# Yaqui Myths and Legends

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apascua_yaqui%3A331967dd03655ae0

## Record

- **Collection:** Tribal code
- **Document type:** Tribal code

## Text

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Yaqui Myths and Legends

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Yaqui Myths and Legends

By

Ruth Warner Giddings

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First published 1959

Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books
www.forgottenbooks.org

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PUBLISHER’S PREFACE
About the Book
"This is a delightful collection of Yaqui folklore, illustrated with line
drawings which invest Mexican folk-art motifs with quaint atomic-age
cheerfulness. The Yaqui are part of the Southwestern Native American
culture-group, and live in the Sonoran desert on the west coast of northern
Mexico, opposite Baja California. The stories here are a mixture of ancient
folklore blended with Mexican Catholic themes. Coyote and other
zoomorphs walk in the same cycle of tales with figures such as Jesuschristo
(who figures in several comic stories) and Columbus (who appears briefly as
a villan)."
(Quote from sacred-texts.com)

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CONTENTS

PUBLISHER’S PREFACE ......................................................................................... VII
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
CULTURAL SETTING............................................................................................... 2
YAQUI STORY TELLING ........................................................................................ 11
THE NARRATORS ................................................................................................. 16
THE STORIES ............................................................................................................ 20
YOMUMULI AND THE LITTLE SUREM PEOPLE................................................ 21
THE KU BIRD................................................................................................... 24
THE WISE DEER .............................................................................................. 26
TASI'O SEWA .................................................................................................. 27
YUKU .............................................................................................................. 29
WHEN BADGER NAMED THE SUN .................................................................. 32
MOCHOMO .................................................................................................... 34
THE WAX MONKEY......................................................................................... 36
THE FALSE BEGGAR ........................................................................................ 38
THE STICK THAT SANG ................................................................................... 41
THE TWO BEARS............................................................................................. 44
THE WALKING STONE .................................................................................... 48
SUN AND MOON ............................................................................................ 51
FIVE FRIENDS OF TAKOCHAI .......................................................................... 52
THE MAN WHO BECAME A BUZZARD ............................................................ 57
THE SNAKE PEOPLE ........................................................................................ 60
OMTEME ........................................................................................................ 63
JUAN SIN MIEDO ............................................................................................ 65
THE BOY WHO BECAME A KING ..................................................................... 67
KAIMAN.......................................................................................................... 75
THE BIG BIRD.................................................................................................. 78
THE WARS AGAINST THE MEXICANS ............................................................. 84
WAR BETWEEN THE YAQUIS AND THE PIMAS ............................................... 87
PEACE AT PITAHAYA ...................................................................................... 89
MALINERO'OKAI............................................................................................. 91
THE FIRST DEER HUNTER ............................................................................... 95
THE DEATH OF KUTAM TAWI ......................................................................... 98
THE FLOOD AND THE PROPHETS ................................................................. 101
SAN PEDRO AND CRISTO.............................................................................. 104
JESUCRISTO AND SAN PEDRO ...................................................................... 105
PEDRO DE ORDIMALES ................................................................................ 107
SAN PEDRO AND THE DEVIL ......................................................................... 108

FATHER FROG ............................................................................................... 110
TWO LITTLE LAMBS ...................................................................................... 111
MAISOKA AND HIMA'AWIKIA ....................................................................... 113
THE CRICKET AND THE LION ......................................................................... 114
GRASSHOPPER AND CRICKET ....................................................................... 117
TURTLE AND COYOTE ................................................................................... 118
COYOTE AND RABBIT .................................................................................... 120
HERON AND FOX .......................................................................................... 122
THE CAT AND THE MONKEY ......................................................................... 123
IN RABBIT'S HOUSE....................................................................................... 125
COYOTE AND THE FRIENDLY DOGS .............................................................. 126
THE BLACK HORSE ........................................................................................ 127
DUCK HUNTER .............................................................................................. 128
TESAK PASCOLA'S WATERMELONS .............................................................. 129
THE CALABAZAS FUNERAL ............................................................................ 131
SUAWAKA ..................................................................................................... 132
TOPOL THE CLEVER....................................................................................... 135
WHY THE ANIMALS REMAIN ANIMALS ........................................................ 137
COYOTE WOMAN ......................................................................................... 138
THE FIRST FIESTA .......................................................................................... 139
BOBOK .......................................................................................................... 142
THE FIVE MENDED BROTHERS ...................................................................... 145
THE FIRST FIRE .............................................................................................. 151
THE SPIRIT FOX ............................................................................................. 153
THE YAQUI DOCTOR ..................................................................................... 156
THE TWINS.................................................................................................... 159
THE SNAKE OF THE HILL OF NOHME ............................................................ 164
TUKAWIRU.................................................................................................... 165
CHO'OKO BASO............................................................................................. 169
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 171

Yaqui Myths and Legends

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INTRODUCTION

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O THOROUGH collection or study has been made of the folk
traditions of the Yaquis. Only about a score of Yaqui stories are to
be found in published form. Alfonso Fabila has printed five stories
and three songs (Fabila 1940: 202-205, 212-243). Spicer reviews a halfdozen stories and notes the existence of animal tales among the Yaquis of
Arizona (Spicer 1940b: 197, 240-241, 254, 261-262). Beals has published a
few Yaqui traditions about serpents (Beals 1933: 78-81) and thirteen myths
and tales identified as Cahita (Beals 1945: 215-224). A brief resume of
Yaqui tradition by one of their leaders has been printed in an appendix to a
work by Holden, et al (1936: 216-231). In manuscript form, Johnson has
recorded the Spanish and Yaqui texts of a small, well rounded collection of
stories (Johnson 1940) and Wilder has contributed a collection and study of
the Yaqui deer-songs from Pascua village, Arizona (Wilder 1940).
It is known that Yaqui society has been influenced strongly by Spanish and
Mexican culture, judging from indications in historical records and from
studies of the modern Yaquis.
In making this collection of stories it was the objective to illustrate two
things: (1) the nature of the folk literature of the Yaquis and (2) the
influences which successive foreign contacts have exerted upon Yaqui
folklore.
Collections were made in Potam, Sonora from February through April of
1942 and during regular visits to Pascua and Barrio Libre near Tucson,
Arizona from May to September of the same year. The notes on the
narrators refer to this period.

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CULTURAL SETTING
Language

T

HE YAQUIS are a Sonoran tribe. They are Cahitan-speaking peoples,
affiliated linguistically with the Tarahumaras, Opatas, Conchos,
Mayos, and other nearby tribes. Aboriginally, the Yaquis and the
Mayos occupied the flood plain areas from the town of Sinaloa north to the
pueblo of Cumuripa on the Yaqui River in Sonora (Sauer 1934: 79). Cahitans
are of the Uto-Aztecan stock. Of the tribes which adjoined the Cahitan
territory to the north, only the Hokan-speaking Seris were not UtoAztecans. On the east, the Cahitans were bordered by the Sonoran tribes of
the foothills. These tribes separated the lowland Cahitans from the
Tarahumaras of the plateau who were also of Uto-Aztecan stock. On the
south, the Cahitan area was bordered by rude, barranca or coastal tribes
such as the Guasave. These were possibly variants, culturally and linguistically, of the Cahitans. No equal number of people spoke a single language
in northern Mexico (Sauer 1934: 22-28).

Yaqui Myths and Legends

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Brief History
YAQUIS have been in close contact with European culture since the Spanish
conquest of their region by Jesuit missionaries in 1617. The Spaniards
influenced Yaqui religion through the work of the Jesuits, but they also
instigated changes in the material culture and social organization of the
natives. The Indians were gathered from scattered rancherías into eight
large pueblos, each with its church at the center. Governors were appointed by the Spanish and new forms of civil rule were introduced. For the
Yaquis, the period of Jesuit occupation was one of peaceful acculturation
and material development.
In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from the region. Foreigners exploiting the
riches of the area brought the Yaquis to a state of unrest. The new Mexican
government attempted to tax the Yaqui land. In 1825, Juan Banderas began
a united Indian revolt against the Mexican inhabitants of the Yaqui region
(Troncoso 1905: 112). For six years fighting continued intermittently and
the Yaquis learned the use of fire-arms. Temporarily they drove out the
Mexican settlers.
These early victories of the Yaquis can be attributed to the weakness of the
politically disunited Mexican government. As Mexican internal unity was
re-established, war without quarter ensued. This was the beginning of a
century of intermittent strife between Mexicans and Yaquis.
In 1876, the great Yaqui leader, Cajeme, took advantage of Mexican
disunity in Sonora to drive again the Mexican settlers from the Yaqui valley.

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When Cajeme was executed by the Mexicans in 1887, another Indian
leader, Juan Maldonado Tetabiate, continued the revolt of his people. As
the strength of the Mexican army increased, Yaquis were forced either into
guerrilla bands in the rugged mountains of the region or into hiding as
laborers on Mexican ranches, in mines, or on the new railroad which was
being built. Indians in hiding secretly sent supplies to their troops in the
hills, and the raiding continued.
In the early 1900's Governor Yzábal of Sonora inaugurated a policy of
deportation against the Yaquis. Captives were sent to Yucatan to work on
henequen plantations. Many executions took place (Calvo 1949: 96).
Peaceful Indians suspected of helping the raiders were hunted out. Many
were killed and families were separated. This caused a great reduction in
the numbers and efficiency of forces in the mountains, since their source of
ammunition was cut off. Mexican settlers filtered back into the Yaqui valley
under protection of Mexican troops (Spicer 1943a: 23).
However, small bands of Yaquis still fought on until as late as 1927. Thus,
for forty years Yaqui culture was forced into dormancy. A few Indians were
living in the hills and many more were living and working with Mexicans
and so were subjected to various foreign influences. Since 1927 some nine
thousand Yaquis have returned to their region, repopulating many of their
old pueblos and following the old way of life.
In 1937 the Mexican government's attitude changed toward the Indians.
President Cardenas set aside for the Yaquis twenty per cent of their original
territory (Fabila 1940: 194). Here they live today under Mexican military
supervision, although they govern themselves in most ways.
Since the late 1920's the official Mexican policy has been more friendly and
constructive, aimed toward educating the natives, improving their material
welfare and attempting to break down past social barriers between Indians
and the Mexicans. However, social barriers in the region are still very real.
Slowly, the new policy of contact is inaugurating a period of acculturation
for the Yaquis along lines of directed change. There has been and promises
to be little decay in the traditional ceremonial life of the Yaquis which has
survived the period of persecution and forms the backbone of Yaqui culture
as it is being practiced today (Spicer 1943a: 28).

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Environment
THE FEELING among Yaquis, wherever they may be, is that the true center
of their culture is in the eight pueblos which cluster about the mouth of the
Rio Yaqui in Sonora, Mexico. In recent years, five of the eight pueblos have
suffered varying degrees of depopulation. The nine thousand or so Yaquis
in their valley today live mainly in the Pueblos of Potam, Vicam and Torim.
Various small rancherías are scattered along the river, Some Indians live in
all of the traditional eight pueblos except one, Belen, which is deserted
because of a complete lack of water in its vicinity.

Economy
THE YAQUIS are agricultural. Twice each year floods make the rich, alluvial
land along the river ideal for crop raising. In order to farm, the river bottom
is first cleared of a dense covering of underbrush, such as tuna and
pitahaya, native bamboo, willow, large mesquite trees and cottonwood
trees. The aboriginal crops of corn, beans, and squash are supplemented by
foods introduced by the Spaniards and Mexicans. Wheat is grown in

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quantities enough for export. Cattle, horses, mules, goats, pigs, and
chickens are now an added source of livelihood (Fabila 1940: 8-33). Some
wild foods are gathered from the wilderness (called monte by the natives),
such as honey, wild greens, and tubers. Snares are set for small animals.
Larger game abounds in the foothills, and fish are caught in the Gulf of
California.
Nearly all Yaquis live from the land, although the making and selling of
bamboo mats, willow baskets, or wheel-made pottery supplements the
economy. Also an important item in the support of nearly every Sonoran
Yaqui family today is the wages paid every two weeks to most Yaqui men,
as soldiers (Spicer, E. H. and R. B. 1942). This approximates a form of dole.
The greatest economic drain upon Yaqui families, outside of bare living
costs, appears to be the expense of their ceremonial and religious
obligations (Spicer 1940b: 44-47, 236-237). The fulfillment of all such
ceremonial obligations is of primary importance to the community. In fact,
when religious affairs conflict with farming or some other job, the job
suffers. Since the church governor (teopo kobanao) works year round at
official duties and has little time for farming, he is often supported by the
people of the pueblo.
No great extremes exist in regard to wealth, although some are better off
than others.

