Read Ebook: Myths and Tales from the White Mountain Apache Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Vol. XXIV Part II by Goddard Pliny Earle

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She kept her mind on the saddles during the night and in the early morning she went out to them. There were four saddles on the pole where there had been only two. She still kept her mind on the saddles and the next morning there were six lying there. "My child," she said, "you spoke the truth. I kept my mind on the saddles and six are now lying there." Tobatc'istcini said, "Very well, keep thinking about them all night and go to them early in the morning." When she went out, there were eight saddles on the pole.

Naiyenezgani said he was going yonder and would be back by sunset. He went to the mountain top where the halter lay. The Sun was standing there. "It must be my father," he said. "I did not know you. I am glad you came down to me." "Well, my son," the Sun replied, "let us go around the horses." "What time will it be when we get around them?" the son asked. Leaving the place where the halters were lying they went where the ropes were. The space was level full of horses. "Fine, my son," the Sun said to Naiyenezgani, "with ropes and halters you made a fence so the horses cannot get out. You have this broad world for a corral."

He said that none of them should go out tomorrow, but that he himself would go out early. When he went out there in front of the yellow saddle lay a white saddle. Behind that was a blue one. Between them was a yellow saddle. The pole was full. There were ten saddles in a row. "I told you to put up a long pole, and you put up a short one," he said to his mother. "You said dig one hole here and another there, my son," she replied. "Just these may well be our saddles," he said. He called Tobatc'istcini, saying they would go to catch the horses. "You go to the rope over there. I, too, will go to the other rope. Hurry, we will catch the horses," he said to him. He ran where one rope was, and the other one went where the other rope was. When they came to the two ropes, they circled around, driving the horses all towards each other. They could not find their own horses, the Sun's horses. They went into the enclosure and walked around. Even when they went around that way they could not find the horses. They looked for them again, going around among the other horses, but they could not find them. The horses touched each other, they were so thick.

Then Tobatc'istcini said, "Naiyenezgani, why do you act so? Is your mind gone? You say you met your father yesterday and that you spent the day going around the horses. He took them out of the herd, and away from you."

Naiyenezgani caught a black stallion and the other brother a sorrel gelding. When they led them to the camp their mother asked Tobatc'istcini why he had caught a sorrel and told him to turn him loose and catch a white gelding. She said the gray and sorrel horses were made for them and that they were well trained the day before. She told them to hurry and drive the horses in. Tobatc'istcini rode the sorrel horse back and unsaddled it. He then caught a white horse and drove the gray horses back to the camp.

"Let us go," he said to his brother. They mounted the horses and rode along. Their mother spoke to them, "My boys, take off that yellow saddle and put on a white one." When they came riding back where their mother was, a horse whinneyed. It sounded like the voice of the gray stallion that used to be his horse. Another horse whinneyed in this direction and the voice was like that of the sorrel mare. They knew their horses when they whinneyed and one said to the other, "Brother, those are our horses whinneying but we cannot do anything about it." "Let us hurry," the other said. They rode toward the herd of horses but the horses started to run and the herd broke up. While they were looking they ran where their horses whinneyed. Their fly told them that the horses had already run into the enclosure and that the four doors were shut. They heard them whinneying far away. Their fly said the horses were already in their stable, but they still whinneyed. They drove the other horses near the camp. The older brother told the people to form in a line around the horses. He said they were going to stake out horses for them. The people replied that they had no ropes, that only the two brothers had them. They asked the brothers to make ropes for them. They were told to wait while they returned where the horses used to be. They told them that they would have ropes the next day. The brothers went in different directions, calling to each other. They met and sent their fly to the Sun because the people were without ropes. He told his brother to go back where he had been staying. He directed him also to take the bridle off and to leave the rope as it was, tied to the saddle. "When the Sun is in the middle of the sky we will drive the horses back. Although it is late the Sun will be in the same place. He may give us something," he said.

The fly returned and reported: "Your horse was standing behind him. He sat watching where the stallions were fighting each other. He kept looking at them and then he went a little way."

