8. Naiyenesgani Removes Certain Dangers

At that time a trail passed between a cliff and a stream. TsedagediLîsdîhî, a monster, sat by this trail. His home was in the large stream flowing by. When anyone passed along the trail in front of him, he kicked him into the water where the children of the monster ate the victim and only his red bones floated to the surface. The people passed along there and TsedagediLîsdîhî kicked them down.

Then Naiyenesgani came there and asked, "Where does the trail go through?" "There," he told him. He came there and made motions as if to pass through. The monster, kicking, missed him. "Where does the trail pass?" he asked. "There," he told him. He came there and made motions as if to pass. The monster, kicking, missed him. "Where

p. 203

does the trail pass?" he asked. "There," he told him. He made motions as if to pass again. The monster missed when he kicked at him. Then Naiyenesgani kicked him into the water. When his children had finished eating him they said, "It was our father's meat." His bones, very red, floated to the top. Naiyenesgani came there and sent the young ones out. ¹

Then he was about to lie with his wife. He pounded some sumac sticks and twisted them together. Having them in his hand he went with her and when she lay down for him, he inserted the sticks first. Her vulvae were provided with teeth by means of which she killed men. She cut these sticks with her teeth and he destroyed them. After that she had no such teeth. Before that, cutting the men with her teeth, she had killed them. ²

Then the reeds needed for arrows stood at the junction of two canyons. When anyone came there for arrows the rocks closed on him and killed him. Notwithstanding the danger, people continued coming for arrows and were killed. Naiyenesgani came there, made as if to pass four times, and then went to the reeds and broke some of them off. The rocks did not come together. He carried the reeds out and distributed them so that everybody had arrows. He did that. ³

Footnotes

203:1 Matthews gives a similar incident, not associated with a stream, p. 122. It has been recorded from the San Carlos Apache.

203:2 A very widespread conception. See Lowie, (a), p. 237; Dorsey, (c), p. 35.

203:3 Usually this danger of approaching rocks is passed on the journey to the sun. Matthews, p. 109.