Indian Myths South Central California
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY Vol. 4 No. 4 INDIAN MYTHS OF SOUTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA BY A. L. KROEBER BERKELEY THE UNIVERSITY PRESS MAY, 1907 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY The following publications dealing with archaeological and ethnol- ogical subjects issued under the direction of the Department of Anthrop- ology are sent in exchange for the publications of anthropological depart- ments and museums, for journals devoted to general anthropology or- to archaeology and ethnology, and for specimens contributed to the museum collections of the University. They are for sale at the prices stated, which include postage or express charges. Exchanges should be directed to The Exchange Department, University Library, Berkeley, California, U. S. A. All orders and remittances should be addressed to.the University Press. AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY. (Octavo). Vol. 1. No. 1. Life and Culture of the Hupa, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pages 88, Plates 30, September, 1903. Price, $1.25 No. 2. Hupa Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pages 290, March, 1904. Price, 3.00 Vol. 2. No. 1. The Exploration of the Potter Creek Cave, by William J. Sinclair. Pages 27, Plates 14, April, 1904 . Price, .40 No. 2. The Languages of the Coast of California South of San Francisco, by A. L. Kroeber. Pages 52, June, 1904. Price, .60 No. 3. Types of Indian Culture in California, by A. L. Kroeber. Pages 22, June, 1904. .Price, .25 No. 4. Basket Designs of the Indians of Northwestern California, by A. L. Kroeber. Pages 60, Plates 7, January, 1905. Price, .75 No. 5. The Yokuts Language of South Central California, by A. L. Kroeber. Pages 213, January, 1907 . Price, 2.25 Vol. 3. The Morphology of the Hupa Language, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pages 344, June, 1905. .Price, 3.50 Vol. 4. No. 1. The Earliest Historical Relations betwedn Mexico and Japan, by Zelia Nuttall. Pages 47, April, 1906. Price, .50 No. 2. Contributions to the Physical Anthropology of California, by A. Hrdlicka. Pages 16, Tables 5, Plates 10, June, 1906. * . Price, . ..75.. No. 3. Shoshonean Dialects of California, by A. L. Kroeber. Pages 100, February, 1907. .Price, 1.50 No. 4. Indian Myths of South Central California, by A. L. Kroeber. Pages 84, May 1907. Price, .75 No. 5. The Washo Language of East Central California and Nevada, by A. L. *Kroeber (in press). No. 6. The Religion of the Indians of California, by A. L. Kroeber (in press). Vol. 5. No. 1. The Phonology of the Hupa Language: Part I, The Indi- vidual Sounds, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pages 20, Plates 8, March, 1907.. Price, .35 No. 2. Navaho Myths, Prayers and Songs with Texts and Trans- lations, by Washington Matthews, edited by Pliny Earle Goddard (in press). Vol. 6. The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo Indians, by S. A. Barrett (in press). UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY VOL. 4 NO. 4 INDIAN MYTHS OF SOUTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. BY A. L. KROEBER. CONTENTS. PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 169 Mythologyof the Northern Central Region............................................ 170 Maidu .171 Wintun .175 Yana . 178 Shasta-Achomawi .179 Lutuami . 182 Yuki.... 183 Mythology of the Southern Central Region............................................ 187 Costanoan ... 191 Miwok . 191 Yokuts .................. 192 Shoshonean ............................................. 194 General Characterization.......................................... 195 Comparison of Mythologies of North and South Central California.... 196 MYTHSII.THE ............................................... 199 1. Rumsien Costanoan. The Beginning of the World ......... 199 Rumsien2. Costanoan. Coyote.----------------------. -............ ---------200 3. Rumsien Costanoan. Coyote and the Hummingbird . 201 4. Rumsien Costanoan. Coyote and his Wife . 201 5. Rumsien Costanoan. Coyote and his Children............................ 201 6. Rumsien Costanoan. Coyote with a Thorn in his Eye .------------- 202 7. Pohonichi Miwok. The Beginning of the World ........................ 202 8. Pohonichi Miwok. The Theft of Fire.---------------------------------- 202 Pohonichi9. Miwok. The Origin of Death.------------------------------------- 203 10. Pohonichi Miwok. The Bear and Deer Children........... 203 11. Gashowu Yokuts. The Beginning of the World ....... 204 Gashowu12.Yokuts. The Origin of Death........................................ 205 13. Gashowu Yokuts. The Owl Doctor...................... 205 168 University of California Publications. [AM.ARCH.ETH. PAGE 14. Gashowu Yokuts. Coyote, the Hawk, and the Condor .......... .... 205 15. Truhohi Yokuts. The Beginning of the World ............... ........... 