The Sun's disk was yellow as at sunset. He looked down four times. The yellow beams struck under his raised knees. From the other side they also streamed toward him. Nothing happened, and he got up and went to his horse. When he put his foot in the stirrup and mounted, ropes were tied in four places to the saddle strings where there had been no ropes before. Both saddles were that way. They both mounted together and their horses pawed the ground and snorted. He rode back to the camp, loping, and the other horses strung out behind him. The other brother was running his horse on the other side. They stopped near the camp. The horses were all lined up facing him. He called to the one on horseback, "Come here." He rode up to him and he asked how many ropes there were. The other replied he did not know for he had not counted them, and inquired of the other how many ropes he had. The first speaker replied that he did not know. Then the younger brother said the other should catch the horses for them and lead them out while he remained on his horse where he was. The other brother then rode among the horses and caught a mare. He led the horse out and gave the rope to one of the men. He rode back among the horses and caught a stallion. When he had caught six horses, the ropes were all gone. He beckoned with his hand and his brother rode up to him. "Had you only six ropes?" he asked. "Yes, I only had six and I have caught six horses. Now, take your turn and I will remain here on horseback." The second brother caught the horses and reported that he had chosen the better horses. The horses were all good but some of them looked to be small.

They told the people there were only seven saddles and that so many of the men might have saddles, but that the others must ride around bareback for the present. He told them that some time they might have saddles because the Sun knew of their need and he himself knew it. He instructed them to tie out their horses close by. He said if they heard the horses nickering they would know that the stallions were covering the mares. They would also know the colts when they were foaled. If they turned their horses loose they might not know them. The ropes he said would guard their horses for them. They would now drive back the other horses while those who had received horses staked theirs out.

He drove the horses away and hung his bridle up. The other one he laid in another direction. He took the saddle and everything else back to the camp. They came back to the camp in the middle of the night but they did not know it was night because the Sun had not moved.

When two days had passed two men came. There were many horses where they had passed. They reported that something was running around the other side of this large mountain. They did not know what it was, nor to whom it belonged. They wondered what was meant and sent their fly to find out. He flew away and came back almost immediately. He said it was true. On the ridge beyond the mountain he saw horse tracks and a trail with dust as fine as flour.

One of the brothers asked his mother to cook for the men quickly. It was while they were eating that the fly reported. "Fly back there," he directed him. He told the visitors to remain, for they were no doubt tired. They went back where the bridle was lying. They took off the rope and hung it toward the east. They spoke to the bridle asking that the horses, wherever they went, should come back together during the night.

The visitors were as the two brothers had been. They had no eyelashes or eyebrows. Their ears were round and their heads were smooth. There were webs between their fingers and toes. When they were asked whence they came they replied that they had assumed there were people living somewhere. Their own people had been killed off by something until only the two were left. They saved themselves at night by digging a trench and covering it with a large rock. When they started away, one of the brothers asked where they were going. They replied that they did not know where they were going but preferred not to stay where they were. They said they did not like to be with many peoples. They preferred staying there with their present hosts. Naiyenezgani asked them to tell their story during the night.

When night came, he called four men to come and listen to what the visitors were about to tell. He asked each of the four men to question the guests. "What is the country called where you live and what kind of thing is killing your people?" he asked. "Tell us about it."

Naiyenezgani called upon a third man to question them. "Why did you leave a trail for them?" he inquired. "When your kinsfolk were all killed, why did you come to us leaving a trail?" The same man spoke again. He directed that the next day a sweatbath should be prepared that they should take a bath with the two visitors.

"You said the horses had gone far away. I presume they have already come together again," he said. "These some-kind-of-things you said were going away we call horses. That is all I have to say." "These two will speak to you," one of the company said.

"I cannot promise that I will kill that thing which has been killing your people. Hurry to build the sweatlodge he mentioned," Tobatc'istcini said. "Make the sweatbath: we are going for the horses," he added.