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The Past
ACCORDING TO what has been reported of Yaqui culture in early times,
they were an agricultural food-gathering and hunting group, living in
rancherías scattered along the lower reaches of the Yaqui River. They used
a wooden mortar in preparation of foods, hunted with bow and arrow
(sometimes poisoned), clubs, and perhaps spears. A carrying yoke was
employed, as it is today. Their clothes were made of skins. Tattooing and
nose and ear-piercing were practiced. They lived in small, scattered clusters
of houses, until the missionaries brought them into eight larger communities, each centering about a church. Their homes no doubt resembled the
spacious, rectangular units with adjoining ramadas in which the Yaquis live
today.

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Social and Ceremonial Patterns
SPANISH INFLUENCE brought a greater development of agriculture and a
gradual change to European modes of dress. During the last century the
Yaquis adopted the use of fire-arms. The bow is now used only ceremonially and in hunting, sometimes by children. Lately, some modern mechanical
devices have been adopted in the household, and a few machines are used
in the fields. Some native craft work is still made by both men and women.
Foreign crafts such as wheel-turned pottery and machine sewing are usual.
TODAY, the Yaqui social and religious patterns are strongly reflective of the
Spanish culture which was imposed from the seventeenth into the
nineteenth centuries. The Yaqui military organization, god-parent system,
and much Catholic tradition and ritual were adopted from the Spaniards
and merged with aboriginal practices to give a distinctive cast to what, by
the late 1800's, was a well-integrated culture. Yaqui society is different
from that of the Mexicans of the region not only because of its aboriginal
aspects but also because it has retained antiquated traits of seventeenth
century Spanish culture.
In Sonora the Yaquis still govern themselves in the old way. Matters of
importance to the pueblo are discussed at a village meeting or council,
called a junta. This is attended by the five governors (kobanaom), the exgovernors, or elders (pueplo yo'owe), the military society (sontaom), and
the church officials and members of ceremonial societies. This body of civil,
military, and religious leaders discusses and decides all matters. Cases
involving people from different pueblos are treated by a joint junta of the
pueblos concerned. Ritual and praying accompany the discussion at these
gatherings. The opinion of the elders is respected. A Yaqui culprit's
punishment may be measured in the lashes of the rawhide whip carried
about the waist of an official called the alawasin. The stocks, also an early
Spanish method of punishment, are known to the Yaquis.
The oldest man or woman in the household is considered its head. Often
three generations dwell together in a household, which is the basic unit of
Yaqui society. There is no apparent rule stating whether a newly married
couple should live with the boy's or the girl's parents. The god-parent
relationships, sanctioned by the church, are an important part of the social
structure. These supplement the primary kinship circle and are a stabilizing

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factor in the community. These relationships have been enlarged and
specialized by the Yaquis and provide each person with a wide circle of
ceremonial kin with mutual obligations.

Little is known, from record, of the social and religious life of the Yaquis
before Spanish contact. It is difficult, today, to determine which of their
cultural practices are aboriginal survivals. Spicer suggests similarity
between aboriginal Yaqui social and religious organization and that of the
more advanced Pueblo groups of the Southwest. According to him,
survivals in Yaqui culture indicate the "possibility of patrilineal clan (gens)
groups, an important system of ceremonial societies somewhat similar to
those of the Pueblos, and an elaborate ceremonial calendar and ritual"
(Spicer 1940a: 22). The Yaquis' early kinship system, which is being partly
replaced by the Mexican system, is considered Yuman in type. The relative
age distinctions, evident in kinship terminology, are still remembered in
terms employed for members of the elementary family. Although Yaqui
interpretations of Catholic ritual surround birth, marriage, and death, often
symbols of the earlier ceremonialism accompany them. The formal
structure of aboriginal ceremony has disintegrated, but fragments of it
remain interlaced with the new Catholicized religious organization.
Since Jesuit times, Yaqui community life has centered about the church. All
village officials, civil and military as well as religious, have duties in the
church. Both religious and social activities are centered about the events of
the Catholic calendar and the performance of the ceremonies attending
birth, confirmation, marriage and death (Spicer 1940b: 104-236, 95-116).
These, rites and ceremonies take place both in the church and the
household.

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Yaqui Myths and Legends

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YAQUI STORY TELLING

S

TORY TELLING among the Yaquis today is quite informal. There
appears to be no socially determined time or place for relating the
myths or tales except in the case of pascola stories, which are told at
fiestas. Nor are there special persons who are supposed to tell the myths or
tales. Yaquis say that stories are most often told, by men or women, in the
evenings when a group happens to be gathered in the ramada or in the
house by the fire. They also tell stories when working in the fields. Some of
the older Yaquis indicate that story-telling used to be more formalized in
the time of their parents or in their own youth. They also believe that the
folk literature as a whole was more familiar to all Yaquis in earlier times
than it is today. Most of the Indians today know some myths and tales but
no one person was encountered who knows all of the stories in this
collection. The myths or legends and tales which appear to be of preSpanish provenience do not seem to be as widely known and, in some
cases, appear to be only partially remembered fragments of more
complete myth cycles. Even the Jesuit period myths giving origins for
Catholicized ceremonies are not by any means familiar to everybody who
participates in the ritual. It is a general observation that most Yaquis have
slight knowledge of pre-Spanish myths and tales and that a broad knowledge of these is limited to old people, members of conservative families,
and persons with special interest in the past or in folk stories. More widely
known are the recent myths of warfare, of traditions which support Yaqui
claims against Mexican encroachment upon their territory, and tales of the
Jesuit and more recent periods, particularly the pascola stories.

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The subject matter of myths or legends and tales, the traditional themes,
characters, and beliefs, reflect a society which has been in contact with
foreigners for three centuries. Although many stories show considerable
foreign influence, they are usually given a Yaqui background familiar to the
narrator. The style of wording appears to be more individual than formal.
However, different narrators are often consistent about the sequence of
events. Formal endings are not always used. Kinship and occupations of
characters are frequently mentioned. Names are usually given. Geography
is often related to the action of a story. Since these characteristics seldom
occur in tales of foreign introduction, and since they are usual in the
earliest type of myths and tales, most often told in the Yaqui language, this
may indicate that such traits are remnants of a formal style of storytelling
employed more commonly in the past.
The characters in early Yaqui stories are not elaborately drawn. They
represent the common Yaqui social personality, conception of supernaturals, and the animals. New characters entered folk traditions as the Indians
became familiar with Bible traditions, European history and folk stories.
Eventually the Catholic pantheon merged with and partly submerged the
aboriginal one; Spaniards, Moors, and the Devil joined Yaqui historical
characters, and rogues, adventure-seekers, and kings of European folklore
became a part of Yaqui folk traditions. The characterization of heroes
reflects changing standards from early times to the present. For instance,
heroes of early tales are often obedient, wise, powerful, and great leaders
or hunters. In Jesuit-period myths and tales, they become pious or sinful,
according to Yaqui-Catholic standards. More recent stories feature
pranksters, merchants, warriors, or cowboys.
Subject matter may be drawn from traditional and modern tribal belief.
Plots are generally simple, consisting of one or two related incidents.
The pascola story-teller is undoubtedly an aboriginal Yaqui institution.
Today, he is only superficially allied with the Yaqui-Catholic religion through
appearing at religious fiestas, at children's funerals, and as a dancer on the
morning of Holy Saturday. His stories suggest that they are of an early kind
which have changed only as the society about which they are told has
changed.

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Yaqui attitudes regarding their folk literature vary. Older persons in the
group learned to know and respect ancient belief during their youth, from
elders and from group influence, before the people were scattered during
the Mexican persecution in the early 1900's. Such older persons and
members of conservative families, often those who remained hidden in the
mountains throughout this period, are better acquainted with ancient
tribal traditions and value them more highly. All Yaquis associate their folk
literature not only with entertainment but also with pride in their history
and culture.
Primarily, myths and legends are considered entertaining history and the
tales as pure entertainment. As a body, the folklore is not considered
sacred, although it is associated with native religion and ritual. Some
stories are of social importance because they point a moral.
Much of the history claimed by the Yaquis has been borrowed, but they
consider it their own and do not distinguish between history and tradition.
Recent stories about warfare with the Mexicans demonstrate the bravery
of Yaqui warriors and the justice of their cause. Earlier legends concerning
warfare are told today as expressions of their feelings about the cruelty or
treachery of the Mexicans, or the superiority of the Yaquis.
Many legends reflect the Yaqui feeling that their region is rightfully theirs.
Tales of ancient heroes or saints defining Yaqui territory in mythical times
are told as proof that the tribe is justified in defending its land. Ancient
myths are set in specific parts of the Yaqui region, giving significance to the
spot where the talking tree stood, the pueblo where Jesucristo was
crucified, or the waterhole to which a priest condemned an evil monster to
live. The origin of the names of hills is described. The spirits of their
ancestors, the Surem, are said to dwell in the sea, inside of mountains, or in
the forms of ants. Other traditions say that serpents or spirits inhabit
certain bodies of water, that the rain is an evil one-eyed god, and the
shooting star a brave dwarf hunter. Animals are sometimes possessed of
magic powers and should be respected. Some animals are described as
culture heroes, such as the toli who introduced the first pascola drum and
flute, or the badger who named the sun. The deer is able to make himself
invisible, and snakes take on human form. The numbers three and four are
magical. A special kind of wood in a bow or an arrow enables a hero to
perform great deeds. The smoking of native tobacco inspires the power of

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prophecy. Witches have the ability to take animal forms. Such magical
beliefs may appear in stories from any period, even the present.
Myth cycles about nature deities, animals, and magic were undoubtedly a
part of Yaqui religious practice prior to their contact with the Jesuits.
However, today, any sacred meaning in them has been transferred to the
saints and Catholicized ceremony. Old Yaquis or members of conservative
families still hold to many pre-Christian beliefs about the supernatural, but
such beliefs are considered secular rather than sacred truths. There is no
worship of nature deities. Evidently children today are not taught such
beliefs, for they know little about personifications of the elements or the
powers of the animals.
In a few cases nature deities can be identified with Catholic concepts. For
instance, Yuku is often called the Devil, and Suawaka is sometimes called
San Miguel. This may indicate an effort to rationalize the existence of both
sacred and secular deities.
Yaqui moral standards, implanted by the Jesuits, are given sanction in
certain tales. For example: heroes are often described as obedient or pious.
Leaving a wife or having sexual relations with a person who stands in the
compadre relationship promises dire results. Drunkenness, disobedience to
one's elders, traffic with things of the Devil, or murder lead to an evil end.
The Yaquis feel that fiestas are both a means of worship and a kind of
entertainment. The junta, or political gathering, is an element in so many
stories that it may well have been the means by which Yaquis of the eight
pueblos governed themselves since earliest times.
Yaqui social attitudes are reflected in stories derived from foreign sources.
Even biblical figures become Indian in character in the retelling of familiar
Christian lore.
In conclusion, Yaqui folk literature expresses the tribe's sense of superiority, the sacred and material value of their territory, and the antiquity and
distinctiveness of their customs.

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THE NARRATORS

Ambrosio A. Castro

A

Ge, 54. Born in La Palma, Sonora, and lived there or near Cocorit
most of his early life. His father was from Cocorit and his mother
from Bacum. During his youth he lived with his paternal grandmother, a curer or "good witch." From her, he learned many ancient beliefs
and tales. His great-grandfather was said to have been a very famous
pascola. Castro has many relatives and friends in the Yaqui pueblos and
enjoys visiting about. At present he has no ceremonial affiliations. He
fought under Generals Matus and Espinosa with the conservative Yaqui
faction, but, later, when Yaquis were being hunted out and deported, he
lived like a Mexican, away from the Rio Yaqui. He worked as a house man, a
muleteer, railroad worker in Guaymas, and, much later, as a candy vendor
and a handyman at the government agricultural school near Vicam. Now,
when not farming with his family, he works as a traveling tinsmith, visiting
from pueblo to pueblo. He is an extrovert type, mixes easily with all Yaquis,
both conservative and liberal; however, some of the more conservative
Yaquis mistrust him. He enjoys telling tales and composing poems in both
Yaqui and Spanish, although he prefers to use Yaqui for this purpose. He
has a special interest in the old Yaqui culture and has a remarkable memory
for details. He refused to give detailed information on the geography of the
Rio Yaqui for fear that it might fall into the hands of enemies of the Yaquis.

