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NOTES ON THE AKWA'ALA INDIANS OF LOWER CALIFORNIA
by E. W. Gifford and R. H. Lowie
The informant.--In December, 1921, and January, 1922, while working among the Cocopa in southwestern Arizona, we had an opportunity to interview Jackrabbit, an aged Akwa'ala shaman, whom we had persuaded to accompany us across the Mexican boundary to the Cocopa camp near Somerton. Jackrabbit proved a willing inf ormant, bu Pt Pa difficulty arose from the difference between the Cocopa and Akwa'ala languages. Our Yuma interpreter said that he could not readily communicate with Jackrabbit; accordingly, our Cocopa informant, Frank Tehana, acted as interpreter between Jackrabbit and our Yuma, who would then translate the statements into English. This was an onerous procedure, and especially in the case of the kinship terms confusion could not be prevented. Unfortunately no other method of interrogating the old man was possible. Though we naturally checked the data to the best of our ability, we should like to call attention to this potential source of error.Jackrabbit was born four years after the star rain in 1833. He had kept track of his age in a notebook, by drawing black ovals along the edges of two facing pages. Each oval stood for a year. Every tenth year was marked with a black dot. Three black dots indicated a year in which something special happened. The informant said that such a record of the years was not an ancient device with his people. If such is the case, we have here an example of how a single individual might introduce a new cultural feature, though Caucasian stimulus was no doubt behind this particular example. After examining the record, Jackrabbit declared himself to be eighty-two years old, a statement six years short of the age indicated by the rain of stars.
Nalwaxaú was Jackrabbit's Akwa'ala name. It means "young mesquite." Other names, perhaps his, are Sumpulyu and Mispulhu'. We understood him to say that Sumpulyu was a name belonging to the Xatís lineage.
[/p.340] Habitat.--Akwa'ala is the Mohave name of the tribe to which Jackrabbit belonged; it corresponds to AkaL in Cocopa and to Paiipaíyi in Akwa'ala. Their home was in the mountains of Lower California, south of Santa Catarina and in about the latitude of the mouth of the Colorado river. From this region both the mouth of the river and the waters of the gulf of California were visible. From high in the mountains, evidently the summit, the informant said that he could see the Pacific ocean in the west and the gulf in the east. A mountain near the Akwa'ala habitat is called Kanyilawi. The informant said that only a few individuals of the tribe still survive in Mexican territory.
Lineages.--The Akwa'ala were divided into a number of paternal, non-totemic lineages like those of the Diegueño1--in fact some of the names seem identical among the two peoples. The Akwa'ala forbade marriage into the lineage of either the father or the mother, and cross-cousins were not allowed to marry. Unlike the patrilineal sibs of the Cocopa, Yuma, and Mohave, the lineages had no special names for women. The term for this type of unit among the Akwa'ala is summúlla. The lineages are reputed to have been established by the creator at the beginning of the world.
The Akwa'ala lineages are said not to have been localized, but to have been interspersed. On different occasions the informant named two lineages as his. Possibly he referred to the lineages of his two parents, or perhaps he misunderstood our questions.
Akwa'ala Lineages
1. Hitcwa. Lineage of the informant.
2. eqweLe
3. Humsulta
4. Xapókilkawé
5. Yakakwal
6. Xanikílpakawé
7. Xapépakawé
8. Sikumiwitenpakawa
9. Xwátse. Lineage of the informant.
10. Xasérpakawé
11. Hek-wa
12. Qalíwe
13. Xata'éme
14. KweLkwât
15. Kuwépaíye
16. ekwéLewe (Identical with 2?)
17. Xatís
Marriage.--It was customary to call all the people together and have the girls dance. Then the men would come to dance with them, and if the partners liked each other the young man would take his girl [/p.341] to his home. The parents did not interfere, allowing the young people to do as they pleased. The girls had the right to refuse anyone they did not like.
In the olden days young men had no money but would pay a horse and food--especially, mescal--to the bride's parents. A poor suitor would kill a deer and bring it to his father-in-law, who would say, "We'll get along all right, we'll have food." The bride might visit her parents at any time, but only for a few days and with her husband's consent. He would join her to help his parents-in-law or would come after her and take her back. After once getting married, they did not get divorced. Each man had a single wife.
