Part 11

And when the game was ended the Apaches killed his brother, but allowed him to walk away, and he returned to his own land.

But all the way he would see his brother's tracks, and whenever he stopped to camp he would see his brother's body, where it lay, and how he looked, lying there dead; and when he got home he felt so sad he cried aloud, but no one paid any attention to him.

And when he got home his folks gave him food to eat, and water to drink, but he would neither eat nor drink, feeling so sad about his brother, and he took nothing for four days.

But on the fifth day he went out and sought the cool shade of trees to forget his brother, and went upon the hills and stood there, but he could not forget; and then, in coming down, he fell down and went to sleep.

And in his sleep his brother came to him, and he seemed to know him, but when he tried to put his arms around his brother he woke up and found he was not there.

And he went home and ate, and then made this speech:--

"My pitiful relatives, I will pity you and you will pity me.

This spread-out-thing, the world, is covered with feathers, because of my sadness, and the mountains are covered with soft feathers.

Over these the sun comes, but gives me no light, I am so sad.

And the night comes, and has no darkness to rest me, because my eyes are open all night.

(This has happened to me, O all my relatives.)

And it was my own bones that I raked up, and with them made a fire that showed me the opposite land, the Land of the Enemy.

(This was done, my relatives.)

The sticks I cut for the number of days were my own sinews, cut and bound together.

It was my own rib that I used as an eev-a-dah-kote, or fire rubbing stick.

It was my own bowels that I used for a belt.

And it was my scalp, and my own hair, that I used for sandals.

It was my own skull that I filled with my own blood, and drank from, and talked like a drunkard.

And I wandered where the ashes are dumped, and I wandered over the hills, and I found it could be done, and went to the shadows of the trees and found the same thing.

On the level ground I fell, and the Sun, the Traveller, was overhead, and from above my brother came down, and I tried to hug him, but only hugged myself.

And I thought I was holding all sadness, but there was a yet stronger sadness, for my brother came down and stood on my breast, and the tears fell down and watered the ground.

And I tried to hug him, but only hugged myself.

And this was my desire, that I should go to the powerful woman, and I reached her quietly where she lived.

And I spoke to her this way:

'You were living over there.

You are the person who makes a hoop for her gyihhaw from the Apaches' bow, and with their arrows makes the back-stop, the oam-muck, and with their blood you color the gyihhaw prettily; and you split the arrow-heads and make from them the ov-a-nuck, and tie it in with the Apaches' hair, weaving the hair to the left and then binding it on.'

And this way I spoke to her.

And then she gave me good news of the weakness of the Apaches and I ran out full of joy.

And from there I rose up and reached the Feather-Nested Doctor, Quotaveech, and I spoke to him this way:

'And you belong here.

And you make the ribs of your kee from the Apache bows, and you tie the arrows across with the bow strings, and with the sinews of their bows you tie them.

And with the robes of the Apaches, and with their head-wear, and with their moccasins, you cover the kee instead of with arrow weeds.

And inside, at the four corners, there are hung locks of Apaches' hair, and at the corners are the stumps of the cane-tube pipes, smoking themselves, and forming the smoke into all colors of flowers--white and glittering and gray and yellow.'

And this way I spoke to him, and he gave me the good news of the weakness of the Apaches.

And I came down and went Southward to the other doctor, called Vahk-lohn Mahkai and there I reached him.

And this way I spoke to him:

'And here is where you belong.

The Apache bow you make into the likeness of the pretty rainbow, and the arrows you make into the likeness of the white-headed grass.

And the fore shaft of the arrows you turn into water moss, and the arrows into resemblance of flat clay.

And the hair of the Apaches you make into likeness of clouds.'

And this way I spoke to him, and he told me the news of the weakness of the Apaches.

And I ran out of the house, and went westward, and found the old woman doctor, Tawquahdahmawks.

And I said to her:

'You belong here.

And you make the bow of the Apaches into the hoop of the game the Aw-aw-bopp, the Maricopas, play, the rolling hoop that they throw sticks after.

