The Supernatural World of the Kawaiisu

Maurice Zigmond¹

The most obvious characteristic at the supernatural world of the Kawaiisu is its complexity, which stands in striking contrast to the “simplicity” of the mundane world. Situated on and around the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountains in south - - central California, the tribe is marginal to both the Great Basin and California culture areas and would probably have been susceptible to the opprobrious nineteenth century term, ‘Diggers’ Yet, if its material culture could be described as “primitive,” ideas about the realm of the unseen were intricate and, in a sense, sophisticated. For the Kawaiisu the invisible domain is tilled with identifiable beings and anonymous non-beings, with people who are half spirits, with mythical giant creatures and great sky images, with “men” and “animals” who are localized in association with natural formations, with dreams, visions, omens, and signs. There is a land of the dead known to have been visited by a few living individuals, and a netherworld which is apparently the abode of the spirits of animals - - at least of some animals animals - - and visited by a man seeking a cure. Depending upon one’s definition, there are apparently four types of shamanism - - and a questionable fifth.

In recording this maze of supernatural phenomena over a period of years, one ought not be surprised to find the data both inconsistent and contradictory. By their very nature happenings governed by extraterrestrial fortes cannot be portrayed in clear and precise terms. To those involved, however, the situation presents no problem. Since anything may occur in the unseen world which surrounds us, an attempt at logical explanation is irrelevant. Experiences attributable to extra animals - - human influences can only be described; they need not be explained or understood.

TUUWARUUGIDI

Even a cursory inquiry into the nature of that other world gives the unmistakable impression that the prevailing mood is one of evil foreboding. With rare exceptions, the “signs” point to disaster and death, and they are so numerous that it can probably be said that any unusual sight or sound may be interpreted as conveying a portentous message. The word “unusual” as used here would include the flight at night of a bird normally expected to be seen during the day. The general term for such intimations of doom is tuuwatuugidi - - a word which has thus far not yielded to linguistic analysis. It is to be understood that a tuuwatuugidi is an announcement of impending doom and not a key to prevention. Furthermore, the omen is not likely to specify the individual victim. The immediate reaction is not “What can I do to prevent it?” but “Who will be, or has been, the victim?” (The disaster may already have struck, but news of it may not yet have reached all parties concerned.) In a few situations counteraction may be possible. If it can be determined that the sign - - especially in dreams - - has been sent by a witch (a bewitching shaman) who can be identified, a powerful curing shaman may be able to nullify its evil intent. But for the most part the tuuwaruuqidi is not responsive to human interference.

No exhaustive list of tuuwaruugidi can be compiled since most “unusual” phenomena are unpredictable. The following items were recorded in the course of fieldwork among the Kawaiisu and were embedded in ethnographic and mythological reports. Some of these will be considered at some length later.

Seeing a ring around the moon Seeing a crescent moon standing on end (in this position the moon is called niwinookaridi, ‘person-carrying’)

Seeing a falling star which starts high and falls to the horizon

Counting the stars but counting short (cf. the story about the counting of bedrock mortar holes under Localized Supernatural Beings)

Seeing an eagle drop dead

Seeing strange behavior in animals - - like a dog talking

Seeing a sudden gathering of animals, birds, or flies

Seeing a large fish in a creek where only small fish are expected

Seeing localized beings (animals or people)

Seeing a drop of blood in the house

Seeing a rattlesnake in the house (the plant which cures rattlesnake bites is never kept in the house for it also attracts rattlesnakes)

Seeing the “laughing” bird (species unknown) in the house

Seeing a person known to be elsewhere

Seeing an unknown person who has put in a sudden and unexplained appearance

Seeing a limb of a seemingly healthy tree break off (if an old tree, an elderly person will die if a young tree, a young person)

Seeing White Coyote, the Great Snake, the Man-carrying Bird, or the Giant Locust

Seeing the Rock Baby or hearing his cry

Hearing unidentified knocking or walking around the house

Hearing a coyote howling near the house on successive nights

Hearing talking, calling, or whistling from an unknown source

Hearing an owl hooting in flight or quails calling after dark

Dreaming of the death of someone living

Dreaming of grizzly bear, rattlesnake, coyote, the Rock Baby, or the Giant Locust

Looking at the mountain with the “rattlesnake’s tooth” rock formation in the spring

Cutting your hair (but you may shave yourself)

DREAMS AND VISIONS

A central element in the supernatural structure of the Kawaiisu is the vision, whether it comes in the form of a dream or an hallucination. It may present itself at a time of consciousness or of unconsciousness; but its message, whether constructive or destructive, is never dismissed as meaningless. Artificially induced dreams are called for in a variety of situations, and a number of ways of seeking them are known and practiced. The goal may be to live long, to avoid illness, to find a cure, to annul the dire effects of a vision which has come to one’s self, or to someone else about one’s self. Because visions may be sources of power, goad luck, or information, they are deliberately sought even though there is always the possibility that they will presage disaster. The desire to gain beneficial visions leads people to undertake one of several accepted procedures. These include the drinking of an infusion of jimsonweed root (Datura wrightii), the eating of tobacco (Nicotiana bigelovii), the swallowing of live red ants in balls of eagledown, walking nude through a growth of nettles (Urtica halosericea) - - all these regimens also have therapeutic value (see my forthcoming Kawaiisu Etbnobotany) - - end talking to the mountains or to the darkness, usually alone on a mountain height and at night. The resultant revelation may call for further action or counteraction.

