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Apache - ORIGIN OF THE ANIMALS
When the Apaches emerged from
the under-world, Un-go'-ya-y�n-ni, they traveled southward on foot for
four days. They had no other food than the seeds of the two plants,
k'atl'-tai-�, and k'atl'-tai-il-tsu-y�, from which they made a sort of
flour by grinding between stones. When they camped for the fourth time,
one of the tipis, called ka-ge-g�n-has-ka-�n-de-y�, stood somewhat apart
from the others. While the owner and his wife were absent from this
lodge, a Raven brought a bow and a quiver of arrows, and hung them upon
the lodge poles. The children within took down the quiver, and found
some meat in it; they ate this, and at once became very fat. When the
mother returned, she saw the grease on the hands and cheeks of the
children, and was told how the it-tsil'-te had been obtained. The woman
hastened to her husband with the tale. Marveling at the appearance of
the children, the people gathered to await the reappearance of the Raven
which subsisted upon such remarkable food. !
When the Raven found the
it-tsil'-te had been stolen from the quiver, he flew away toward the
eastward; his destination was a mountain just beyond the range of vision
of the Indians. A bat, however, followed the flight of the Raven, and
informed them where the Raven had alighted. That night, a council of the
whole tribe was held, and it was decided that they should go to the home
of the Raven, and try to obtain from him the food which had wrought such
a miraculous change in those who had partaken of it. At the end of four
days they came to a place where a large number of logs were lying in
irregular heaps. Many ravens were seen, but they avoided the Indians,
and no information could be obtained from them. At one point they
discovered a great circle of ashes where the ravens were accustomed to
cook their meals. Again a council was held, and they talked over the
problem of how to spy upon the ravens, and learn whence they obtained
the precious animal food. That night the medic!
ine-men transformed a
boy into a puppy, and concealed him in the bushes near the camp. After
the Indians had departed, next morning the ravens came, as is there
habit, to examine the abandoned camp. One of the young ravens found the
puppy, and was so pleased with it that he exclaimed: "Ci-ch�n-ni-ja-ta"
("This shall be my puppy"). When he carried it home his parents told him
to throw it away. He begged permission to keep it, but agreed to give it
up if the puppy winked when a splinter of burning wood was waved before
its eyes. As the puppy possessed much more than canine intelligence, it
stared during the test without the quiver of an eyelid. So the young
raven won consent to keep the puppy, which he placed under his own
blanket, where it remained until evening. At sunset the puppy peeped
from his cover, and saw an old raven brush aside the ashes of the
fireplace, and take up a large flat stone which disclosed an opening
beneath ; through this he disappeared, but arose again!
with a
buffalo, which was killed and eaten by the ravens.
For four days
the puppy remained at the camp of the ravens, and each evening he saw a
buffalo brought up from the depths and devoured. Satisfied that he had
discovered the source from which the ravens derived their food, the
puppy resumed the form of a boy on the morning of the fifth day, and,
with a white eagle feather in one hand and a black one in the other,
descended through the opening beneath the fireplace, as he had seen the
ravens do. In the under-world in which he found himself he saw four
buffaloes. He placed the white eagle-feather in the mouth of the nearest
Buffalo, and commanded it to follow him, but the Buffalo told him to go
on to the last of the four and take it. This the boy tried to do, but
the fourth Buffalo sent him back to the first, in whose mouth the boy
again thrust the feather, declaring it to be the king of animals. He
then returned to the world above, followed by all the animals at present
upon the surface of the earth, except those specially crea!
ted
later, such, for example, as the horse and aquatic animals. As the large
herd of animals passed through the hole, one of the ravens awoke, and
hastened to clap down the stone covering the opening, but he was too
late to prevent their escape. Seeing that they had passed from his
control into that of man, he exclaimed, " When you kill any of these
animals you must at least leave their eyes for me."
Attended by
the troop of beasts of many species, the boy followed the track made by
the departing Apaches. On the site of their first camp he found a
firestick or poker, gos-se-na'-it-tsi, of which he inquired, "When did
my people leave here?" "Three days ago" was the reply. At the next
camping-place was an abandoned ladder, has'-ai-�, of which he asked,
"When did my people leave here?" "Two days ago," replied the ladder.
Continuing his journey the boy soon reached the third camping-place,
where he questioned a second firestick, and learned that the people had
been gone but one day. At the fourth camp another ladder answered his
question, with the news that the Indians had left there that morning.
That evening he overtook them and entered the camp, the herd of animals
following him like a flock of sheep. One old woman who lived in a brush
lodge became vexed at the deer which ate the covering of her rude
shelter. Snatching up a stick from the fire, she struck the deer over
th!
e nose, to which the white ashes adhered, causing the white mark
which we see on the nose of that animal at present time. "Hereafter you
shall avoid mankind; your nose tell you when you are near them," said
she. Thus terminated the brief period of harmony between man and the
beast: they left the camp at once, going farther each day, until on the
fourth they disappeared from sight. That night the Apaches prayed for
the return of the animals, that they might use them for food, and that
is why animals approach nearer the camps now at night than at any other
time. They never come very close, because the old woman told them to be
guided by their noses and avoid the Indians.
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