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He reads and writes both Spanish and Yaqui, having learned to do so when
he was past twenty years of age. His information is reliable and of a wide
variety.

Lucas Chavez
Age, over 60. Born in the Rio Yaqui region at Torim. Suffered considerably
in his youth during the Mexican persecution of the Yaquis, lost his family,
escaped to work on a ranch in northern Sonora, then worked his way up
into Arizona on the railroad. Has since lived in Pascua, near Tucson,
Arizona. Has a good memory for details of ancient lore which he heard in
his youth. Can read and write Spanish, took part in the establishment of the
village of Pascua. In Sonora he began his training as a temasti in the Yaqui
church at Torim. In Pascua, he has acted as third maestro or temasti. Lately
he has been influenced by Baptist missionaries in Pascua. His attitudes are
bitterly anti-Mexican and pro-American. He speaks both Yaqui and Spanish.
His information reflects a good knowledge of Yaqui-Catholic ritual and of
Yaqui customs and mythology.
Rafael Lopez
Age, about 45. Born in the United States and lives in the Yaqui colony,
Barrio Libre, near Tucson. He has no ceremonial affiliations or ceremonial
kin. He remembers little of his native culture and hardly speaks any Yaqui.
One of his sons is married to a Papago girl. His attitudes toward Mexicans
and Americans are equally favorable. His home life resembles that of the
Mexicans. He can read Spanish. As an informant, his value lies in the fact
that he exemplifies the marginal type who has moved away from his
culture, though he still thinks of himself as a Yaqui.

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Maríano Tapia
Age, about 55. Born and lived in the region of the Rio Yaqui until the age of
15 when he was captured and put to work on a Mexican fishing barge out
of Guaymas. Later, he came to Arizona where he has worked on the
railroad and as an adobe-layer and plasterer, living in the village of Pascua.
His wife and children are active members of the Baptist church in Pascua.
His attitudes toward the Mexicans are unfavorable. He desires, but fears to
return to his homeland. He regrets that his children show little interest in
the ancient Yaqui tradition.
Juan Valenzuela
Age, about 55. Native of the pueblo of Rahum. He heads the pueblo-mayor
group of Rahum, and is an ex-governor. He and his family took active part
in wars against the Mexicans. They lived in the sierras when they were
driven from their pueblo. He is now an active leader in the most conservative faction of Yaquis and one of the chief powers in the movement to reestablish Rahum in the place it had before the revolution. He has worked
on the railroad as far north as San Francisco and knows Yaquis in the
villages near Tucson, Arizona. Today he supports his family by farming. His
attitudes toward Americans are favorable, but cautious. He trusts no
Mexican and likewise is distrustful of many Yaquis, who, in his mind, are
traitors to the Yaqui cause by compromising with the Mexicans. His
knowledge of Yaqui-Catholic ritual is broad. He was the only informant
encountered who knew some of the ancient Yaqui traditions by rote. He
stipulated that the information he gave should be printed only in English
and only in the United States, in order that Mexicans might not read it. He
speaks and writes in both Yaqui and Spanish.

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Since the greatest number of stories in this collection were told by
Ambrosio A. Castro, those not designated as to source are his. Those told
by Lucas Chavez, Maríano Tapia, Rafael Lopez, and Juan Valenzuela are
marked with the initials LC, MT, RL, and JV.

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THE STORIES

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YOMUMULI AND THE LITTLE SUREM PEOPLE

L

ONG BEFORE the Conquest of the Spaniards, when all of the land
which is now Mexico was wild, this country was called Suré. It was
thus called because it was populated by the Surem, children of
Yomumuli. All Indians, the Hueleves, the Opatas, the Pimas, the Papagos,
the Seris, were created by her. At that time there were animals living on
land and in the water. Huge turtles lived in the permanent water of the
river and the sea. This was before we had agriculture.
There was a huge thick stick which reached from the ground to the sky.
This stick kept talking, making a humming noise like bees. The Yaquis had
very wise men in those days of the Surem, as we do now, but none of the
Indians, nor the wise men could understand what the stick was saying. Only
Yomumuli could understand and she wanted to help her people whom she
had created. She didn't particularly care what the stick was saying, but she
told what it said. It was telling the Indians and the animals how to live. It
told the animals which were to live by hunting, and which to live by eating
grass. It told how, someday, the Conquest would come, how Jesucristo
would appear, as he was to appear to all people. She herself didn't like the
laws very much. Some of the laws were disagreeable to the Indians, and

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they did not like Yomumuli's interpretations of the truth as sent by Dios in
the sky to the people on earth.
Many people said that Yomumuli was just making all this up. According to
her, the talking tree said that the people would soon have leaders,
captains, and would be baptized. The people did not believe this.
Yomumuli was angry that her people did not believe, though she herself
felt as they did. It didn't matter to her what this stick was saying. She did
not like it. But she knew that it was true.
Since she did not like what was going to come to pass Yomumuli decided to
go away. She was angry and decided to take her river with her. "I am going
north," she said. And she took this river, rolled it up, put it under her arm,
and walked away on the clouds toward the north.
The people did not like the prospect of this Conquest which was coming. So
they either descended into the earth to live inside of hills or they went to
live in the sea. They were very powerful people, these Surem. Yomumuli
left a chief on each hill and the hills were named for these men. These
chiefs did not like the coming Conquest either.
Only a few people liked what the stick predicted and these waited. These
men are the Yaquis. They grew to be taller than the Surem who had gone
away. The Surem were little people, but very strong. They still live in the
hills and the sea. They favor man and help him when they can. Some, in the
sea, are like sirens and live on islands. Others are whales who come near to
a boat to warn it when it is in danger. All of the Surem are wild pagans. If a
Yaqui is lost in the monte, these little people help him by bringing him food
and fire, and then they go away. Some say the Surem are very rich and
have many cattle under the hills. LC

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The Papago story of the Ashes People mentions a talking tree (Densmore
1929: 23). A myth of the Tepecanos of Mexico resembles the last part of
this Yaqui myth in telling of half of the people being opposed to the coming
of baptism and going away to the north (Mason 1914: 148-149).

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THE KU BIRD

A

MONG the Yaquis there was once a bird who, from birth, was very
poor. So poor was this little one that he had not one single feather
on his whole body. Often he sighed, especially in the winter time,
because of his lack of protecting feathers. Many years passed, until one day
he spoke to the Owl, saying,
"My brother, do me a favor and I will help you as long as I live. Help me to
dress myself by lending me just a few of your feathers, even if they should
cover only a part of my body. With the cold weather, I suffer."
And the Owl answered him. "Have no worry about my helping you. I am
going to ask all the birds to lend you one feather. In that way, you may
clothe your whole body."
"You speak well," said the Ku Bird to the Owl. "When I have many feathers,
I shall return a feather to each who lent me one."
"Good," said the Owl, "I shall send messengers to all the birds both large
and small, to every single bird, in order that not one shall fail to attend the
council. By early tomorrow morning we shall all be gathered to consider
the matter of your clothes."
"Many, many thanks," answered the Ku Bird.
"Good-by for a while," said the Owl. And he went away to make arrangements with the other birds.

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Immediately they all wanted to see Ku Bird. At their petition, although with
great shame, he presented himself.
Everyone was very sorry for him. And each bird presented him with one
feather. Everyone contributed until Ku's costume, was complete.
After thanking them all, Ku said, "To brother Owl I shall return all of the
loaned feathers. He will return them to each of you in one year."
A few days later the Ku Bird visited a spring filled with crystal-clear water.
Here, many birds with beautiful plumes often came to visit. When the Ku
Bird arrived all the birds surrounded him and looked at him in admiration
and joy. They believed that he was a prince, and all rendered him homage.
They did not recognize him beneath his beautiful, unusual plumage. He
looked like a garden of flowers. Some called him the bird of a thousand
colors, for he was wonderfully colorful with all his many feathers.
But within a year Ku was lost completely. He was never again seen,
although all the birds searched for him, even in distant regions. Never again
did he appear.
To this day, the Owl is still hunting for him. He searches and he calls. That is
why Owl sings: "Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku," nothing more. He is not able to say Ku Bird,
but he can sing "Ku Ku Ku."
Many centuries have passed and no one has ever heard anything about Ku.
It is said that he is enchanted, that he now dwells in a waterhole which lies
west of Potam near the sea. Yaquis say they have been there and heard
him singing.
Ku never paid for his shirt, the Ku Bird, the bird of a thousand colors. So
ends the tale.

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THE WISE DEER

T

HERE ONCE lived a large deer. He was very strong, and very wise. So
wise was he that when hunters searched for him, wherever he
might hide himself, they could never find him. They might pursue
him closely, but he, in his wisdom, would hide wherever he chose. The
hunters would pass by, close to him, but never see him.
Thus it went on. There were times when many gathered in a group to hunt
him. But he knew when they were surrounding him, and he did not go out
from his hiding place. So it was that they could never catch him.
After many years, the deer attained a great age. Then, he wanted the
hunters to kill him, for he was tired of living. He presented himself to the
hunters. But they would pay no attention to his presence, for they said, "He
is now very old."
Many times the poor, old animal followed the trails which hunters
frequented in hopes that he might encounter a trap in which he might put
his head or his feet, but he could not find them.
In weariness he spoke to the twilight, saying, "Now I render myself up."
And he died. The tale is finished here.

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TASI'O SEWA

T

HERE was once, here in the region of the Yaqui, a native girl who
was more beautiful than any other. It is said to this day that there
has never been seen such a pretty girl as Tasi'o Sewa.

She married a man called Wi'i Labeleo who made songs, and she had a
brother called Beho'ori.
One day the two young men, Wi'i Labeleo and Beho'ori, went out to hunt.
But they found no animals, nothing to kill. As they walked along, they came
upon a very small ranchería. They robbed some goats and killed all of a
family.
They were caught and taken to the nearest guardia. There the governors
and the leaders sentenced them to death.
Tasi'o Sewa presented herself to the authorities to beg for them. And the
Yaquis agreed to set one of them free. They asked her which one she would
like to have set free.
Tasi'o Sewa answered, "You may kill my husband. I can find another man, I
can get another husband, but I cannot get another brother."
So they hanged the husband and set the brother free. And they named her
an intelligent woman.
This is not a tale. It is said to be the truth.

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A common custom is to give young women characters a name referring to a
flower (sewa). Seataka, Seahamut, Masa'asa'i are the names of flowers.

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YUKU

I

N THE TIMES when there was no corn, the blackbird told man about
this corn that is sown. He knew where corn was and that the Devil had
it. Man sent the blackbird up there after it because he knew that this
bird was very good at stealing. The blackbird went to the house of Yuku
and sat down on a branch, and the Devil said,
"Now what is it that you are going to rob me of today?"
The blackbird did not say.
When the Devil forgot him, the blackbird stole corn and brought it to man,
saying, "This is to eat. Make a little hole in the ground and bury it. Take
care of the corn while it is growing up."
The corn sprouted but, when it was still little, it was dying of thirst because
there had been no rain. Man talked to the blackbird about it and the
blackbird said, "I'm going up there to bring rain and then you can irrigate.
When the corn has rain it will grow."

