, put it under the ground, and it
also came out a streak of fire in Yahyáhaäs’ cane. That time he was so
scared that he dropped his cane and called out: “What are you doing?
This is my cane!”
“What do you think now?” asked the eldest sister. “You boasted that we
had no power, that you could take our bows and arrows away from us.”
“You must wrestle with me,” said Yahyáhaäs. “That is the way I find out
how strong people are.”
“You must make a fire first,” said the sisters.
Yahyáhaäs took his fire-drill out of his quiver and tried to start a
fire.
The sisters laughed, and said: “You must make it with your own power,
not with a drill; anybody can use a drill.”
“How can I do it?” asked Yahyáhaäs.
“Do as I do,” said the eldest sister. She pulled up a spear of grass
and threw it into the air. It came down blazing. Then she said to a big
rock: “Stand apart far enough for a leg to go between you.” Right away
the rock opened. Then the sisters said to Yahyáhaäs: “Put your leg in
there and get ready to wrestle.”
Yahyáhaäs painted his face straight up through the middle; then he
asked: “Which sister is going to wrestle with me first?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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