The meaning of some of the dreams is self-evident. When Emma Williams was a small girl, a woman who had taken the jimsonweed drink (toloache) related that in her hallucinatory vision she had seen Emma dead. This demanded a prompt response. Emma had to undergo toloache. Thereby she not only escaped harm, she lived to a ripe old age. But the messages of many dream situations are more subtle. While these may have been an integral part of traditional knowledge, the data at hand do not provide a comprehensive analysis of dream interpretation. However, specific instances were cited from time to time, and from these it is clear that the revelation may be either benevolent or malevolent.

Dreaming of deer is a favorable omen. If a hunter dreams of killing deer, he will have successful hunting. Should a young man dream of deer singing, he will become a huviagadi (curing shaman, see below). If a hunter has a vision of women, he will see female deer the next day. Dreaming of rolling rocks is a good-luck sign for the hunter. Seeing one a self winning a fight brings good luck. Dreaming of clear water or of snow foretells goad health, and an ill person having such a vision is assured of recovery. It is a good sign to dream of being in the mountains especially where there is timber. A dream of fish makes one a tireless swimmer (although such a consequence was cited, it should be noted that Kawaiisu territory offered little opportunity for swimming).

There are, of course, visions which have negative implications. It is unlucky to dream of fire for this means fever is coming. Falling off a cliff indicates that one may soon die. If you are beaten in a dream - fight, you will be sick and helpless. If you picture someone you know crying, disaster will befall one of his relatives. If you recognize someone drowning, he will die or is in some danger. Dreaming of sexual intercourse is a warning that you will be subject to sickness and weakness. In this situation it is advisable to refrain from intercourse for a time. As will be discussed in a later section, dreams involving Coyote and his children have sexual connotations. The hapless dreamer who is ravished by Coyote’s sons or daughters will be left exhausted. But dream-contact with Coyote may be dangerous in other ways. Unless some counteraction is taken, he or members of his family may push you over a precipice or into water or fire. The death of Steban Mirandas wife (Tubatulabal) was attributed to Coyote’s sons. She had dreamed of them but neglected to take the protective step of “talking to the dark.” A day or two later, while getting water near a dam, she fell into the water and drowned.

Dreaded are those dreams recognized as having been sent by a pohagadi (bewitching shaman, see below). The sight of such creatures as the rattlesnake, the grizzly bear, the coyote, the ̉̉uwan̉̉azi (the Rock Baby, q.v.), and the haakapaizizi (the Giant Locust, q.v.) may well prove that a pohagadi is using his baneful power against you. Counteraction is called for; several neutralizing steps are suggested. The dreamer can go to the mountains and tell the evil power not to bother him. A huviaqadi may be able to reveal the identity of the witch, but a rash accusation without the corroboration of a huviagadi may prompt the witch to increase his pernicious activities. The latter, however, may be unaware of his destructive abilities and, when confronted by a curing shaman, may agree to desist. An informant told of a situation in which the victim and her relatives alternately threatened and bribed an alleged pohagadi in an effort to persuade her to stop causing pain and suffering in the form of arthritis. In extreme cases the witch might be put to death.

A potential consequence of the dreams sent by a pohagadi is that, if they persist, the dreamer might himself become a pohagadi. As soon as parents are aware that their child is having such dreams, they do what they can to alter his dream-pattern, since a witch’s life is fraught with danger. (James Scobie, non-Indian rancher, told of five murders of Indians accused of witchcraft in the area.) Solitary vigils in the mountains are deemed effective counter-measures. A pohagadi, however, might instruct his children in his art. One element in this training is to toughen the skin by walking nude through a stand of nettles. Marie relates that, when she was a child, she encountered a young girl who said to her, “Let’s walk through the nettles and see who is tougher.” Marie would not come near, but the girl took off her clothes and walked through. The latter grew up to be a witch. Her father was also a pohagadi She is said to have killed her first two husbands through witchcraft.

An elderly informant pointed out that, once a witch reaches adulthood, there is no way of removing his evil potentialities.

Though not altogether consistent with the dream data thus far presented, the following information was recorded by McCown from Bob Rabbit (1929): “Dreams of fighting always mean good luck in hunting. Bad luck results from dreaming of snakes, of ‘devils’ and of women. In the latter case it means no success in love and bad hunting. In order to counteract this, one scatters a little tugub [beads - - see ‘Prayers’ and Offerings] and washes [?].”

