Aw-Aw-Tam Indian Nights Part 13

Is there any connection between the the fact that when Nooee wore a nose-ring of turquoise the earth looked green, and that when he wore a nose-ring of glittering sh.e.l.l the earth looked dry to him?

Could this whole story have been a myth of some great drouth?

EE-EE-TOY'S RESURRECTION AND SPEECH TO JUHWERTA MAHKAI

And after Ee-ee-toy was dead he lay there, as some say for four months, and some say for four years. He was killed, but his winds were not killed, nor his clouds and they were sorry for him, and his clouds rained on him.

And he lay there so long that the little children played on him, jumping from him.

But at last he began to come to life again, holding down the ground--as a wounded man does, moaning, and there was thunder, and an earthquake.

And Ahahnheeattoepahk Mahkai's daughter was grinding corn when this happened, and the corn rolled in the basket, and she said: "How is it that it thunders when there are no clouds, none to be seen, and that the corn rolls in the basket?"

And her father said: "You may think this is only thunder, but I tell you wonderful things are going to happen."

Ee-ee-toy, when he got a little stronger, picked up some stones and examined them, and threw them away. He did this four times, throwing away the stones each time, not liking any of them. And the children went there to play, and found him alive, and asked each other: "Why is that old man doing that, picking up stones, and throwing them away, and picking up more?"

And he began then to cut up all kinds of sticks, four at a time, and to lay them down and look at them, but he liked none of them. Then he cut arrow weeds, four of them, and he liked their look. And he lit his pipe and blew the smoke over them, and spread his hand above them, and he liked the light of them which came thru his fingers.

And he put those sticks away in his pouch. And then he rose and took a few steps, and began to walk. And all his springs of water had been dried up while he was dead, but when he walked the earth again they gushed forth, and he dipped his fingers in them and stroked his wet fingers over his breast and he did the same to the trees.

And he went on and came to the cliff, where Vandaih once was, and he did the same to it, putting his hand to it and rubbing it. And he went to see the Sun.

He came to where the Sun starts, but the Sun was not there, but he could see the road the Sun takes, and he followed it. And that road was fringed with beautiful feathers and flowers and turquoises.

And he came to the tree which is called The Talking Tree. And the Tree took of its bark thin strips, which curled as owl feathers do when split, and tied them on a little stick, and put them in Ee-ee-toy's hair. And it gave him four sticks, made from that one of its branches which dipped to the south. And from its middle branch it made him a war club, and from a gall, or excrescence, which grew on its limb, it made him a vah-quah, or canteen.

After that he went along the beautiful fringed road which the Sun travels, and came to the place where the Sun drinks. And he took a drink there himself, putting his knee in the spot where the Sun's knee-print is, and his hand where the Sun rests his hand. And in the clear water he saw a stone like the Doctors' Stone, somewhat, but of the color of slate, with a zigzag pattern around it. And he took his four arrow-weeds and placed them under this stone and left them there.

And he went on, and went down where the Sun goes down. And he went to see Juhwerta Mahkai, to the place where he lived with his people, those who sank thru the earth before the flood.

And when Ee-ee-toy came to where Juhwerta Mahkai was, he said to him:--

"There was an Older Brother, and his people were against him; And he had made an earth that was like your earth; And he had made mountains that were like your mountains; And he had made springs of water, like yours, that were satisfactory; And he made trees like yours, and everything that he made worked well.

And they shot him till he bounced, four times on the open ground; And threw him with his face to the earth.

And he lay there, dead, but when he came to life he used the strength of his right arm and rose up.

But things were changed, and looked different from the old times.

He examined the sticks, but none suited him; He eyed along the river, that green snake, which he had made, and found the sticks that pleased him.

And he cut those arrow-weeds, he found there, into four pieces, and blew the smoke over them.

And out of them came sparks of light, that almost reached the Opposite World, the World of the Enemy, where things are different.

And when he saw the light from the sticks he smiled within himself; He was so pleased he had found the sticks that suited him.

And he brought the Black Fog from the West, and stroked the sticks with it, and so finished them, And from the Ocean he brought the Blue Fog, and stroked the sticks with it, and finished them; And from the East he brought the Fog of Light, and stroked the sticks with it and finished them; And from Above brought the Green Fog, and put it in hiding, and there secretly stroked the sticks with it, and finished them; From the West he brought the Black Snake, which he had made, and bound the sticks together, and finished them.

And from the Ocean he brought the Blue Snake, and bound the sticks together, and finished them; From the East he brought the Snake of Light, and bound the sticks together, and finished them; And from Above he brought the Green Snake, and bound them together and finished them.

And then he rose up, and with the first step he stepped on the great doctors of the earth and sank them down; The next step he stepped on the Speaker, and sank him down; The next step he stepped on the Slayer, and sank him down; And the next step he stepped on the rus.h.i.+ng young maid who gathers the fruit to feed the family, and sank her down.