During the night the horses had come together. One bridle was lying at the east and the other at the west. They told the horses they must all stay there together. When the brothers returned the sweatlodge was built and the stones were on the fire. Tobatc'istcini directed that the men should stand in line while four of them should go into the bath four times. He said that when they had come out the fourth time the visitors would be like themselves. "You built this sweatbath, but it belongs to the Sun," he told them. When he went in with them the fourth time he asked them where the thing was living which was killing them. The visitors replied that he lived down this way, pointing toward the west. "The one that has killed all of our people has something long for a weapon," he added. Naiyenezgani said, "Well, he has been killing you." When they came out the fourth time they all looked alike. They ate and after the meal the brothers told them all to remain there while they went to yonder white mountain ridge to look beyond. He looked at the Sun.

They landed far away on the mountain ridge. Beyond that mountain they went to another. There was a plain on which a mountain was standing. They landed next on that mountain. Tobatc'istcini said, "Brother, is the dangerous thing feared by you? If you are afraid, I am afraid. If you are not afraid neither am I afraid. You are the elder, I am the younger."

A man was walking in a valley without brush. He was the one who kills people. They sent their fly to look over the body of their enemy, to examine his ears, his eyes, and his mouth. The fly flew to the man and alighted on his ear. When he alighted on his nose the man said, "It is not just you. You smell like a man."

The fly reported that they could not come up to the man, for while he walked in one direction he could see behind because he had eyes in the back of his head. He had no eyes in front. "He has something long in his hand with which he kills people. When I sat on his nose he told me I smelled like people," the fly reported. "He is the same sort of a person that you are." The fly told them to go around to a certain gap in the ridge, where the monster was accustomed to pass, and stand side by side. He promised to let them know when the enemy approached. When the monster walked along, the fly came back where the brothers were standing side by side and said, "He is coming up here very close. If he stops here you must cut his head off. Now, you shoot him," he said. "If he sees anyone he makes a sweep with his long weapon and kills the person even a long way off."

The man came close to them and stopped. One of them shot him and the other cut his head off. He stood just as he was before. They shot again and cut his head off again. The head fell but came back on again. One of them shot at him the third time and the other cut his neck off again. Then one of them ran around in front of him and shot him in the heart. This time his flesh flew apart and was scattered over considerable space. The flesh was quivering. That which they killed was called Naiye'. "That is why he named you Naiyenezgani," their fly said. "Because you and Tobatc'istcini both will kill dangerous beings your father named you that." "You did this in his presence. He was looking at you and prevented the monster's making any move against you. He gave you the weapons with which you killed him. He did it for the good of mankind. Turn the head over and look at its face," their fly told them. They turned him over and looked at his face. His face was like anyone's but he also had eyes in the back of his head. No one could attack him from in front, and he had eyes to see behind himself also. His knife was sharp and the handle was good. "Let us take the knife to convince the people. If we do not have the knife, they will not believe us if we claim we have killed the Naiye' which used to kill people," one of them said.

On their return they landed on the white mountain ridge and returned to the camp. When they had returned, Naiyenezgani directed that all the people, including the children, should come together. He asked his mother, because the people were assembling, to spread down a buckskin and to place on it the arrows, his own weapon, and that of the slain Naiye'. He asked the people to gather around it. He called the two visitors, asking them to come to a designated spot. He told his brother to stand in a certain position and said that he himself would stand in another place. He said that he would address the people and told his brother to do the same. "I am telling you this because you are seeing what you have not seen before. You see today what our father gave us. Now you speak to them," he said to his brother.

Tobatc'istcini spoke as follows, "My name is Tobatc'istcini. Our father gave us these things lying here. A being called Naiye' was using that weapon over there to kill people. He had killed all the people except the two who are sitting over there. We killed him." "You, Naiyenezgani, speak to them again," he said to his brother.

"We started from here and we went up to the top of yonder mountain. We went on to the top of a mountain standing beyond that. A small mountain stands beyond that and we went up to its top. There we saw a man walking in a valley. He went to him for us and returned. 'When he walks he is blind, but he has eyes in the back of his head,' he reported to us. 'He kills the people who are slipping up behind him.' Now he will not kill anyone. We shall live safely." He took up what used to be his knife and carried it around for the people to see. The man's blood was on it, and it was fearful to look at. "There is no place to take hold of it. I will take hold of it here," he said. "Do not look at this which used to belong to Naiye'. It is dangerous. Have a meal and then go home. Look after our horses well."

