Chapter X: Section I: is moderately long and describes the journey home, but now (4)

4. Coyote's theft of the heart.--Now when Coyote arrived at Fire-Mountain, he looked back and saw the burning at Ha'avulypo. Then he did not even stop to take the fire, but ran back at once. When he arrived, he found the people all standing around the pyre. He said: "Matavilya is dead and I do not know anything. How am I to? He told me nothing." He ran around and around the circle of people who were standing and crying for Matavilya. He cried too. Now Mastamho was standing on a higher place to the north, looking at Coyote. Though he was only a boy, he was thinking about him. He thought: "I know what he wants: he is not really sorry." What Coyote wanted was to jump over the ring of people, to seize Matavilya's heart and run away with it: that is why he was trying to come near the fire. But the people, standing close together, would not let him. Now they were all tall; but Badger and Raccoon were both short. Then Coyote jumped: he succeeded in leaping over their two heads, and he got to the fire. But Mastamho said: "Did I not know it? That is Coyote's way: he has no sense. When a person really mourns he does not take away the heart of the dead. But now Coyote will go away: I do not want him here. And I do not want him ever to know anything. I want you who are standing here to know something, and I will do many things for you. But let him go off and be Coyote. He will always be without a home in the mountains. If you see him you will kill him, because he knows nothing." After Coyote had seized Matavilya's heart, he ran southwestward, beyond Avikwame to Amaṭa-hotave. There he stopped and looked south. But the heart was still too hot to hold; so he dropped it, turned around, and held his mouth open towards the north to let the wind cool it.[6] Then as the heart lay on the ground and cooled, Coyote ate it.

[6] Mathak, north, means windward.

5. Covering of the ashes.--Now Coyote thought: "I will go to Aksam-kusaveve and tell Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye." So he went to Aksam-kusaveve and told Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye: "Matavilya has died: go to see him: I am announcing it everywhere." Then Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye went to Ha'avulypo. When he found where Matavilya had been burned, he thought: "What shall I do with these?" So he rolled himself over the ashes. No one had covered Matavilya's ashes and it was that which Hame'ulye-kwitše-iδulye did not like to see exposed; that is why he covered them with sand by rolling over them. Then he returned to Aksam-kusaveve.

6. Coyote abandoned, homeless.--Now Coyote too came back to Ha'avulypo. No one was there now, for Mastamho had taken the people away to Kwaparvete, a short distance southward. He had seen Coyote coming and had thought: "I do not want to tell him what I know: I want him to be foolish and know nothing: I do not want him to hear what I say. I will let him go. He will be the only one like that, the one I call Coyote. He will not know his own home: he will want to run about the desert and do what is bad. If someone is not at home, Coyote will go there; but if a person is in his house, he will not come; and if anyone sees him, he will run off."

_B. Avikwame, River, Desert Land and Foods Made: 7-19_

7. Mastamho promises to teach.--Now Mastamho said: "There is no house here, and no shade roof.[7] I have not made everything as yet; it will take time to do that. I know you are hot or cold, and hungry, and without houses; but I will provide everything. The sun and the night have not yet been made, but I will make them; and I will tell you what to eat. Then you will know how to live."

[7] Ramada, arbor.

8. Arrival at Avikwame.--Now they went downriver to Avikwame. There was no mountain there then; the land was level. Mastamho said: "Now we have come to this place and I will do something for you. I want you to learn how to make pottery, and then to know what food is good to eat. You will learn how to know day and night. And you will not be hungry nor thirsty. When you are cold, you will know it[8] and will make a fire, and will have a house to live in. And so when you are hungry you will eat, and when you are thirsty you will drink. I will make mortars, metates, cooking pots, drinking cups, and water jars. I will tell you all about those things. When Matavilya died, you were ignorant, but I thought and knew. Therefore I will do these things that I say; only I cannot do them now, at once. It will take a long time yet to do them." Now Mastamho had no one to help him, no one to join with him in talking. He was alone: while there were many people there, they did not speak. Then he thought: "After I have done other things for them, I will give them names." Now the people did not sleep, but constantly stood, or sometimes sat, and when the sun went down Mastamho talked to them. For four nights he spoke to them.

[8] "At that time they felt neither cold nor hunger, but walked
on and on."

9. White-spring made for the Chemehuevi.--On the fourth morning he said: "Now I am old enough. I will go west. I will not go far, I will take only four steps, but I will do something for you." He was intending to make a spring. So as soon as the sun had risen, he walked four steps west to Aha-kwi-nyamasave.[9] He put his weight on the ground, thinking: "Let me see if it is hard." As he stepped on it, he found that it was soft, like mud. So he went toward the north four steps. There he stood, stretched out his hand backward, and had in it a stick of sandbar willow, a forearm long.[10] This stick he set into the ground. When he pulled it out, water came with it. Then he put his foot against the water as it flowed out, and pushed earth over it, until there was only a small stream. Then he returned. When he was again at Avikwame, he said: "If I had been so sorry for my father[11] that I had immediately turned myself into a bird, you would now know nothing. But I want to do everything for you: I want to make things for you. I call you Hamakhava, Mohave. Now I have made a spring in the west: I will give that to the Chemehuevi. Those sitting here on the west side will be the Chemehuevi. Now I will stay here four days and then I will go north to Hatasaṭa."

[9] "White-water (spring)."