Neither the sororate nor the levirate was practiced; they did not want a man to take his brother's place. Either surviving spouse, however, might marry anyone else and did not have to wait a specified time before remarrying.
Kinship terms.--The following incomplete list is presented with diffidence. The rigid taboos against references to the dead rendered the genealogical method impracticable, which fact enhanced the difficulties inherent in the use of two interpreters. The information became especially confusing as to the sibling terms: though we tried to check the data by requestioning, answers flatly contradictory to those understood to have been previously received left us in doubt as to which terms represented the senior and younger siblings, respectively.
| yatá | father (w. sp.) |
| yatátamiyugwe | father (m. sp.) |
| yaxumée | son (m. sp.)2 |
| nyeBitcé | daughter (m. sp.) |
| [ya]sauxumé | son (w. sp.) |
| sauxitcen[niye?] | daughter (w. sp.) |
| ya. itcé | mother (m. sp., w. sp.) |
| kádje | stepchild (m. sp.)3 |
| hinekádje | stepfather |
| pilxényé | father-in-law (m. sp.) |
| nyaxkó | son-in-law (m. sp.) |
| nye. unyé | daughter-in-law (m. sp., w. sp.), brother's wife (m. sp., w. sp.) |
| nyekunyé | parent-in-law (w. sp.), husband's sister |
| nyekenyéya | son-in-law (w. sp.) |
| nyekunyéye4 | husband's brother |
| [/p.342]pekenyé | mother-in-law (m. sp.) |
| nye. usúwi | wife's brother, sister's husband |
| yaeketcepítca | wife's sister, sister's husband (w. sp.) |
| nyeelewá | wife |
| etsxewégBé | co-wife |
| nyeenxamí | husband |
| nyakínne | elder brother (m. sp.), elder sister (w. sp.) |
| nyaníye | elder brother (w. sp.), younger brother (w. sp.), elder sister (m. sp.), younger sister (m. sp., w. sp.) |
| níye, níe | younger brother (m. sp.) |
Strangely enough, grandparent terms were said to be lacking, a point requiring confirmation. There was also no term for the parents of a child's spouse.
Economic life.--The Akwa'ala practiced no agriculture anciently, but while in their own habitat depended upon hunting and gathering. Jackrabbit said that some of his people were still living in their old home, but that others were now on the Colorado river.
Calendar.--The Akwa'ala, like the Diegueño, employ only six month (moon) names. These are used over again when the end of the list is reached. The appearance of the new crescent moon in the west marks the beginning of each new month. December 26, 1921, fell in the month Helayut, which is regarded as terminating both the series and the year. The new year begins with the new crescent moon of January, and the month thus inaugurated is called Helanimsapa. Then follow in order Helapite, Helakul, Helamektinya, Helapsu, and Helayut. Helanimsapa is said to mean "white moon."
Sand paintings.--The Akwa'ala made a sand painting representing the world. The painting was called matsukurukur and was made in a different way from the Cocopa sand painting.
First menstruation.--An Akwa'ala girl of premenstrual age was celled hetcenakwatL (Cocopa: yicakwatL). An Akwa'ala girl after first menstruation was called patcerkwatL.
Sweathouse.--The Akwa'ala had the sweathouse. Individuals suffering from rheumatism used it and greatly benefited thereby.
Shield.--The shield was of deer hide among the Akwa'ala. It was always black, being painted with charcoal all over, and was without feathers. The informant said it was different from the Cocopa shield.
Tobacco.--Tobacco is called aúBe. It was not cultivated by the Akwa'ala. In smoking it they mixed nothing with it. Some women as well as men smoked. A small-sized cane was filled and smoked. The old men made wooden pipes too. The informant had never heard of eating tobacco with the lime of calcined shells.
[/p.343] Gestures--The gesture meaning "come here" is made with the hand hanging downward instead of being held upward.