And then he sank down himself, and walked under the earth's crust a little way, and then came out and found the Light's Road, his own proper way, and walked in it.

Where he found his springs of water, which he had made, with their green moss growing, and dipped his hand in them and moistened his heart; And every mountain he came to, which he had made, he entered and there he cooled his heart; And rested his hand on every tree he had made, and so freshened his heart; And came like a ghost to the place, the cliff, where he had killed the man-eagle, and sat there.

And there was Someone there, whom he did not know, who asked him what he wanted, coming there like a ghost; Who said: 'I told you that you would be against my people and the earth!'

And from there he went to the East and strengthened himself four times; When he arrived at where the Sun arises; Where he came to the four notches which the Sun uses when he is rising.

And where the Sun steps it is full of wind; And where the Sun puts his hands it is full of wind.

In spite of that he climbed the way, the way in which the Sun rises.

And he went Westward, stopping and taking his breath four times; Even at the fourth time, still going, still breathing westward.

It was the west-bound road he followed, the road adorned with all beautiful fringes; Fringes of soft feathers, and large feathers; and flowers made from beautiful trees, and turquoises.

And he went along this road, pulling all the fringes, and whenever he came to the doctors, tossing them up in the air.

And there he came to Nee-yaw-kee-tom Oas, The Talking Tree; And he came to it like a ghost, and fell down on his knees toward it; And the Tree asked him why he came like a ghost, and what he wanted:-- 'I have told you that some day you would be the enemy to my people and to the earth.'

There the Tree pulled off its bark and stuck it in his head, like split owl feathers; And it was its middle branch which it cut down in fine shape for a club and slipped under his belt; And it was a nut-gall from its limbs which it made into a canteen for him.

And these two together it slipped under his belt.

And it was the branch toward the ocean which it broke into four pieces, equally, and handed to him.

And from thence he travelled on, on the Middle Road, and where there were beautiful fringes he examined them as he went along.

And from the Middle Road he could see the road on either side, the Road of the Enemy.

And it was among the fringes, where he was pulling the flowers made from sticks, that he reached the Speaker and tossed him, too.

And there he reached the place where the Sun drinks.

And tho the print of the Sun's knee was full of wind, and the print of his hand full of wind, there he knelt and drank as the Sun drinks.

And there, in the clear water, he found the Doctor's stone, the Dab-nam-hawteh, which is square, and there, under it, left the arrow-weeds.

And he started on from thence and went to the Sunset Place.

Going down as the Sun goes down, and slid down from there four times, to the home of Juhwerta Mahkai.

When he sat down there a strong wind came from the West and carried him to the East and brought him back and sat him down again; And from Above a strong wind came and tossed him up toward the sky, and returned him back and sat him down again.

And the Black Gopher, his pet from the West, was rolling over; And the Blue Gopher, his pet from the South, was rolling over; And the Gopher of Light, his pet from the East, was rolling over; And the Yellow Gopher, his pet from the North, was rolling over; Because of their trouble about him."

And Juwerta Mahkai picked up Ee-ee-toy like a baby, and held him in his arms, and swept the ground, and set him down upon it.

And blew smoke over him, till he felt refreshed like a green tree.

One kind of smoke was the ghost-smoke, which he blew over him; And the other kind was the smoke of the root called bah-wiss-dhack.

And there they built the O-num of Light: Which means the circle of those great ones around the fire.

And thence they sent the Gray Owl, to go around the enemy and breathe over them.

Who, when they heard him, were shaking with fear; A fear that pulled out their thoughts so that they knew nothing and were weak in arms and legs, And they could not remember their dreams, and their skins became like the skins of sick people; And their lice became many, and their hair became coa.r.s.e, and their eyes became sore.

And they chose the little Blue Owl and sent him to the enemy, and he breathed over them.

And he was invisible because of his blue darkness, and he breathed over them quietly.

And they selected a Green Road Runner, and sent him to breathe over them.

And the people could not see him because of his green darkness, and he breathed over them quietly.

And they selected the small Gray Night Hawk; And he blew a gray dust all thru the enemy's houses and swept their ground.

And their springs of water were left dry, choked with driftwood and covered with cobwebs.

And their kees, their houses, were full of soot, and their trails like old trails; And after that the fresh foot-tracks could be seen-- And they went out and found the enemy by his fresh tracks and captured him, for he had no weapons.

And from the sending out of the birds, even to the end, all this is a prophecy.

NOTES ON EE-EE-TOY'S RESURRECTION

The Story of Ee-ee-toy's Resurrection is perhaps the most poetic in the series, and the opening picture of him lying on the ground, lifeless, with the elements lamenting over him and the little children playing on him, might challenge the genius of a great artist.

It is particularly rich in the mystical element also.