[10] Magically obtaining things by reaching out for them is a
frequent incident in Mohave and other Yuman tradition.

[11] Nakutk, my father. Other accounts, perhaps less influenced
by Christianity, make Mastamho the younger brother of Matavilya.
The narrator subsequently added: Mastamho said: "Matavilya is my
father. I was born at night. Then he said to me: 'I give you a
name. I call you Tinyam-humare, night-child.'" After Matavilya
died, Mastamho no longer liked to hear this name and called
himself Mastamho.

10. Colorado River, fish, and ducks made at Hatasaṭa for the Mohave.--After four days he went to Hatasaṭa. From there he went west a short distance to Hivθikevutatše. He said: "They are not named, but I will give these names to these two places. I will not go farther but return." He had with him the stick he had got at Aha-kwi-nyamasave, was using it as an old man uses a cane. So he came back to Hatasaṭa, and there he set the stick into the ground. When he drew it out, water came with it. With his foot, he pushed earth over it, thinking: "What beings shall I let issue with the water, animals that will be useful for the Mohave?" Four times he allowed water to come and stopped it again. The first time Atši-mikulye[12] emerged. The next time Atši-yonyene[13] swam out, and the third time, Atši-hane.[14] The fourth time Atši-tšehnap, also called Atši-tšeheθilye,[15] came out. Mastamho thought: "I will give these to the Mohave." Next Av'akwaθpine[16] came out, and then Puk-havasu.[17] Then there came Hanemo.[18] Then Hanyewilye, the mudhen, emerged. As each came out, fish and ducks, he did not let them go, but kept them there. He made only a little water, enough to hold them. Whenever he left his stick plunged into the ground, the water did not issue; but when he drew it out, the water and the fish and the birds came out. When he had finished making the fish and the ducks, he said: "These are for the Mohave, but they do not yet know how to catch them. I will teach them."

[12] A small edible fish with few bones. Atši is fish.

[13] A similar but larger fish, Colorado salmon.

[14] A large fish.

[15] A small, yellow, humped fish.

[16] The scaup (?) duck.

[17] "Beads-blue," that is, blue or green necklace. Probably the
mallard duck.

[18] Hanemo is the name commonly used for ducks generically. It
is also the specific name of the pintail or wood duck. The four
ducks mentioned here reappear with other water birds in par. 96.

11. Matavilya's ashes washed away.--Then he drew out his stick entirely, and the water came unrestrained, with the fish and ducks in it, and flowed southward.[19] Mastamho ran ahead of it on the west bank, to Ha'avulypo where Matavilya had been burned. There he set his stick into the center of the ashes, for he did not like to see them and wanted the water to wash them out. He called to the water, and it ran where he held his stick, and the ashes were washed away. So they were gone, and the river flowed through the place where they had been.

[19] As the Colorado River.

12. Boat tilted to widen valley.--But Mastamho went back up to Hatasaṭa. Putting his stick into the same place as before, from which the water now issued, he stirred it around. Then a boat, kasukye, came out. Mastamho called it kanuθkye,[20] but the Mohave name is kulho. As the boat emerged, Mastamho put his foot on it, held it, entered it, and floated down. Where the river was not broad enough to suit him, he stood on the edge of the boat until it lay far on its side. Then the river became wide there. Thus he went down to Avikwame, where the people were. As they saw him coming down the river and then going by, they thought that he would leave them. At Aqwaq-iove[21] he waved his hands to them, meaning: "Stay where you are: I will return." When he approached the lower end of Mohave valley, he thought: "I think some one else has taken the boat long ago,[22] and that it will not be suitable for the Mohave. So I cannot let them have it: I will let it go." And when he came near where Mellen is now, he jumped off the boat, shoving it away with his foot: so that it floated downstream. Mastamho stood at Mepuk-tšivauve[23] and watched it going down. When it came to Ahwe-nye-va,[24] it no longer drifted tilted, but floated level. Then the valley land there became wide, and the river also; but wherever the boat floated tilted, the river and the valley were narrow. Then Mastamho returned to Avikwame.

[20] Compare the word distortions below, in par. 44 seq., and p.
67.

[21] Near Fort Mohave.

[22] Probably meaning that Hīko or Haiko, white man, already
possessed the idea of the boat.

[23] About eight miles below Needles City.

[24] Near Parker, Arizona.--Here it is the boat's floating
_level_ that widens the _valley_, whereas, just above, Mastamho
_tilts_ the boat to widen the _river_.

13. Avikwame mountain made from mud.--Now there was no mountain at Avikwame at that time. There was only a flat and the river. The people stood on the bank. But the water was not near them; as the water receded, it left mud. Mastamho took up some of this mud and let it drop. As it fell, he said: "Goloto," as little boys say when they splash mud in play. He did that repeatedly. He said: "Let it be higher, and let the river flow by it. After this mountain which I am making is dry, I will make a house for you: You will be in that."

14. Other mountains made.--Thus Mastamho made Avikwame. When he had finished it, he made the mountains west of the river, Satulyku,[25] Ohmo,[26] Mevukha,[27] Hatšaruyove,[28] Avimota,[29] and Avi-kwi-nyamaθave.[30] All these he made and named.

[25] Near Needles peaks, south of Needles City.

[26] West of Needles City.

[27] South of Ibex.

[28] North of Java.

[29] The same mountain range farther north.

[30] The northernmost end of the range.

