Creation Myths of Primitive America Part 65

Damhauja was watching too carefully. Jupka smoked this pipe. No smoke could hurt him. Damhauja, who hoped to see Juiwaiyu fall dead, became frightened when he saw him as well as ever.

"What am I to do?" thought he. "I give this tobacco to every man who comes for my daughters, and every man who smokes dies right away. I am afraid of my new son-in-law. I will not fight with this man. Let my other sons-in-law try him. My daughters, I want you to give nice food to your husband; give him good things to eat, take the best care of him, treat him well. My boys, I want you to bring plenty of nice food to my son-in-law."

"I will give venison now to these sisters," thought Jupka; and he took out a small piece of fat venison as large as a walnut. This he gave to Juiwaiyu, and told him to ask for a large basket. They brought it.

"You, venison, keep this size," said Juiwaiyu; "be no smaller, you must not be gone;" and then he cut slices.

Damhauja carried off three great baskets of meat, then went out on the housetop and called all his sons.

"Come for venison, my sons," said he. "There is plenty for all of you."

Damhauja had a great many sons-in-law on the west beyond a river. All his daughters were married except two. These sons-in-law heard him call and wondered. "What has happened?" asked they of one another.

"We've never heard the old man talk that way before. He must have found a new son-in-law; he must have found a husband for Halaia and Pahnino Marimi."

All Damhauja's sons came into the sweat-house.

Kechowala, a son-in-law and chief on the west side, sent his two sons, Kechowala and Darijua, to see what was happening at the sweat-house.

When the boys came and looked in, the elder saw a man, he thought, but did not know him. Damhauja's sons were dancing a fire-dance. The two brothers looked around carefully, but the younger did not see the strange man. They ran down from the sweat-house, and on the way home began to quarrel.

"I think our grandfather has a new son-in-law; I saw him," said Kechowala, the elder.

"You did not," said the younger.

"Why do you try to hide him, why do you deny? I saw him surely."

"When we get home, you will say that you saw a stranger in the sweat-house; but if you do, you will lie."

"We shall see great trouble, I think," said the elder; "there will be fighting now our grandfather has a new son-in-law, there will be great fighting."

The two boys ran very fast, disputing as they went. They got to the river, swam across, ran home.

"There is a strange man over there; grandfather has a new son-in-law,"

said Kechowala.

"Don't believe what he says," cried Darijua to his father; "I could not see any man."

"Why do you want to hide him, why do you deny? You must have seen him plainly."

"I did not see him, and you did not. I saw all who were there, but I saw no stranger."

"I saw him sitting between the two girls," said Kechowala.

"He is there," said the father. "I will see that man to-morrow."

"My son-in-law," said Damhauja, "you must be careful to-morrow. I have a great many daughters besides your two wives; their husbands will try to kill you." Then Damhauja said to his sons: "We will go to sleep and rise early; take good care of your brother-in-law to-morrow."

All went to rest; Juiwaiyu and his wives as well as others.

When all were asleep, Juiwaiyu took Jupka out of his hair and rose up.

"I wish for daylight quickly," said he.

Thunder roared then, and some rain came; Juiwaiyu wished to let his mother know that he was well. He went out, took one step and went from the sweat-house to the other side of the nearest mountain, with the second step he went to the top of a mountain beyond.

Jupka was angry because Damhauja had tried to kill Juiwaiyu with the poisonous pipe. Now he took vengeance. He put the two sisters on a high place in the sweat-house, made a great storm of wind and rain.

Soon the whole place was filled with water. It rolled and swept through the sweat-house, drowned Damhauja and his wife; washed their bodies out through the door away.

Juiwaiyu on the mountain took his yaiyauna flute and began to play.

All the world heard him, all people went to hill-tops and mountain-tops, all stretched their heads up and listened, all said, "That must be Juiwaiyu; no one plays in that way but Juiwaiyu." Deer began to come from the east along the same way over which Juiwaiyu had come, and all stood before him.

"Let one stand in front of me and look this way," said Juiwaiyu, "let all the others stand behind that first one."

They stood in the line, a fawn in the first place. He shot them all with one arrow, hundreds of them. The arrow entered the mouth of the front deer and went out near the tail of the last. Then Juiwaiyu took the little fawn and opened it, made the deer very small, put them all inside the fawn's body, took that home in one hand, threw the fawn down on the sweat-house. The deer inside the fawn became as big as ever, rolled down, filled the whole place around the sweat-house.

Juiwaiyu now saw Damhauja and Pahnino Marimi lying cold and dead. He ran then to Jupka in the sweat-house. "Bring them to life, my uncle; bring them to life again!"

Jupka whipped both with a rose-twig and brought them to life. Damhauja shook himself and said, "I slept too hard."

"You would not have waked up at all but for my nephew. You wanted to kill him. I punished you."

Damhauja knew Jupka now. "Oh, why did you not let me know that you were here? I would not have tried to hurt Juiwaiyu."

The old man saw so many deer around the sweat-house that he didn't know what to think. At last he went up on the sweat-house. "Come, my sons, come," cried he; "there is venison here for all of you."

All the sons came. Each had one deer, and there were many others to spare.

All the sons-in-law in the west were angry that Damhauja's sons had so much venison.

"We will go over and see this man," said Kechowala, the chief. "We will have some fun to-day with him."

When Damhauja's eldest son was bringing venison to his father, he saw Kechowala. "He is coming," said the son.

Kechowala had an angry face; he walked fast. When he reached the sweat-house, all were eating venison. He went to the top of the sweat-house, took his arrow from under his arm, and said, "Wake up, be ready; we must play to-day."

Then he looked in and saw Juiwaiyu sitting between the two sisters. "I know now who that man is; he is from the east. Feed him well, dress him well, father-in-law; we must have fun before he goes from here. He must show what he can do before he leaves us."

The old man went out and scolded Kechowala: "You talk loud, you want fat venison; that's what you have come for, that's why you are at this sweat-house."

Jupka heard all that Kechowala said.

"I will go home now," said Kechowala, "and be here after breakfast."

"My son-in-law will be killed to-day," said Pahnino Marimi; "what can we do? They are going to kill our son-in-law who brings so much venison. Stay in the house, do not go out," said Pahnino.

"Do not go out," said the brothers; "we will meet those people."

All looked, and saw a great crowd coming from the west. The brothers-in-law were coming, and when near they shouted to Damhauja's sons. The two sisters tried to stop Juiwaiyu.

"Let me go, wives," said he, "let me go. If I stay here, they will call me a coward; I will let no one give me that name."