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"That is well," said man. And the blackbird went to the God of the Rains
and said, "You know that man down there, don't you? Will you send him
rain?"
"Yes," said Yuku, the God of Rain. "I will go down there right away. You go
on ahead of me!" So the blackbird went on, and the god followed him and
caught up with him and beat him and threw him about with wind. Then the
god returned to his house. So the blackbird returned to man without any
rain. He said, "The god beat me with wind. Send someone else to see if he
can bring rain."
Then man ordered the road-runner to the house of the God of Rain. The
bird arrived at the house of the God of Rain and said, "You know that man
down there, don't you? He wants you to send him rain!"
"Ah, yes, good. I'll go there. Hurry up and go ahead of me!" The roadrunner had traveled a short distance when Yuku began to throw bolts at
him, chasing and beating him with wind. After this, the god returned to his
house without reaching the earth. The road-runner went to man and said,
"I could not bring rain because Yuku beat me with wind. Now send
someone else up there."
"All right," said man, and he spoke with the toad, saying, "Toad, I want you
to bring rain to us if you can."
"I can bring it," said the toad. He went up to the house of Yuku, sowing his
children behind him on the road all the way. Then he said, "Yuku, you know
that man down there, don't you? He wants rain."
"I know," said the God of Rain. "You go on ahead of me and I'll come
behind and catch up."
Toad began to return, and in a short time the god caught up with him. Toad
was singing along the road and before him on the road all of his sons sang
also. Yuku went from one toad to the next and the next and finally arrived
where the corn was sown. He irrigated it and it grew. It formed cars, they
ripened, and gave corn. Then men had corn.
This myth is included by permission of Jean B. Johnson (1940 MS). in
another version of this story, "The First Fire," the toads bring man fire with

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the help of the crow, the road-runner and the dog. In a third version,
"Bobok," the toad brings rain; corn is not mentioned.

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WHEN BADGER NAMED THE SUN

A

T THE BEGINNING of the era of the Surem, nobody knew the name
of the sun and they wanted a name for it. For this reason they held
a council on the bank of the Surem river. Everyone gave his opinion
but no name was found for the sun. Every day they studied the matter.
They did not know if it were man or woman and so they couldn't decide
whether it would be best to give it a male or a female name. The Surem
could not agree. They finally invited all the animals of the world to come to
a council.
Once they were all present, before the sun came up, at the edge of the
river, they made a great group of men and animals. When the sun
appeared, a badger came out of a hole where he lived in the ground.
The badger came to the council and said in a strong voice, "The sun being a
man, comes out of a hole in the earth as I do." Speaking thus, he ran away.
Everyone ran after him, wishing to pay him honor for his great intelligence.
They wanted to give a fiesta for him and to pay him well with abundant
food.

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But the badger ran away and went into his hole and would not come out.
He thought they wanted to punish him. From that time on the badger
rarely goes out on the plains. He is still afraid that they might punish him
for something.
Two other versions of this incident were encountered. In one, the tortilla
fish knew the name of the sun; in another it was the rooster who knew.
The Huichol Indians have a similar story in which the turkey names the sun
(Zingg 1938: 517).

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MOCHOMO

O

NCE there was a mochomo, a chieftain of the ants who was driving
a mule train of little mochomos. One night it turned very cold and
snowed, and the snow killed every one of his train of mules.

"I shall go to the king of the snow," said Mochomo, "He has killed all of my
mules!" He went to the house of the king of the snow, saying, "I am angry.
Your snow killed my mule train! If you are a brave man you will fight me!"
"Oh, no," said the king of the snow, "I am not brave. I am very soft and
weak. There is a man who is stronger than I am and he is the sun. When the
sun shines on me I disappear."
"Well, I will go to see the sun then," shouted Mochomo. And he strode off.
To the sun he said, "The snow has killed all my train of mules. You are
braver than the snow, so I am going to fight you, since you are so strong."
"Oh, no," said the sun, "there is one who is stronger than I. That is the
clouds. I have no strength when they cover me."
So Mochomo went to the king of the clouds, offering to fight him. The king
of the clouds said, "The strongest of all is the wind. It blows me wherever it
wills."

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35

"Then I shall have to fight the wind. Where does he live?" asked Mochomo.
"Down there in that blacksmith shop," said the king of the clouds.
Mochomo went down to the blacksmith shop and strode up to the bellows.
"I am very angry. The snow killed all of my mules. Since you are the
strongest and bravest, I am going to fight you!" he shouted.
The bellows made no answer. Then suddenly they blew very hard, blowing
the angry Mochomo, chief of the ants, far away.

This is a fragment of a European fable variously named "L'Hormiguita," "El
Aguila," or "El Zancudo." It has been recorded in other collections of
folklore on this continent from New Mexico, Jalisco, and Oaxaca (Boas
1912: 221-222).

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THE WAX MONKEY

I

N A CERTAIN part of the Yaqui region lived a farmer who had many
watermelons ripe in his field. He noticed that every morning some of
his best, his prettiest, and his largest watermelons were missing. Finally
he said, "I would like to know who it is that is eating my watermelons."

So he set to work to make a monkey out of wax. When he finished it, he
put it in the middle of his field. "Here you will stay," said the old man to the
wax monkey. "If some thief comes along, don't let him get away." He
planted the wax monkey there and went away to sleep in tranquility.
During the night, Coyote went into the field to eat watermelon. When he
saw the wax monkey he said, "Get out of here and leave me alone so I can
eat watermelon." Since the monkey didn't answer, Coyote became very
angry and said, "If you don't go away I will beat you." The monkey didn't
move, so Coyote raised his hand and hit the monkey on his head, and his
hand stuck there. This made Coyote even more angry and he said, "If you
don't let me go I will hit you in the stomach with my other hand!" And he

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struck the monkey in the middle with all his might. His hand went right
through and stayed stuck in the stomach of the wax monkey.
"Aha!" shouted Coyote, "then I'll kick you!" And he kicked him with one
foot, then the other. Both feet stuck. He then beat his head against the wax
monkey and his head stuck. Finally he struck him with his tail and it also
stuck.
Early in the morning when the farmer came to his field he found every part
of Coyote stuck to the wax monkey. He put the thief into a cage and set a
large clay olla full of water on the fire. When the water was boiling, he
threw it over Coyote and burned off his fur.
It is said that Coyote ran around naked until he died and the buzzards ate
him.

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THE FALSE BEGGAR

H

E WAS FALSE because though he was not poor he asked for alms.
Abahta Chaheme was a tall, healthy man but he pretended to be
old, dressed as a beggar, and asked for charity.

This man had an only daughter, now grown, whose name was Wokkoi
Masa. Abahta Chaheme had many sheep and goats and also horses and
cattle; yet he continued asking for alms. He did nothing else. Some people
would give him corn. Others would give him two or three little kids or
lambs. Thus he had become rich indeed.
Finally one day a young Yaqui man came to his house. This man was a
skilled cowboy and a hunter and also a tanner of hides. He made skin
clothing and sold it for money. His name was E'esuki. Well, this man fell in
love with the young daughter of the rich beggar and she also loved him
very much. The young man, E'esuki, talked with the beggar, asking
permission to marry his daughter.
Abahta Chaheme said, "Yes, it is well. But to support yourself you must do
as I do."

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39

"What is it that you would like me to do?" asked E'esuki.
"Dress yourself as a poor man, use a cane, carry a skin bag about your neck
and another over your shoulders and go everywhere, to all of the rancherías and ask alms. This you will do each day until you have fulfilled six
months. Then you may marry my daughter."
"Oh, no, sir," said the young man, "I have no need to ask charity for I know
how to work at many things. I can earn money in order to support and
dress her well and beautifully."
"Then you may not marry my daughter. I will not permit it unless you enter
into this bargain."
"But sir," said E'esuki, "I do not know how to ask for alms. I do not want to
because I am not hungry. I am an expert hunter. Every day I have fresh
meat."
"Well, if you love my daughter and if you want to marry her, beg."
"Thank you very much. Good-by," said the young man, E'esuki.
He went away and in three days returned to the beggar's house to ask
Abahta Chaheme again for his daughter. She was a beautiful girl with very
large and pretty eyes.
But the beggar did not want to give E'esuki permission to marry his
daughter. Then E'esuki said, "Well, father, I will beg for alms for six months
because I want very much to marry this pretty little girl."
"Very well," said Abahta Chaheme. And he disguised the boy as a beggar
and hung on him two bags and gave him a cane and sent him off.
E'esuki begged for alms and gathered for himself much more money and
many more goats and sheep than he had while working at his own trades.
He finished the six months and returned to Abahta Chaheme, who said,
"Now, indeed, you may marry my daughter. But you must go back to
working at your trades."

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"But now I do not care to work as I used to. I should like to marry your
daughter and continue asking alms in order to support her."
"No," said Abahta Chaheme. "'If you want her, work in order to marry her;
if not, don't."
"Well, then, I prefer not to marry. I would rather ask charity even if I could
not marry her."
"Then you cannot have my daughter," said Abahta Chaheme.
"I shall not marry then. Good-by." And E'esuki left, and he did not marry.
He went on asking for alms, no longer working as a cowboy, or a hunter, or
a tanner of hides, but supporting himself as a beggar. He became very rich
and died an old man, unmarried.
The girl also never married. No one knows what happened to Abahta
Chaheme, but it is believed that he also died.

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THE STICK THAT SANG

O

N THE RIO YAQUI lived two brothers. They lived with their mother
and father. One day they went to some hill, I don't know just where,
to pan gold. There were two canyons at this place; one came from
the north, and the other from the east. The canyons met there. When it
rained, the water brought down gold. The boys went there to find gold. The
smaller boy rode a burro and the older one, a mule.
Miguel, the older boy, said, "José, you go up that canyon. I saw a lot of gold
up there."
Jose took his burro and went. Miguel stayed where he was. There was gold
there, but in little grains, only as big as wheat.
José hunted up in the canyon for a long time. At last he found a big nugget,
a ball of gold. When Miguel came up, he said, "Miguel, I have found a big
nugget."
"Let me see it."
"I don't want to show it to you."

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"I want to see it," said Miguel.
The two boys fought, and Miguel hit José on the head with a rock and killed
him.
Miguel took the ball of gold. He buried José and piled up rocks on the
grave. He let José's burro go, and then left.
When he arrived at his home his father said, "Where is José?"
"I lost him," said Miguel.
"Where?" asked the father.
"Over there."
"Well," said the father, "let's go hunt for him."
They set off and encountered the little burro on the road. "Who knows
what happened," said the father slowly. He began to cry. Miguel took him
to another hill. They found no one.
Many months passed and the muleteers who always went along the road
didn't know anything about it. After six months, a straight little stick grew
up out of the head of the dead boy. There was a little button on top of the
stick.
A muleteer stopped there one day at noon to let his animals graze. He saw
the little stick. "How strange," he said, and he grasped it with his hand.
Then the stick began to sing, saying, "For a ball of gold, my brother killed
me."
The muleteer cut the stick off and carried it with him very carefully.
After traveling three days, he arrived at a pueblo called San Marcial. He
took the little stick about the streets shouting, "I carry a stick that sings.
Two reales to hear it."
"What is this?" said the people. "He carries a stick that knows how to sing?
It couldn't be anything. It's not going to sing. Let's see. Let's hear it sing."