15. Four seed foods made for the Chemehuevi.--Then he went westward to Hukθara-tš-huerve. He took up a handful of fine gravel, put it in his mouth, then blew it out, wishing to make something to eat for the people who would live in these mountains that he had made. He thought: "I will make kwaθapilye seeds: they will be good for the Chemehuevi." Then he took more gravel and spat it out in another direction, but also westward, saying: "I now will make ma-selye'aya seeds. They too will be good for Chemehuevi; they will grind and parch them with coals and have them for food." Then he ran northward to Avi-nyilyk-kwas-ekunyive, put gravel into his mouth and spat it out over the ground. "This that I plant is malysa,"[31] he said. Again he took up gravel and blew it out, saying: "This that I plant is tšilypeve." When he had planted these four kinds for the Chemehuevi, he said: "That is all that I can do. You have seen me: it is all that I can make. No one will be able to sow these and make them grow: they will grow by themselves every year." Then he returned to Avikwame and told the Chemehuevi and the Paiute: "I have planted food for you. I have planted kwaθapilye and ma-selye'aya and malysa and tšilypeve for you. But wait: do not hurry."

[31] Black seeds resembling those of cane.

16. Four plant foods made for the Walapai.--Then he said: "Next I am going east, to make mountains there; I want people to live in them. I will start in four days." After four days he started, crossed the river, and went downstream to Avi-veskwi.[32] There he stood and looked back down toward the river, and thought: "It is not very far. Let me go farther east, to Kitšehayare."[33] So he went on till he came to Kitšehayare. There he did as he had done before. He put gravel in his mouth and spat it over the earth. He said: "This is what I plant: I plant vannata."[34] Again he took a handful of sand and blew it out. "This that I am planting is vaδilye,[34a] mescal." From there he went north and said: "I call this place Coyote's water;[35] it will be good for Coyote. He has no home: when he finds this water he will drink of it. I do not make it for him, but he will find it." Now he stood there. Then he stripped the leaves from the tops of the brush called kamomka and put them into his mouth. He blew them out and thus made iδitša, the wild grape. "I want it to grow in this spot," he said. Then as he stood there he scraped his foot to one side, and grass came up. He said: "I thought when I did that it would grow." Then, covering it up again with his foot, he took of the sand with which he covered it, put it in his mouth, blew it out, and kumδur[36] grew. Now he had made four things for the people who were to be here. He had made each of these kinds of plants in only one place, but from that they came to grow in many places. Then he returned to Avikwame.

[32] Boundary Cone, a pinnacle near the east edge of Mohave
valley, part of the Black Range.

[33] A small hill in a large valley, west of Kingman, Arizona.

[34], [34a] Vannata is a root which is peeled and dried, roasted
in the fire like vaδilye, mescal (Agave), and tastes sweet. It
grows in the valleys, while the mescal grows in the mountains.
The habitat and name suggest Yucca, Walapai menat, but the
Walapai speak of cooking the fruit, not the root.

[35] Hukθara-ny-aha.

[36] The tall stalks are eaten by the Walapai.

17. Planning for the Yavapai.--Now he said to the people: "When I tell you: 'Be Walapai!' you will be Walapai and will live in that country. When I tell you: 'Be Chemehuevi!' and 'Be Mohave!' you will be Chemehuevi and Mohave. But that is not yet. First I want to make something for the Yavapai. So I will go to their place next." He still had his stick of sandbar willow with which he had made the river. He said: "I do not want to put this away for when I arrive there, I will thrust it down and make water: not much, but a little, enough for everyone to drink. If they have no water at all, they will not be able to live. So I will go and prepare for them what they will eat and drink. I will make a small country, enough only for a few. In four days I will make the land for the Yavapai. I will go to Amaṭ-ko-'omeome and to Amaṭ-katšivekove and plant seeds there."

18. Foods and water made for the Yavapai.--Now in four days he went there. When he arrived, he looked about: "It is not a good place to plant; it is not level enough; too many mountains. I will go to Avi-ke-hasalye." So he went to Avi-ke-hasalye. He said: "This is where I want people to live. It is a good place: there is a long plain on each side." Again he took gravel, put it in his mouth, and blew it out. "I plant kalya'apa[37] for the Yavapai: I give it them for food. I give them also a good small stream of water." Again he put gravel in his mouth and blew it out over the valley eastward. "This that I plant will be a'a,"[38] he said. Then he started and went to Ah'a-'ikiyareyare, thinking: "I will go and make cottonwood trees (ah'a) grow." When he came to Ah'a-'ikiyareyare, he stood and pointed his stick to the west, to make water flow from there. Then water came towards him: it washed white sand. Taking a handful of this sand in his mouth, he faced east and blew out. Then kam'ipoi[39] grew up. "That will be for the Yavapai," he said; "they will eat the seeds." Then he said: "I want this little water to be here always. I do not want it ever to become dry." Then, taking up sand, he blew it north: akwava[40] grew up in that direction. He thought: "I will thrust my stick far down into the ground. When I draw it up, a cottonwood will grow. That is why I will call the place Ah'a-'ikiyareyare. I will make only one cottonwood, but later there will be many." He did this and thought: "Now I have finished everything here: I will go back." So he returned to Avikwame. He returned early in the morning, after sunrise.

[37] A cactus.

[38] Sahuaro or giant cactus.

