The eldest member of
that nyumu tells a curious legend of their migration from which the
following is quoted:
At the general dispersal my people lived in snake skins, each family
occupying a separate snake skin bag, and all were hung on the end of
a rainbow, which swung around until the end touched Navajo Mountain,
where the bags dropped from it; and wherever a bag dropped, there
was their house. After they arranged their bags they came out from
them as men and women, and they then, built a stone house which had
five sides. [The story here relates the adventures of a mythic Snake
Youth, who brought back a strange woman who gave birth to
rattlesnakes; these bit the people and compelled them to migrate.] A
brilliant star arose in the southeast, which would shine for a while
and then disappear. The old men said, "Beneath that star there must
be people," so they determined to travel toward it. They cut a staff
and set it in the ground and watched till the star reached its top,
then they started and traveled as long as the star shone; when it
disappeared they halted. But the star did not shine every night, for
sometimes many years elapsed before it appeared again. When this
occurred, our people built houses during their halt; they built both
round and square houses, and all the ruins between here and Navajo
Mountain mark the places where our people lived. They waited till
the star came to the top of the staff again, then they moved on, but
many people were left in those houses and they followed afterward at
various times.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35