And their arrows you flatten up with your teeth, and wear around your brows like a crown.

And the fore shafts of the arrows you have split, and painted red with the Apache blood, and made into gainskoot, the dice sticks.

And the Apache hair you make into a skirt.'

And this way I spoke to her, and she told me the thought of the two different peoples, the Awawtam and the Awup, that they were enemies, and she told me this, and I went out from there and strengthened myself four times.

And I spread the news when I got home, and set the doctor over it.

And there was the stump of the doctor's pipe standing there, and smoking itself, and I imbibed it, and smoked it toward the enemy, and the smoke changed into different colors of flowers, white, glittering, grey and yellow, and reached the edge of the earth, the land of the Apache, and circled around there.

And it softened the earth, and brought fresh grass, and fresh leaves on the trees, so that the Apaches would be gathered together.

And my western famous enemy went and told his son to go to his uncle, to see if it was so that there was plenty of grass and plenty of things to eat there.

And his son went and said: 'My father sent me to find out about these things,' and his uncle said: 'It is so what he has heard, that we have plenty of things to eat, and all kinds of game, and that is what I eat.

You go back and tell the old man to come, so that I will be with him here.'

So the boy went and told the old man this, and he got up and put on his nose-ring of turquoise, and took his cake of paint, and his locks of hair, and his pouch.

After he got everything together he started out and camped for one night, and arriving at his destination the next morning, after the sun rose, came to his brother and called him, 'Brother!' with a loud voice.

And the next morning the brother got up and went hunting, and found a dead deer, and brought it home, and called it fresh meat, and they ate it together.

But instead of eating deer they ate themselves up.

And their skins became like sick person's skin, and their hair became coarse, and their eyes were sore, and they became lousy, and were so weak that they left their hands beneath their heads when they scratched themselves lying down.

And the brother's wife went and gathered seed to eat, and found it easy to gather, without husks, and thought to enjoy eating it, but when she ate it she ate her own lice, and her skin became as a sick person's skin, her hair became coarse, her person lousy, her eyes sore.

And my enemy in the far east heard about food being so plenty to eat there, and sent his son to ask his uncle if these reports were so.

And his father got up and took his war-bonnet of eagle-feathers, and his moccasins, and, using his power, brought even his wind and his clouds and his rainbow with him, and all his crops, for tho he had plenty at home he thought to find more at his brother's place.

And, camping one night on the road, he came to his brother, after sunrise, and called him 'Brother' with a loud voice.

And everything happened to this enemy from the east, and his brother, and brother's wife, that had happened to the enemy from the west and his brother and brother's wife.

And I found the Apache enemy early in the morning, lying asleep, still needing his blanket, and covering himself up, and captured him without trouble.

And there I captured all his property, and took from him captives and many scalps, and my way coming back seemed to be down hill, and I strengthened myself and came to the level ground.

And when I came to the hollow where I drank, the water rippled from my moving it.

And I appointed messengers to go ahead and tell those at home, the old men and women waiting to hear of us, the good news of our victory.

And after sending on the messengers I went on, rejoicing, carrying the consciousness of my victory over the Apaches with me; and arriving home at evening I found the land filled with the news, even the tops of the hills covered.

And I told my people to send word to our western relatives, and to our southern relatives, and our eastern relatives, that the good news might be known to all."

After this he called the people together for war, and the first evening they camped a man prophesied, and said:

"Now we have heard our war-speech, and are on our way, and I foresee the way beautiful with flowers, even the big trees covered with flowers, and I can see that we come to the enemy and conquer them easily.

And the road to the east is lined with white flowers, and the Apaches, seeing it, rejoice also, with smiles, thinking it for their good, but really it is for their destruction, for it is made so by the power of our doctors.

And in the middle of the earth, between us and the enemy, stood the Cane-Tube Pipe and smoked itself.

I inhaled the smoke and blew it out toward the East, and saw the smoke rising till it reached the Vahahkkee of Light, and up still till it reached the Cane of Light.