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The muleteer walked about, holding out his hat. The people threw in
money. His hat was almost filled.
Then the muleteer grasped the stick and it sang thus, "For a ball of gold, a
ball of gold, my brother killed me."
The people were frightened. "What can this be? His brother killed him for a
ball of gold?" Many heard.
Now the muleteer went to another pueblo. He went through the streets
calling again, "I carry a little stick that sings all by itself!" Many people
gathered. They threw money into his hat. Then he made the stick sing. It
always sang, "For a ball of gold, my brother killed me."
Then the muleteer went on to the pueblo of Vicam. Here there were no
streets, only one house here, another there, just rancherías. Now the
father of Jose was living there and the muleteer said to him, "Wouldn't you
like to hear a little stick sing""
"Yes," said the old man.
"I will make it sing," said the muleteer. He grasped the stick and it sang,
"For a ball of gold, my brother killed me."
"That sounds like my own son!" said the old man. "It sounds like José, the
son I lost in the mountains."
Everything was discovered against Miguel. But Miguel said that he did not
kill his brother. The father did not know what to believe.
People came from the eight pueblos. And each pueblo had to say one
word. Each man who had a thought spoke. And one of them said, "Whoever killed José would be carrying a ball of gold."
And it was found that Miguel was carrying a ball of gold. For that reason he
was discovered.
He was stood up in front of six soldiers. They shot him in the chest and he
died. They buried him. There it ends. MT

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THE TWO BEARS

O

NCE IN THE land of the Yaquis there were two very amusing men.
One was called Anoki'ichi and the other, Bali'ichi. Anoki'ichi was
even funnier than Bali'ichi. The two friends were inseparable.
Together, they traveled everywhere.
One day while walking about the countryside they killed a bear. They
skinned the bear very carefully, not harming the hide a bit. Anoki'ichi then
suggested to Bali'ichi, "Let's arrange this hide so that it is very pretty."
They did. They filled it with grass so that it appeared to be a live bear. That
was well. They left it so for a few days. When they removed the grass the
stiff hide stood alone looking just like a bear.
Then Anoki'ichi said to Bali'ichi, "Now you get inside of the skin so people
will think it is really a bear. We'll go to all the rancherías about here. I'll
make a drum and play and sing to you while you dance and act funny. That
way we can earn money for food."
This was their plan. Bali'ichi got inside the skin and Anoki'ichi put a thick,
rawhide rope about his neck. They set off, Anoki'ichi carrying a big stick in
one hand and the end of the rope in the other. They visited all the little
farms and ranches for many months. Thus, one day they arrived at the
house of a very rich man who lived far from any other ranch or pueblo and
had a very strong carrizo fence. Anoki'ichi had Bali'ichi dance to a few songs

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45

accompanied by his drum. The bear danced, and the owner of the house
threw some money out. The bear caught it, gave it to his master, and said
thank you by inclining his head and twirling around and around. After the
fiesta, the owner of the house decided this bear was very funny and
wanted to buy him.
"How much do you want for that bear? I will buy him no matter what he
may cost."
"Oh, no, no, sir, I will never sell this animal. He would die of sadness, for I
raised him since he was a wee, little one. Why he earns me my living. If you
should give me this house full of money, I couldn't sell my bear," said
Anoki'ichi.
"Well," said the chief of the house, "then I will give you a cartload of gold
for him and you can marry one of my daughters."
"Why, should you give me two cartloads and two women, I should not give
you my bear. I hold him in high esteem."
"Then tell me what you would like. The question of the bear's ownership is
settled; he is mine," said the householder. And he called two servants and
ordered them to get two carts ready and to fill one of them with gold and
the other with silver.
"Come on," the rich man said. "You will have this money and right over
there you have a woman. Leave the bear with me."
Anoki'ichi went over to the bear and said, "What do you say, my friend, do I
leave you?"
The bear shook his head "no," and wiped his eyes in order that all might
see that he was weeping. He stood on his hind legs and embraced his
master, Anoki'ichi. Into his ear he whispered, saying, "Don't do this to me.
Don't sell me!"
But Anoki'ichi already had his two carts of money and a very pretty girl.
Without a bit of shame, he gave the rich man the bear, took the young
Yaqui girl and all of the money and marched away. He left poor Bali'ichi,
sold.

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The bear was put in a big corral where there was another bear. When
Bali'ichi saw the other bear lying in the shade of a ramada, he was afraid.
This other bear, who was also a man in disguise, was also afraid. He got up
and went slowly to meet the recently arrived bear. Each approached the
other, frightened to death. They were so afraid as they neared one
another, that each was reciting a prayer.
When they got very close together, each heard the other's voice and knew
that they both were only human.
"Are you a man too?" asked Bali'ichi.
"Yes," said the other bear.
"Aha. Let's pretend to fight so our master will think we are really animals.
Get down like this."
They threw one another about, and struggled for a long time. Then they
retired to rest. Thus their master was well satisfied. They fought like this
every day, giving each other swats and bites and hugs. For many months
this went on.
But one day, when the master was sleeping during the siesta hour, the two
bears met.
"My face is hot in this skin," said one. "I'm going to take my head off and
get a breath of fresh air."
Undoing a string about his neck, he took off his mask and stuck his head
out. The other bear did the same, and the two commenced to have a
peaceful smoke. They chatted as they sat facing one another.
The owner awoke and saw the two bears chatting and smoking and he
realized that they were men. Furious, he went for his bow and arrows. To
the bears he said, "Ah, rascals, I found you out today and I am going to kill
you both!"
The two bears jumped over the carrizo fence and ran so fast nobody ever
caught them. To this day, no one knows where they are.

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THE WALKING STONE

T

HERE was a beautiful young woman by the name of Sawali Wiikit, or,
"Little Yellow Bird," who had lovely, long hair, and eyes as shining as
a star. But there was one thing about her that was bad. She was
disobedient, and she liked to walk about with her friends at night without
asking permission of either her father or her mother. She would walk about
until dawn and then come home to sleep.
One day, very early in the morning, Sawali Wiikit came into the house to
sleep. But before she could lie down her mother spoke to her, "Listen to
me, Sawali Wiikit, I don't want you to walk about like this either in the
nighttime or in the daytime. I want to you to help me with the things of the
household. It would be well for you to stop walking about day and night."
Sawali Wiikit did not reply, but she planned in her heart to continue on her
midnight walks in the company of men. She slept, and again at night she
left the house. She went to the home of another woman who always went
with her. This girl's name was Maso Hubi'aria. She didn't walk about at
night, but she would serve Sawali Wiikit pitahaya wine there in her house.
That night they drank and became intoxicated. By dawn, Sawali Wiikit was
quite drunk on pitahaya wine. When she arrived home, her mother and her
father spoke to her.

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Her father said, "If you are not going to stop all of this vice and begin to
respect your parents, then you will do me the favor of going away. Go
anywhere you please."
"Yes, my father, I will go."
"Wait a moment," he said, and he went out of the house. The young girl
waited, and her father soon returned carrying a long, flexible branch. With
him came a maestro from the church of Rahum.
The maestro said to the girl, "So you think it better to leave your mother
and father forever?"
"Yes," replied Sawali Wiikit.
Then the maestro said to her father, "Punish your daughter so that she will
always remember you." So her father gave her three lashes. And he said,
"Now you may go."
The maestro accompanied her out of Rahum to the north. Near a mesquite
tree he said, "Here you may beg forgiveness of Dios for your sins and your
disobedience. If Dios forgives you, you may return to your home."
"But I don't want to return."
"Well, then ask Dios for some penance."
So she knelt and said, "Dios, I do not want to return. I would rather become
a tree or a stone or an animal. I do not want to be a good woman."
She had no more than finished speaking when she was changed into a
stone.
The maestro went back to Rahum and told what had happened. All of the
young people were frightened and were very good to their parents
thereafter.
The stone of Sawali Wiikit walked from there to Rahum, to Guamuchil, to
Potam, and toward Torim. Sometimes people would put it on top of a
mesquite tree, but the next day they would find it somewhere else. Once

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they found it near Lencho, and they carried it to Torim and put it in front of
the church. But it was not there at dawn. It is said that lately it has been
seen in the vicinity of Vicam. This is the story of Sawali Wiikit, the walking
stone. It ends here.

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SUN AND MOON

T

HE SUN loves the moon. She is his sweetheart. He wants her for his
wife. But once the moon said to him, "I will marry you, but only on
the condition that you give me a gift. Anything suits me, but it must
be to my measurement."
"What kind of a gift would you like?" asked the sun.
"It doesn't matter, as long as it fits me."
"Good," said the sun. He brought her a gift, the best that there was. But he
could not get the correct measurement. He never could. He would measure
her carefully so that it would fit just right. Then he would bring the gift and
it would be too small, or maybe too large. So it went on, and he never
could fit her.
For this reason, the sun could never marry the moon. He loves her very
much and also he wants her because the wealth that she owns is durable.
The sun's wealth never lasts. It disappears very quickly. This tale is very sad.
LC

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FIVE FRIENDS OF TAKOCHAI

T

HERE lived in the land of the Yaqui an Indian called Teta Hiapsi and
he was very industrious. He enjoyed building good things. For this
reason, he talked one day with a large group of Yaquis to see if they
would work for him if he paid them a fair salary. In those days, there were
no dollars, or half-dollars. Instead, the Yaquis used for money some silver
discs, lacking any stamp, discs about four inches in diameter and an inch
thick. They called them te'okita, which means pure silver. They also used
similar discs of gold which they called sawai tomi, which is the same as
saying yellow money.
All of the Indians wanted to work with Teta Hiapsi, so he put them to work
cutting sticks and branches to make a serco, or fence. This serco was
twenty-four kilometers in circumference and in its center, a little creek ran
all the time. In this corral there were lions, bears, tigers, and snakes of
many sizes. In fact, Teta Hiapsi's serco surrounded an immense forest
containing in it a number of water-holes.
Thus Teta Hiapsi considered himself very rich indeed. Also he had a cave,
quite wide and deep, full of te'okita and sawai tomi. From it he paid his
workers every Saturday.
One Saturday arrived and he paid all of his workers except one Yaqui
whose name was Takochai. To Takochai he said, "You didn't get any money.
So you may do anything you want to me to get even." Teta Hiapsi was a
very curious man. He enjoyed jokes and pranks, and he knew that Takochai
was a clever trickster. He knew that something would happen.
Well, Takochai went away to think of something to do to Teta Hiapsi to get
even.
To a little stream which lies west of Cumuripa among some low hills, to a
little valley fertile and picturesque, Takochai took his bow and arrows. In
this place he met a big Indian. This Indian was so strong that to amuse
himself he walked along tearing up mesquite trees by the roots as if they
were onions. He would give one jerk and the tree with all its root would

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come up and he would toss it off into the distance. He did the same with
sahuaros. This Yaqui was very strong.
Takochai came up to him and said, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm just pulling up these little sticks," answered the Indian, Hoso
Hoseli.
"May I go along with you?" asked Takochai.
"Why yes, it would give me pleasure," said Hoso Hoseli, and the two
walked on a little distance together. It was late and they stopped to sleep
under a tree.
The next day they took to the road again. They had only traveled a little
distance when they met a Yaqui who was pointing an arrow at a mountain
range which was so far away that it could hardly be seen.
"What are you doing?" asked Takochai.
"I wanted to kill a deer that was over there in those mountains, but you
disturbed me and the deer has gone."
"Oh, but how distant are those mountains!" exclaimed Takochai. "They are
barely visible."
"More distant deer have I killed," responded the hunter whose name was
Mekkata'obia, which means Light that Illumines the Distance. Takochai
invited Mekkata'obia to come along with him and Hoso Hoseli, and the
three adventurers went off.
They soon met a tall, thin Indian. He was standing on one foot holding a
rope made of hide and tying the other leg which was doubled up. They
saluted him and asked, "What are you doing, tying up your leg like that?"
He answered, "I am tying up this leg so I won't walk so fast. With two legs I
run as fast as the wind, and with one tied I can walk about as fast as a light
breeze." This Yaqui was called Yuku Beo'oti, or Lightning. Takochai and
Hoso Hoseli and Mekkata'obia invited Yuku Beo'oti to accompany them,

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and the four went on together. They went on until it was late and they
stopped to sleep.
The next day they again took to the road. After walking only a short
distance they met a very short little Yaqui who wore a skin cap. One side of
this cap was decorated with red feathers and the other side with green
ones. When he put it on with the red feathers to the right the weather
became hot, and when he put it on with the green feathers to the right it
became cold. He kept making this change every minute, never stopping.
This little fellow was called Tasa'a Bali, which means Cool Summer. He is
called this because he made heat and cold by moving his headdress of two
colors.
The four companions invited Tasa'a Bali to come along with them, and now
there were five.
The next day they encountered a man on top of a little hill. He stood with
his feet upon a rock and one hand against a tree. With the other hand he
stopped up one of his nostrils. Through the other nostril he blew mightily, a
volcano of air. The travelers came up to him and asked him what he was
doing.
The man on the hill said that over on the other side of the green monte
were many Yaquis milling earth and rock to take out the gold. "I make the
mills run by blowing with this nostril. There are four mills for the stone and
three to draw up water. When I stop blowing, those windmills stop. Right
now while I am chatting, they are quiet."
His name was Hekkateni'a.
Takochai and his companions invited this great blower to come along with
them.
So the six companions all went on to the serco of Teta Hiapsi.
Takochai greeted Teta Hiapsi and said, "I have come to bet with you, Teta
Hiapsi, to win from you all that you own."
And Teta Hiapsi agreed to run a race.

