I was actually trying to research what i had heard about a time when there was a dead native American leaning against almost every oak tree from San Francisco to Sacramento from a local plague. Something to understand about all this is that when white people came they brought things that Indians never died from like plagues of all kinds from Europe and flu and Colds and things like this. Mostly native Americans had never been exposed to these things ever in their history and so it killed about 90% of them starting on the east Coast with the Pilgrims and Trappers these diseases moved slowly across the U.S. killing 90% of the members of most Native American Tribes from about 1620 until the 1900s and after.
begin partial quote from:
https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/text/ucp004-005.pdf
These myths from the Maidu were collected it said from around 1901 to 1906 of the stories and creation stories of the Maidu Indians of California by the University of California at Berkeley.
VOL.4] Kroeber.-Myths of South Central California.
characteristics as compared with the mythological traits of North-
western California have been set forth in the before-mentioned
paper on Wishosk Myths. It remains now to examine and sum-
marize this north Central material in order to compare it more
fully with the material which was obtained and is here newly
presented from the south Central region.
Maidu.
With a few exceptions, the Maidu myths given by Dr. Dixon
were collected at two points, Genesee in Plumas county and Chico
in Butte county. They are representative therefore of two of
the three principal divisions of the Maidu, the northeastern and
the northwestern. In the northwestern division Dr. Dixon dis-
tinguishes between the inhabitants of the Sacramento valley and
those of the foothill region. Chico being situated on the Sacra-
mento river, the myths obtained there would seem to represent
the valley half of this division. The tales from the northeastern
and northwestern divisions are given intermingled by Dr. Dixon,
though always with indication of the place of origin of each story.
In spite of the greater incompleteness of the Chico or northwest-
ern series, it parallels the northeastern, so that the character
common to both is perhaps brought out more strongly by con-
sidering them separately; and this will here be done.
The northeastern Maidu series, though the fuller, is repre-
sented by a creation myth, number 2, that is either incomplete
or less typical than the northwestern one given by Dr. Dixon.
The principal character, Earth-namer or Earth-maker, plays the
part of a transformer rather than of an actual creator. The origin
of the physical world is also not accounted for by the myth. The
relation of the transformer-creator to Coyote, and the concep-
tions displayed as to the destiny of man, however, affiliate this
northeastern myth with the northwestern one. A version of this
myth by Powers, mentioned below, amplifies the present one by
narrating also the creation of men from sticks.' The next most
1 Elsewhere, p. 336, Dr. Dixon says that the creator placed small wooden
figures in the ground, to grow into men at the end of the mythic era.
171
important northeastern Maidu tale, that of the conqueror, num-
ber 3, tells of a supernaturally born destroyer, conqueror, and
avenger. After recounting the origin of this hero, the myth con-
sists of a series of detached incidents of adventure, all more or
less of the same nature. Next follows the account of the theft
of fire from its original owner, number 5. The story of Thunder
and his daughter, number 6, has for its essence the successful
escape of the hero from dangers caused by his father-in-law,
whom he finally overcomes. This type of myth is one of the
most favored, not only, as will be seen, in this region of Cali-
fornia, but in other parts of North America, such as the Plains
and the North Pacific Coast. The story of the Loon-woman,
number 7, is apparently confined to a circumscribed region in
northern California, but within this is quite typical. Its funda-
mental idea, that of love between a brother and sister, has equiva-
lents in the mythology of most tribes on the continent of North
America. In northern California Curtin gives this particular
Loon-woman form from the Yana, and Dr. Dixon mentions it
as found among the Achomawi. It occurs also among the Karok
of northwestern California. The story of the sun and moon,
number 8, first part, has for its chief episode a conflict between
the sun and the frog. The tale of the bear and deer children,
number 9, is, as noted by Dr. Dixon, a great favorite in northern
California. The bear kills the deer; the deer children kill the
bear children, flee, and finally escape the pursuing bear. It will
be seen below that this story is found also in certain parts of
south central California; and it occurs among at least some of
the tribes of northwestern California. Within these limits,
although frequently connected with distinct and unrelated epi-
sodes, it shows everywhere fundamentally the same form. More-
over this tale is one of the few characteristic of California and
found also outside the state.1 A number of short Coyote stories
given by Dr. Dixon, number 10, 1-7, 16-, are similar to the
Coyote and trickster stories found in a generally similar form
everywhere in North America. In a number of these from the
northeastern Maidu there is a contest between Coyote and an
1As far north as the Kwakiutl and the Thompson River Indians. See
the parallels given by Dixon, p. 341.