THE ̉INIPI

Of the beings in the supernatural realm, the best known and most commonly experienced is the ̉inipi which, because of its diversified activities, is variously conceived of as “spirit,” “ghost,” and “devil.” No clear picture of the ̉inipi emerges from the several descriptions. He may be visible or invisible. If visible, he may look like a human being and be mistaken for one unless he gives himself away by performing superhuman feats like suddenly disappearing, flying off, or being impervious to bullets. Or he may have horns (though this idea may be a Christian borrowing), or appear as a skeleton- - ”all bones, no skin and red eyes.” Once an ̉inipi was found sleeping in a bunkhouse. He wore black clothes and had fingernails so long that they protruded through the cracks in the wall. One informant thought an ̉inipi is like a bat - - blind in the daytime but with vision at night. Bob Rabbit told McCown, “Devils may come as woodrats and you can tell because they tap their tails.” While there must be myriads of ̉inipi, they seem never to be spoken of in the plural, and apparently never act in concert.

Every human being - - and probably every animal - - has its own indestructible ̉̉inipi. Though the essence of one’s life, it may wander off when one is asleep and leaves the body permanently when one is dead. When an individual is destined to die- - whether through “natural” or malevolent causes or through accident - - his ̉̉inipi may act as if he is already dead, not only forsaking the body but betraying to the living the foreordained demise. At death, however, the ̉inipi is reluctant to leave familiar haunts and is not likely to depart for a few days. Maybe he had cached money and he comes by to see it. As an informant explained, “It’s just like your wanting to see your car again” (at the moment it was parked out of sight). McCown was told that “the ̉inipi of a dead man would come and take acorns and pinyons from trees where he had got these things in life. For a period of two or three years there was no food for the Indians.” (The implication seems to be that the ̉inipi cleaned the trees bare.)

At the time of burial someone might enjoin the ̉̉inipi to go off to its new abode and not do injury to the survivors. As the mourners leave the place of interment, they are careful not to look back lest they catch sight of the ghost - - an experience that would of itself be an evil omen. (In the tale Coyote Marries His Daughter, Coyote warns his family not to look back after igniting his pyre. He has other motives, but his wife understands well the danger of seeing his ̉̉inipi.) Ultimately the ̉inipi must take the path that leads across the desert eastward to the other world. When you walk through the desert and feel a sudden gust of hot wind “like from a fire,” it is the ̉̉inipi passing by.

The ̉̉inipi is not always malevolent. He may be expected to behave very much as his living embodiment did. If the latter liked to tease, his ̉̉inipi may continue to do so. Once when a sudden breeze rustled the pages of my notebook so that I lost my place, an informant remarked, “It is the ̉̉inipi. ” But if you have been unkind to a person, his ̉̉inipi may come to frighten you. CC recalled an incident of her youth. Her young brothers were often mean to their grandmother. She would say to them, “I’ll fix you when I die.” Not long after her death, the boys and their sister were gathered around the fireplace. Suddenly they heard someone hitting the outer wall of the house with a cane. The old lady had always carried a cane. Then there was a sound like “Hm hmm” (said to be characteristic of old women). The boys were terrified, but their sister, who had been kind to her grandmother, was not disturbed. She knew her grandmother did not intend to frighten her.

The ̉̉̉inipi is most likely to make his presence known just before or just after death. Therefore evidence that he is around is usually taken to mean that someone is about to die or has already died but the tidings have not yet spread around. The victim may or may not be immediately recognized, but news of the actual demise will provide clear proof of the identity of the ̉̉̉inipi. If two people die at about the same time, relatives and friends would be sufficiently familiar with the habits of the deceased to realize whose ̉̉̉inipi is prowling about.

At least three people testified to the presence of the ̉̉̉̉inipi of Henry Willie, who was killed in an automobile accident. A few days after he was buried, his father was in the outhouse of his home. He heard sounds coming from a nearby shed where phonograph records and animal traps were kept. The records were being thrown about and the traps moved “as if someone wanted to put them out.” A relative who had apparently come for the funeral was looking for the father. She found him visibly upset as he walked toward his house. He warned her not to go near the shed - - Henry’s ̉̉̉inipi was there.

Setimo Cirado was staying at a friend’s house not far away. One night he heard someone walking outside. It was a man’s step. Next morning he asked if anyone had walked around that night. No one had. He went out and looked for tracks, but there were none. “Someone is going to die,” he said. At first he thought it was the ̉̉̉inipi of Jim Manuel of whose death he was already aware. Two days later he learned of the death of Henry Willie who had lived with his family in a neighboring house. Then the identity of the ̉̉̉inipi was clear.

Five days after Henry died, his brother Raymond, who had a home of his own, heard noise coming from his car as if the car were being started. He looked around, but saw no one. He walked away, heard the sound again, but still there was no one to be seen. Then Raymond returned to his house where he fell “dead” for two or three hours. He woke up, but didn’t feel well for two days. When asked why he had “died,” he told about the car. His mother knew it was Henry’s ̉inipi and commented that maybe it had touched Raymond. (This case was not isolated. Once a man came home in a stupor. His eyes rolled up, and he was “dead,” but he was breathing “a very little bit.” When he woke up three or four hours later, he was asked, “Why were you dead?” Then he remembered that he had seen the ̉̉̉̉inipi.)