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Now, Teta Hiapsi had a daughter who was something of a witch woman. It
was known that she knew how to fly like a bird. But Takochai was now the
chief of five clever men.
Many Indians, men and women and boys, gathered to see the race
between the witch and the swiftest of the companions, Yuku Beo'oti. Since
Takochai had no money, he put up his life against this witch whose name
was Sochik, meaning Bat.
The race was to be from ili bakam to bemela ba'am, such a great distance
that a man on a good horse traveling at a run does not arrive there in one
long summer day.
The people gathered and the racers were ready. Someone gave the shout
to start. Sochik flew off through the air as fast as she could, and Yuku
Beo'oti disappeared like the wind. He soon arrived at bemela ba'am, filled
his canteen with water and started back. This was the agreement. He who
should arrive there and fill his canteen and be the first back in ili bakam
was to win the race.
When Yuku Beo'oti was about half way back, he lay down to sleep, putting
his head on a stump.
Sochik had hardly started for bemela ba'am. When she came upon Yuku
Beo'oti and saw him sleeping, she threw the water out of his canteen and
went on her way toward the waterhole. Then Mekkata'obia, from the great
distance saw that the water had been thrown out and he shot an arrow
into the tree trunk that served Yuku Beo'oti as a pillow. Yuku Beo'oti awoke
and noticed that his water had been thrown out. Taking his canteen, he ran
past Sochik to the waterhole, filled it, and returned to ili bakam with the
water. Thus Yuku Beo'oti won the race and Sochik lost, for she arrived very
late.
"I have lost," said Teta Hiapsi pleasantly. And he gave Takochai half of a
cave full of silver and gold. "Now, in order for you to win from me all that I
own, you and your men must sleep inside of that oven all night."
The oven was big and square. It was used to cook large animals in. There
were no windows in it. It was on top of four big flat stones.

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Takochai looked at the oven and said, "Very well, we shall all sleep there.
And tomorrow you must give me all of. your money and your well and your
animals."
Takochai and his five companions entered the oven, and Teta Hiapsi, with
the help of other Indians, covered it. They put firewood below and above
and lit the fire and it burned all night.
When the men inside began to feel the heat, Tasa'a Bali put his cap on with
the green side to the right and they felt no more heat.
Dawn came and Teta Hiapsi thought that they must be well cooked. But
when he opened the door they all stepped out, alive and shivering from
cold.
Thus Teta Hiapsi had to give all of the gold and silver in his cave to
Takochai. The companions made a huge purse of many skins. In it they put
the money and Hoso Hoseli tossed it up on his shoulders as if it were
nothing. He was very strong, Hoso Hoseli, that man who pulls up mesquite
trees.
"Now, let us go," said Takochai to his companions. "We will come back for
the rest later." And they marched away in triumph.
Teta Hiapsi then gathered together some six hundred Yaquis to follow and
kill Takochai and his men. But Mekkata'obia, who could see far, discovered
them. The friends stopped at the foot of a little hill above a large plain.
When the Yaquis of Teta Hiapsi came across the plain, Takochai ordered
Hekkateni'a, he of the great wind, to blow at them. Hekkateni'a covered
one nostril and blew so strongly that the Yaquis were blown high into the
air, very high. Then he stopped blowing and the Yaquis fell to the earth like
stones. Here ends this tale.

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THE MAN WHO BECAME A BUZZARD

N

EAR the pueblo of Bacum there once lived a Yaqui called Malon
Yeka, which means Prairie Dog Nose. He was a man with deep and
profound desires to know much and have many things within his
power. He wanted to have all sorts of things, without working. He had a
wife and a number of children. However, he was lazy. He wanted everything to come to him by miracle. Also, he possessed a number of strange
ideas. Sometimes he would have the desire to travel underground, and he
dreamed of subterranean passages which were very dark. Other times he
awoke with the desire to fly like the birds.
One day he took a little cottonwood bench and went off to sit in the shade
of a tree near his hut. Seated there with a hand on his right hip, he watched
many birds fly about. Among them were some buzzards, vultures, and
crows. "Thus, thus I should like to fly," said Malon Yeka.
Suddenly a buzzard came down close to him and said, "What is it that you
are thinking about?"
"Almost nothing," answered Malon Yeka. "I was wishing I could be a
buzzard like you, and could fly as high as you and see as far as you."
"Well, I am going to give you your wish," said the buzzard, taking off his
plumage and wings as if they were a little house. He handed them to the
man and said, "Now give me your shirt and pants. We will exchange places

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for six days. You will become a buzzard so that you may go high against the
wind to wherever you desire, and I will stay here in your place.
"It suits me," said Malon Yeka.
"Listen well to me," said the buzzard. "The life of a buzzard is very hard.
There are days when there is nothing to cat. Buzzard food is not sure thing.
Sometimes, if there should be some dead animal, you will have plenty. But
between times you will suffer much hunger."
Then they parted. The buzzard became a man and the man became a
buzzard.
The buzzard, who was now a man, was not accustomed to walking. He
went about laboriously, giving little hops because he did not know how to
take normal steps like a man. That night he ate the food they served him.
Then he went to bed, close to the man's wife. She could not sleep the
whole night long because of the buzzard smell. He smelled of dead horse.
During the daytime everyone looked with surprise upon his mode of
walking.
The man who was now a buzzard did not have any time to fly as he had
wished. He hopped about from branch to branch, hoping to find some dead
animal. At night he arrived at a ranch where they were making cheese. He
was very hungry. He flew down to the house and went close to where they
were making cheese. A little girl said, "Look at this clean buzzard! I think he
is a pet from some other house. I believe they must have beaten him and
he ran over here. Give the poor little one something to eat."
But they would not give him anything.
The man who was a buzzard went away, hopping. He was too weak from
hunger to fly.
When the six days had passed, the real buzzard presented himself to the
man who gave him back his plumage and his thanks, saying, "I no longer
wish to be a buzzard, for I know what hunger is."

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Thus they took leave of one another. The bird flew off and the man
returned to his house, his desires satisfied. Never again did he wish to be a
buzzard.

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THE SNAKE PEOPLE

L

ONG AGO there lived a Yaqui by the name of Habiel Mo'el. He was an
orphan, but he had many relatives all over the Yaqui country. This
man did not enjoy hunting as most young Yaqui men did. Instead, he
liked lo travel from house to house and from pueblo to pueblo, attending
fiestas and eating and chatting with his friends and relatives.
The only weapon he ever carried was a big, thick club. He lived at the foot
of the hill, Mete'etomakame. One day he started out for Hekatakari where
there was to be a little fiesta. When he came to Maata'ale, the monte
became too thick for passage, and he turned around and went to Jori. From
Jori, he cut across toward Bataconsica, where an arroyo empties into the
Rio Yaqui. Travel there was very difficult, for the undergrowth was
extremely dense. He crawled on his belly under branches, crawled over
them, or pushed past them.
When he came upon a sort of clearing, a big snake appeared, crawling
across his path. Habiel Mo'el hit the snake right in its middle, but it
vanished into the underbrush before he could strike it again. So he
continued on his path toward the ranchería at Hekatakari.
Suddenly, what had been nothing but thick monte stretching before him
became a large Yaqui pueblo with many people in it, moving about their
business. Habiel Mo'el felt very strange. As he walked between the houses,
a cabo from the guardia came up to him. and greeted him.

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He told Habiel Mo'el that his chief would like to see him at the guardia. So
the two went over there. Inside, on the front bench was seated the head
kobanao. On the next bench, Habiel Mo'el was told to seat himself. The
other kobanaom were seated on the other benches. To one side a young
girl was sitting. About her waist was a bandage of leaves.
The head kobanao spoke to Habiel Mo'el, "We have brought you here to
ask you why you beat a girl this afternoon as you were traveling along
between Jori and Bataconsica.
Habiel Mo'el was very surprised. He replied that from Jori to this place he
had met no one on his journey. "I did not beat any girl," he said.
"You struck a girl this afternoon, and you are liable to punishment. Why did
you do this?" insisted the kobanaom.
Habiel Mo'el could not remember having done so; and he repeated this.
Then he explained where he had come from and his route, saying that he
had seen no girl on the path. He respectfully asked their pardon, but
insisted that he had done nothing at all.
The head kobanao turned to the girl, who was seated to one side, and
asked her if this were the man who had beaten her.
"Yes," she answered. "'And he is still carrying the stick with which he beat
me and almost killed me. That is the man."
Habiel Mo'el said that he had never seen the girl before and that he
remembered nothing of it. He again asked their pardon, but disclaimed
guilt. The kobanaom considered the matter among themselves.
Then the head kobanao said, "We will pardon you this once, since it is your
first offense. But after this, when you are traveling, never harm anyone at
all who may cross your path offering you no danger. You may go this time."
Habiel Mo'el thanked them and left the guardia. As he went out, he found
himself in the middle of the monte with no sign of a village.

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He traveled on toward his destination. It was dark when he arrived at
Hekatakari and the house of his relative. He greeted the little old man
whose name was Wete'epoi.
They sat down to a meal of pitahaya and Habiel Mo'el told Wete'epoi about
his strange experience concerning the appearance and disappearance of
the large Yaqui pueblo, and of his accusation.
The old man listened and then said, "You have done a great wrong. All
animals, as well as people, have their authorities and their laws. You hurt a
snake which crossed your path, doing you no harm. The authorities of that
group took action against you. You must never again do that thing. The
chiefs of the snakes met when the girl complained. They turned into people
to punish you. I will give you some advice. Never hurt any snake, coyote, or
any kind of animal, which is just crossing your path and offering no harm. If
a snake lies coiled in the path, kill it. You are defending yourself then. But
always kill it completely, never let it get away or it will complain and its
chiefs will punish you."

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OMTEME

W

HEN YOMUMULI took her people, the Surem, and went away to
the north because she did not like the things said by the talking
stick, she left governors behind for each region. These chiefs
lived on the tops of mountains along the Rio Yaqui. There was one
governor who lived in the hill of Omteme. He was very wise. He knew that
the Conquest would come and all of the things it would bring with it. He
knew that it would come with two words--good and bad. All of this he
knew from the stick that talked. The name of this chief was Omteme, which
means "He is Angry." Omteme was standing on top of his hill when
Columbus came into port at Guaymas. He was very angry because he knew
that the Spaniards were coming with treachery.
Columbus climbed a hill near Guaymas, which is now called Takalaim and
he saw Omteme in the distance. Omteme wanted to know what the
conqueror intended to do, so he asked, "On what conditions do you want
to make the Conquest?"

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Since Columbus did not have a good heart, he took his big gun and shot at
Omteme. The shot fell short and Omteme asked again, "What do you
want? What are you doing?"
Columbus shot a second time, this time coming closer, but not quite
reaching Omteme. The chief did not understand guns. He still kept asking
of the conqueror how he intended to make the Conquest.
Columbus shot a third time and the ball reached the foot of Omteme's hill.
When Omteme saw the shot he said, "Oh, so you want war!"
He took his bow and an arrow and he shot. The arrow hit the top of the hill
on which the conqueror stood, splitting the mountain in two. The conqueror fell into the sea and drowned.
Then Omteme spoke to his people. "You who wish to, may stay. I am
leaving now." And he descended into the heart of his hill.
Most of the people also went into the mountains or into the sea, for they
could not accept the Conquest. Like their chief, Omteme, they said, "I am
leaving now." LC

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JUAN SIN MIEDO

J

UAN SIN MIEDO was so called because he could not conceive of what it
was to be afraid of anything. Once he was asked to be caretaker of a
certain house which the owner could not get anyone to stay in overnight. It was said to be full of spirits and ghosts. Juan said that he would
stay there, of course.
So Juan went there to live. The first night as he was sitting in one of the
rooms he heard a voice from up in the ceiling say, "Shall I fall, or shall I
not?"
Juan looked up to see who was talking, but could see nothing. He answered, "Sure, fall if you like."
So into his lap fell a skeleton. Juan Sin Miedo lifted the head and looked at
it. "Hmm. A skeleton, without any clothes or skin." He threw it into the
corner and walked out into the yard.
There he saw a hammock, the one in which the owner of the house, now
dead, used to steep. "So this is where he used to sleep. I guess I'll sleep
here too." He lay down and closed his eyes. A moment later he opened
them to see, seated all around him, a group of dead people dressed in
mourning and seated about a coffin.
"Oh, a funeral. Poor fellow," he remarked.

