LITMIR.BIZ

      Mescal Camp - Apache

      The flood completely submerged the earth for twelve days. Then the waters subsided, leaving the tus on the summit of the hill Kútĕrastan had made. The rush of the waters had changed the once smooth, level plain into series of mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys, so that Stĕnátlĭhăn hardly knew where they were when she opened the tus and came out. Tázhĭ, the Turkey, and Gấgĕ, the Crow, were the first to make a tour of the land. At the base of the hill they descended into a small muddy alkaline creek, in which the Turkey got the tips of his tail-feathers whitened, and they have been white ever since. On return they reported that all looked beautiful as far as they had travelled. Stĕnátlĭhăn then sent Ágocho to make a complete circuit and let her know how things appeared on all sides. He came back much elated, for he had seen trees, grass, mountains, and beautiful lakes and rivers in every direction.

      Directing the others to remain where she left them, Stĕnátlĭhăn summoned Hádĭntĭn Skhĭn, Hádĭntĭn Naln, Ndídĭlhkĭzn, and Ágocho, and took them up in a cloud, in which they drifted until they met Kútĕrastan and his band of workers, who had completed the sky during the time of the flood. The two clouds floated to the top of the hill on which stood the tus. All descended to the valley below, where Stĕnátlĭhăn marshalled them into line, that Kútĕrastan might talk to them. He briefly told them that he was going to leave them and wished each one to do his part toward making the world perfect and happy. "You, Ndísâgochan, shall have charge of the clouds and the water. You, Yádĭlhkĭh Skhĭn, I leave in charge of the sky. Nigostú̆n Nalí̆n, you are to look after the crops of our people; and you, Hádĭntĭn Skhĭn, must care for their health and guide them." He then called Stĕnátlĭhăn to him and placed her in charge of all.

      The people stood in line facing their god, with hands extended as if in supplication. Kútĕrastan and Stĕnátlĭhăn stood facing each other. Each rubbed their thighs with their hands, then cast their hands downward, and there arose between them a great pile of wood. Stĕnátlĭhăn knelt and slipped a hand under it, and as she did so Kútĕrastan passed his hand over the top. Great white billowy clouds of smoke at once issued forth, rising straight skyward. Into these Kútĕrastan disappeared. All the other gods and goddesses soon followed, leaving the twenty-eight whom Kútĕrastan had made to build the sky to remain upon the earth and people it. Chuganaái went east to travel with the sun; Stĕnátlĭhăn departed westward to make her home in clouds on the horizon, while Hádĭntĭn Skhĭn and Hádĭntí̆n Nalín sought homes among the clouds in the south, and Nôkusé may still be seen in the northern sky at night.

      The Apache is inherently devoutly religious; his life is completely moulded by his religious beliefs. From his morning prayer to the rising sun, through the hours, the days, and months—throughout life itself—every act has some religious significance. Animals, elements, every observable thing of the solar system, all natural phenomena, are deified and revered. Like all primitive people, not understanding the laws of nature, the Apache ascribe to the supernatural all things passing their understanding. The medicine-men consider disease evil, hence why try to treat evil with drugs? Disease is of divine origin, so to the beneficent and healing gods the Apache naturally make supplication for cure.

      The Apache, even if willing, could not directly impart their religious beliefs or their philosophy. It is only by study of their myths, myth songs, and medicine practices, and by close observance of their life, that a comprehensive idea of such beliefs can be gained.

A concise outline of the mythology of the Apache is given in the following description of the painted medicine skin2 shown in the accompanying plate.

      A—The nucleus of the universe, called Chalhké̆lh Nalíín, Night Girl. In the beginning it was merely a spot of color in which, during the course of time, a form appeared, and later emerged. This was Kútĕrastan, the Creator.

      B—Kútĕrastan, the Creator of All, is standing on the clouds, his first home, holding lightning in each hand. To his left is the tus, or water bottle, in which the people of the earth took refuge from the flood shortly after their creation. Above him are four clouds, those into which he departed when leaving the earth for his celestial abode. He first created several assistants, who in turn created others by rubbing sweat and small particles of cuticle from the face and body.

      C—Stĕnátlĭhăn, the chief goddess, first helper of Kútĕrastan, is seen standing on the clouds. In her right hand is a piñon tree, from the branches and gum of which the large tus was made at the time of the deluge. Above her flies Dátĭlyĕ, the Humming-bird, who was sent as a messenger about the world to note how its creation progressed.

      D—Chuganaái Skhĭn was the second person created by Kútĕrastan. He followed Stĕnátlĭhăn, and is therefore third in importance of the many deities. Not only does he give light to the day, but he has the power to relieve and cure disease with the aid of the first beams of his morning light. The Apache ask his blessing before sunrise, generally imploring his beneficence "as soon as you look upon me." The serrated circles typify the abodes of these gods, which are protected by insurmountable barriers.

      E—Here the sun as first made by the great creator is pictured. As time wore on, it grew to become the full round disc it now is.

      F—The moon as first made by Stĕnátlĭhăn, at the behest of Kútĕrastan, who asked that she make something to illumine the night. The streaks represent catamenia, and the gradual growth of the moon is assumed to be parallel with prenatal growth.

      G—This single symbol, a maltese cross, represents the four personages who made the stars. They have to do with the stars only, and are not prayed to as deities having power over the people on earth.