209 16. Truhohi Yokuts. The Theft of Fire ............................................ 211 17. Truhohi Yokuts. The Origin of Death ........................................ 212 18. Yokuts.Tachi OwnersThe of the Sun ........................................ 212 19. Tachi Yokuts. The Race of the Antelope and Deer ........... ....... 213 20. Tachi Yokuts. The Pleiades ............................. ................. 213 21. Yokuts.Tachi WolfThe and the Crane ...................................... 214 22. Tachi Yokuts. The Bald Eagle and the Prairie Falcon ............ 214 23. Tachi Yokuts. The Thunder Twins .............................................. 215 24. Tachi Yokuts. The Visit to the Dead .............. ................. 216 25. Wiikehamni Yokuts. The Beginning of the World .................... 218 26. Yaudanchi Yokuts. The Origin of Fire ............................... 219 27. Yaudanchi Yokuts. The Eagle and the Condor .......................... 219 28. Yaudanchi Yokuts. The Eagle's Son ........ ....................... 220 29. Yaudanchi Yokuts. The Prairie Falcon Fights .......................... 221 30. Yaudanchi Yokuts. The Prairie Falcon's Wife .......................... 221 31. Yaudanchi Yokuts. ThePrairie Falcon Loses ............................ 223 32. Yaudanchi Yokuts. War of the Foothill and Plains People 223 33. Yaudanchi Yokuts. Thunderand Whirlwind .............................. 225 34. Yaudanchi Yokuts. Mikiti ......................... 225 35. Yaudanchi Yokuts. The Visit to the Dead ......................... 228 36. Yaudanchi Yokuts. The Man and the Owls. A Tale ................ 228 37. Yauelmani Yokuts. The Beginning of the World ...................... 229 38. Yauelmani Yokuts. The Origin of Death ........... .............. 231 39. Yauelmani Yokuts. Coyote's Adventures and the Prairie Fal- con's Blindness .............................................................................. 231 40. Yauelmani Yokuts. The Prairie Falcon Loses ........... ................. 240 41. Gitanemuk Shoshonean. The Panther's Children and Coyote.... 243 III. ABSTRACTS ......... ...................................................................................... 245 VOL.4] Kroeber.-Myths of South Central California. 169 INDIAN MYTHS OF SOUTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. I. INTRODUCTION. The material on which this paper is based was collected in the years 1901 to 1906 as part of the work of the Ethnological and Archaeological Survey of California carried on by the Uni- versity of California's Department of Anthropology, which owes its existence and continued support to the interest of Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst. California presents three principal ethnological divisions. First, in the extreme northwest of the state, bordering on the Pacific Ocean and Oregon, is a small area whose native culture is fundamentally isolated to an unusual degree. Second, in the region commonly known as Southern California, that is to say the territory south of Tehachapi pass in the interior and of Point Concepcion on the coast, there is some diversity of ethnological conditions, but the area as a whole is quite distinctly marked off from the remainder of the state. Third, there is the remaining two-thirds of the state, an area which has been called, in an ethnological sense, and in distinction from the Northwestern and Southern areas, the Central region. This central region con- sists of what is ordinarily known as northern California and central California, two areas of about equal extent lying north and south of the latitude of San Francisco. Northern California is constituted by the Sacramento valley and the adjacent portions of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range; central California, by the San Joaquin valley and the parts of the same mountain ranges contiguous to it. The Sacramento valley drains south- ward, the San Joaquin valley northward. The drainage of both enters the ocean at San Francisco; so that the selection of this 170 University of California Publications. [Am.ARCH.ETH. city to mark the separation of the northern and southern halves of the Central region is not fortuitous. The mythology of northwestern California is still rather im- perfectly represented by collections of traditions, but its general characteristics have been discussed in a paper on "Wishosk Myths" in a recent number of the Journal of American Folk- Lore." The mythology of the Central region, both northern and southern, is treated in the present paper. That of the northern half is comparatively well known through several collections, and will be summarized here. That of the southern half,-south central California,-is very little known, but is illustrated by the new material which constitutes the present paper. The mythology of Southern California is quite distinct from that of the North- western