How Mah-tah, the Turkey Buzzard, 

 Lost his Speech 



MYTH OBTAINKI) HV THH AUTHOK FROM 



THK HAMFO INDIANS OF ("LEAK 



LAKE. CALIFORNIA 



By ('. H A l{ T SI E H H I A M 



ONE day four of the First People met and chose pai-tiicrs 

 for a g-aiue. These people were Ke'-ali. the Ked-tailed 

 Hawk, .Alah'-tah. the Turkey Buzzard. Wes'-wes. the 

 Crested Bluejay, and Sek'-adan, the Gray Tree Sipiirrel. The 

 g-ame they were to play was silence, the stakes they i»ut up were 

 their lang'uages. The first to speak or laug-h was to lose his lan- 

 guage forever — to remain silent the rest of liis life: the other side 

 was to win it. 



Red-tailed Hawk and Turkey Buzzard wei-e partners on one 

 side: Bluejay and Gray Squirrel on the other. For a very long 

 time they sat facing one another ; for days and even weeks no one 

 spoke. They looked at one another and made faees and tried to 

 make each other laugh l)ut without success. It was vtn-y tire- 

 some and they all grew weary. 



Finally, after a very long- time, Ke'-ah, the Ked-tail, said some- 

 thing, so his side lost. His partner Mah'-tah. the Turkey Buzzard, 

 gave up his language to Sek'-a-lan. the Gray S<|uirrel, and has 

 never spoken since. This is the reason the Turkey liuzzard is 

 cdways silent. 



Sometimes we hear Sek'-a-lan, the S(juirrel. say •• (juafl'-quai-l'- 

 (juaf'li" — that is the language he won from Mah'-tah. 



But Ke'-ah, the Red-tail, refused to let his go. He said. " I am 

 not willing to lose my language; I shall never give uj» my talk." 

 But Wes'-wes, the Crested Jay. said he would have it anyway, 

 and he took it. hut Ke'-ah k<'})t it too and still speaks it. Bluejay 

 usually speaks his own language. l>ut sometinu's we hear him say 

 •' ke'-ah": this is the language he won fr<»m Ke'-ah, the Red-tail. 