172
opponent. Sometimes Coyote is superior and sometimes he is
worsted. The story of the woman who falls in love with the
butterflies, number 12, seems quite specialized. The tale of the
Frog-woman who acts the impostor for another woman, number
13, rests on an idea found elsewhere; but the association of the
frog with this incident is quite typical of northern California.
The tale of the lizard and the grizzly bear, number 16, is an
animal tale of a certain simplicity. The grizzly bear having
killed all the lizard's relatives except him and his grandmother,
the lizard in revenge first reviles and then kills the bear. As will
be seen, this story is paralleled in south central California. The
several northeastern Maidu stories of the fish-hawk and the deer
ticks, of the skunk and the beetle, and of the wolf making the
snow cold, numbers 11, 17, 18, are comparatively trivial and
humorous. In the tale of Big-belly's son, number 21, the essential
element is again the idea of the revenging hero. In addition, the
deceitful Frog-woman again appears. The story of the mountain
lion, who deserts his wives, whereupon his children support them-
selves until they induce their father to return, number 22, has
only general parallels in south central California and on the
Plains. So far the northeastern Maidu stories.
The northwestern Maidu myths begin with a fully developed
and typical creation myth, number 1. In the beginning everything
is water. The creator descends from the sky and makes earth
from mud for which the turtle has dived. He brings forth the
sun and moon and makes the stars. He makes animals, makes
people, and vivifies them. He fails, owing to Coyote's opposi.
tion, in making men immortal. Coyote suffers in the death of
his own son for being responsible for bringing death into the
world. Men come to speak different languages, and Kuksu, the
first man, sends away the tribes with directions as to their life
and customs. After this account of the creation, the next most
important northwestern myth, number 4, is an exact parallel,
in its general course, to the northeastern conqueror story,
although the individual incidents mostly differ. Several Coyote
tales, number 10, 10-15, are given. The first of these relates
the theft of fire; the next, like a number from the northeastern
Maidu, tells of contests of Coyote in which he is sometimes
173
superior and sometimes inferior; and several other Coyote tales
develop incidents of the well-known and wide-spread type of
unsuccessful imitation. The story of the devouring head, number
14, is found in some form, and in a great many different connec-
tions, over the larger part of North America. The particular
form that occurs here appears also among the neighboring Yana.
The story of the stolen brother who was taken to the sky and
finally recovered, number 15, has a number of parallels in north-
ern California. Curtin gives a Wintun version and another was
obtained by the author among the Salmon river Shasta. Similar
mythical ideas, sometimes with the visit to the sky forming the
principal feature and sometimes with this omitted, are found
farther north on the Pacific Coast and to the east. The northwest-
ern story of Thunder and his daughter, number 19, is perhaps
a modified form of the evil father-in-law tale. At any rate it
connects with it in being similar to the northeastern story of
Thunder and his daughter, which belongs clearly to this type.
Several Maidu myths given by Stephen Powers,1 while not
forming a systematic collection, supplement Dr. Dixon 's in a
very satisfactory fashion. Powers distinguishes between the
Maidu, corresponding to Dixona's northeastern and northwestern
Maidu, and the Nishinam, who are Dixon's southern Maidu.
From the former he gives the Kodoyanpe or creator and Onkoito
or conqueror myths, in versions agreeing closely with Dixon's
northeastern forms and in part amplifying them. A story of
which the wild-cat is the hero, an animal myth of a younger
brother2 who succeeds through magical power, is not given by Dr.
Dixon. Powers' southern Maidu myths are particularly valu-
able. One tells of the causation of death and cremation by
Coyote, who argues against a return of man to life and prevails.
When his own son is killed by a rattlesnake, Coyote is unable
to undo his decision. In another story Coyote appears as the
destroyer, by deceit, of a cannibal. In another tale, the theft
of fire which is accomplished by the lizard results in a general
conflagration. The bear and deer story is another one given.
1 Tribes of California, Contrib. N. Am. Ethn. III: northern Maidu, 290,
292, 294; southern Maidu, 339, 341, 341, 342, 343, 344.
2 Related to the myth about the wild-cat and panther's magical control of
the deer, found among the Shasta (Burns), Yuki, and Lassik (Goddard).
174
No comments:
Post a Comment