INDIAN CONCEPTS OF THE SUN — STIRLING 391 



people far off and being stolen from them for the benefit of the tribe 

 relating the story. In southern California the sun was made usually 

 from clay or spittle. The Californians were in no sense sun wor- 

 shipers, and that luminary played a very unimportant part in their 

 religious beliefs. Moreover, they gave very little attention to the 

 yearly movements of the sun, and most tribes did not take special note 

 of the time of the solstices, although these could easily enough have 

 been determined by simple observations. By some tribes in central 

 California, such as the Yuki, the sun was conceived of as a deity who 

 was the patron of doctors who cured rattlesnake bites. 



Of even less importance than the sun in California was the moon. 

 The Maidu had a tale about the restriction of the movements of the 

 two luminaries to night and day. In northwestern California there 

 was the interesting belief that the waning of the moon was due to its 

 being eaten by Lizard in the sky. The Luiseno thought that the first 

 people raised the sun into the sky with a net. 



Some of the California tribes believe that the souls of the dead 

 ascend to the sky where they take up their abode and become stars. 

 There are many different versions among the different groups as to 

 how this final abode is reached. One tells of the soul ascending with 

 the rising sun until the meridian was reached, thence proceeding to 

 the milky way which was the pathway to the other world (Gifford 

 and Block, 1930). 



The Diegueno of southern California explain the sun in their crea- 

 tion myth : 



In the beginning there was no land. There was nothing but salt water, the 

 great primeval ocean. Under this water lived two brothers who always kept 

 their eyes closed because of the salt water which would blind them if they 

 opened their eyes. 



After a time the oldest brother, Chaipakomat, rose to the surface of the water 

 and looked around. He saw nothing but water. Soon the younger brother came 

 up but on the way he opened his eyes and the salt water blinded him, so that 

 when he did reach the surface he could see nothing and therefore returned to 

 the deep. 



The older brother decided that there should be someting in the world beside 

 water, so he first made little red ants. He made so many of them that they 

 filled the water very thickly with their bodies. This made land. 



Then Chaipakomat caused certain birds with flat bills to come into being, but 

 because there was no sun or light these birds got lost. So Chaipakomat took 

 three kinds of clay, red, yellow, and black, and made a round flat object. He 

 threw this up against the sky and it stuck there. Soon it began to give a dim 

 light. Today we call this the moon. But Chaipakomat was not satisfied, for 

 the light was poor. So he took some more clay and made another round flat 

 object and tossed that up agaisnt the other side of the sky. It also stuck there 

 and sent forth a very bright light. We call this the sun. (Gifford and Block, 

 1980.) 



In another version Chaipakomat formed the sun by spitting on his 

 finger and rubbing a clean spot on the sky. 