Twins.--Twins are regarded as of supernatural origin and their arrival as cause for rejoicing. Special efforts are made by the shaman to prevent the return of their spirits to the land whence they came. PátcuixáBue (Cocopa: Keruukhapa) is the supposed country from which the spirits of twins come. Some are never born through a human mother and hence remain there forever. The region is located by the Akwa'ala in the mountains of Lower California, to the south of their own habitat. Twins (or their temporarily disembodied spirits) are believed to visit this country at will, but apparently at night. In their country they have no mother, which doubtless means they exist there in spirit form only. Jackrabbit, who is not one of a pair of twins, said that he acquired, by dreaming, the knowledge that unborn twins in spirit form leave their earthly mother at will and return to their own country. He said: "I dreamt that twins love me very much. If anything is bad or there is anything the twins like, I understand them."
The term xawékedje means twins, either human or spiritual. It is the name Jackrabbit applied to the twins he saw in his dream. They had the power of visiting this world at will.
When twins die their souls return to the place in which spirit twins reside. They go there and stay there. After death they do not return to their earthly mother, who never again sees them, but they may be reborn through another woman.
When twins are born they are believed to want to return to their own land. On such occasions Jackrabbit (or another shaman) visits the infants and tells them that this is a good country and that they should remain here with their mother. In Jackrabbit's experience, some twins have heeded his advice, others have not. Sometimes one of a pair would die, thus returning to his own country; or sometimes both returned (died). "I cannot prevent them very well," said Jackrabbit.--"I am always looking after twins in this fashion. I tell them they will have much food, much clothing, and a good time with their relatives. Sometimes one passes away, but one remains, like the one we passed on the road today. He liked the country and grew up to be a man." On January 4, 1922, we encountered on the road a gaily dressed man wearing hawk and jay feathers on his head and carrying a shinny stick in his hand. We gave him a ride for a distance in our automobile. We were informed that he was the survivor [/p.344] of a pair of twins, and like all twins he had the special privilege of being always dressed in gala attire. This individual was again seen in 1927 and was then also in gala attire, which he is said never to doff.
In visiting newborn twins Jackrabbit took no presents to them, but told their nearest relatives to give them presents. Jackrabbit was paid by the parents of the twins, who presented him with clothing, i.e., clothing Of the ancient aboriginal type.
The parents of twins observe the same taboos as the parents of a single child. They bathe daily and abstain from meat, salt, and smoking for four days. Two cradles, identical in every detail including hood or sunshade, are made for the twins. Twins had to be accorded more care than other babies. No one had twins several times and that is why they are different from other babies--they usually come but once. Triplets were unknown. As twins grow up they have "more fun" than other children, because they are especially beloved. Newborn twins, or their souls, are reputed to say: "I am going to visit for a while. Then I am going back to my own country. I am always doing this way, going back and forth to different women."
Souls of deceased twins return to their place of origin, whence they may be reborn through another mother, while souls of ordinary mortals go to another place (see below). The soul of the survivor of a pair of twins goes also to the place of origin, even if he lives to be an aged person. The soul of the mother of twins goes to the abode of the souls of ordinary mortals; the same is true of the soul of their father. Although their parents are mortal, the souls of twins differ from those of ordinary individuals. There seems, however, to be no idea of supernatural conception, the mortal father of the twins being regarded as their real father, but there appears clearly the idea of the soul existing before the body is formed.
Shamanism: Jimsonweed.--Jimsonweed,Datura (smalketúdje, mulkatutca), was used by the Akwa'ala. Youths took it for inducing visions. Jackrabbit's account of how he obtained shamanistic power thereby is given herewith. When he took Jimsonweed there was no shaman present. He had at first intended to take it alone, but two other boys joined him.
"I wanted to be a doctor too, so I took Jimsonweed. Doctors do not take it because [if?] they get their power in dreams.5 But the others who want power take Jimsonweed.
[/p.345] "I asked two other boys to drink with me, so there were three of us who took the drink together. One was my brother, the other my nephew. We three together made the drink. I drank the weed before, but the two others wanted to join me.
"I haven't heard anything about [the origin of] jimsonweed. It grows by itself, through the rain. There is plenty in our country. I know myself what kind of a plant it is and take it. For so many generations the story went that by drinking jimsonweed I could see something.
"After my vision I drank once more, but did not get to see anything.
"The two other boys who drank with me did not get a vision. They did not get any power. A good many boys tried for it, but only two or three succeeded. Other people would see a vision of a different kind.
