fevered body. Coyote was sent to the sea to fetch the cooling sand, but it gave no relief. Rabbit asked for a shade of bushes that the cooling breeze might blow beneath them upon him, but this, too, failed to help him. The traveling shade likewise brought no relief. His agony increased until death came to give him peace.
For this first loss of life the people blamed Elder Brother, because he had given Soft Child the teeth that made him a menace to all who approached him. The disposal of Rabbit's body formed a serious problem to the tribes, for they feared the interference of Coyote. Said one, "If we bury him Coyote will surely dig him out." "If we hide him," said another, "Coyote will surely find him." "If we put him in a tree," said a third, "Coyote will surely climb up." Finally the Maricopas proposed that he be burned, and in order to get Coyote out of the way during the ceremony he was sent to Sun to get some fire, for he always kept the flame lighted in his house.[1]
As soon as Coyote had gone the people called upon Tcu-utak(ĭ) Moʌaȷt, Blue Fly, to help them, and this is how the first fire drill was made. Taking a stick like an arrow, he twirled it to and fro between his hands, the lower end resting in a socket at the margin of a flat stick that lay upon the ground. Soon smoke ascended, and the first fire began to glow. Gathering fuel, they proceeded to burn the corpse.
When Coyote left them he was suspicious of their intentions, and said to himself, "I think they have some purpose in sending me away." So he looked back frequently as he went along, and soon saw the smoke ascending. With excited heart he turned and ran back as fast as he could go. When he made his appearance the people formed a circle and tried to shut him away from the burning body. "Let me see my brother! Let me see with one eye!" he cried as he rolled upon the ground. No one would listen to him, so he ran round and round the circle seeking an opening. There was a weak spot in the cordon where two short men were standing, and he jumped over their heads, bit out the heart of the burning body, and ran away with it. The people pursued, but Coyote outstripped them. South of the Sierra Estrella Coyote stopped and laid the heart upon the an bush, but the people came up and he fled again. To this day that halting place is called Anûkam Tcukwoanyĭk, Place of the
- ↑ "When Matyavela died, Mustam-ho, by his direction, started in to cremate him. The Coyote wanted to eat the corpse. At that time there was no fire on earth. The Blue Fly put a star in the sky; 'Go over there and get me some of that fire,' he said to the Coyote. The Coyote was fooled, and scampered off to bring in the star. He didn’t know that the Blue Fly had learned the art of rubbing sticks together and making fire. While he was gone the Blue Fly made a big fire and Matyavela was burnt up. "The Coyote happened to look back; he sew the blaze, and knew that something was up. He came back on the full run. All the animals were present at the funeral; they saw the Coyote returning, and formed a ring round the fire to keep him away from the corpse. The Coyote ran round the ring until he came to the Badger, who was very short. The Coyote jumped over him, seized the heart of Matyavela, which was the only part not burnt up, and made off with it. He burnt his mouth in dong this, and it's black to this day." John G. Bourke, Notes on the Cosmogony and Theogony of the Mohave Indians of the Rio Colorado, Arizona, Journal of American Folk-Lore, II, 188.