Their mother asked why the two who had come to them should not accompany them where the horses were. They went with them where the horses were. "Catch the sorrel gelding when you want to. You can tell it by the white spot on its shoulder," he told one of them. To the other he said, "You may catch this black one with a white spot on its forehead. If we are away anywhere saddle them and ride them around among the horses and through the camp. The horses look as if they were mean, as if they had never had a rope on them, but they will not misbehave, they are not mean and will not shy." They started back and when they came to the camp again they ate.

Two days after they had killed the Naiye' they said they were going in a certain direction and that it might be late when they returned. They went up to the top of a small sharp-topped mountain. They looked at the Sun and, when it came up, yellow beams streamed out from the Sun's disk. His breath took the shape of a rainbow. The sunbeams fell to the ground over them. "It must be there," he said. They started and landed on a mountain top. From there they went to another and from that one to a projecting ridge. Beyond that was a plain on which stood a blue mountain. They landed on that. It seems that those who were killing the people lived at a distance from each other and the people were living in the center of the world. The killers of the people were working towards each other.

The two brothers stood on the mountain side by side. They were made like their father. You could hardly see their bodies. They were killing out the Naiye'. "Fly over the country and hunt him up. He is living somewhere," one of them said to the fly. It flew off and went around them in a circle. The next time it went around in a smaller circle. He was coming behind them. He had eyes looking both ways, four eyes. He held something crooked. He stopped and looked carefully behind himself. He did not look in front. He could look straight up and could see people down below. The fly looked him all over, at his eyes, his ears, his nose, and his face. "You are a burr," he said to the fly. The fly thought he said he was going to catch him. He flew between the man's legs and returned where the brothers were sitting. "Did you say Naiye'? You have come to a dangerous place," the fly said to them. "As he walks along he looks carefully behind himself. When he stops he looks up and he can see the people who are below. He carries a long, crooked object with which he makes a sweep at people he sees in the distance and catches them with his hook."

The fly was sent again to find out from which point the monster could be attacked with the best chances for success. They saw him walking in the distance and then they saw him standing where he was accustomed to come up the ridge. The fly reported that was a good place for the attack. The brothers addressed each other. "What is the matter with you, Tobatc'istcini?" Naiyenezgani asked. "You are the leader and should speak first," Tobatc'istcini replied. "Very well, you did not answer me. We will attack him. I will cause large hail with thirty-two points to fall on him. What are you going to do?" Naiyenezgani asked. "I will cause hot rain to fall on him," was the reply.

They went to him where he was walking. The sky made a noise and it began to rain. The two brothers came toward him behind this rain. He put his hand to the top of his head. It was hot rain which was falling. They could see him, but he could not see them. "Let him walk between you," the fly directed. He was already exhausted with the hot rain and the hail. Naiyenezgani stood here and Tobatc'istcini there. The monster walked here saying, "It is a bad time. I, too, where I am, it is a bad place." As he walked one of the brothers raised his bow and brought it down again, shooting. His companion cut off the monster's head. It came back immediately as it was before. They shot and cut his head off again. He fell three ways. They did the same thing to him the fourth time and he spread out like water. "There shall not be those who kill," Naiyenezgani said. "This is the way I do to Naiye'. Just let him float here in his blood. The people will live happily on the earth. I have done well by them. Get ready, brother, we will go back. We will take the weapon with which he has been killing people." He rolled this weapon up into a coil and put it in his blanket. "Come, we will go back," he said.

They came back in the manner they went, landing on the successive mountains until they reached the camp. They danced a war dance near the camp. They danced, holding up the weapon they had taken. "Mother, we are hungry, hurry and cook for us," they said to her. When they had eaten they asked their mother to assemble the people and to ask the visitors also to come. She told the people to assemble, saying that her sons must have seen something during the day they had been away which they would tell them about. When the people had come together the weapon they had brought back was lying there, not as yet untangled.

