Havasupai Legends

by Smithson, Carma Lee; Euler, Robert C.

• ISBN13: 9780874804461
• ISBN10: 0874804469
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Utah Pr

Summary

For almost seven hundred years, the Havasupai Indians, who call themselves People of the Blue Water, have lived in an area that includes the depths of the western Grand Canyon and the heights of the San Francisco Peaks. Here they inhabited the greatest altitude variation of any Indians in Southwestern America. Written in consultation with some of the last Havasupai shamans, this book details their religious beliefs, customs, and healing practices. A second section presents legends of the Havasupai origin, the first people, and tales of Coyote, Gila Monster, Bear, and others.

Table of Contents

Preface
Religion	p. 1
Sacred Places and Spirits	p. 2
Conceptions of the Soul	p. 3
Shamans and Illness	p. 5
Concepts of Disease and Illness	p. 14
Preventive Medicine	p. 15
Medicinal Therapy and Contraceptives	p. 16
The Sweatlodge and Its Therapeutic Functions	p. 17
Death and Funeral Customs	p. 19
The Funeral of Mexican Jack	p. 21
Dances	p. 28
Legends	p. 35
Origins	p. 36
Havasu Canyon Walls Closing Up	p. 39
Frog Rock	p. 40
Origin of Menstruation	p. 41
The Man Who Went After His Wife	p. 44
The Lady Who Could Have No Children	p. 50
Grandmother and Little Boy	p. 54
The Sun and His Daughters	p. 61
The Man Who Caught Himself in the Eagle's Nest	p. 69
Bear's Wife	p. 75
Turkey (or Eagle)	p. 78
Turkey (version 2)	p. 82
Fox and the Giant Bird	p. 83
Fox and His Brother	p. 86
Gila Monster and Hunter Hawk	p. 88
Porcupine	p. 92
Porcupine (version 2)	p. 96
Bat	p. 98
Coyote and His Family	p. 99
Coyote Steals the Heart of a Chief	p. 101
Coyote, Wolf, and Lion	p. 103
Coyote Packs a Pole	p. 106
Wolf, Coyote, Bat, and Elk	p. 116
The First Sweatlodge	p. 121
Coyote and Deer	p. 122
Coyote's Death	p. 122
Bibliography	p. 125
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.