[39] A plant about two feet high, with seeds "like wheat, but
much smaller."

[40] The young stalks that spring up after a flood are eaten.
The seeds, which are black, are roasted and ground for food.

19. Languages given to Chemehuevi, Walapai, Yavapai.--Then Mastamho said: "I have made something for you Yavapai. I have finished it, but I have still to tell you how to use it. If I do not tell you, you will not know how to cook and eat what I have made; after I tell you, you will know and it will be well. But I will not tell you yet." As he was speaking, they all listened: no one said a word. He said again: "I have given you all these things, but I have not finished. Now I will show you how to speak. I want you to talk like this," he said to the Chemehuevi. "I want you to speak like this," he said, and gave their language to the Walapai. "And I want you to speak like this," he said to the Yavapai. But he gave nothing to the Mohave as yet. Then he said: "Now it is all made. I have prepared it. You can go, you Walapai, and scatter in the mountains there. You need not go into one place. You can go all about, for I have made springs everywhere. You can live in one spot, and when you want to live in another you can do so. You Chemehuevi can do the same, and you Yavapai too. But I will do differently for the Mohave. They will have everything along the river: whatever grows there will be theirs. It is well."

_C. House, Shade, Sleep, and Playground: 20-35_

20. Planning a shade roof.--Now he was thinking of building a shade, av'a-matkyalye.[41] He said: "I have spoken to the Mohave. Later on someone will dream what I have told them, and will do accordingly. To each of you, to all four tribes, I have given something, and you will know it. I shall not die like Matavilya, but will become a bird. And there is something more that I will do for you, you Mohave. It will be difficult for me and will take a long time. I want someone to build a house. This is no house where we are now. When I have had a house made, I want you all to enter. Then I will tell all of you what I shall be. This will be, not soon, but in the future."

[41] A brush roof on posts, ramada or arbor.

21. Ant makes dry ground.--Now the ground was still wet at that time. Then Hanapuka, the small ant, came up out of the ground, piling up little heaps of dry sand; as Mastamho walked about, he saw them. He said: "I wish it were all like this. I wonder who it is that has made this come out of the ground? I think I will call him Hanapuka." It was the ant who had done it; it is he who made the earth dry.

22. Two insects dig postholes.--He said again: "Ant has made a dry place: now mark it out around. I want the house to be built there. I want the Mohave to enter it; and only they. You, Amaṭ-kapisara, I want you to begin building it. I want you to dig the holes to set the posts in. And you, Namitša,[42] carry, and throw the sand farther away when he digs." Now these two men dug holes and brought poles for the house.

[42] Namitša is a large reddish insect, perhaps a wasp, that
throws earth as it burrows; or perhaps the ant lion?
Amaṭ-kapisara is evidently also a burrowing insect: amaṭ is
earth.

23. Shade built.--Then Mastamho said: "Wait! Listen to me! I call the posts av'ulypo. Say that, you Mohave! Say av'ulypo!" Then all said: "Av'ulypo." When the posts were set and they were ready to lay the girders across them Mastamho said: "Call them iqumnau!" Then all said: "Iqumnau." Then Mastamho said: "When you lay on the roof poles, call them av'a-tšutara! Now say that! Say av'a-tšutara!" and they all said: "Av'a-tšutara." He said again: "When you place the thatching of arrowweed on the poles, call it av'a-tšusive." Then they said, "Av'a-tšusive." He said again: "When you lay willows or any other brush over the thatching, call it av'anyutš." So they said: "Av'anyutš." Then he said: "Now you have a shade. It will be good for you. When the sun shines and it is hot, you will go under the shade. That is what it is for. Now that it is finished, I want all you Mohave to come under it." Then the Mohave sat under the shade. The Chemehuevi sat to the west of it. On the east the Walapai sat to the north and the Yavapai to the south. None of these tribes said a word, and none of them entered under the shade.

24. House planned.--Then Mastamho went to the edge of the shade and stood leaning against the post at the southeast corner. He said: "Now I will build a house. I will make you understand: you know nothing now. You do not know when a man is hungry or thirsty or cold. You only know that if he has no shade and stands in the sun, he becomes hot. You know now that it is good under the shade." Then he entered the shade again, went to the northwest corner, and stood there. Then he said: "Amaṭ-kapisara and Namitša, build another house. Build av'a-hatšore. It will not be well to sit under the shade always. When it is winter the wind will come: perhaps it will rain and be cold. But if you build a house, you can make a fire inside of it when the rain and cold come. That is why I will make a house for you Mohave. I will build a house here at the back of the shade."

25. House built.--Again he told Amaṭ-kapisara and Namitša to dig holes in the ground and to bring posts. Then as he still stood, he said to the people: "When you are about to build a house, and you dig holes, call them amaṭ-ahuelkye." He wanted them to learn that word. Then, as they built, he told them to call the different parts av'ulypo, iqumnau, av'a-tšutara, av'a-tšusive, and av'anyutš as before, and they repeated each one. Then he said: "We have done all that. We have covered it with brush. Now put sand on the brush, so that the rain will not come through. Call that av'a-ta'ive! Say: 'av'a-ta'ive!'" He gave them that to say and they said it. He said again: "When there is wind, build a house of timbers and brush and sand. When you make a house only of posts and thatch, call it av'a-tšoamkuk. But when you cover it with sand also, call it av'a-tapuk."

