FEWKES] TRADITIONS © 45 
One of the direct descendants of S6’-hé, King Si/-va-no, erected the Casas Grandes 
on the Gila River. Here he governed a large empire, before—long before—the 
Spaniards were known. 
The following quotation is taken from Bandelier’s report :* 
Mr. J. D. Walker, an old resident in the vicinity of Casa Grande, who has been to 
“me personally an excellent friend and valuable informant, told me this tale. 
The Gila Pimas claim to have been created on the banks of the river. After residing 
there for some time a great flood came that destroyed the tribe, with the exception of 
one man, called Ci-ho. He was of small stature, and became the ancestor of the present 
Pimas. The tribe, beginning to grow in numbers, built the villages now in ruins and 
also spread to the north bank of the river. But there appeared a monstrous eagle, 
which, occasionally assuming the shape of an old woman, visited the pueblos and stole 
women and children, carrying them to his abode in an inaccessible cliff. On one 
occasion the eagle seized a girl with the intention of making of her his wife. Ci-ho 
thereupon went to the cliff, but found it impossible to climb. The girl, who was still 
alive, shouted down to him the way of making the ascent. When the eagle came back, 
Ci-ho slew him with a sword, and thus liberated his people from the scourge.” 
The following existing Pima legends relating to Morning Green, 
chief of Casa Grande, were collected from Thin Leather (Kamaltkak), 
an old Pima regarded as one of the best informed story-tellers of 
the tribe? Some of his legends repeat statements identical with 
those told to Father Font, 137 years ago, a fact which proves ap- 
parently that they have been but little changed by intervening 
generations. The statement which recounts how Morning Green 
was miraculously conceived by a Hohokam maiden has been verified 
by several legendists. The following stories supplement published 
legends of this chief and other ancients and shed light on the condition 
of early society in the settlement over which Morning Green is said 
to have ruled. 
HOW A CHIEF OF ANOTHER ‘‘ GREAT HOUSE’’ ENTICED THE WOMEN 
FROM CASA GRANDE 
Morning Green, chief of Casa Grande, invited Chief Tcernatsing and his women to 
visit him. Tcernatsing lived in a great house situated near Gila Crossing, which is so 
far away from Casa Grande that he found it necessary to camp one night en route at 
the settlement on the Gila River opposite Sacaton. When the visitors arrived at 
Casa Grande a dance was celebrated in the open space north of Compound A, some- 
where between it and the circular wall inclosing a reservoir or “‘well.’’ Here the 
women who accompanied Tcernatsing danced with those of Casa Grande, singing the 
song: 
Ta sai na wi wh 
Sun shade sing with me 
My body will become a humming-bird 
When Tcernatsing came and witnessed the women dancing he shook his rattle and 
sang a magic song, which enticed all the women of Casa Grande to follow him to 
1 Bandelier, Final Rep., pt. u, in Papers Arch. Inst. Amer., IV, p. 463, 1892. 
2 For another version of this tale, see Bancroft, Native Races, vol. iii, p. 79. 
3 Many other legends were collected, but these have no bearing on Casa Grande, and some of them have 
been published by previous observers, especially Doctor Russell, who obtained many of his stories from 
the same authority. It is said that most of these legends are from the Maricopa; several show missionary 
influence. 