And I took that cane and punched it at the corner of the Vahahkkee, and out came the White Water and the White Wasps, and the wasps flew around it four times and then they went down again.

And then in the South I saw the Blue Vahahkkee, and the Blue Cane, and I took the cane and punched it into the corner of the vahahkkee, and there came out Blue Water and Blue Wasps, and the wasps flew around four times, and then sank down again.

And in the West there stood the Black Vahahkkee, and the Black Cane, and I took the cane and punched at the corner, and there came out Black Water and Black Wasps, and the wasps flew around four times, and then went in again.

And in the North stood the Yellow Vahahkkee, and the Yellow Cane, and I took the cane and punched it at the corner, and there came out Yellow Water and Yellow Wasps, and the wasps flew around four times, and then went in again.

And on top of this vahahkkee was a Yellow Spider, and I asked him to help me, and he stretched his web four times, and there found my enemy.

And there he bound his heart with his web, and bound his arms, and bound his bow and his arrows, and left him there in the state of a woman, with nothing to defend himself with.

And he pushed me toward where he had left him, and I captured him very easily, and all his property, and all his children.

You, my relatives, may not like the noise of our rejoicing, but it is only for a short time that we rejoice over the enemy."

And they camped out another night, and another one spoke, and he said:

"I was lying in ashes, and praying the distant mountains for strength, and the far doctors for power.

And there was a Sun that rose from the east and followed the western road.

And all the four-footed animals met together and called themselves relatives, and all the birds met together and called themselves relatives, and in this order followed the Sun.

And the Sun rose again, and brought me the See-hee-vit-tah Feather, the Sunbeam, to wear on my head, and hugged me up to him.

And the Sun rose again, and brought the Blue Fog, and in the fog took me toward the enemy.

But instead of taking me to the enemy it took me up into the sky, to the Yellow Crow.

And the Yellow Crow, as a powerful mahkai, went down to the enemy and divided their land four times, and slew the human beings, and painted the rocks over beautifully with their blood.

And from there I went to the Yellow Spider, living on the back of the mound at the North, and asked him to help me.

And he stretched his web four times, and found my enemy, and bound him, and pushed me toward him, and I took him, and all his, captive, and came home rejoicing.

So, my relatives, think of this, that there will be victory. You may not like the noise of our rejoicing, but it is only for a short time that we rejoice over the enemy."

And they went toward the mountains where the Apaches live, and camped there, and there were empty Apache houses there, and one of them spoke using himself figuratively as a type of his people:

"Perhaps these Apaches have gone from here to my house, and have killed me and have dragged me thru the waters we passed coming here, and have beaten me with all the sticks we saw on the road, and have thrown ashes over me, and maybe these are my bones that lie here, and this dry blood is my blood.

This has been done, my relatives, and there in the East is a Vahahkkee of Light, and within it there is a Butcher-bird of Light.

And I asked the Butcher-bird for power, and he followed his Road of Light, and touched the ground four times with his tail, and came to me.

And he went on the road that is lighted by a mahkai, and following that reached my enemy.

And my enemy thought himself a good dreamer, and that his dreams were fulfilled for good, and that he had a good bow with a good string, and good cane arrows, but the Butcher-bird had already punched his eyes out without his knowing it.

And all the animals and birds of the Apaches think they have good eyes to see with, but the Butcher-bird has punched their eyes out without their knowing it.

And the winds of the Apaches think they have sharp eyes, and the clouds of the Apaches think themselves sharp-eyed, but the Butcher-bird has punched their eyes out without their knowing it.

So he treated the enemy like that, and left him there as a woman, and then pushed me toward him, and I went and captured him easily.

And I gathered all the property, and all the captives, and, turning back, looked ahead of me and found the country all springy with water, and wasps flying, and I followed them.

And ahead of me was a road with many flowers, and a butterfly that beautifully spread itself open and led the way, and I followed.

And I brought the dead enemy home, and from there the news spread all over my country.

