Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
She said: “I can bring him to life and give him a better mind. If I
bring him to life now, he won’t use his mortar again, and hereafter
everyone will be as he will be,—when they grow old they will be like
children.”
She got the mortar, then she made a plate out of braided grass and
sprinkled it with water. She spread the plate on the old man and
stepped over him five times. He grew warm, but didn’t come to life.
Then she said to Tskel: “Strike him with your medicine stick.” Tskel
struck him twice on the head. “Strike him twice across the breast,”
said Pitoíois. At the second blow the old man got up; he was well
again, and his mind was good.
The next morning Pitoíois had a little boy. Old Wûlkûtska called it
grandson and was glad. The youngest brother and Pitoíois went to live
with her brothers and the old man went with them. The four other
Wûlkûtska brothers started off to hunt for a wife, and little Tskel
went with them.
Pitoíois’ brothers asked her: “Have you seen any young women where you
have been?”
“There are not many women in the world,” said Pitoíois.
“We will go and get the woman Kāhkaas told us about.”
“Can you live with her?” asked Pitoíois. “Her home is under the water.
You want a wife who can live on dry land. Don’t go for her; she is not
a good wife for you.”
They asked their brother-in-law to go with them. Pitoíois didn’t want
him to go, but they started and he went with them. They traveled toward
the southwest. When the brothers got tired and wanted water to drink,
the brother-in-law dug a well for them with his hands, and said: “This
well will always be here. The people to come will call it Wûlkûtska
Ámpo after me.”
On the south side of Klamath Lake they saw old man Kûlta.
“Why do you come here?” asked he.
“We have come for your daughter.”
“My children are on that island over there. I have a place ready for
each one of them; I make deep holes under the water, where they can
watch the fish. My daughter wouldn’t like you. She travels on trails
under the water. You are land people; you mustn’t go to my island, for
my children would kill you.”
The brothers climbed a high mountain. Near the top of it they found a
lake. In the water at the edge of the lake was another old man like the
first one. They saw him come out of the water with his mouth full of
fish; they had never seen any one fish in that way before. When he saw
them coming, he was frightened, and jumped into the water. They called
to him and he turned around; then he knew they were Pitoíois’ brothers.
He called them “cousins” and asked: “Where are you going?”
“We are looking for a woman. Do you know where we can find one?”
“I don’t know, for I live in the water. If I travel on land I get dry;
I should die if I went far from water. Maybe if you go toward the west
you will find people.”
“We must go home,” said the brothers; “our sister will be lonesome.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account