BackStinging Insects
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On the following
days, in defiance of warnings, he visits the eagles and hawks, helping them in
successive encounters with bees, wasps, rock wrens, and prickly plants. Each time
the birds are forced to retreat; them the hero advances among the enemy and kills
them with his medicine. He heals the injured birds, takes some of their downy
feathers for his medicine, and brings back from each encounter in turn a bee,
wasp, stone, and prickly plant as a trophy. He shows his bird friends that each
of these is now harmless. The bee and wasp he sends to earth with instructions
to be useful to men in ceremonies. The prickly plant he burns before the eagles
to prove his conquest. The hero advises the birds not to attack these people any
more; the rock wren has claimed, "It is because I am attacked that I am fierce."
Pg. 125, Big Star Way The eagles have been unsuccessful in driving out a swarm of bees from a nearby field. The hero sprinkles medicine to blind them and then kills them with willow whips. On the the promise of an old bee woman to be friendly, he leaves some for honey and for their wax, which will take away pain and heal wounds made by eagles' claws. Pg. 193, Eagle Way. Navajo Chantway Myths, 1957; Katherine Spencer.Then four
beings came together. They were yellow in color and were called the tsts'na
or wasp people. They knew the secret of shooting evil and could harm others.
They were very powerful. Four more beings came. They were small in size and
wore red shirts and had little black eyes. They were the naazo'zi or spider
ants. They knew how to sting, and were a great people. After these came a whole
crowd of beings. Dark colored they were, with thick lips and dark, protruding
eyes. They were the wolazhi'ni, the black ants. They also knew the secret of
shooting evil and were powerful; but they killed each other steadily. By this
time there were many people. Then came a multitude of little creatures. They
were peaceful and harmless, but the odor from them was unpleasant. They were
called the wolazhi'ni nlchu nigi, meaning that which emits an odor. Pg. 3 The Dine' : Origin Myths of the Navajo Indians, 1956; Aileen O'Bryan.Don't urinate
on an ant hill. You'll have trouble going to the bathroom. Pg. 81 Navajo Taboos; 1991, Ernie Bulow.The eagles have been unsuccessful in driving out a swarm of bees from a nearby field. The hero sprinkles medicine to blind them and then kills them with willow whips. On the the promise of an old bee woman to be friendly, he leaves some for honey and for their wax, which will take away pain and heal wounds made by eagles' claws. Pg. 193, Eagle Way. Navajo Chantway Myths, 1957; Katherine Spencer.Don't burn bees. You'll have a rash. Pg. 81 Navajo Taboos; 1991, Ernie Bulow.When the
Black Thunder people came to Tseh-yahteh-ih (Standing Rock), a place about nineteen
miles east of Naschiddy, the leader of the Black Thunder people looked back
at the long line of his people, and far off in the distance he saw a boy throwing
dust and dirt high into the air. Black Thunder went on again and then a little
later stopped once more and looked back, and again saw the boy throwing dust
and dirt into the air. This happened four times and the leaders wondered what
it meant. Finally they stopped and talked it over and at last, becoming very
curious, they decided to send someone back to see what the boy was doing, so
Black Thunder told some people to run back and find out, and when they arrived
at the place where the boy had last been seen, they could find nothing there
but a yellow worm about three inches long. The people all crowded together to
look at it, and as nothing else was to be seen there they said it must be the
boy. The leader told one of the men to pick up the worm, and as he reached down
the worm leaped high in the air, as high as the men standing about. They were
frightened at this and stepped back, and the worm jumped again and again until
it had jumped four times, and at the fourth jump it turned into a man, and quantities
of bees poured out of his mouth and lighted on all the people, getting into
their hair, eyes, and ears, and stinging and frightening them badly. They begged
the man to stop sending these bees to torment them, but he did nothing but laugh
and laugh, and sent forth more bees in swarms until the people were in great
agony. At last they gave the man a Yellow Kehtahn and he drew in his breath
and sucked all the bees back into his mouth. This was the first time that any
of the people had seen bees, and there were all kinds, honeybees, hornets, and
bumblebees, and every kind of bee, big and little. Then they saw that the man
was Begochiddy, and were greatly amazed. The Kehtahn which they gave him was
filled with tobacco and the end stuffed with sacred pollen, and this has been
Begochiddy's Kehtahn ever since. Begochiddy told the people that he would go
with them and watch over them, and the people were glad and went on their way,
when suddenly Begochiddy disappeared from their midst and they did not see him
go, so they knew that he had gone up into the sky. Pgs. 15-16 Haile Chant and Water Chant; 1946, Mary C. Wheelwright. |