26. Door made.--Then he said again: "Now that the house is finished, I will tell you how to make a door. You will see dead cottonwoods: strip the bark from them,[43] weave it together, and make a mat longer than it is wide. Fasten it at the upper corners to a stick. Then call it av'a-pete."

[43] The inner bark is called hanuθkwilye. "The Mohave now use
black willow bark, iδo, but they learned that themselves;
Mastamho taught them to employ ah'a, cottonwood."

27. Insect helpers given names.--Now the house was complete, but he did not yet let the people enter. He said: "I want you, Amaṭ-kapisara and Namitša." He took them to the people and said: "I will give these two men names for their work. When they dug, they worked quickly. When they built the house, they finished it quickly. So I will give them names: listen well, so that you can all say them. This man's name (Amaṭ-kapisara) is Ikinye-mastšam-kwamitše.[44] Thus I give him a name, and when you dream you will see him. Do not forget what I tell you. In future some man will dream and see him. No one will see me then, but they will dream of me, and in that way they will know all that I have said. They will have heard everything. Now I have given this man a name. Now I will give the other one a new name too. I call him Umas-amtše.[45] People will dream and see him too."

[44] "Boy-throw-far."

[45] Perhaps from amtške, to travel, move about. The insect is
described as noisy and restless. Umas- occurs in other names and
may be a form of humar, child.

28. Sunset named.--Mastamho said: "The house is finished; but I will not yet take you into it. I said that I would give you food; I will not tell you about it yet: nevertheless I will give it to you. After you enter the house, I will tell you what you will plant and what you will eat. When I enter, I will tell you about what my body will be. You know the sun, and sunset, and night. When the sun goes down, we will enter the house. Now, when it is nearly down, the time is anya-havek-tšiemk. Call it: anya-havek-tšiemk!"

29. House entered.--When the sun went down, Mastamho entered and said: "Come in, all of you." Then all the Mohave entered the house. The Chemehuevi stayed outside on the west. On the east were the Walapai and Yavapai, the latter to the south. Mastamho sat down, leaning back against the southwestern one of the four middle posts. He was thinking about the people inside and those outside. He said: "There is a fire just within the door. Charcoal is piled up there. That is what makes the house warm. Now you understand: that is how it is done; you have learned that." As he spoke he was leaning against the post thinking. He put his hand behind him.

30-32. Night; Future nights; Sleep.--30. He said: "The mountains will always be here; but I cannot live forever. Darkness is here forever and day is here forever, but I cannot live like the sun and like the mountains: I must die. I could tell you about that, but I will not tell you tonight, because you must sleep. You know now that it is night. You know how to sleep. After you get up in the morning, I will speak to you again and will tell you those things. I will not tell everything as yet."

31. Now he no longer addressed them as Pautšyetše-vukwiδauve as he had done at first; he called them Patšumi-'itšitš-vukwiδauve[46] now. But he did not tell them much. He spoke only a short time. He told them two or three or four or five words and stopped. He said: "This is not the only night: tomorrow will be another. When one day is gone, another comes. It will always be so. This is the first night: there will be three more."

[46] Patšumi, food; kw-iδau, have, hold.

32. That same night he said: "Say: 'Tiniamk!'[47] Say: 'Osmamk!'[48] Say that when you want to sleep. When you want to enter the house, say: 'Av'alye pok!'[49] Now say it." Then they all said it. Now they were still sitting up. Then he said to them: "Lie down. Say: 'Kupam!'[50] After you are lying down, say: 'Upam.'"[51] Then they all lay down, said nothing, and slept quietly.

[47] "It is night."

[48] Sleep.

[49] In-the-house enter.

[50] Lie down!

[51] I lie.

33. Day coming.--When it was nearly day, Mastamho said: "Day is coming, but I will not yet let you go outside: I want you to stay here for four days and nights. Then on the fourth night, toward morning, when it is still dark, I will let you go to where you belong. It will not be during the day, but in the night."

34. Playground made at Miakwa'orve.--When the sun had risen, Mastamho went and stood outside the house. He said: "I want to make a level place." Then he leveled with his feet a place that had been rough. He said: "Call it Miakwa'orve.[52] Can you say that? Say: 'Miakwa'orve!'" Then all said: "Miakwa'orve." He told them: "That is right. I will make a hill close to the river below Miakwa'orve: swallows[53] will live there: I will call it Avi-kutaparve. Now say 'Avi-kutaparve!' All of you say it! That is right. That is the way I say it."

[52] Important later: see par. 85 ff.

[53] Hamkye.

35. More in time.--Now he stayed at Avi-kutaparve that day, preparing the place for the swallows. At sunset he returned to Avikwame and entered the house. He said: "I have made two places: made them for you. When you come there, to Miakwa'orve, those who are footracers will run. Those who can sing will sing. Some will dance, and some will gamble.[54] But that is as much as I will tell you: I will not tell you everything now; in time I will tell you more about those places. And I do not want you to live there: your houses will not be there. When you want to sing or dance or speak to the people and tell them what you know, then go there; but do not live there."

[54] With the hoop and dart game.