So, my relatives, think of this, that there will be victory.

And you may not like the sound of our rejoicing, but it is only for a short time that we rejoice over our enemy."

NOTES ON THE STORY OF THE GAMBLER'S WAR

In this we are given wonderful glimpses into the strange, fierce, sad, extravagant poetry of the Indian speeches, which seem oftenest inspired by the passion of revenge. Notice that in these stories, if several speeches are given in any one story, they generally have a quite similar ending, a sort of refrain: "So, my relatives," etc.

This story ends abruptly, and is, I think, manifestly only a fragment. Following the speeches, which were mere boastful prophecies, should have been an account in detail of the actual campaign, as in the story of Pahtahnkum's war.

THE STORY OF NAHVAHCHOO

Ee-ee-toy was once wandering along when he found some moss that had been left there ever since the flood, and he stood and looked at it, wondering how he could make it into a human being.

And while he watched it the sun breathed on it, and it became not a man, but a turtle.

And he wandered on again and found some driftwood, and while he stood wondering how to make it into a human being, the sun breathed on it, and it became a man, but he could not see its face, which was covered as with a mask.

And the turtle and the masked man, thus created, went westward, and came to a Blue Vahahkkee, and they went in and staid all night.

In the morning, when the sun rose, they were frightened at the blue beams that shone thru the vahahkkee, and they left.

And after going a little way they came to a Black Road, and Black Birds flew over them to keep them from being seen.

And they came to a Black Night. In that night was a Black Bow, which stretched as if it were going to shoot them, so that they were afraid to lie down all night.

And the next day they came to a Blue Road, and a flock of Blue Birds flew over them, and all around, striking them.

After a while they came to a Blue Night, and in the night was a Blue Bow, which stretched itself threateningly at them, as the Black Bow had done the night before.

And they could not sleep for fear that night, either; and the next day they came to a White Road, and a flock of White Birds followed them, striking them.

And they came to a White Night, and in that night was a White Bow, which threatened them as the others had done, so that again they could not sleep.

And the next day they had a similar experience, only it was a Yellow Road, with Yellow Birds, and a Yellow Night with a Yellow Bow.

The next day there was no danger any more, and they went on and came to a mountain, Co-so-vah-taw-up-kih, or Twisted Neck Mountain, and there the Nahvahchoo (masked man), having run ahead, left the turtle behind, and when evening came sat down and waited for the turtle to come up. But the turtle was too far behind, and when night came stopped where he was, and made a fire, and made corn and pumpkins, and roasted the corn and set the pumpkins around the fire, as the Indians do, to scorch them before putting them in the ashes.

And Nahvahchoo heard the popping sound of the cooking, and came running back, and tried to steal a piece of the fire to have one of his own, but the turtle would not let him. And so the Nahvahchoo went off and made a fire of his own, and corn and pumpkins of his own, and cooked them as the turtle had done.

In the morning, after they had feasted on the pumpkin and corn, the turtle, Wee-hee-kee-nee, sank down and went under the earth to the ocean, and made that his home, and Nahvahchoo sank down and went in the same direction, but not so far, coming up on the sea shore.

And Nahvahchoo went along the sea-shore, toward the east, till he came to a great deal of driftwood, and many flowers, and handled all these, and got their strength, and made his home in the east.

One day Nahvahchoo heard the earth shaking, and ran out of his house to try and find where the shaking came from, and he went south and did not feel it, and went west and felt it a little, and went north and felt it more. And so he ran back and put on his mask, and took his bow, and went north. And the first time he stopped and listened he heard it somewhat, and the next time he heard it more, and the third time still more, and the fourth time he came to where many people were singing the song Wah-hee-hee-vee, and dancing the dance Vee-pee-nim, in which the dancers wear gourd masks, on their faces, pierced full of little holes to let the light thru.

And they were dancing, too, the dance Kawk-spahk-kum, in which the dancers wear a cloth mask, like Nahvahchoo, with a little gourd, full of holes, over the mouth-hole, to sing thru.