"We killed one like the other one. We both did it, but I could have done it by myself, if I had been alone. If he had been alone he too could have done it by himself," Naiyenezgani said. "We both attacked him because we could do it quickly. We killed him quickly because our father helped us. If it had been one of you, you could have done nothing with this one that we call Naiye'. He would have killed you right away and eaten you up. He had killed all the people who lived with these two men, and just now he was coming for you. Before we had known it, he would have killed us all. There are no people living on the edges of the earth. We are all that are left. He killed people this way. Suppose that person should come on you, he would kill you this way." He threw the weapon to a distant bush. It went around the tree and it was as if it had been cut off. "He was killing people thus. Now we will live well and no one will bother us. A man is going around the earth in one day and he will tell us about it." Tobatc'istcini started away and his mother spoke to him. "My son, put on this belt," she said, offering him the one the Sun's wife had given her. "I am going around from here but today it is late, I will go tomorrow," he said. They went to bed. "Take good care of things and do not be afraid of anything," Tobatc'istcini said.

When it was daylight their mother prepared a meal for them and they ate. "Come back safely, my son, as the people said to you," the mother said. "I am going, but I do not know when I shall come back," Tobatc'istcini replied. He started, telling them to watch for him on a certain mountain point. "I will be back about noon."

He started away, traveling with a blue flute which had wings. He went with this from place to place and was back home before long. He went entirely around the border of the world on which people were living. The belt was a blue flute. He thought with it four ways and looked into it four ways. Before noon a light rain fell on the projecting mountain. That cleared off and then he came laughing. "It was not far, only so large," he said, joining the tips of his forefinger and his thumb. "Have you your property ready?" he asked. "Have you collected everything that is ours? Tomorrow we will give out the horses, one apiece to each of you. We shall not give out horses again. Bring the horses near to the camp."

They brought the saddles, the bridles, the halters, the ropes, and the blankets. They two went where the horses were. They caught some of the horses and saddled them, and drove the other horses near the camp where they herded them. They called the people to assemble and when they came caught horses for them. He gave away ten horses in all. "I will give you no more horses," he said. "Tomorrow we will go different ways." He drove the horses back where they stayed. "Stake out our horses nearby and leave the saddles on them all night," he said. "This is all. You may go in any direction you like." "This way," pointing to the east; "this way," south; "this way," west; or "this way," north. "We are going over here where the end of the world is," some of them said. Others said they were going to the end of the world in this direction. In this manner, each party chose a location.

When they had finished, they asked the brothers which way they were going. They replied that they were going to drive their horses to the top of yonder mountain . "Take good care of your horses. Look after them for twelve days and then they will be accustomed to you. Now you may go. We are going also." He drove his horses away saying, "None of you are going with us. I thought some of you would go with us. You are only giving us back our mother. Go on, mother, let your horse lead."

His mother inquired which way she should lead them. "Go on, go on, I tell you," he replied. She rode towards the east. Soon a little light was to be seen under the horse. They went higher and higher until they came to the mountain he spoke of. They rode their horses beside hers. "Wait, mother," he said and rode back. "Keep on down this mountain. It is good country in this basin. We will live here," he said. They talked together. "You unsaddle over there, you over there, and you over there. We will watch the horses."

"You may have my yucca fruit which lies on the face of Turnbull Mountain."

Footnote 1:

Told by a White Mountain Apache called Noze, at Rice, Arizona, in January. 1910. Noze was a native of Cedar Creek and came to the San Carlos Reservation when it was organized. He was for a long time the chief of a considerable band which in 1910 had greatly dwindled. He died some time between 1910 and the next visit in 1914.

Footnote 2:

Footnote 3:

This makes the boys brothers in our use of the word. They are always so called in the Navajo account according to which their mothers were sisters. Matthews, 105.

Footnote 4:

At the center of the sky.

Footnote 5:

And therefore the boys were not seen by the Sun.

Footnote 6:

The sacred numbers are 4, 12, and 32.

Footnote 7:

This method of making the journey has not been encountered before in this connection, but is an incident in a European story secured from the San Carlos, p. 82, above. The usual account includes a series of obstacles some of which resemble the incidents of a European story. See p. 116 below.

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