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12. The Boy Who Killed Blue Hawk (second version)
- University of New Mexico Press
- Chapter
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| 103 12. The Boy Who Killed Blue Hawk (second version)1 they did not tell in this story where that old woman first lived. She lived alone where there was a little spring at which she got water. The spring dripped drop by drop. She thought how, without a man, she could conceive a child. So she thought she would try the spring. She lay there, and let it drip into her. By and by she became pregnant and had a boy. Then she tried the same thing, and made another boy. Now she had two. By and by when the two boys were larger, they asked their mother, “What do they use to make bows?” “Yes, I know the place where it grows. When I tell you, you can go out some, so that I can show you how they make bows,” she said. The boys said, “What kind of wood do they use for arrows?” “Yes, I know a place where plenty grow.” So she sent the boys to gather these two things for bows and arrows. They brought them to their mother. She made them for them. She made bows and straightened the arrow shafts. “That is what they do to make them,” she told the children. “We have no deer sinew for bowstrings; we will make them of soapweed. We will tie on the feathers with this, too.” And she did so. “What do they make arrowheads of to set on these shafts?” The old woman said, “Yes, I know the place where you can get something to make arrow points.” She showed them in which direction it lay and the boys went to fetch the black obsidian. They brought lots of it and the old woman fashioned arrowpoints for them. She made everything for them, and the boys got ready, and she said, “Now, both of you can go out to hunt. The deer are quite near here, all about. When you see deer, do not kill an old buck. When young boys like you kill, they kill only young deer with spike horns.” 104 | part ii So the boys went. They found lots of deer, but they did not kill a big buck; only a spike horn deer, which they brought to their mother’s house. Their mother told them, “Take out the sinew along the back; that is the kind to use in making moccasins and feathering arrows. The other kind of sinews in the deer leg are used to make bowstring.” So the boys did as she told. She said, “The spike horns of the deer you caught are used as arrowhead flakers.” The boys asked her, “What kind of feathers are used for arrows?” She said, “Yes, I know the feathers are those of the chicken hawk and eaglets.” The boys found the birds. “Keep them until they are grown, with big wing feathers which you can use on the arrows.” So the boys did it. Then they asked, “How do you prepare and put them on?” So she showed them one feather, split it; split another, and a third. “That is how they put them on the arrow,” she said. She taught the boys. Now they have everything and know how to make them. Their mother told them, “When you are out, see if you can find a fawn lying somewhere. Catch and skin it, and give it to me to tan with the hair on, so I can teach you how to make quivers.” So the boys went out again and did it. The boys’ mother taught them how to make everything necessary for hunting. They made them and were ready. They went out hunting every morning and each brought home two deer. They stayed there all the time doing this. The old woman scraped the hides and tanned some. Then she showed the boys: “That is the way they make moccasins, leggings, pants, and shirts,” and made them for the boys to wear. So the two boys now knew how to make them. Now they were young men and stayed with their mother. The old woman sang, “Each day at dawn run toward the daylight. If you do this, you will feel good. Run fast and throw out your arms toward the daylight, and run your fingers through your hair and fling them toward the daylight, so you will never have lice. If you do not run this way before the sun rises, you will feel drowsy all...