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
and, looking in, saw many people eating. They stood there awhile but
were not asked in, and they passed on from door to door, as they had
done at Oraibi, and no one invited them to eat. It was a very large
village, and the boys walked about all day, and they were very angry.
Discovering a house a little apart from the village, Ma´asewe said,
“Let us go there,” pointing to the house; “perhaps there we may get
food,” and upon reaching the door they were greeted by the man, woman,
and children of the house, and were invited to eat. The boys were,
as before, disguised with the honey spread over their bodies. After
the meal Ma´asewe, addressing the man and woman, said: “You and your
children are the first and only ones to invite us to enter a house and
eat, and we are happy, and we give you thanks. We have been in this
village all day and, until now, have had nothing to eat. I guess the
people do not care to have us eat with them. Why did your ti´ämoni
invite people from all villages to come here? He was certainly not
pleased to see us. You (addressing the man and woman) and your children
must leave this village and go a little way off. It will be well for
you to do so.”
And this family had no sooner obeyed the commands of the boys than
the people of the village were converted into stone, just as they
were passing about, the Ka´ᵗsuna as they stood in line of the dance,
some of them with their hands raised. It was never known what became
of the beings of the Ka´ᵗsuna. Ma´asewe then said: “Younger brother,
now what do you think?” U´yuuyewĕ replied, “I do not think at all; you
know.” “Yes,” said Ma´asewe, “and I think perhaps I will not return to
my house, the house of my mother and grandmother. I think we will not
return there; we have converted the people of two villages into stone,
and I guess our mother will be very unhappy.” And again Ma´asewe said:
“What do you think?” and U´yuuyewĕ replied, “I do not think at all;
you, Ma´asewe, you think well.” Then Ma´asewe said, “All right; I think
now I should like to go to see our father.” “Well,” said U´yuuyewĕ,
“let us go to him.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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