The Sia: (1894 N 11 / 1889-1890 (pages 3-158))Stevenson, Matilda Coxe
History
The Sia: (1894 N 11 / 1889-1890 (pages 3-158))
Stevenson, Matilda Coxe
Zia Indians
After a time the younger sister closed the door and they returned to
the front room. Not a word had been spoken except by the younger. As
the elder sister left she said, “To-morrow you come to my house.”
Sûs´sĭstinnako whispered in the ear of the younger, “To-morrow you will
see fine things in your sister’s house, but they will not be good; they
will be bad.” Now´ûtsĕt then said: “Before the Sun has left his home
we will go together to see him; we will each have a wand on our heads
made of the long white fluffy feathers of the under tail of the eagle,
and we will place them vertically on our heads that they may see the
sun when he first comes out;” and the younger sister replied: “You are
the elder and must go before, and your plumes will see the sun first;
mine can not see him until he has traveled far, because I am so small;
you are the greater and must go before.” Though she said this she knew
better; she knew that though she was smaller in stature she was the
greater and more important woman. That night Sûs´sĭstinnako talked much
to Ût´sĕt. She said: “Now that you have created the Ka´ᵗsuna you must
create a man as messenger between the sun and the Ka´ᵗsuna and another
as messenger between the moon and the Ka´ᵗsuna.”
The first man created was called Ko´shairi; he not only acts as courier
between the sun and the Ka´ᵗsuna, but he is the companion, the jester
and musician (the flute being his instrument) of the sun; he is also
mediator between the people of the earth and the sun; when acting
as courier between the sun and the Ka´ᵗsuna and vice versa and as
mediator between the people of the earth and the sun he is chief for
the sun; when accompanying the sun in his daily travels he furnishes
him with music and amusement; he is then the servant of the sun. The
second man created was Quer´ränna, his duties being identical with
those of the Ko´shairi, excepting that the moon is his particular chief
instead of the sun, both, however, being subordinate to the sun.
After the creation of Ko´shairi and Quer´ränna, Ût´sĕt called
Shu-ah-kai (a small black bird with white wings) to her and said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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