The Dance of the Spirits

The Religion of the Luiseño Indians of Southern California, by Constance Goddard DuBois, [1908], at sacred-texts.com

p. 154

THE DANCE OF THE SPIRITS.

There were two large villages in old times, Kamak, where Potrero is now, ²⁷⁸ and Ahoya near where Sparkman's store is at Rincon, ²⁷⁹ where one leaves the sycamore trees.

When it was time to gather the acorns, all the people of Kamak left their houses empty and went up on Palomar Mountain.

An old man named Pautovak came up from Ahoya, and stopped at Kamak, thinking he would stay all night and go on in the morning. He took one of the enormous storage baskets, mushkwanish, ²⁸⁰ that was empty, inverted it over himself for shelter, and went to sleep.

Early during the night he heard people call out the summons to a dance. He lay and listened.

There were children among the people, little boys, and they came near the granary basket, and there was a torn place in it where the toes of the old man were sticking out. The boys said "the devil" (a spirit) was there, and ran away.

The old man could recognize the voices of men and women who had died long ago. He could hear the spirits talk and hear them laugh. One was Exwanyawish, ²⁸¹ the woman that was turned into a rock, and Piyevla, ²⁸² the man that scooped the rock with his fingers. ²⁸³ Piyevla sang that night all the songs that had been his when alive.

The old man could hear the women's songs as they danced. He lay awake all night and listened; till at last, just before dawn, he could not wait any longer, but determined to see them for himself; so suddenly throwing off the basket, he said, "Hai, are you there? " and immediately all the spirits turned into a flock of birds and flew away; and the turtle-shell rattle they had used all night for the dancing he found where they had left it, but now it was nothing but a piece of soaproot.

Footnotes

154:278 Kama’, near Potrero; Kuka, a village near where Potrero now is.—S.

154:279 Ahuya, old village site above Rincon on road toward Potrero.—S.

154:280 Ibid.—S.

154:281 Exvongawish (x German ch), of Exva.—S.

154:282 Peyevla, large basket; a hole in a rock at Potrero.—S.

154:283 See below, the account of ancestral landmarks.