"Sometimes the younger children, not the oldest one, get the power from their father if he is a doctor. No matter how many children there are, the youngest gets the office. Sometimes it happens that a girl acts as doctor with her brother; if she is the youngest, she serves as doctor together with her next older brother.
"A doctor is called kesiyé.
"Doctors do not drink jimsonweed. The youngest child has to dream in order to become his father's successor. While sleeping in the house, he lies on the south side, with his head toward the east. Thus a candidate lies when expecting a dream."
Shamanism: Snake bites.--"When I was a boy, I slept in the house and dreamt. I saw a real snake coming from the east. When he was close, he said, 'I am coming.' Then the snake had all kinds of thorns [fangs?] and was not strong enough to bite anybody (?). Then there is one thing that is pretty good, to have one tooth to bite anybody and kill him. The thorns are those found on the mesa--these are the ones good for biting. The snake told me this. He did not mean that he was going to kill people, but that some snake would kill somebody with its fangs. The snake kept on talking: 'If I bite anyone, just one tooth will do harm, for when I bite, then the person will die. But, if anyone who has power from me calls me, the patient will get well.' I am the one that has the power for snake bites.
"So I marked a line toward the south, not so far away as from here to the door. Then I made a mark toward the east and west across the first line--north, south, west, and east. The east and the west line was longer, the south line was the shorter. In my dream I was shown to mark a cross, so I did it. I made marks in every direction so that snakes from every direction should be able to hear my voice. Later on, when a snake bit somebody and I tried to cure him, I marked a cross like that. I stood right in the center of the cross so that other snakes in the heavens heard my voice. They talked to me, there would be a noise like thunder, it would get dark. The earth where I stood was as though shaken by an earthquake. No one else knew of it, only I, where I stood. I would find out myself. I know that anyone who suffers from a snake bite is going to get well, because all the fresh air, when it comes from the north to the south, comes to my body, keeping my breath fresh; then I know this man will get well.
"When a snake bites anybody, I call four times; that may be enough. If it is intending to kill this man, I call four times four times, that is sixteen times. I call the snake eight times if the bite is bad.
"I have no medicine, only my own power. People call me when some person is bitten. I just walk round, but not close to the patient. I go round four times. If it is a very bad bite I go round eight times, then he gets well. While walking, I sing songs: 'From west to east.' Then when I have sung this song, I tell the snakes all about the injured man. I do not go close. There may be a swelling, [/p.346] but it does not get worse. Right where the sick man is lying I mark the cross, tracing it with my left foot. The patient's face is toward the east, and he lies on the north side of the cross. I walk first on the line toward the east, return on the same line and go west, thn go north.
"Prom the north end I know that the man is going to get well, because in the south is the other world [hereafter]. I had no power from the south because that is where people go when they die."
Jackrabbit made some willowbark string while explaining the cross. This represented the snake. "If anyone steps on its nose or head, it will not bite, but if anyone steps on its rattle it won't (sic, but should evidently be 'will') bite, because that is its way.
"Some snakes are pretty good, others are mean. When I doctored for a snake bite, there was an earthquake, also thunder. I was the only one to hear it. The snake did not tell me to suck out anything, he told me to walk four times. I did not come close to him [the patient]. I walked round all night till morning, and then the swelling would all be down.
"People paid me something for a cure--$15. I have doctored about a dozen different people this way, also a Mexican girl. When far away from the scene of the snake-biting, I know about it because someone tells me. When I call four times, I look round the world and hear the words: 'He's not going to die.' 'Shall you see him when he dies?' 'Yes.' "
In answer to the question how he knew about a snake bite when far away, the informant said: "I don't find out till some man tells me. I have different experiences. My power is to shout four times and again four times, eight in all. I find it is true, because if it's a bad bite I can tell away from home."
Our Cocopa interpreter aaked Jackrabbit at this point: "If someone stuck his foot and called you for a snake bite, would you know about it or be fooled?" "I should not be deceived for in that case [i.e., if there were no snake bite] I should not hear any thunder..... I was the only one in my tribe who had this power, but one Cocopa also has it; he lives south of Somerton."
