Part 1: The people of Eden, Chapter 3: The Hopi legends
Published July 16, 2009 by Frederic Vidal
Collier Hopi
The Legend of Yucca
When we still lived in clans Palátupka in Red canyon, now called Canyon de Chelly, It tells the story of Yucca
The clans of the Hopi villages, were the clan of the sun, the corn clan and the clan of the clouds
There was also the clan of fire and the clan of the reed
The little clan of Yucca was little known, with only a few individuals
They always settled with the other clans in a small side canyon
In one of these families of the clan of yucca, was born a girl who became a beautiful young woman, brave and helpful, and everyone liked him
One day, far to the west, there was a volcanic eruption
Black clouds covered the country for three years, there was more rain
Corn, beans, squash and other vegetables withered all
Nothing grows more and people were forced to go into the wilderness to find something to eat
The girl’s parents were too old to go
So the girl went to get food for them three
Before leaving, she fills a pitcher of water for his parents
When she could not find food, it would not fit and still had to sleep outside to continue his search the next day
The third year, the famine was so great that the girl was forced to move further and further away One day she decided to go even further, where no one had ever been before her
She went to a hill to the north, and for three days she picked what she thought when she came to a clearing where beautiful grain and grew and there was dried berries that were still edible
Late in the afternoon she ate and then decided to spend the night and sleep near a cliff
When she moved, he thought he heard a noise, but seeing no animals fell asleep in the sand
The next morning, thinking she had found enough to eat, she decided to return when she heard again the sound of the day
She went to the hill and a stranger came to meet him
He was a handsome young man in a beautiful dress
For a long time, his people knew the Kachinas, but since the arrival of black clouds, they seemed to have disappeared
When he was near her, she realized what she had heard the day before
His chest and his body was covered with shells that tinkled when walking
But it was the day she was not afraid
He addressed her, saying:
“I see you’ve picked up enough food for your family”
His voice was soft and gentle and seemed aware of the famine
She answered:
“Yes, it’s the first time I went too far and I found the same. “
“I understand, we have seen this time and we know what happened”
She asked him where he came from and he replied:
“We are insiders and we do not live on this earth
We come from a planet far away, but we monitor the entire country
You will overcome these difficult times, it’s part of changes occurring now on the earth “
The girl was so surprised that she asked no more questions
He continued:
“It will seem strange, but where I come from everything is nice and green”
After sitting together, she spoke of him and his people from his
Then he asked:
“You do not come home today
You do not do not worry about your parents? “
“No, it’s so interesting to hear someone like you, someone who is so well fed”
He replied:
“I know this surprises you, but we do not eat your food, we live the spirit that is in the food is like the dew on the snowdrops and there are many in the universe “
Then the young man asked if she was hungry
She wanted to cook something that she had found, but the young man offered him something he had brought
It was sweet corn, it was a long time she did not eat
They remained together until nightfall and decided to spend the night in one place and leave together the next day
He accompanied a long way and when she arrived at her parents b, she gave them all that she had found, and corn that the young man had given him
She related what had happened but they decided not to tell anyone
After a while, the girl went back in search of food and headed for the hill
The young man was there and waiting
But winter came and it was increasingly difficult to find food
She returned a third and final time and the young man gave him a jug filled with seeds
He explained to her that she must keep the seeds inside the house and she had to spread a little in the dark
She had to put the seeds that came the first of the pitcher in a basket and leave the room
When she returns, the seeds would be multiplied
She did as he requested, and each time she returned to the room, it was a new surprise
Once there were beans, another time of pumpkin seeds and sometimes corn
Each time the basket was full
The pitcher, the pitcher that we called sacred, feeds the whole family through the winter
Since she had not told the other members of the clan that had happened, she sometimes went out to pretend to go in search of food
In spring, the girl saw that she was expecting a child
She was amazed and said to his mother, who soon became a concern over what people would think
The stranger was the only man she had known and to whom she spoke, but she had not had sex with him
The mother was anxious and a little ashamed
One day, the girl decided:
“We will say that I met a stranger and I had sex with him”
One morning the child was born
He was a boy
The whole family was happy and well received
After twenty days, it was time to wash your hair
This is an important event in the life of the Hopi
The family was concerned because this ceremony is to be made by the parents of the father
But who was the father and where was he?