When Francis (Frank) Phillips was in a Bakersfield hospital, Setimo was frightened several times. Once, when Setimo was home in bed, he heard someone coughing, clearing his throat, and spitting by the side of the house, but he couldn’t see anyone. At another time he heard talking outside. He thought it was Ed Williams (a neighbor) and called out “Ed! Ed!” The ̉̉̉̉̉inipi answered, “Frank.” Later Setimo told John Nichols that he knew Phillips was dead and would be buried in the Indian cemetery above his place. The body was kept overnight at Loraine (a few miles away) and brought to the cemetery the following day.

The impending death of Virginia Ball, Setimo’s daughter, was indicated by signs extending over a winter season. Once Setimo heard whistling and other noises while he slept. It sounded as if dishes and utensils were being moved about. A fryingpan fell to the floor. Virginia used to cook there. Setiino heard a woman talking outside in the orchard. That is where he often chatted with Virginia. Two weeks before she died, Willie Leon was trying to sleep in a car near Loraine. He had a cover over him. Someone tugged at the cover as if to pull it off. Willie looked up quickly but didn’t see anything. He hadn’t known that Virginia was sick. She died later, “but that was her ̉̉̉̉̉inipi.”

Emma Williams was picking beans at Harry McKay’s (near the Piute Rancheria) when she heard a human cry. It came from somewhere near Setline’s place where Refugia Williams lived years before. Emma thought the sound came from Setimo and she was frightened. Two women were passing in their car on the way to tell Maude McKay of Refugia’s death. Shortly after, Maude came out to tell Emma the news.

The ̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi of Marie Girado’s uncle appeared the night he was buried. At the burial, Setimo (Marie’s husband) blew across the palm of his hand and told the ̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi to go away. As it did so, it was heard to whistle. That night there was a knock at the door of one of the Cirado daughters. She heard the ̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi say (in Kawaiisu), “Let me in!”

The ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi of a non-Indian behaves the same way as that of a Kawaiisu. Jim Scobie, non-Indian rancher, well - known and liked by his Indian neighbors, died in a brush fire (though he apparently had a heart attack as he attempted to escape the fire). About two weeks before, three Kawaiisu women were camping out and gathering pinyons. They heard Jim coming along the trail whistling about dusk, but they couldn’t see anyone. Joe Williams, who had been working at a house under construction not far away, was walking up to them on the trail. He heard two people riding horses and talking, but there was nothing to be seen. When he reached the place from which the sounds had come, “his bones nearly fell off” from fright. Nothing was there. “Jim was already ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi.”

An ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi may be in the control of a bewitching shaman (pohagadi )and may be sent on destructive missions. The pohagadi can order it to push a man off a cliff or cause a car to crash. But whirlwinds are governed by an ̉inipi to be found at its center. One must therefore avoid whirlwinds for, in the midst of one, the ̉inipi may enter a person through the mouth. In this situation no counteraction is possible. Henry Weldon recalled an experience with a whirlwind which came after him as he was driving his car. It lifted the car slightly as it passed, then turned around and came back. Henry was frightened and yelled at the whirlwind in Kawaiisu (which he rarely used). The whirlwind turned away and did not return.

Not all the appearances of the ̉̉inipi can be understood as being a premonition or conveying a message. At least no visible aftermath was reported in some cases. Here is an occurrence related by CC: “When I was coming home from school, I saw an ̉̉inipi in the pine tree near my house. He seemed to be wearing clothes. It was getting dark. I was with two of my sisters. We saw a ‘man’ and thought it was Harry Williams. Then we realized it was a devil, and ran.”

Again: “Three of the Williams brothers, Ed, Willie and Harry, saw an the ̉̉̉inipi while they were driving a car up to the Piute Rancheria. ‘He’ came into the car and smiled at them. They kept talking to each other as if the devil were not there. When they approached the house, ‘he’ disappeared. They said, ‘What was that? It was a devil!’ They all had a very strange feeling.”

“Another time a devil entered the car and sat down between them. The devil said, ‘There goes Harry.’ Later Harry was driving along this road and went off a steep embankment. The person riding with him was killed.”

“The ̉̉̉̉inipi sometimes comes right in the house. Early one morning I heard one whistle in this house.”

An old informant told of an incident that happened long ago: “People were hunting kangaroo rats at night. They set the brush on fire and then clubbed the rats as they ran out. Suddenly the people saw an ̉̉̉̉̉inipi sitting by the fire. They were afraid and ran home.”