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The corpses were chatting and smoking. Juan asked for a cigarette. When a
ghost handed it to him, Juan looked carefully at the man's face. "How
strange. You don't have any eyes. How can you see?"
Thus he chatted with them. He noticed that when each man finished
smoking his cigarette he put the butt into the mouth of the dead man. So
Juan did the same.
In the distance appeared a tall man dressed in black. On seeing him
approach, the ghosts whispered to one another, "The owner!" and they all
ran away in fear.
The man in black rode up to Juan on a big, black mule. "Good morning,
Juan," he said. "Have you been here all night?"
"Yes," said Juan Sin Miedo.
The owner of the property looked at Juan with interest and said, "How
would you like to be head of all this property? You are the only man who
will stay here at night. They have put soldiers with guns around, but they
die of fright from hearing noises at night, and so join the rest of us here."
"I'd be glad to be chief here, if there is wealth for me in the offer," said
Juan.
The owner pointed to the hacienda full of rich furnishings. "This will be
yours if you will care for it. You may also have my mule and clothes, for I
must return to the graveyard now that sunrise is about here."
So Juan took the clothes and the mule. When he rode into the adjoining
town, the people thought he was the ghost of the real owner and they ran
and hid. So Juan became owner of the whole region as well.

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67

THE BOY WHO BECAME A KING

T

HREE BOYS decided to leave their mother and father and go away to
work. Their mother made a lunch for each of them and they left.
They came to a place where there were some fig trees; here, they
ate lunch. At this place the road branched three ways. After lunch, the:
oldest boy said that he would take the road that went straight ahead. "In
one year from now we will meet at this fig tree." The oldest boy cut the
tree saying, "When blood comes out of a cut in this tree, it means bad luck;
if milk flows, it is good luck."
The oldest boy found good work, and married a fine girl, the daughter of
his boss. The next oldest boy married a good girl, and he had good luck. But
the youngest encountered very bad luck indeed.
Although the country was full of all kinds of animals, he hunted all day long
but found no game for his supper. That night he hunted a place in which he
could sleep, and he found a cave. In the cave was a lion. And the lion said
to him, "Don't you have any bad luck in your travels about this country?"
"No," said the youngest boy.

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The lion then said, "Don't you want to be my captain?"
"Good," said the boy, "but I don't know how to talk your language very
well."
"That is all right," answered the lion. "You'll learn soon." The lion took out a
horn, blew it, and called all the animals together. When the animals of all
the world were there together, the lion talked with them about making this
boy their captain. They all said that they would like him for a captain.
Then the lion taught the boy how to talk with every kind of animal. When
the boy had been there a month a crow came to see him, and she said,
"Listen, my friend, I have two little crows. I want them to be baptized."
"Very well," said the boy. "Bring them here. I will baptize them." So now
the boy had two little crow god-children. The father crow brought to the
boy an egg. "Take this egg, compadre," he said, "and whatever you want,
ask the egg for it--it doesn't matter what it is, you'll get it."
So the boy took the egg and set out for a big pueblo. He arrived there very
late at night. He took the egg out of his pocket and asked it to make him
into a negro, and to give him a guitar. In his black attire, carrying the guitar,
he stopped at the house of a lady. He greeted her, "Good evening."
"Good evening, young negro," she answered.
"I would like to sleep here," he said.
The lady said, "That's all right." She gave him a supper of tortillas, meat,
and beans. When he had eaten, she asked him to play and sing. He did. He
knew many songs not known to other singers. The lady was so delighted
she wanted to dance.
He slept all night on a mat on the floor. Early in the morning the lady arose.
She told him to get up. After breakfast she told him to remain there looking
after the house while she went out. This lady knew the king in that pueblo
very well.
She went to the king and told him that she had a negro who was very good
at playing the guitar and singing.

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"Where is he?" asked the king.
"He is in my house." So the king sent a man to bring the negro to him. This
man arrived at the house and said to the boy, "The king wants you." The
boy was surprised. "Don't be afraid," said the man. "Let's go."
When the king saw the negro and heard him play he was very pleased and
said, "What size shoe do you wear?"
"Six," he answered. So the king ordered shoes and a whole set of new
clothes made for the negro. Before putting on these new, clean clothes, the
negro went to a place where he could bathe himself.
Now, the king had a daughter who was very pretty. This girl wanted to see
the negro boy when he had no clothes on, so she looked through a crack at
him when he was bathing. The boy had taken off his outer, black skin and
she saw him as a very beautiful boy. She said nothing of this to anyone.
After bathing, the boy put on his black skin and his new clothes and went to
supper. Afterwards, the king asked him to sing. He took his guitar and
played and sang. They all enjoyed it very much. But the daughter knew
about him. She said, "That guitar is old. He should have a new one." The
king told the negro that he should have a new guitar.
But the boy said, "No, this is just as good as a new one."
A week later the girl told her father that she would like to get married. So
her father sent out notices that he who should have one peso more than
the king himself would be allowed to marry his daughter. Many rich dukes
came and talked to the king, but not one of them had the necessary
wealth. The king was always ahead.
When they had all gone away, the little negro went alone to a small hill
outside of the pueblo. Here he took out his egg and talked to it. He said he
would like to have a palace, better than all the palaces in the world. Before
him, inside the hill arose a palace of pure gold. He then asked for it to be
furnished completely with tables and chairs of pure gold. And it was. He
ordered pigs and horses to be put in the stables and yards. These also were
of gold, and they ate golden grains of corn. The boy went out and com-

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manded that a huge iron gate be put across at the entrance. Then he went
to visit the lady who had taken him to the king. He did not speak of his
palace, but said that he had come to see her. She was pleased and asked
him to sing for her.
The next day the negro asked the king, "Why didn't your daughter marry
one of those rich men who came here?"
"Because they didn't have any more money than I have," answered the
king.
"I have more money than you have," said the negro.
"Where?" asked the king."Do you see that hill over there?" The king
thought that there must be a rich mine in the hill.
"Yes, I see the hill," said the king. "Let's go see it closer." The girl wanted to
go along too, so the king ordered a big coach for her. They came to the hill
and the king said, "Where is your money?"
The negro, dismounting, took out a huge iron key. Everyone was surprised
as he went to open the gate. They looked in, then covered their faces with
their hands because of the brilliance of the treasure inside. But the girl said
to her father, "Go in, go in, go in."
They all entered and saw the palace all made of gold. "Look at my pigs,"
said the boy. They were also of gold.
"You beat me by one pig!" said the king.
"Let's go see my horses," said the negro. The king didn't need more to
convince him, but he was always interested in horses, so they went to the
stables. The horses were also of gold.
"That's enough. I want to see no more. You can marry my daughter," said
the king. The next day the boy married the king's daughter.
The king loved his son-in-law very much. It didn't matter if he was a negro;
he was rich. At the wedding everybody danced. The girl danced until she

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perspired very much. The boy took out a huge handkerchief and wiped her
face for her. The next day they went to their palace in the hill.
They were very happy. He talked to her about his two crow god-children.
"But," he said, "I must leave you for a while. It is nearly a year since I left
home and I must go see my father."
He ordered ten mules loaded down with money and five men to care for
them. The girl warned him that he would have to pass a place where there
were many thieves. "Take care," she said, "when you pass that place."
"Very well," he replied, and he set out. Tile next day he arrived where the
thieves were. They asked him to stop and play at barratas with them. He
did, and they won from him all of his mules, with their loads. Next, he lost
his fine clothes and had to put on the old clothes of one of the thieves. He
sent his five muleteers away, saying there was no more work. Then he set
out on foot toward his home.
Since that day had marked a year since he had taken leave of his brothers,
he arrived late at the fig tree. He cut the tree, and it indicated good luck by
weeping milk. So he went on.
He arrived at his home looking like a vagabond. On seeing him, his parents
did not want to admit that he was of their family. His father said to him,
"You are no longer my son. Your brothers have done well, but look at you."
That evening they handed him his supper out of the window. They didn't
want him in the house. He was told that he could care for the chickens and
pigs. If he wanted to stay there, he must sleep in the chicken house.
"Take care that the chickens don't drop on you," said his father.
He went to the chicken house where he was to sleep. When he got there,
he talked to the chickens. "If one of you makes a single dropping during the
whole night, I'll wring your neck and throw you outside!" he warned them.
They all listened attentively.
One chicken said, "This captain is very strict, so be careful."

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About midnight, the boy heard a chicken make a dropping. He knew that it
was an old, old rooster, but he asked, "Who did that?"
"Not I." said the nearest hen.
"Not I," said the next. And so on down the roost each answered, "Not I."
When the question came to the old rooster, he said nothing. The others
said that he had done it, and, finally, he admitted it. The boy twisted his
neck and threw him outside, a good lesson to the chickens, who did not
make a dropping all that night.
The boy's father came the next morning and saw the chicken house clean.
"How could this be?" he wondered.
He had some three hundred pigs who were very dangerous and unmanageable. "You are going to take the pigs out today. Be careful, for they are
broncos," he said to the boy.
The boy went to the pig sty. There he talked with a big white pig. The pig
recognized him as a leader. The boy told this pig to tell the rest of the pigs
not to act up that day. And the white pig did so.
The father wanted to count the pigs as they left, so the boy ordered them
to pass the gate of the sty in pairs, marching as if in an army. The father
was astounded. The pigs marched in pairs out into the country.
The boy said to the white pig, "Tell your companions not to wander far, for
I am going to take a nap." They minded him, for they were very contented
with their captain. In the afternoon, they returned, marching home to the
sty.
The boy thought often of his wife and the golden palace he had left. In a
suit at home he had left the crow's egg. After about a month his wife began
to wonder what could have happened to her husband.
One day the boy saw a crow flying overhead.
"Stop a minute, compadre." he called to the crow. The crow turned about
and came back. It was, indeed, his compadre.

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73

"What happened to you?" asked the crow.
The boy told him all that had passed. "If I had paper and pen, I would write
to my wife," he added, for he knew how to write very well.
The white pig had a suggestion. He told the crow to fly out to a trash pile
and bring back a piece of paper. Then the pig told the crow to pull out a
feather. "Make a little hole in the back of my neck and use my blood for
ink."
Thus the boy wrote a letter to his wife telling her where the egg was, and
asking her to bring it to him.
The crow took the note and flew to the palace of gold. The girl was seated
in the door, sadly thinking. She saw the crow fly low over her and suddenly
remembered that her husband had a crow compadre. When the, crow said
"Crak, crak," she called it to come on down. It turned about and brought
her the note.
She went to the suit and found the egg in the pocket. She then ordered ten
mules loaded with money. She put on clothes of a man, took her pistol, and
set out, accompanied by five men. She arrived at the house of the boy's
father, where she was received most graciously, for they thought she was a
rich man. At dinner the father of the boy talked of the tramp who was
caring for the pigs and chickens. He didn't know quite what kind of a
person he was, for the chickens never soiled the floor of their house at
night when this man slept there, and the wild pigs were now very tame and
marched like soldiers for him.
The woman, who was dressed as a man, watched at the window and saw
the boy come for his dinner. As he went to the chicken house, she joined
him. She sat with him while he ate. She said nothing of who she was. "If I
show you something I have here, perhaps you will remember me," she said
and reached in her pocket and pulled out the handkerchief with which he
had wiped her face at their wedding. At that, he recognized his wife. She
had brought him a suit of fine clothes, and some women's clothes for
herself. They were very happy. They spent the night in the chicken house.

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The next morning the father complained that it was very late and that
tramp had not yet got up to feed the chickens. He went out and knocked at
the door. "Get up!" he said. "The chickens are hungry and it is late."
"Excuse me a moment, I'll be out in a little while," the boy answered.
At last he and his wife appeared, dressed in all their finery.
The old man said, "Of course, of course, you are my son."
But the boy, by means of the egg, destroyed his father, the house and
everything but the animals. With his wife he went home to their palace of
gold in the hill. RL

Yaqui Myths and Legends

75

KAIMAN

D

OWN on the Yaqui River the waters of the sea once rose and
reached far up into the monte where many things were growing,
such as sinam, choan, and ono'em. Among all these natural plants,
the water came and carried with it the great turtle, Kaiman. Thus has it
been said.
When the waters receded this great animal remained on the ground among
the trees. And it could not raise itself.
After the flood, a Yaqui encountered this Kaiman stretched in the sun.
When the Yaquis see such a thing, they always feel pity. This trait of the
Yaquis is very stupid. The man placed the huge Kaiman on his shoulders. It
was heavy. And he carried it to the river. Arriving at the bank, he entered
the water up to his knees, and started to put the animal down into the
water.
Kaiman then spoke, "There is very little water here. Would you be so kind
as to carry me out a bit farther. I am very weak and hungry."
So the Yaqui carried him out until the water reached to his waist.
"Oh," said Kaiman, "farther than this, please, just a little farther."
"I can't walk very well," said the man, "but I will do what you ask." Until the
water reached his neck, he carried the animal out and then put him down.

