5;*^^] LEGENDS 409 



that he was there. Then Chief Dihdih arose and said : " Now all be 

 ready. Look out for the beads." He had two daughters, who 

 lighted the torches for the people who were intending to l)urn the 

 woman's feet. When they held the torches under the woman's feet 

 tears flowed from her eyes which fell on the ground, where they 

 became beautiful wampum. The people rushed forward to pick up 

 (he beads. Deoyadastat'he was watching for an opportunity to 

 rescue his mother ; so when the people wei'e on their knees gathering 

 the wampum, quickly unbinding his mother, he led her out of doors. 

 Then he said, as he ran around the devoted lodge, " Let this lodge 

 become flint and let it become at once heated to a white heat." ^^' This 

 at once took place, and the people within the lodge, becoming too hot, 

 ceased picking up wampum and tried to escape, but they could not. 

 There were fearful shrieks and wails, but these continued only for a 

 moment before all were dead. The heads of the dead people burst 

 asunder and from them came owls, which flew out of the smoke-hole 

 of the lodge. 



Then Deoyadastat'he told his mother that they must leave that 

 place. So calling his dog, they started for the lodge of old Yeqsinye. 

 In passing through the village a blue lizard attacked Deoyadastat'he 

 and his little party, but the young man tore it to pieces. As the 

 pieces fell to the ground the dog carried them away so that they 

 would not fly back into place again before they became cool. Then 

 the young man said, " You thought that you were going to kill me, 

 but I have destroyed you." When Deoyadastat'he arrived with his 

 mother at the lodge of old woman Yeqsinye, he said to her, " I have 

 killed all the people of the wicked village, so you shall now live in 

 peace." For this the old woman thanked him. 



Then Deoyadastat'he and his mother and dog continued their 

 journey until they arrived at their own lodge. There they found the 

 six brothers of Deoyadastat'he, who had returned during his absence. 



[The relator of the story evidently did not know the entire legend, 

 for nothing is said as to where and as to why they had been so long 

 away, nor how they came back. — Editor.] 



74. A Genesis Tradition 



[A modern version ; a fragment] 



Before this earth came into existence there were human beings 

 who dwelt in the center of the sky above. In the middle of the vil- 

 lage in the sky stood a ti-ee which was covered with white blossoms. 



It so chanced that a woman of that country dreamed a dream. In 

 that dream an Ongwe^^" said to her that the great tree bearing white 

 blossoms must be pulled up by the roots. When this tree was in 

 bloom its flowers gave light to the people there, but when its flowers 