"Snakes make their home in heaven; those are the ones whose bite no one [without the special gift?] can cure. Three times I cured people bitten by these heavenly snakes. There is land up in heaven, too, and snakes live in all cardinal directions, the same as here. There is no one living in heaven except God (miyaúekiyék)."
Shamanism: Arrow wounds.--As among the warlike Cocopa on the river, the shamans were skilled in the curing of arrow wounds. Unlike the Cocopa, however, they are said not to use the sand painting in this connection. The practitioner rubbed the victim of an arrow wound with his hands, sang, and breathed on his body, so that the arrowpoint "would not stay in." Grease and spittle only were used. For any wound the practitioner danced around the wounded person and breathed in his ear, "so that he would get well." However, the really efficacious part of the treatment for an arrow wound seems to have beenn the "sucking out" of the arrowpoint and of any pus that might have collected. Thereafter "the patient got well."
[/p.347] The following is Jackrabbit's account of how he obtained the power to cure arrow wounds.
"I dreamed this because I drank jimsonweed. Two others drank with me. I drank it a little at a time for two days. Then I was as if drunk and did not know what I was doing. I went toward the east and stopped. Coyote came from the east. I stood there and looked at him. He came close to me, went around me once, and told me I would be an arrow-wound curer. He said he could give me power to cure, and so he did. I said: 'All right.' Then Coyote told me: 'There is another man coming to see you and tell you something more.'
"Turkey Vulture then came to me. He said: 'I came here. I am already a "witch to snake." Snakes will not bite you. You can take a snake in your hand and it will not bite you.' Turkey Vulture told Coyote he was going to give me power to cure snake bites. Coyote said: 'I have already given him one power. When I was east I had the same power to cure anyone wounded with arrow. I came here to show him how to do it.'"
In curing arrow wounds Jackrabbit calls "Hê-ê-ê," in one continuous call, with right hand raised and turning his body slowly in all directions. This is how Coyote showed him to act when curing arrow wounds. Coyote told him to be sure to remember; then he left. Later he returned and asked Jackrabbit if he still remembered it. Jackrabbit replied: "Yes." Coyote said: "I do not have to bring more power (essumága) to you. You have enough. You have enough to do good to anybody."
In curing, Jaokrabbit walks east a few yards, then turns and walks west, puffing out his breath and waving his hands, palms out, to the right, then to the left. "I do not let anyone get close to the wounded man, because Coyote so instructed me," said Jackrabbit. Then Jackrabbit sings, turning in different directions and flexing his knees. Then he blows out his breath several times. The singing is then repeated. The hands are clapped and he blows in either ear of the wounded man. "I blow in his ear and on top of his head, also in all directions so that none may come close. That is the way I do," said Jackrabbit. The songs were learned from Coyote and Turkey Vulture.
"The wounded man does not die. He gets well; he gets fresh air. That is what I sing in my song. I can take arrowpoints out easily. I rub around the wound to get the arrowpoint located, then I suck it out."
At the same time that this power to cure arrow wounds was secured from Coyote, the power to stop rain was also obtained (see below). The two creatures, Coyote and Turkey Vulture, instructed Jackrabbit at the one taking of jimsonweed. "I am getting too old now to cure," said Jackrabbit. "When younger I could cure any man of snake bite in about an hour. I could cure an arrow wound in five minutes. My breath was fresh and cool as ice when blown on the wound. Now I am getting old and cannot do the same. Still I remember yet." The power to cure club wounds and arrow wounds was the same.6
Shamanism: Rain prevention.--At about two o'clock in the afternoon of January 2, 1922, Frank Tehana called my (R.H.L.'s) attention to Jackrabbit's passing up and down in front of Frank's shed, trying to drive rain away. After a few minutes, he got his bunch of [/p.348] feathers and now walked on the other side of the shed, waving the feathers, singing, and at the same time blowing the air as if waving clouds away. Occasionally he got into a slow dance step. Later he took off his red waist-sash and waved that. Subsequently he explained his rain-powers as follows:
"I did not get this power about rain in a dream. When I was a young man, I stayed in the mpuntains in my country. I had jimsonweed, I squeezed the leaves, mixed this with water, and drank it. I did that in the morning, drank it very little at a time, but all day I continued. I swallowed three times each time; it took me all day, and during the night it was the same way. In the morning I turned my face toward the east. I walked not far off. It seemed to me as though I were insane. I came back to the same place where the pond is. The same way I walked a little ways toward the east again. A coyote came from the east toward me. Then a fox said, 'Ha, ha, ha!' breathing. With his tail he beat the ground. Then a coyote came round where I was. I was still standing there, the coyote walked round once, walked away, then lay down. I looked at him and asked him about it: 'What do you want to see me for?' He said, 'I just came here to show you what you can do. If at any time the rain clouds are coming toward you, you must turn your face toward the clouds, twist your neck and turn one way and the other, then there won't be any rain; the rain will cease.' When I took jimsonweed I could understand the coyote telling me about the clouds when covering the sun, and telling me as above, 'Go! this cloud, do not turn into rain!' He did not give me power over all the rain; when there is thunder in the summer time that is the kind I can stop easily, but in the winter time I cannot do it very well; but I'll say right now that tonight there will not be any clouds. 'All right, I'll have to do what you have told me,' I said to Coyote. For a while Coyote stayed where he was. 'Don't forget this power I am giving to you,' he said.