And they were dancing also the dance Tawt-a-kum, in which the dancer wears a bonnet of cloth, and a mask like Nahvahchoo does.

And the people sitting around in these dances had little rods which they rubbed upon notched sticks, in time to the singing and the dancing.

At first Nahvahchoo was greatly excited by all this dancing, for all these people seemed to do nothing else but sing and dance, and make the rods and notched sticks and stand them up in bunches; but after a few days he began to think of game, for he was a great hunter, and he went out and found the tracks of a deer.

And measuring these with his arrow he laughed, covering his mouth with his hand, and said: "This deer will not run very fast, I could catch him myself." For a deer that measures a good way between his tracks is long-bodied, and cannot run fast, while a deer that measures short between tracks has a short body, and jumps quicker.

And he followed the deer, which heard him coming, and began to run, and when Nahvahchoo saw by its tracks that it was running, he ran, too, and getting on a hill saw the dust of its running away off; and he ran after it, and when he came to the next hill it was close, and he ran down, and killed it, and took it back to the singers, and they fell ravenously upon it and ate it all up, not leaving him even the bones.

Nahvahchoo sat off a little way and watched them, and one of their speakers addressed him, and said: "We know you, who you are. You are a great doctor, and a great hunter, and a great farmer, and a powerful man every way. And maybe you expected us to join in your hunt and help you carry the game. But we want you to join us, and become a singer, and you will have plenty of corn and beans to eat, and you will find that such food will last, while, as you see, the game, when you bring it in, lasts but a little while."

So Nahvahchoo staid with them and became a singer, and after a while the people told him to go to a certain vahahkkee, and said: "You will find something there with which you will be pleased. And then go to the opposite one, and you will find that with which you will be still more pleased.

And one of these vahahkkees was called See-pook (Red-bird) Vahahkkee and the other was named Wah-choo-kook-kee (Oriole) Vahahkkee.--But tho they told him to go to these they did not allow him to do so, but one day he slipped away, when they were not looking, and opened one, and saw in it many wonderful things, clouds forming and sprinkling all the time; and in the other it was the same.

And one was covered with red flowers, and the other with yellow flowers, and where they came together the mingling of red and yellow was very pretty.

At the door of each vahahkkee was a corn-mill. And he stole one of these and went west. But after a while he stopped and said: "I wonder what is going to happen, for the east is all green and the west is of the same color."

But he ran on, and the clouds came over him, and it began to sprinkle, and then to rain, and then the water began to run, and get deeper and deeper, and he said: "This is happening to me because I stole this mill, but I am not going to let it go, I am going to keep it."

And he ran on and came to where he had separated from Weeheekeenee, and went on and over Cosovahtawupkih, the Twisted Neck Mountain.

And on that mountain he felt rather faint, and put his hand in his pouch and found a root and chewed it, the root Cheek-kuh-pool-tak, and breathed it out, and it stopped raining.

And he went on to the Quojata Mountain, and sat there and took a smoke; and then on to Ahn-naykum; and then to Odchee, where he left the mill; and then to Kee-ahk Toe-ahk, where he also rested and took a smoke; and then he went home.

And when Nahvahchoo arrived home he made a speech:

"Where shall we hear the talk that will make us drunk and dizzy with the flowers of eloquence?

There was near the water the driftwood lying, and from above the sun breathed down and a being was made.

And it was the beautiful daybreak that I took and wiped its face with, and the remains of darkness that I painted its face with.

And there were all kinds of bird's feathers that I made a feather bonnet from.

And there were joining wasps that came and flapped on the bonnet.

And there were many butterflies that flapped their wings upon the bonnet, upon its feathers.

And it was from the rainbow that I made its bow, and from the Milky Way that I made its arrow.

From a red skin it was that I made its saw-suh-buh, to cover its arm for the bow-string not to injure it.

And it was a red kuess-kote that I made and put in its hair to scratch with.

And it was the gray fog that I fastened in its shoulders for its mantle.