It is unlucky to dream of ̉̉̉̉inipi since it means that a pohagadi is trying to make you sick. Anyone who is so indiscreet as to keep talking and laughing in bed after the lights are out may expect to be frightened by ̉̉̉̉inipi. An elderly informant, however, insisted that it was the pitadi, the neighboring tribe to the south, that had the custom of remaining quiet in bed “until the ̉inipi passed.” To invalidate the baneful effects of dreaming of ̉inipi , one should hurry to a mountain and there tell him to stay away. (The custom of “talking to the mountains” will be discussed elsewhere in this paper.) As one proceeds to the mountain, the ̉̉̉̉inipi might frighten one by whistling or becoming visible. One should not whistle at night or the ̉̉̉̉inipi will answer. Once when the informant’s brother whistled at night, the ̉̉̉̉inipi whistled in response. One should not cut one’s hair at night or the ̉̉̉̉inipi will call you (see under Tuuwaruudidi above).

When one’s ears ring, ̉̉̉̉̉inipi is calling. Once the ears of Emma Williams’ maternal great-grandmother were ringing. It was the ̉̉̉̉inipi summoning her. She heated her finger by the fire and put it in her ear (to avoid hearing the call). “She didn’t want to go, but she had to go anyway.”

The ̉̉̉̉̉inipi fears tobacco (sỏ̉odi, Nicotiana Liqelovii), the smoke of dried “wild celery” root (kayeezi, Lomatium californicum), and the smoke of burning blue sage (tugubasidabi Salvia dorrii). To chase him away, one places a pinch of tobacco on the back of the hand between thumb and forefinger and blows it in several directions. The ̉̉̉̉̉inipi sleeping in the bunkhouse (cited above) was made to disappear when a man blew tobacco at him. Dried wild celery root is ignited and the smoke spread about the room. Emma kept some of the root wrapped in a cloth by her bed. Blue sage is either thrown into the fire at night or, according to one informant, put in a fryingpan over the fire.

In recent years several of the Kawaiisu women and their children have became members of a local Apostolic Faith Mission church. They now equate the ̉̉̉̉̉inipi with Satan who is rendered powerless by pronouncing the name of Jesus Christ. They tell of instances in which they protected themselves from the threat of ̉̉̉̉̉inipi in this way. One young man dreamed that he was chained by the “devil,’ but the word “Christ” broke the shackles.

In the house it was customary to hang charms which were believed to keep the ̉̉̉̉̉inipi away. One, the ̉̉anaguyuuti, was made of two bird wings stretched on a stick. The other, the cakolỏ̉waazi², consisted of a long, thin strip of wood twisted into a spiral. Both were suspended and moved freely in the air currents. Some informants insisted that they were merely toys to amuse the children.

There are complicating and perplexing elements in the descriptions of the ̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi as recorded over the years. It would appear that some individuals are “part ̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi” and some possess something “black and like a hair” which may be located internally, apparently about the heart, or externally about the neck. McCown gives the name of this item as ‘uwa unup’ though neither Cappannari nor I had encountered this ten.³To quote in part John Nichols’ statement to McCown:

A man might dream of an uwa unup and he might come to possess it. He could wear it around his neck. This gave him the power to take it out of another person who had one inside of him. He could disappear and reappear at will. Also, it made him invulnerable.

But John thought it would not help a man against witches and witchcraft. McCown notes that “George Bowman has an uwa unup. His father had one, too, but he had to help George get his. Evidently it was not possible for George to inherit this thing.” Bob Rabbit told McCown that the uwa uuup will eventually kill its owner. “Bob thought they were very dangerous to play with. He knew about them [but] never wanted to have one.”

Although Cappannari provides no name for it, the presence of hair is mentioned in his account of the exploits of the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi: “Twisted hair is a symbol of an the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi. If someone dies because an the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi has entered him, a twisted hair will be found by cutting his chest open.” Such a hair was found around the heart of the killer ‘bear’ pog^wti (see below).

The feats of men who were “part ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi” are described in an informant’s recounting of an incident dating back to an early contact of the Kawaiisu with the “Mexicans.” The Indians walked to Los Angeles where the Mexicans had locked their horses in a corral. At night one Indian “who was ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi” unlocked the gate by spitting on his hands and opening the padlock. The horses ran out and were driven to a “rock corral” on the other side of the mountains. The ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi “shot” the pursuing Mexicans through the ears (?). The informant explained that the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi wore twisted hair around his neck.

On another occasion two Kawaiisu men came into a camp of white men (apparently miners). One of the Indians saw a woman’s clothes hanging on a line, and stole two silk handkerchiefs. The woman’s husband caught the thieves, stripped off their clothing, and found the handkerchiefs. One of the men was hanged from a tree, but he didn’t die. The other was locked up in the house. When everyone was asleep, the latter spit on his hands, opened the lock, and walked out. He said “hello!” and jumped from the door to the top of a mountain. He walked a bit and then jumped to the next mountain. “He had dreamed of a little insect that jumps and that gave him the power to jump. He was ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi camp the next morning. He was a rainmaker and made it rain on the white man’s camp.

