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฀ ฀ ฀฀ was associated with evil powers.As can be seen from the Lipan story of the woman and the bears, the crow was also associated with an animal with which contact carried some stigma. Yet the crow did not carry the same association for the Lipans as did the raven. Because of the crow’s interest in an animal carcass, the crow was also associated with the hunt, and a hunter would always leave a small portion of the butchered animal for the crows to eat.10 Chevato’s story, as passed down to his grandson, uses the word“blackbirds .”It is unclear whether the birds he was referring to were crows or ravens ; the word probably originally referred to birds whose color was black. Since the Mescaleros, however, also believed that“black birds, particularly ravens, [were] considered birds of ill omen by those who [did] not have supernatural power from them,”11 the rest of the raiding party would have been familiar with Chevato’s usage. Chevato’s warning called to mind the evil characteristics of the raven and its association with death. The raven association, as well as the accuracy of Chevato’s forecast, was borne out by later events, once the raiding party returned home. 6. Chevato and Dinero Leave the Bandits Chevato and Dinero moved back and forth between the Mescaleros and the bandits for some time.When they were with the bandits, they would steal cattle in the United States and take them into Mexico to sell. One day, they had a lot of cattle, and they had just crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico, headed toward Zaragosa, where they were going to sell them in the market. On the way, they met this fellow who had a small two-room house. Adjacent to the house was a small corral with a few head of cattle, some horses, and a shed for his livestock. This fellow was sitting on the corral fence when the bandits got there. The bandit leader asked the man what the price of the cattle was like in the nearby exchange. The man said,“Not very good.” The name of the man sitting on the fence was Mr. Rodriguez. The bandit leader was a pretty smart fellow in the ways of money, so he asked Rodriguez if he was willing to go as partners and keep the bandits’ cattle . When the price had risen, Rodriguez would sell the cattle, and then the bandit leader would come and get his money. Rodriguez said, “What’s in it for me?” The leader said, “A percentage,” and they agreed on a percentage and struck up a partnership. In leaving, the leader of the bandits went to Mr. Rodriguez and said in front of everybody, “We entered into a deal, and we shook hands on it. If you ever double cross me, not give me my money, we’ll come back and make your life miserable.” Mr. Rodriguez said, “No, don’t worry about that. We have business . As long as you treat me fair, I’ll treat you fair.” So the bandits kept doing things like that with Mr. Rodriguez, and Mr. Rodriguez prospered. He grew into a fairly rich man and became legitimate, like many businesses that started off with illegal activities but ended up legitimate . Mr. Rodriguez also became a lifelong friend of Chevato. Even after Mr. Rodriguez had become a rich man, he never forgot his friendships from the early days. Chevato would, in his later years, go to visit Mr. Rodriguez, and Mr. Rodriguez would always extend the hospitality of his home and treat Chevato as if he were a family member. One day, Dinero got my grandfather into trouble with the bandits. Impressed with the powers Chevato had received from his vision quest, Dinero had bragged to the bandits that Chevato could do extraordinary things. He said that Chevato could walk on the local molino (a large sheet of metal that was heated), where they baked their bread in the morning. He could walk barefooted on the metal sheet that was red hot, and he would not burn his feet. Dinero had even pledged and taken bets that my grandfather could do this thing. When Chevato heard what Dinero had done, he had a bad feeling. He knew that he shouldn’t use his power in this way. It would be his utter destruction to use his power to show off, while others made bets. But he also had to...

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