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"I wish you might have carried me farther out," said Kaiman. "But this will
do. Now I would like to ask the favor of eating you."
The man could not move. He said, "Are you not satisfied that I have done
you a great favor? Why should you now want to eat me?"
"Don't you know that a good deed is always paid with evil?"
The man was very sad to hear this. He had no strength now. "Very well," he
said, "But wait a minute. Over there comes someone who may know if it is
right for you to eat me or not."
A dog appeared at the edge of the river to take a drink. The turtle spoke to
the dog, saying, "Is it not certain that a good deed is always repaid with
evil?"
"Why?" asked the dog.
"Because I should like to eat this man."
"Eat him, then. Man is bad. He beats us."
But the man said, "Wait. Here comes another friend of mine who might
help me."
A horse came up. To him Kaiman said, "Is it not true that a good deed is
paid with evil?"
"Why?" said the horse.
To him also, Kaiman said, "Because I wish to eat this man."
Said the horse, "Then eat him."
Then along came a goat, and other animals of the household. And every
one of them answered, "Eat him."
Last of all came Coyote. Kaiman was getting restless and more and more
hungry. But he said to Coyote, "It is true is it not, that a good deed is paid
with evil?"

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"What's that you say?" asked Coyote. "I am a bit deaf." Coyote had learned
this trick from the Mexicans. "Come a little nearer. I can't hear a thing you
say."
"Isn't it true that a good deed is paid with evil?" asked Kaiman, moving
closer to Coyote. "I want to eat this man."
"What did this man do?" asks Coyote.
"He carried me into the deep water."
"Yes, I carried him here," said the man.
"And from where?" asks Coyote.
"From the monte."
"Well," says Coyote, "Let us go to the monte. There's where the trouble
started." Then he asks, "And how did this man carry you?"
"Why, this way."
"Well, carry him that way, then," said Coyote to the man. So the man
picked up Kaiman and carried him back to the monte.
"Here we are," says Kaiman.
"Well," says Coyote, "Put him down the way you found him." Then he asks,
"Were you in that position?"
"Yes," replies Kaiman, "Like this."
"All right," says Coyote to the man, "leave him there. And don't ever pick
up this kind of animal again."
And Coyote ate Kaiman. LC

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THE BIG BIRD

THIS is Yaqui belief.

A

great bird lived on the hill of Otam Kawi. Every morning he would
fly out in search of food. He caught men, women and little children
and carried them back to Otam Kawi to eat. In those days the
people always were watchful. They couldn't have fiestas because when
they had pascolas, always two or three of the people were carried away by
the big bird. The Yaquis lived in hu'ukis, little houses made of mud and
branches that looked like the house of a pack-rat, because they were afraid
of the great bird.
There was an old man who earned his livelihood by hunting deer. He did
nothing else. He had only one daughter. She was big with a child who was
soon to be born, when the bird carried away her husband. The old hunter,
his wife and the daughter only remained, and the daughter pregnant. The
baby came in the afternoon.
It was a man child that the girl had. And the old grandfather continued
hunting deer.
About a year later the grandmother went out early one morning to bring in
water. The bird came by and carried her away. So the grandfather and the
girl went on bringing up the child.

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The next year the bird carried away the mother, and the grandfather
brought the child up on cow's milk. There were cows in those days, but no
animals of the claw.
When the little boy was old enough to walk, he went everywhere with his
grandfather. He walked all over the monte hunting. This little boy never
grew very big. When he was ten, he was still very small.
One afternoon he was seated outside of the house and he said, "I have no
mother."
"Ah," said the grandfather, "The big bird carried her away. First he took
your father, then your grandmother, then your mother."
"Where is that bird? I am going to grow up and kill that bird."
The old man laughed.
When the boy was older, his grandfather made him a bow and some
arrows, and every day he went out practicing. He became very strong. But
he was still small. When he was fifteen years old, he measured no more
than three and a half feet in stature. He went everywhere with the old
deer-hunter, his grandfather.
One day the boy said, "I am going to hunt out that bird. I am angry." When
he was still not full-grown, he went about alone, walking through the
monte and looking up into the sky.
There is a level plain east of Potam called maretabo'oka'apo. There the
little boy walked. He had been hunting for three days. He carried many
arrows in his quiver of javelina hide. Then he saw the bird. Quickly he
jumped into a hole. The big bird sat down in a mesquite tree, waiting for
him to come out of the hole. The boy stayed there all day long, watching
the big bird in the mesquite tree. He saw everything; the size, the colors of
the feathers, the big eyes, and all. At night he went farther back in the hole
and fell asleep. Late at night he awoke. The bird had gone with the coming
of night.
Three days later, the boy returned to his home, very late. His grandfather
was not there. The boy carried two dark sticks on which he had placed

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many pitahayas. He hung them near the door where his grandfather would
enter. The boy was inside cooking deer meat when the old man returned
and saw the pitahayas.
As he entered he asked, "My son, where have you been?"
"Over in the hills."
"Weren't you afraid of the big bird?"
The little boy said, "I saw him. I saw all of his colored feathers and his big
eyes. I climbed into a hole. I return only to ask permission to kill the bird.
This bow would never kill him. It is too little. I wish you would make me one
of that wood called kunwo. And I need another kind of arrow, made of wo'i
baka. I will go as soon as you make me these."
"But you are so little. That bird will kill you," said the old man.
Many Yaquis lived in the neighborhood and they all came over that night to
talk. They asked the little boy if he had really seen the big bird.
"Yes, I saw it. It has feathers of many colors, a big body, and long claws. I
am going to make a lot of little animals out of that bird."
"This boy is crazy," said an old man. And many of the elders believed that
he was. "But we'll see," said these older men. And they went back to their
homes.
The old grandfather then made three kinds of pinol. The little boy had
asked him to. He made pinol of corn, of wheat, and of garbanzas. When the
little boy had this and his bow and arrows, he said, "Call the people
together."
All of the people gathered, kobanaom, soldiers, women and children.
Everybody came, from all of the eight pueblos. They said, "Are you the boy
who is going to kill the big bird?"
"Are you the man?" laughed a kobanao.
"Yes," said the little boy.

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Then an old man who lived near to Otam Kawi spoke. "Wait for this bird
near Otam Kawi. He lives there. He only goes away to catch the people. He
always comes back there. You will see there a great pile of bones."
The people bade the boy good-by that night, and he said to his grandfather,
"Now I know I can kill that bird. I will be back in three days."
Everybody was content. "If you kill him, we can have pascolas again!"
The next day, before dawn, the boy and the grandfather left. At dawn, they
saw the bird fly over. But they were safe below the mesquite trees. They
walked through the monte toward Otam Kawi. "No farther than this," said
the boy, Leave me here. I'm going to find out where the big bird roosts."
All day long the boy waited. At last he saw the bird come in and alight in a
large tree. Night fell and the bird went to sleep. Then the boy softly
approached the tree. There, he knelt and prayed for a long time. Then he
began to measure. He measured twenty-five feet from the foot of the
mesquite tree toward the west. There he made a deep hole, ten feet deep.
When dawn came, he was still hunting poles and branches with which to
cover it.
The bird saw him and was angry. The boy went down into the hole. He
prepared his bow well. The bird came down from the mesquite tree and
went to the cave. The boy was inside, looking out. He shot the big bird in
the eye with an arrow.
The bird flew to the top of the mesquite tree. The boy shot three more
arrows. The bird fell.
For a long time the boy did not come out of the cave. He waited to be sure
that the bird was dead. When he was sure, he came out and went over to
the big dead bird.
He pulled out a handful of its feathers and threw them into the air and the
feathers became owls. With another handful of feathers he made smaller
owls. With four handfuls of feathers, he made four classes of owls.

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In the same way, with other handfuls of feathers, he made birds of every
kind, crows and roadrunners. He threw the feathers and they became birds
of different colors.
When he had finished all of the feathers, he cut off a piece of meat from
the dead bird. He threw this and it became a mountain lion. He cut another
piece and made another kind of lion, which is a little braver. With another
he made the topol, and with another, a spotted cat. Thus, the boy made
four classes of big cats. After that he made four smaller kinds of cats.
With more meat the boy made foxes and racoons and also four types of
coyotes. He made snakes and all kinds of animals that have claws.
When all of the meat was gone, only bones remained. He dragged the
bones under the mesquite tree and started home. He arrived there in two
days. He came in very happily, dressed in a suit of feathers he had made
from the bird, and he wore four feathers in his hat, two on either side.
He entered and his grandfather was frightened to see him covered with
blood from the meat of the animal.
The old man was afraid, and he said, "What happened to you?"
"I killed the big bird. Now you may walk about the world."
The old man rushed out of the house. He talked with his neighbors who ran
to advise those in other pueblos, and the people of those pueblos spread
the news to others.
People came from all the eight pueblos. They still walked at night as before,
because they didn't believe the big bird was dead. The governor came, and
when all of the people were gathered the old men talked. "You really did
kill it?" they asked.
"Yes, sirs. I made many little animals out of the feathers and the meat. I
made owls of four kinds. I made four kinds of coyotes, four kinds of small
cats, four kinds of lions, all animals of the claw."

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83

"Well, let us see if this is true. We will send men from each pueblo, from
Potam, from Vicam, from Torim, from Bacum, from Cocorit, Rajum, Juirivis
and Belen to see the proof."
"The bones are there," said the little boy. "If they aren't you may cut my
neck." And he led off on horseback. They all arrived and the boy showed
them the hole he had dug. "From here I shot and hit him in the eye."
Along the road the people saw many animals, and little birds flying. The
boy talked to the people, saying "These little birds don't do any harm to us.
But those animals I made from the meat of the big bird, you must take care
about those. From today on they are not going to be gentle. We no longer
have danger from above. Now we must take care from below. These
animals aren't much good for food, only for clothing. The birds are valuable
only for their pretty feathers."
The men and the soldiers saw the bones of the big bird, and they went
away contented, and in every pueblo began to make great fiestas. MT

The Papago and Pima Indians tell of the slaying of a man-eating eagle which
has some aspects in common with this myth (Densmore 1929: 45-54). The
Cochiti also have a story about a cannibal eagle (Benedict 1931: 211).

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THE WARS AGAINST THE MEXICANS

T

OMAS CUPIZ traveled with his soldiers; there were forty. Beneath
him was Francisco Flores, called Chico Matachini. His aide was
Apolinar Pina, called Poli Soso'oki. These Indians left their families in
the sierra of Chikurim in the care of Alejandro Rodrigues and Juan María
Buitime'a and the old man, Paame'a. Tomas Cúpiz and his forty men went
away, going down by way of Wicharubui in the direction of Torim. They
crossed the river near Chu'umeampa'ako and from there went down to
Wikicheba'am, the water hole of the birds. In this spot they killed animals
for food, three burros, a mule, and two horses. They ate and carried the
meat from these animals. They passed through the pueblo of Vicam which
had been abandoned by its people. All of this occurred in the time after
Madero, in 1912.
The men took water from the river and again took to the trail, slowly
because of the great heat. It was the month of May. They neared Wicharubui and began to ascend the steep slope of the sierra. By the time they
were half way across the sierra their canteens were empty of water. They
tried to get water in the arroyo called Huchakowhoi. Every one seated
himself on the rocks and rolled up his pant legs in preparation for the
descent. There was great danger in the region of the water, for a detachment of federal soldiers, about four hundred men, was camped there. And
the forty Yaquis had to have water from that arroyo. They left their packs
of meat in the care of an old Yaqui called Belen, a relative of mine. Belen
remained on guard on the top of the hill. Tomas Cúpiz and the others
cautiously d

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apascua_yaqui%3A331967dd03655ae0. Public record. Not legal advice.