At the time of the Kernville massacre (more than a century ago), Indians of several tribes were rounded up and shot. When the Kawaiisu were led to the place of execution, one of the men suddenly sat down. The soldiers didn’t see him and passed by him. “It was ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi that made him invisible.” He escaped.

That the characteristics of ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi know no tribal boundaries is indicated by an incident that occurred in Yokuts territory when the Kawaiisu and the Tubatulabal were invited to a fiesta. For some reason fighting broke out and the Yokuts started shooting at their guests. A Tiibatulabal woman fled and got as f at as a hill near Bena (near the Kawaiisu-Yokuts “border”). “The Yokuts followed her; they wanted to kill her. She had on her basket-hat, and pushed it off the back of her head. Then they couldn’t see her. They saw only the hat. It was ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi. She got away.”

YAH^WE ̉ERA

While the yah^wẻera has some of the characteristics of the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi, he is not associated with the spirits living or dead. Yet, like the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi he is indestructible, and his presence is an evil omen and ought to be avoided if possible.

One informant maintained that the yah^we ̉era cannot be seen- - only heard - - but generally he is believed to have the form of a bird with a tail about a foot long. One of the difficulties about identifying him is that he has the ability of imitating the sounds made by men and animals. Emma related how one day she heard him “yelling” and thought it was a cow. A bit later he was farther away and sounded like a rabbit. Then he moved still farther and sounded like a grey squirrel. Once described as a “little hawk,” he seems to have some relationship to the mountain quail. As to his indestructibility, one comment was, “It’s a bird - - how’s it going to die?”

If yah^we ̉̉era approaches closely, you become stiff and helpless. But if he is still some distance away, you can get rid of him by putting some tobacco on a rock and throwing it in the direction of the sound. He yells as he swallows it. You won’t hear him again for several minutes. Then you hear him far away. “He won’t come back.” Setimo told how, when he and his family were camping out to gather pinyons, they were bothered by yah^we ̉̉era every night. He would pick up a stone, spit on it, and rub some tobacco on the moistened area. Then, crying “heel” he would fling the stone into the darkness. That would keep yah^we ̉̉era away.

When he appears to you in your sleep, he takes the form of a female if you are a male, and a male if you are female. He will have intercourse with you all night, and the next day you will be weak and worn out. You won’t be able to get up until the next evening. An informant recounted the experience of an old man who told him how yah^we ̉̉̉era had slept with him on Piute Mountain. He heard yah^we ̉̉era coming “like quail” but he couldn’t move. He didn’t remember anything after that, but yah^we ̉̉era stayed until morning and the man slept the whole day.

It appears that yah^we ̉̉̉̉era dwells in a “cave” deep in the earth. The entrance is difficult to find because it keeps changing and sometimes disappears altogether. Someone once tossed a rock down the “hole” and it took a long time before it reached the bottom.

There are two tales which, told with variations by several narrators, involve yah^we ̉̉̉̉era. One of them is concerned with yah^we ̉̉̉̉era ’s house” and will be told in the section on the Netherworld (q.v.). The other relates the story of a woman who, accompanied by her little daughter, was out pounding acorns. The girl misbehaved so her mother walked off and left her. When the mother returned to get her daughter, the latter had disappeared and could not be found. Yah^we ̉̉̉̉era had taken her to his cave and made her his wife. A long time afterwards the girl’s brother, out hunting, saw her in a field gathering tickseed leaves (tihividibi, Coreopsis bigelovii, an edible plant). He did not speak to his sister but went home and told his mother who, thinking the girl dead, was about to prepare her clothes for the mourning ceremony. (According to one version, yah^we ̉̉̉̉era fed the girl little fish, about six inches long. He had no fire but cooked the fish by placing one under each arm. When they dropped out, they were “done.”) There are two versions of the end of the story: (1) Not long after the brother saw the girl, yah^we ̉̉̉̉era brought her home after telling her not to reveal where she had been. He told her parents that she was pregnant and they were not to harm the babies that would be born. The girl gave birth to many babies who immediately ran off to the hills. The parents asked her where she had been and she told them. The babies threw rocks from the hills, destroyed the house, and killed everyone inside. (2) After a while, yah^we ̉̉̉̉̉era told the girl to go home. She was pregnant, and he instructed her to keep the babies under a basket. There were many babies and they got out. She tried to catch them, but they ran away. They were mountain quail. Yah^we ̉̉̉̉̉era picked up a rock, threw it at the house, and killed everyone.

THE ROCK BABY

There is a “baby” who dwells inside exposed rock areas. His name, ̉̉̉̉uwani ̉̉azi, is explained as being derived from the sound of his cry: “ ̉̉̉̉uwa ̉̉uwa,” though it is clearly related to ̉̉̉̉uwa ̉̉iici, infant. Since he is linked to rocky regions, he is believed to be engaged in painting the pictographs found scattered throughout Kawaiisu territory. Though no reason was forthcoming from informants to account for this activity, the ̉̉̉̉uwani ̉̉azi never stops working at it. Thus the patterns may change from day to day, and the Indians commonly react to a description of a certain group of pictographs by saying, “It wasn’t like that when I last saw it.” The suggestion that humans may have been the artists is invariably rejected as absurd. (It may be noted here that cave contours are also regarded as changeable, but these are not attributed to the Rock Baby. As far the numerous bedrock mortar holes, they are accepted as the “normal” shape of the rock formation.)

