The Mountain Spirits and the Old Woman, Chiricahua Apache Text excerpted from Chiricahua Apache Texts, with Ethnological Notes |
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21. The Mountain Spirits and the Old Woman as told by Sam
Kenoi
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 | The Mountain Spirits and the Old Woman, Chiricahua Apache Text |  |
21. The Mountain Spirits and the Old Woman as told by Sam Kenoi
Long ago, the people were travelling.
And some old woman was among them.
And it seems they did not like her.
jisáͅáͅnéí 'old woman, she who is old'. Relative form of the 3a person of ni-...-sáͅáͅné 'to be old' [imp. neut.intr.]. Curiously enough, this relative is used only of old women.
'Ákoosháͅ 'and it seems'. 'Ákoo 'then, and' plus -sháͅ denoting probability or doubt.
3. kaanaadaajintł'aná'a 'they did not like her'. kaa- 'to her' plus the 3a distrib. of naa-ni-...-tł'a 'to be mean, bad, a nuisance' [imp. neut. intr.].
Then it seems they spoke thus:
'Ákoosháͅ 'ádaajindíná'a:
'Ákoo 'ádaashdeesndiiná'a.
'Ákoo ghahá 'idaagojiist'ená'a.
Then they had spoken thus.
Then they had abandoned her.
1. sáͅń 'old woman'. sáͅ 'old age' plus the relative -ń Cf. note 21.1, §1.
2. ghahá 'idaahiiłt'e 'let us abandon her'. ghaháoͅ away', ghahoͅ 'over there' plus -yá pp. 'i-daahiiłt'e, 1st person distrib. imp. of 'i-|...[hi- perf.]-ł-t'e 'to leave behind, to throw away' [act. tr.; 'i-| 'away'). The theme: 'to handle a long object. to handle a person'. Note the perf. of this verb in the last line of this passage. It has the si- perf. because of the distributive prefix.
Then it seems she wept.
'Ákoosháͅ jichaná'a.
'Ákoo díí Gáͅhéí kaajíńzhoozhná'a.
'Ákoo 'ádaagołndíná'a:
Then these Mountain Spirits came to her.
And they spoke thus to her:
"I weep because they have abandoned me."
Then they began to sing for her
'Ákoo káhadaa'dees'áͅná'a.
'Ákoo doojaa'íͅdaní, gondáaí 'iłch'áͅ'ádzaaná'a.
Dooshdiits'adaní náá'shdeests'aná'a.
Dooja'íͅdaní 'ija'íͅ náájiisdlíͅná'a.
And she who had been blind, her eyes were made to open.
She who had been deaf began to hear again.
She who had been blind was made to see again.
Then they spoke thus to her:
'Ákoo 'ádaagoołndíná'a:
Then she performed all of the ceremony they had done for her in exactly their way
'Ákoo kádaagodees'áͅí diik'eh bikék'eh bikék'ehyá 'ájídzaaná'a.
'Ákoo, kát'égo, nájídzáná'a.
And in that way, she returned.
1. kádaagodees'áͅí the ceremony they had done for her'. Literally: 'that which they had promised her, that which they had planned for her'. See note 19.20, §2.
2. bikék'ehyá 'in their way'. Literally: 'in their trail'. kék'eh 'trail, path', see note 1.14, §5.
This motif of a person cured or aided by some supernatural agency which thereupon instructs him in a ceremony, is a common one in Apache ritualism and is especially characteristic of the Mountain Spirit ceremonies.
Then she performed all of that which had been given to her in exactly their way.
'Ákoo díídíí kaahít'iͅiͅí díík'eh bikék'ehyá 'ádzílaaná'a.
'Ákoo, k'át'égo, gotál nnát'á gooslíͅná'a.
And, in this way, the ceremony came to be customarily performed.[3]
This sentence must not lead one to think that there is but one Mountain Spirit ceremony and that this is its origin story. The old woman's ceremony would be followed only by those to whom she [with approval of her power] handed down her lore. Other shaman's and their descendants, controlled Masked Dancer ceremonies obtained from the Mountain Spirits of other localities, and all these rites, though they exhibited a definite common pattern, were dissimilar in detail. Incidentally, this story evidences that women as well as men were the recipients of significant supernatural experiences and rites. [See also Chiricahua texts 34 and 35].
Linguistic Notes by Harry Hoijer
jisáͅáͅnéí 'old woman, she who is old'. Relative form of the 3a person of ni-...-sáͅáͅné 'to be old' [imp. neut.intr.]. Curiously enough, this relative is used only of old women.
'Ákoosháͅ 'and it seems'. 'Ákoo 'then, and' plus -sháͅ denoting probability or doubt.
3. kaanaadaajintł'aná'a 'they did not like her'. kaa- 'to her' plus the 3a distrib. of naa-ni-...-tł'a 'to be mean, bad, a nuisance' [imp. neut. intr.].
1. sáͅń 'old woman'. sáͅ 'old age' plus the relative -ń Cf. note 21.1, §1.
2. ghahá 'idaahiiłt'e 'let us abandon her'. ghaháoͅ away', ghahoͅ 'over there' plus -yá pp. 'i-daahiiłt'e, 1st person distrib. imp. of 'i-|...[hi- perf.]-ł-t'e 'to leave behind, to throw away' [act. tr.; 'i-| 'away'). The theme: 'to handle a long object. to handle a person'. Note the perf. of this verb in the last line of this passage. It has the si- perf. because of the distributive prefix.
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