206 THE PIMA INDIANS |eth. ann-. 26 



according to the number of female relatives of tiiose killed in battle 

 kept running. In addition to these forty horsemen also circled from 

 left to right about the whole gathering. 



SOPHIOLOGY 



Myths 



The traditions of the Pinias are kept by those who show special 

 aptitude in remembering them and who gradually become recognized 

 as the tribal liistorians. To them the boys are regularly sent that 

 they may listen for four nights to the narrative of how the world was 

 made and peopled; whence the Pimas came and how they struggled 

 with demons, monsters, and savage enemies. These tales are not 

 usually told in the presence of the women, and consequenth- they 

 know only imperfect fragments of them. 



The myths are not related in the summer because of the fear of 

 being bitten by rattlesnakes, which of course liibernate. No informa- 

 tion was obtainable that the Pimas believe that the snakes then carry 

 venom, nor why the snakes should bite tho.se wlio disregard the tabu. 

 The Pimas do not hesitate to kill rattlesnakes except in certain cases. 



TCn-UNNYIKITA,° THE CREATION MYTH 



In the beginning there was nothing where now are earth, sim, moon, 

 stars, and all that we see. Ages long the darkness was gathering, 

 until it formed a great mass in which developed the spirit of Earth 

 Doctor, who, like the fluffy wisp of cotton that floats upon the -wind, 

 drifted to and fro without support or place to fix himself. Con- 

 scious of his power, he determined to try to build an abiding place, 

 so he took from his breast a little dust and flattened it into a cake. 

 Then he thought within himself, "Come forth, some kind of plant," 

 and there appeared the creosote bush. Placing this in front of him, 

 he saw it turn over as soon as his grasp upon it relaxed. Advancing 

 toward it, he again set it upright, and again it fell. A third ami yet 

 a fourth time he placed it, and then it remained standing. When 

 the flat dust cake was still he danced upon it, singing: 



Earth Magician shapes this world. 



Behold what he can do! 

 Round and smooth he molds it. 



Behold what he can do! 



Earth Magician makes the mountains. 



Heed what he has to say I 

 He it is that makes the mesas. 



Heed what he has to say. 



a -Snioke t:ilk," from teu-rtc. smoke, and nyiak.talk. This myth isalsocalled lla-ak Akita, ■■ Hfi-iik 

 Telling." 