Both the Rock Baby and his pictographs are ‘out of bounds” for people. The paintings may be looked at without danger, but touching them will lead to quick disaster. One who puts his fingers on them and then rubs his eyes will not sleep again but will die in three days. Some informants said that this would be the consequence even if the eyes were not rubbed. Photographing the pictographs was thought in the l930s to bring bad luck- - the camera would break. By the 1970s, however, this unhappy outcome was forgotten.

But the real danger lurks in the ̉̉uwani ̉̉azi himself. He is an omen of disaster. Though rarely seen, he is described as “just like a baby,” but his sex is indeterminate. He has a little black hair. Usually he is heard rather than seen, and his cry is a tuuwaruugidi. A number of incidents are related in which the presence of the ̉̉uwani ̉̉azi brings death. In the following two stories the people involved are said to be ‘South Fork’ (Tubatulabal) rather than Kawaiisu.

Some South Fork people went above Onyx (on the South Fork of the Kern River) to get chia. One of them heard a baby crying on a rock so he went up, got him, and brought him back in his arms. The man told the others to come and see him, but they put their hands over their eyes because they were afraid to look at him. Only two glanced at the baby. Then a girl told the man to take him back, and he did. But when the man put the baby down and stepped away, he could see that the baby had a cradle tied on him. The baby got up and walked right into the rock.

Sometimes that baby lives in the water near a spring. One day a Tubatulabal woman was going from South Fork to Tule River. She was walking across the Greenhorn Mountains. She came to a spring and put water in her water‑bottle. Her baby, whom she carried in a cradle, began to cry. He kept on crying so the mother nursed him as she walked along. While he nursed, he kept looking at his mother's eye. He started to swallow her breast. When she arrived home, her husband tried to pull the baby away but could not do so. Finally the husband cut off the breast. The baby swallowed it and ran off. The mother died. The ̉̉̉̉uwan ̉̉̉̉azi [at the spring] had turned the woman's baby into an ̉̉̉̉̉uwan ̉̉̉̉azi.

Sadie Williams heard the cry of the Rock Baby in the summer of 1947 and a few days later a neighbor died.

A couple were lying together on a cot out of doors. The woman heard a baby crying under the cot. She told the man, but he said he didn’t hear anything. They looked under the cot but saw nothing. At about this time the woman lost a grandchild. It was the cry of the ̉̉̉̉̉uwan ̉̉̉̉̉azi.

About a month before her baby died, GG heard the Rock Baby crying in the rocks. For several nights before the death, she heard a coyote howling near the house. On successive nights, the howling sounded closer. After the Infant died, it ceased.

Henry Weldon had an experience at a pictograph site, but he did not mention the Rock Baby or any other being as the cause. He was riding his horse near a pictograph rock, but the horse stopped before the rock was passed and refused to go farther. Dismounting, Henry attempted unsuccessfully to pull the animal. He mounted again, but the horse seemed to be pulled down and fell over on its side. One of the horse’s legs lay on Henry’s leg and neither could get up. When it looked as if they night be held there all night, Henry pulled out his gun and shot toward the pictograph rock. Then the horse got up and they went on their way.

COYOTE’S SONS AND DAUGHTERS

The activities of Coyote’s sons and daughters are limited to a single pattern which would seem to stem directly from the proclivities of their lecherous father. In the Kawaiisu version of the widespread tale Coyote Marries His Daughter, Coyote’s wife and children escape from him by ascending to the sky where they become the stars in the Pleiades.⁴ Thereafter the “children” - - apparently two sons and two daughters - - return to the earth to enjoy sexual intercourse with their sexual opposites. If they come at night, they are seen in dreams and have their way with the helpless victim. During daytime their chosen partner temporarily “dies,” that is, either faints or goes into an epileptic fit. (The distinction, however, is not made by informants - - they simply describe the human partner’s condition as a “dying” for a period of a half-hour or more.) According to one informant, both daughters - - and, by implication, both sons - - appear to the partner who makes a choice, but in no case is the experience considered desirable, and ways are sought, not always successfully, to prevent it.