"The first time I was alone after that, I tried to stop the rain. I stopped it. After that many people asked me, 'Will you stop rain?' 'Yes, I will.' I sent the clouds north, and cut off half of them, sending them east.
"I was alone while talking to Coyote, the other people were sleeping at the time.
"Coyote said, 'You'll have to keep on doing what I told you. Now when I give power to anyone, it's true. You keep this in mind always and keep right along.' I said, 'I am satisfied.' That's the only time I have ever seen Coyote."
In answer to the question whether it had been a spirit disguised as a coyote that appeared to him, the informant stated that it was really a coyote, who subsequently went back east. Jackrabbit continued: "For stopping rain, four men once paid me. The one who asked me to stop the rain paid me $2, the others paid me half a dollar apiece.
"Coyote told me to use the crow feathers which I waved at the clouds today. Chicken-hawk feathers were to be used as well as crow feathers.7 Crow feathers were actually used. A red ribbon or cloth is the proper one to use for tying the feathers together."
Souls.-"When a little boy, I dreamt that three ghosts came in to wake nir up and told me what I was going to do. I stood toward the east when it was getting dark, and all the birds came except the owl. Different kinds of owls were {/p.349] coming because that gives me power. There was darkness all over. Whenever our people sleeping at night saw their dead relatives, these would try to take them away where they belonged. For this I was given power; if I was not there, the sleepers would surely die; if I was there, they would not die, the ghost said. This ghost told me everything he wanted me to do.
"'Any person, man or woman, has to meet his dead relatives when he falls dead. You will have to blow on the middle of his head. Then take his leg, strike the ground with it, and he will get well.' That's all he told me. He told me everything. I was very eager to get power. I am not the only one, for he spoke to several people together. I saved one man whom a ghost was taking away, for the ghost told me, 'You sing a song.' Kara'úkxap is the name of the place where I learnt this. (This is a mountain in Lower California, visible from here, but the cave is not there.) The ghost also told me to breathe into a patient's ears.
"When I grew up to be a man I began to doctor.
"When I blew on the head, ears, arms, and legs of a sick person, he would wake up and tell the people, 'I am getting well.' I also told them so. He would never grow worse again. Every time I doctored, the ghost would stand by me. If he did not stand by me, I could not cure anybody.
"Celláye is the name of any ghost. A ghost looks like a man, and wears clothes. They live south of here in Enpakwilá (Cocopa), called Enpématsilé in Akwa'ala."
When a person dies, his soul goes where it belongs, i.e., where the Akwa'ala belong, to a mountain in the south. Kinyíl wíye is the name of this mountain. Jackrabbit did not know any Mexican name for it. It lies in Akwa'ala territory. Living people are not supposed to go there, but to stay where they belong. Good and bad people go to the same place. When a doctor died, he had his own mountain to go to; all the doctors go to the same mountain (Tsupáxa wíya), south of Kinyíl wíye. Doctors go to a separate mountain and their brothers who are not doctors go to the other mountain. Women go to the same place as men. Dead people do not get tired climbing their mountain. Women doctors go to the same place as other doctors. It is not close to the ocean.
