Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
The woman pounded seed; she left some for her husband and little boy to
eat, and took a bagful for herself and her brother-in-law. Gáhga got
out his medicine and watched his wife and brother. He sat by the fire,
but he followed them all the way to where the people were driving in
deer. As he watched them, he got jealous and mad, for he saw that his
wife and brother were fond of each other. When they came home, they
brought a fawn. The woman cut it up, roasted the meat, and gave some of
it to her husband; he kicked it away. She gave him some wûdjûk (weed
like mustard), to eat; he tasted of it, spat it out, and threw the rest
in the fire.
She said: “The people were kind to me to-day; they gave me the fawn and
asked me to come to-morrow,” and she began to pound seed and get ready
to go.
The next day when the woman and her brother-in-law were starting off,
Gáhga said: “I know what kind of stuff you are feeding me! I know you
are making sport of me. You don’t fool me. You can do what you like; I
don’t care for you any longer, but I will make you feel sorry.” They
didn’t answer, didn’t say a word to him.
That day Gáhga’s sister came to see her little nephew. Gáhga said: “I
want you to get me a straw plate.”
“Why do you want a straw plate?” asked his sister.
“Get it for me, I want it.”
She wouldn’t get him the plate till he told her what he was going to do
with it, and he wouldn’t tell. She was afraid of him; she knew he was
mad about something.
After a while old man Kāhkaas came; he was kin of Gáhga. Gáhga asked
him for the plate and he gave it to him, and said: “Your brother is
stealing your wife. All the people at the deer hunt say so. But you
must keep quiet; you mustn’t get mad. You are old and blind; your
brother is young, and your wife is nice-looking.”
Gáhga screamed, he was so mad. He called his sister and said: “Lead me
to the hunt!”
She was so scared that she had to do as he told her. He took the straw
plate, and the three started. When they got to the place, his sister
said: “Sit down here, away from the snares; then you will be safe.”
“No,” said Gáhga, “I am going where my wife is.”
“Don’t be a fool,” said his sister. “She doesn’t want you; she has
another man.”
Gáhga took the plate from under his arm, and sat down on it.
About midnight his sister asked: “What are you doing? Why don’t you lie
down and go to sleep? Why are you sitting on that plate and keeping
awake all night?”
“Keep still and let me alone,” said Gáhga. “Stay here by me; I am going
to punish those people.” Then he got up and began to dance on the plate
and to call out: “Ho! ho! ho!”
Right away rain came down, but Gáhga didn’t get wet. He kept shaking
himself and calling: “Ho! ho! ho!” Each time that he called, it rained
harder. There was deep water everywhere, but the plate was dry and the
ground around it was dry. The people got as wet as though they had been
swimming.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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