_D. Wild Seeds Planted: 36-42_

36. Planning to plant.--That night, in the middle of the night, he said: "I am going down to Av'a-θemulye and Amaṭ-kusaye and Hatšioq-vaṭveve.[55] There there are good places to plant after the river has receded, and seeds will grow there. Av'akwaθpine,[56] who came out when I first made water in the north, and who has floated down on the river, knows about that. I will have him plant seeds for you Mohave; I will tell him to do that for you. I think it will be a good place to sow. In the morning I will go and have him plant for you. When I return, I will tell you what he has sowed. I will not tell you now, but in the evening, after I come back." When he had finished talking to them thus, he sat leaning forward with bent head, thinking of what seeds he would plant. He thought, but did not speak aloud. Then, in the morning, he said to them: "Now I am ready to go. I told you that today I would go to Av'aθemulye and Amaṭ-kusaye, and Hatšioq-vaṭveve. I told you that when I had been there and had returned, I would tell you what seeds had been sown. Now I am going."

[55] Two of these places are mentioned in Vinimulye-patše, II,
1. They seem to be in Mohave Valley, on the west side of the
river, and Amaṭ-kusaye (or -kusayi) is downstream from
Hatšioq-vaṭveve.

[56] A duck, probably the scaup, mentioned before, note 16.

37. Scaup Duck plants four wild seeds in overflow.--Then he went to Av'a-θemulye and Amaṭ-kusaye and Hatšioq-vaṭveve. When he came there, Av'akwaθpine was walking about in the mud like a boy at play. He was entirely covered with mud. When Mastamho saw him, he said: "I have been thinking about you. I want you to plant four kinds of seeds: akatai, aksamta, ankiθi, and akyêse.[57] It would be hard if I were to give you all kinds of seeds to plant: therefore I give you only these four. Now plant those." Then Av'akwaθpine took the seeds. They were in four gourds, each kind in one gourd. In the gourd to the southwest were akatai seeds. Holding the gourd in his left hand, Av'akwaθpine took the seeds from it with his right hand, put them into his mouth, and blew them out over the mud. Then he took aksamta seeds from the northwest gourd and blew them out to the northwest. The ankiθi seeds he took from the gourd on the northeast and blew them out in that way. Then he took the akyêse seeds from the southeast gourd and blew them out to the southeast.[58] Now all four kinds began to grow in the mud. He said: "See how fast they grow. It will not be long." Then Mastamho said: "That is good. I will go back and tell my people about it."

[57] "Wild" seeds planted in the overflow. Handbook, p. 736.

[58] Clockwise circuit, beginning with southwest.

38. You will understand later.--Then Mastamho returned to tell his people about what Av'akwaθpine had done: "He has planted for you what will be your food. You will know about it later, for as yet you have no dishes, no pots, and no jars, and do not know how to cook. I will tell you what to do to eat. Now you think that it is merely necessary to take with your hands what you want to eat: that is because you do not yet know. But I will make you understand. In time you will eat, and you will be happy then. In time I will also tell you about my turning into a bird. For I shall not die, but shall live as a bird. Before that happens I will tell you everything."

39. Planning for more planting.--Then Mastamho said: "I have told you what Av'akwaθpine has planted for you. Now there is something else. In the morning I will go downriver again, below where I was. I will go to Avi-halykwa'ampa, Amaṭ-kaputšora, Amaṭ-kaputšor-ilyase, and Amaṭ-θonohiδauve.[59] There I will get something else to grow. Grass will grow there of itself, without being planted by people. I will make Frog[60] plant it for you. He knows the water, for he lives in it. I do not know him. When I made the river, I saw various kinds of beings come out with it; but I did not see him. He was born after the river was flowing. And so he knows the places where the grass will grow. Now it is three nights, and tomorrow will be the fourth.[61] Then you all will remain awake the whole night. You will not sleep and I will tell you what I will do for you. I will tell you that tomorrow. And this is all I will say today. Now all sleep!"

[59] I cannot place these spots, but judge they are still in
Mohave Valley.

[60] Hanye, the small frog.

[61] The number of nights is correct in contrast with the same
statement made by him two nights later in par. 42; see note 62.

40. Frog told to be ready to plant.--Mastamho remained awake all night. When it became daylight outdoors, he looked about. Then he stood in the door and said to his people: "Now I am going down to Avi-halykwa'ampa, Amaṭ-kaputšora, Amaṭ-kaputšor-ilyase, and Amaṭ-θonohiδauve." Then he went downriver until he came to Avi-halykwa'ampa. There he stood on the mesa and looked. Near by, below, was Amaṭ-θonohiδauve. He thought: "That is a good place. It is level. I think it will be a good place for growth whenever the river recedes." Then he went there. He saw Frog sitting there facing the north and making a noise. He said to him: "I hear you making a noise. I know what you mean: you want the river to flow toward you. I know what you are saying: 'I want the water to come here.'" Frog said: "Yes, that is what I said." Mastamho told him: "After the water has risen and when it has become dry once more, I want you to plant something. That is why I came here." Frog said: "Yes, I will plant it." Then Mastamho went back to Avikwame. He said to his people: "I saw Frog. I told him I wanted him to plant; but I have not told him what to plant. I am going back to him tomorrow. Then I will tell him what seeds to plant."