A person who has been dead a long time and whose name is not mentioned is called mèBiaíyi; a ghost or any dead person is called ĉalláye.
"I always saw the ghosts I had dreamed about every two or three days, and they would give me all the news. Only one of the three came to see me this way. He kept this up all my life. When I want to see him and lie down patiently, not saying a word, then the ghost will come to see me. He talks to me, and I talk to him. He says: 'You always remember me. I am always here to look out for you. You'll never be sick; because you own my power, you cannot get sick. You'll always keep on this way as long as you live.'
"The spirit did not go along with me on a hunting or fishing trip but he would talk to me at night. Sometimes he told me where I could get deer, jackrabbits, or rats. Of these I would then be able to kill a great many. He told [/p.350] me to fix points for arrows, so that I could kill deer. I minded what he told me and was successful. I used no fish at all and no wild potatoes; these belong to the Cocopa. He told me what I must not do, for instance, I was not to steal. Because I minded him, I am old now; otherwise I should not be alive. Yes, I was allowed to eat any kind of food except snake, because the snake was my brother. Because the snake from the east gave me power, that's why I call him 'brother.'"
Origin tale.8--There was nothing but water in the beginning. There were two men under the water. They tried to find a means of getting out of the water. They tried all around but could find no place to get out--no land to stand on. When they finally both came to the surface the land was coming up at the same time. One came up ahead of the other. The second one asked the first: "How did you get out?" The first one said: "I opened my eyes to look around as I was coming out." So the second one opened his eyes as he came out. The water was salt and blinded him. That was the origin of the human affliction of blindness. He could see nothing, felt sorry, and returned into the water. He did not stay with the first one, who remained above alone. Mitipa was the name of the one who remained above.
Mitipa made four men and eight women. These were of different tribes--Mohave, Yuma, Maricopa, and Cocopa. Each man had two women. After these four men and eight women were completed, the creator Mitipa mentioned the north, then he mentioned the west, so that those living in the mountains could use the wild foods, the seeds of which were thrown to the west, so the people could use them. Then he mentioned the south. People were created in the north. In the south the same food was thrown as in the west, seeds, all kinds of seeds. He threw seeds to the east just as he did in the west, wild seeds for the people.
The creator had a moon. He made it in the west. Then he made the sun in the east. He put the moon in the west and told the people he had made it. He said the moon would go down, but there would be a new moon. He named the months. After that he made the sun.
The story I have just been telling is about my tribe.9 The Akwa'ala were made at the same time as the other four tribes. He did not give us anything except the names of the six months. When my tribe began to talk, there came wind and rain.
[/p.351] Moon was made (?), but first was taken out and put on the hand to show to men. "This is the moon." Then he took it up in the air and left it there. The creator had the sun on his hand in the same way. When people see it in the east, they know it is sunrise; when in the west, they know it will soon be dark and time to go home.
Men were made like dolls, which after a while became like men. Each was given the name of his tribe and lineage.
When the world first began and people were made, the creator said: "You people will have to go out for a good time and play. Get ready your arrows and bows." The Yuma and Mohave divided up bows and arrows without points and shot one another to see which was the better. The Yuma drove the Mohave north. Then the creator called the Cocopa and Yuma to a contest. They had bows and arrows without points. They fought and the Yuma drove the Cocopa south. Then the Maricopa had a contest with the Yuma, with blunt arrows. They remained together. The creator told them they would both be great warriors. The Akwa'ala stayed to one side and witnessed the contest, but did not join in it, because the creator did not give them the power to fight with the others.
Neighbors.-Yukaliwa is the Akwa'ala term for the tribe to the south of them, who were regarded as friends and with whom they intermarried. The Cocopa call them the same. The Yukaliwa call themselves Wilewakiute. A vocabulary is given below.
Jackrabbit called the northern neighbors of his people Sulpati and equated them to the Diegueño. To the west, Jackrabbit knew of no people save the Mexicans.