Then something strange happened
When the mother of the girl decided to wash her own hair of the child, the fog lifted in the canyon
This was the expected response
The insiders had come to wash the hair of the child
The fog thickened where the family lived, and the fog became rain
As the father’s mother was not there to give a name to the child, so it’s the mother of the mother who gave her name as Silíomoho because the mother was the clan of Yucca, and she called his name Yucca plant which grows
The rain had returned, that was the end of the famine
The child grew and was beautiful so beautiful
When he became a handsome young man, he asked permission to go hunting alone
He headed north to the hill, but it is only the third day he managed to kill an animal
He prepared a meal and put the rest of the meat to dry
The next day when he woke up, a young stranger standing next to the meat
He said:
“Are you finally come to hunt”
His voice was friendly and Silíomoho replied:
“Yes, this is the first time I hunt alone. “
“Yes, I know, I know you well”
replied the stranger
Silíomoho was surprised:
“You know me? “
“Yes, but time has not yet come to tell you who I am”
In the evening, the meat was almost dry and abroad helped Silíomoho to wear and asked to follow
He brought up the steep slope of the hill
It was almost dark when they reached the top
Here, there was a house just like our kivas, but more
The stranger took him into
He heard voices, and down the ladder, he saw a group of women and girls Kachinas sitting along the wall
Most women were Haha-i, the nicest women Kachinas
They welcomed him and sat next to men in the middle of the room
He was served a good meal and abroad said:
“As you came into our house, I want to tell you that many of us in all the earth, and I am your father”
Silíomoho surprised, understood that his father was an insider, so his mother and grandparents did not tell him
His father said:
“The time has not yet come to tell you exactly who I am and what I do
You’re a human and you are not yet ours, but you’ll one day
Now, you must pass three tests
We’ll see if you’ll survive “
During the next three nights, the boy had to carefully select places to spend the night and was attacked by wild beasts and terrible storms
But as he had each time well chosen location, he managed to survive and thus passed the tests successfully
The morning after the third night his father appeared and said:
“I hoped all the time you survives
I have tested with all my strength, but now I know that you are strong
You must be strong, because the future will bring many difficulties for your people “
They returned to the kiva where all Silíomoho was received with great warmth and kindness
He was served a meal and many Kachinas sang and danced for him
After a good night, his father arrived:
“I’ve done my job this morning
I blessed the earth with dew and now we can go because your mother and your grand-parents must be worried about you “
He took the package with dried meat that the boy had prepared the way and took the boy from the village
Near the village, they stopped and the father said:
“Now you must go alone
I’ll help you carry your package but you will not see me “
The father helped him become invisible
The boy was greeted with joy
The mother immediately shared the meat with its neighbors
Silíomoho related what had happened, all that his father had taught him about the difficult future of their people and only later in his life, he Silíomoho become the leader of a planet far away
The name of his father was Hólolo
Thereafter, whenever there was fog in the canyon, people said
“It Hólolo, the father of Silíomoho”
Even today, we call the Canyon de Chelly, Canyon fog
Silíomoho became an important member and later a popular leader of his people
His abilities were of great help because it could predict when it would rain or how much snow there when they were sowing crops and how to keep
This gift was a gift from his father
Kokopelli and animals of the forest
Once upon a time, on the edge of a lush forest, a Hopi village
The villagers were hunting in the forest and lived happily in caves carved into the cliff
In this village lived a widow and her little boy whose name was Kokopelli
They were very poor and Kokopelli was helping his parents in picking berries in the nearby forest
One day, he looked wild figs in a deep grove in the forest, the young Kokopelli was startled by a groan of agony
Carefully, he followed the direction of the rattle
It was a gray wolf caught in a trap
Seeing Kokopelli approach, the gray wolf growled and showed large and sharp white teeth
“I do not want to hurt you,” said Kokopelli cautiously approaching the wolf and with all his strength, he tried to open the trap
Alas, her small hands were not strong enough
Seeing that the wolf was dying, the boy did not give up and tried again and again and again
Until finally, with the help of a stick and all his strength, Kokopelli opened the trap, screaming
Exhausted, he drew back and fell heavily
Once released, the gray wolf disappeared limping into the depths of the forest
With a heart-warming and very happy with him, Kokopelli took the road from the house, forgetting that he had nothing to eat until night
His joy was short-lived
Approaching the village, he saw that the villagers had been struck with a sudden illness
In his short absence, a terrible plague struck quickly each other, including Kokopelli’s mother who had not been spared
That night, at the bedside of his mother, he held her hands, but his mother did not get better
Sensing his weakness, Kokopelli ran out of the cave into the woods, tears streaming down her cheeks
He ran and ran until he could no longer move forward and sat down, his shoulders shaking with sobs
Suddenly he heard a noise in the bushes nearby and looked up
The wolf in the morning staring at him less than a stone’s throw away!
While looking at him, the wolf began to retreat to the woods
Instinctively, Kokopelli followed
Through the bushes and under trees, Kokopelli found himself in a clearing surrounded by forest animals
“Your people drove more than he needed and it greatly reduces our numbers man broke the law between us and nature
The disease is your punishment
You’re different
The gray wolf has told us your courage and kindness
Maybe there is there a hope to live harmoniously together after all “
growled the white bear
To the surprise of Kokopelli, the gray wolf that had saved spoke and said:
“Each of us will grant you a gift
You will then travel to bring health to all your people “
With that, Kokopelli felt his eyes close and he fell into a deep sleep
In somnolence, each animal offered him a gift:
The polar bear, healing
The white wolf, intelligence
The frog, the singer of songs
The coyote, humor
The Eagle, a wooden flute colorful of the four colors of the four ends of the earth: blue, north, orange, west, and the purple, the South, yellow, is
After that, not only heals the villagers Kokopelli repentant, but he also began his long journey
His adventures were just beginning …
Kokopelli and women of corn
Long ago, the village men went on the hunt
It was the end of winter and there was very little food in the village
Women and children remained in the village because of snow
The men had to leave off for three sunsets, but because of the snow they got lost
They stayed away for over 20 sunsets and when they returned to the village, all the children ran out to greet them
The men were happy to see the children, but were puzzled because no woman came to greet them
When they entered the village they found all the dead women!
The women had sacrificed so that children can live
They had given all the food to children
The shaman told the men of the village
“We need to dance the dance of thanksgiving, in gratitude to be back safe and sound” Men have cried
“How can we have a dance of thanksgiving after the death of our women? “
The shaman said
“Have faith in the creative nature”
The men then organized a dance of thanksgiving that night and the nature appeared in Shaman
She told him to do something unthinkable
She told him to bury all the women together in a single shallow grave
The next morning all the women were buried together
That night, men and children danced the dance of thanksgiving with heavy hearts
The nature of the village recovered from a deep sleep and sent a great spirit in the village
The spirit was great and majestic and played the flute
He went to the tomb and began playing his flute
He bent over the grave, and while playing, he wept many tears flowing from her eyes
These tears became seeds of maize and played and played and wept and wept
At the end of 20 sunsets our Creator told him, “Kokopelli, you will remain forever as a hunchback tribute to the girls that we know forever as girls corn
Your tears came from your heart, have become the seeds of life, corn
The people will never suffer from hunger because you gave them life
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