41. Frog told what wild seeds to plant.--Next morning he went to Amaṭ-θonohiδauve once more and saw Frog again. He told him: "Now I will tell you what to plant. I want you to plant akwava, kupo, hamasqwere, ankike, kosqwake, and aksama: those are the ones. Persons do not plant them: but you will plant them, and when the water recedes they will grow by themselves. No one knows about them: only you know them, you who live in the water. But all will see them after the high water has gone down. Those plants grow by themselves without having been sown, I will not tell you where to make them grow, for you will know. Plant them wherever you like. I want them to grow of themselves, like cottonwoods and willows. So cause them to spring up wherever you think best. I do not even know how you will plant them. Perhaps you will put seeds into your mouth and blow them about; perhaps you will blow out water from your mouth, or perhaps mud, and it will sprout and grow. I do not know how you will do it, but I know that you know how, and so you can do as you like."

42. Return to Avikwame.--When he returned to Avikwame, Mastamho said: "Well, it is done. You will all scatter along the river on both sides of it. Everything has been arranged. I will not tell you more now. I will not speak all night. Tonight is three nights; tomorrow will be the fourth.[62] Tomorrow I will not let you sleep: you will remain awake and I will tell you what I shall become; that I shall not die, but turn into a bird. That is what I will tell you about on the fourth night, but not today." Then they slept that night.

[62] The narrator has lost his count: it is the fifth night, not
the third. See pars. 31, 36, 39, 40, 42, with the events of par.
44 seq. for the sixth night. It should be said in his behalf
that owing to other duties, I was able to work with him only
intermittently, and that it was now several days since he had
begun his narration to me.

_E. Counting, Directions, Tribal Names: 43-58_

43. Preparation for the next night.--In the morning Mastamho went outside. He wanted a place to put the people outdoors. He said: "Tonight some of you will become Mohave, some Chemehuevi, some Walapai, some Yavapai, some Yuma, some Kamia;[63] and some of you will become birds. I will tell you about that tonight, but not during the day."

[63] Another inconsistency, and expansion from four to six, by
the sudden inclusion of the Yuma and Kamia. In pars. 9-19 and
23, it is Chemehuevi, Walapai, and Yavapai as set off from the
Mohave.

44-46. First, second, third counts taught.--44. When the sun set, all went into the house, and Mastamho stood up. He said: "You are alive now. I will tell you what you will eat. I will tell you about corn and beans and melons and other food. But first I will teach you how to count. I will show you how to use your fingers. When you want to say: 'Four days,' do like this." And he held up four fingers. "When you want to tell of as many as all these fingers, show them all. Now listen. All be quiet and listen to me counting. Then perhaps you will like it. If you do not like it, you can listen to another way. Sintš, tšekuvantš, tšekamuntš, tšekapantš, tšekaθara, umota, kutšyeta, koatša, kwisan, noe.[64] Can you say that? How do you like that counting?" Now those who were to be Mohave did not say a word. They could not count that way.

[64] The distortions of this and the two following imperfect
counts are analyzed in a separate discussion following the myth.

45. So Mastamho said again: "Count like this: sinye, mivanye, mimunye, mipanye, miranye, miyuš, mikaš, nyavahakum, nyavamokum, nyatšupai, nyavali, nyavalak. Can you say that? Do you like that counting?" But they were silent. There were too many words in that: more than ten.

46. So Mastamho counted for them again: "Hatesa, hakiva, hakoma, tšimkapa, θapara, tinye, sekive, kum, ayave, apare.[65] Now I have counted ten. Perhaps you will like that." Again they did not speak a word.

[65] This third try at a count interchanges the consonants of
the stressed syllable in the normal Mohave words.

47. Final count taught.--Then he said: "Well, I will make it four times: I will count once more; that will be all. Then I will teach you other things: for you do not yet know east and west and north and south: I will teach you that. Now I will count. Seto, havika, hamoka, tšimpapa, θarapa, sinta, vika, muka, paye, arrapa. Do you like that? Can you say that?" Then they all said it after him. They could count and liked it; they knew how to do it and clapped their hands and laughed.

48. Fingers made on hand.--Now their hands were not yet as now: their fingers were still together. Then Mastamho tore them apart and made five fingers. "I want you to call this one isalye tšikaveta.[66] Call this one isalye itma-kanamk.[67] I want you to call this one isalye kuva'enye; this one isalye tokuv'aunye; and this one isalye kuvapare.[68] Now I have made your hands for you, too."

[66] The thumb.

[67] The index. Kanamk is "point."

[68] Middle, fourth, and little fingers, of course.

49. First direction names taught.--He said again: "Now we are here in this house: all will know and hear it. Now when I mean here," and he pointed his hand to the north, "all say: 'Amai-hayame.'" But they did not do so: they kept their hands against their bodies; they wanted another name; they did not like that word. Then he said: "And there is Amai-hakyeme; all say that!" And he pointed south. But again all sat still: they did not want to call it that. He said again: "Well, there is another: there is the way the night goes.[69] I do not know where its end is, but when we follow the darkness that is called Amai-hayime." He said that, but none of the Mohave said a word: they sat with their hands against the body. Then Mastamho said once more: "You see the dark coming. I do not know where it comes from: I did not make it. But where darkness comes from, I call that Amai-hayike." Again they sat still and did not point.[70]

[69] The Mohave, like the far-away Yurok, constantly speak of
night coming from the east and traveling west.

[70] The plan underlying the twisting of the terms of direction
is less clear than for the other series of words. See discussion
at end.