VOCABULARY
| Akwa'ala | Yukaliwa | Cocopa | |
| 1 | acitdek | mecil | acit |
| 2 | kowûk | hauwak | kauwak |
| 3 | homuk | hamiik | hûmuk |
| 4 | hupak | minûk | sûpap |
| 5 | sirûp | seltipûm | serap |
| 6 | dicpek | mecilyapaiv | hûmûkux |
| 7 | pexkaii | hauwakyapaiv | puxka |
| 8 | tciphok | hamiikyapaiv | sûpûpuuk |
| 9 | hûmhumuk | minûkyapaiv | hûmhumuk |
| 10 | unasicit | sipammecil | sahuk |
| Man | pa'hami | nickume | apa' |
| Woman | mimusi | yiskô | yesak |
| Boy | homê' | naisi | wühun |
| Girl | hatcen | cikomais' | hasaiñ |
| Head | sûpai | e'iyi | yumukur |
| [/p.352] Hair (of head) | kowow | e'iyi | yumkwaL |
| Eye | yurh | yiyu | yiyurh 10 |
| Nose | hu | api | yihuh |
| Ear | icmalka | ismakel | yicmal |
| Mouth | yah | ahah | yiyah |
| Teeth | yô | 'yau | yiyawih |
| Tongue | yinpal | ahapal | yinbaL |
| Chin | yispi | -- | yiyatcûkasa |
| Thigh | pimusila | yimih | yimusiL |
| Knee | mimupuk | -- | yimêhelawai |
| Foot | yimih | yimih | yimîr |
| Toe | mixsarah | yimisalsipûm | yimîrserap |
| Heart | yiwai | eyai | yiwaia |
| Liver | tcupôsi | -- | yitcupôsô |
| Blood | etcawat | hikwat | yiwat |
| Sky | emiya | ama-i | ama |
| Star | amusí | misii | wülcap |
| Moon | hülû' | hüla'a | hexa |
| Sun | enya | inyaa | inya |
| Rain | mok | huhak | paxai |
| Whirlwind | hikwil | -- | yimatsiakwer |
| Water | ahah | ehaa | erkah |
| Ocean | ahasiel | ehatai | ahakwisiix |
| Deer | akwak | ahaka | akwak |
| Coyote | eseL | milt'i | xatcpa |
| Eagle | esa' | tipaiyu | ispa' |
| Dove | kuwiv | hauwih | ilaku |
| Turkey vulture | esê | -- | saiye |
| Crow | kisak | akak | akak |
| Rattlesnake | elwih | awî | awih |
| Lizard | etul | etol | kwasul |
| Mullet | taman | tûmûn | tcaman |
| Tule | ipil | esôk | henyex |
| Cottonwood | ûxû' | miltaiyi | ûxû' |
| Willow | enyoh | iyau | aya |
| Arrowweed | temuh | tumu | hetcaam |
| Mesquite | enal | ahaa | anyaL |
| Mesquite screw | êis | êhec | yiis |
| Mescal | yêl | amal | amaL |
1 E. W. Gifford, Clans and Moieties in Southern California, this series, 14:155-219, 1918; Miwok Lineages and the Political Unit in Aboriginal California, Am, Anthrop., n.s., 28:389-401, 1926; L. Spier, Southern Diegueño Customs, this series, 20:297-358, 1923.
2 Xume' also means "boy."
3 There is said to be no equivalent in women's speech. The word for stepmother is also reported lacking.
4 This should probably be identical with the preceding term, and both are evidently derived from nyekunye'.
5 The statements, as translated, are not quite clear. We interpret Jackrabbit to mean that he secured his power of curing snake bites through dreaming (see below), while his power of curing arrow wounds and his control of the weather were derived from the supernatural beings who appeared to him in visions induced by the Jimsonweed.
6 Joe Homer, our Yuma interpreter, said: "I saw a Yuma cure an arrow wound in about fifteen minutes. I asked him how he got the power. He said he learned from other Indians. He did it in the same way that Jackrabbit describes."
7 We could not make out whether the latter represent only a substitute.
8 This tale does not read as though primarily Akwa'ala, since it deals more with other peoples.
9 Response to question by authors.
10 Prefix yi- on Cocopa words is said to mean "his."
UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA,
Transmitted November 1, 1927.