In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

| 71 2. The origin of Corn1 a long time ago there were two chiefs. one was sick. Many Indians were there with their head chief. The chief said, “I am very sick; I want to lie down in the shadow.” The Indians made him a flat-roofed shelter. The sick chief said, “No, I do not want that. I want another kind.” They made one dome-shaped. But the chief said, “I do not like that. Make it conical.” He wanted them to cut trees and set them in the ground to cast a shadow. He said to the Indians, “When I am dead, I want you to make a fire and put me in it. Take a stick and scatter my ashes when I am all burnt up.” That is what he told them when he was sick. He lay there sick. After a while he was dead. They made a big pile of wood. Coyote said that he would get fire, so he ran far away to the rocks to get flint to strike a fire. Coyote was gone for many hours. They had wood all ready for lighting, so they started it. Coyote ran as fast as he could. He turned around and saw the smoke of the fire they had started, so he came right back. He came back to where the Indians had built the fire. The body was all burnt, except the heart. The Indians were all crying, standing around the heart. Coyote ran around in back of them, asking, “Where shall I stand to cry?” They would not let him in the circle, so he went behind a dwarf, jumped in, and got the heart. Coyote ran away with the heart. He ran fast and the Indians ran after him, but they could not catch him. They returned home and built a fire. They made the ground smooth where they had burned the man, and put water on it. That is what the chief had told the Indians to do when he was sick. They came to the place every day to see what had happened. After some days green things came up. They put water on these; after a time 72 | part ii they had corn. Ears grew on the corn and when they were ripe, they picked them. The chief who was left said that the Hopi should take the best corn and the Havasupai should take the little ear. Each should take one. The corn is the dead man’s heart. That is, the small corn, because Coyote ran away with the big heart (?). When Indians plant corn, they talk to it, saying, “You must grow and ripen quickly.” It grows because it hears what they say. Hopi, Havasupai, and Mohave have corn, but the Walapai have none. Walapai only travel around, camping and picking piñon seeds. The Mohave got the little ear of corn.| notes | 1. Told by Manakadja; interpreted by Lillie Burro; recorded by E. G., 1921. ...

Share