50. Final direction names taught.--Then Mastamho said once more: "I have named all the directions but you have not answered. Well, there are other names. Listen: I call this (the north) Mathak. Can you say that?" Then all said, "Yes," and stood up, and pointed north, and said, "Mathak." He said again: "This (to the south) I call Kaveik. Can you say it?" Then all said, "Yes," and pointed and called the name and clapped their hands and laughed. He said again: "I told you that the night went in that direction. I gave it a name, but you did not say it. There is another way to call it: Inyohavek. All of you say that!" Then they all said: "Yes, we can say that. We can call it Inyohavek," and all pointed as he directed them. He said again: "Where the dark comes from, you did not call that as I told you to. There is another way to call it: Anyak." Then all said: "Anyak," and pointed east and clapped their hands and laughed. Then Mastamho said: "That is all."

51. Mispronounced tribal names.--Mastamho said: "Some of you are outside, east of the house: I want you to be the Hamapaivek. Some of you are outdoors west of the house: I call you Hamivevek. You people in the house, just west of the door, I call you Hamitšanvek. You just inside the door, near these last, I call Hamiaivek. You people near the fire here, not against the wall, I call you Hamahavek." He called them by these names, but all the people did not answer. They did not say: "Yes, we will be called that." All of them said nothing.[71]

[71] These distorted forms consist of prefix Ham-, a
suffix -vek, and the accented syllable (plus preceding
unaccented vowel) of the correct Mohave name for the tribe. See
discussion at end.

52. Walapai and Yavapai tribes named.--Then Mastamho said again: "This time I will call you who are on the east Havalyipai."[72] Then those people called that name easily, and all those indoors said: "Now they are the Walapai." Then he said again: "Those will be the Yavapai also. I want them (the Walapai and the Yavapai) to live near each other in the mountains." Those are the ones that at first he had called Hamapaivek.

[72] Or Howalya-paya.

53. Chemehuevi named.--Then he said again: "Those outdoors on the west, whom at first I called Hamivevek, I now call Tšimuveve. All say that!" Then all said: "Chemehuevi."

54. Yuma and Kamia named.--He said again: "Those just inside the door on the west of it I called Hamitšanvek. Now I call you Kwitš(i)ana (Yuma)." He said again: "You near them, whom at first I called Hamiaivek, I now call Kamia. You two will live near each other."

55. Mohave named.--Then he said: "I have made you all to be tribes, Walapai, Yavapai, Chemehuevi, Yuma, and Kamia: you are all different. I also spoke the name Hamahavek. Now I call them Hamakhave. All will call you that, you Mohave, and will know you by that name."

56. Told to stay a while.--He said: "I have told you where I want you each to go. You know the places and you know the way. I will not take you there: you can go by yourselves. But it is too dark yet: you may go in the morning." They had been ready to go, and had stood up, even though it was still night. He told them: "It is too early now. If you go during the night, you will become confused. Listen to me, and do not mix with one another: stay here." Then he drew lines with his foot for the three tribes inside the house, and told them to remain within the marks. He went outside and drew marks for the Chemehuevi, telling them: "Stay here," and the same for the Walapai and Yavapai on the west. As he said to each, "Stay here," he waved (flapped) his hands downward from his extended arms.

57. Doctors will dream of this.--Mastamho said again: "Follow me, and do the same. Listen! In future some men will dream: they will be doctors. If you dream of me at night, you will be crazy. Some men will be doctors who can cure sickness by touching with their hands. They will not tell of me, but only sing about me. If you wait here, you will hear of this and know about me."

58. Takes new name.--He walked about. He stood at the north end of the house. He said: "My name is Pahutšatš-yamasam-kwakirve. That is my name now. First my name was Mastamho. But I have left that, and now it is Pahutšatš-yamasam-kwakirve. Whoever dreams about me will know me by that name."

_F. Hawks and War: 59-69_

59-62. Four hawks given names and war power.--59. Now in the middle of the house four men were sitting leaning against the posts. Mastamho said to them: "You will be birds. You," he said to one, "your name is Soqwilye-akataya.[73] Stand up! I will give you another name: I call you Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-kuly-ve.[74] I want you to talk. When you speak there will be wind and rain and dust. I want you to tell about fighting: I want you to direct war."[75] This man had a blue stone[76] ornament in his nose.

[73] A species of hawk.

[74] "Dust-dash-through."

[75] Men who dream of him will always be brave and ready to go
to war. When they narrate what they have dreamed, wind and rain
will follow.

[76] Avi-havasutš.

60. Then he called another one of the same name[77] and said to him: "I want you to make dust four times, each place behind the other. I call you Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-kunuly-ke-va.[78] I want you to rush and seize and kill and fight and take slaves."

[77] Also called soqwilye-akataya, but a smaller species than
the last.

[78] Said also to refer to dashing through dust. The name is the
same except for the "infixes" -nu- and -ke-.

61. He called out the third one,[79] and gave him the name Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-var-ve.[80]

[79] A hawk described as blue-billed.

[80] "Dust-stay-on-this-side-of."

62. The fourth[81] he called Ampoṭ-em-kutšu-min-ve.[82] He told them all how to fight: "If there are four or five men on the other side of where you have made it dusty and dark, you can dash across to the enemy. If people dream of you, they will kill enemies in battle; but if they dream that they are in the dark and cannot see, they will not be able to kill in battle."

[81] A large yellow-billed hawk.

[82] "Dust-pierce." All four names contain ampoṭ, dust; -em;
kutšu-; a verb stem (respectively kuly, kunulyke, var, min); and
the suffix -ve or -va.