On Nov 7, 2008, at 1:22 PM, Ryan Waldon wrote: > The Tohono O'odham ideas about the Apache are most likely a form of > cultural "spillover" from the Diné (Navajo) belief system. It sounds > like their Yenaldlooshii, a person who has the ability to alter their > physical form at will, most often to that of an animal. They are also > able to appear as another person and can takeover another's body. > These beings are considered to be extremely dangerous and touching one > is very disturbing (contaminating) to your spirit, thus requiring > special songs and ceremonies to restore your balance. > > It is very common for different Nations to adopt and incorporate > elements of each others beliefs, customs and cosmologies into their > own cultures. This is particularly true in the Southwest, where many > Nations live almost on top of each other. The Diné are the largest > Nation in the region and their culture is very dominant, so it's very > common to find evidence of their influence amongst the Zuñi, Pueblo, > Ute, Yavipai, Apache, etc.
It is possible. The various Apache tribes and the Navajo are all Southern Athabascans and don't regard themselves as distinct peoples. It is possible that the Tohono O'odham knew that the Apaches believed that some of them could change shape and just generalized it to all of them could change shape. I've also heard it speculated that the Apaches were skilled at imitating the cries of animals and the Tohono O'odham simply generalized 'the Apaches can sound like coyotes' into 'the Apaches can turn into coyotes'. In any case, I am absolutely sure that my informant, who attended high school and lived for a while off the res in Ontario California, was convinced that Apaches were non-human. -- Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list! _______________________________________________ OSX-Nutters mailing list | [email protected] http://lists.tit-wank.com/mailman/listinfo/osx-nutters List hosted at http://cat5.org/