No substance is more puzzling or more mysterious both as to identity and to effect than puyumảaku. When, in 1975, at my request, a linguist asked his elderly Kawaiisu informant about the word, her response may have reflected the attitude of all previous informants. “She said it was ‘poison’ and a ‘bad thing’, and acted like she didn’t really want to talk about it.” While my informants referred to it as a powder, McCown was told by one man that it is “an ointment or salve” and by another that it might be “red, white or blue colored” and that “one type of puimak, a powerful charm, is a rock crystal.” McCown notes: “I tried to get Bob [Rabbit] to describe what puimak looked like. From his statements it might be dirt, rocks, liquid.” There are two possible causes of the confusion: it may be that no informant had ever seen the substance, or the term may have been used to apply to different materials. It might be appropriate here to point out that B. W. Voegelin, in her Tubatulabal Ethnography, refers to a substance as a “white powder (alum?) . . . white stuff that looks like flour . . . like baking powder.” Although the name of the material, ayi·p, in no way relates it to puyumả aku, its usage in “bear shamanism” closely parallels one of the chief usages attributed to puyumả aku by the Kawaiisu.

McCown’s informants made no mention of a bear-cult in any form, but both Cappannari and I were told of the role of puyumả aku in what might be called “bear-impersonation.” However, it was always maintained that the Kawaiisu never used it for this purpose, but knew of its use by neighboring peoples - - the kaap(i)sikimi and, especially, the pitadi. In some instances, as will be seen, the Kawaiisu are said to have obtained the substance from the pritadi at Tejon, but the avowed purpose had nothing to do with bear-impersonation. Indeed, the Kawaiisu picture themselves as the victims rather than the perpetrators of this sinister activity.

The actual situation is complicated by the failure of informants to make a clear distinction between a “real” grizzly bear, a bear-impersonator, and a human killer for whom the term pog^wti, ‘grizzly bear’ and tuhugadi, ‘murderer’ might be applied synonymously. The grizzly bear itself is invariably portrayed as “mean” and dangerous - - a symbol of evil and malice. It will be recalled that the animal is a miitiipi and to dream of it is a “bad” omen (see under Miitiipi and Dreams). The bear is said to kill people in a special way - - taking the scalp from the back of the neck upward and removing the limbs while leaving the upper part of the torso intact and usually sitting up. The bear-impersonator of the pitadi is, according to Kawaiisu informants, “able to behave like a bear by dressing in a bear skin. They used puyumả aku to make him run and act like a bear.” One informant said that “the pitadi made a ‘bear’ called kaukau [recording uncertain]. Maybe they put puyumả aku on the man. He sits inside the bearskin. He has reins and carries lots of beads inside. That powder makes the hide alive - -makes him run.” Thirty- five years after these statements were recorded, the same beliefs persisted: “If a bear is killed and skinned, then someone with this substance can control or direct the bearskin from a distance by using some kind of rein or bridle-type mechanism, and it can be used to kill one’s enemies. Perhaps the person doing the magic could hide a knife inside the bearskin to kill someone.” Voegelin notes the use of a bear skin and a “white powder (alum?)” but states that the Tubatulabal (living adjacent to the Kawaiisu) “were aware of it but did not imitate [it].” She attributes the practice to the “Ventura Indians” and the Chumash, and says that the “bear machine” was “stored in a cave north of Tejon” (just south of the Kawaiisu) but the “white stuff” was obtained in Tubatulabal territory.

The operation of a bear-impersonator is described in an “actual” case:

Someone in Tejon wants to kill someone over here. The “bear” waits for the man in the mountains. He hides in the willows near the trail. The man to be killed is a “South Fork” [Tubatulabal]. The “bear” cuts off his head and legs. They thought it was a “real” bear, but it wasn’t. He stuck arrows with the points upward in a circle around the dead man. . . . The people, including the dead man’s wife, went up there. The “bear” was watching from somewhere - - they could hear him laughing. [This seems to be a habit of the bear-impersonator.] They thought it was a grizzly bear until they found the arrows. Then they knew it was a man.

Here is an enigmatic episode: Once some cowboys in Tehachapi saw a bear eating juniper berries. They threw a lasso and caught it by the hand. They pulled and the hand came off. Later, that “bear” was not in his “outfit” and he saw these cowboys. He said, “Look what you fellows did to me.” His hand was missing.

Once two of the “bears” went through Kelso Valley on the way to the desert to get salt. “Real bears never go to get salt.” On the way back they passed by Jim Haslem’s place where there was a pine tree. One of the “bears” jumped up and swung on one of the limbs. Then they went through Tehachapi on the trail back to Tejon. Their tracks could be seen.

Emma told a grim and lengthy story about pog^witi, a “bad man” who lived in Old Town (usually regarded as in Kawaiisu territory but on the way to Tejon) and went about killing people for no apparent reason. Five men were murdered by him, but eventually a posse ambushed and killed him. The individual episodes were recounted by Emma to me in 1938 and to Cappannari. in 1947. Our respective fieldnotes seem to indicate that no puyumả aku was involved and that pog^witi was “just mean.”

Apparently referring to the same individual, Marie said that after pog^witi was dead he was cut open. Around his heart was found a hair, and that hair was ̉inipi. (The assumption is that pog^witi was possessed by an ̉inipi.)

As already indicated, McCown obtained no affirmative data about the use of puyumả aku (or, in McCown’ s transcription, puimak) in a bear- cult. McCown notes that Nichols “did not recognize my description of bear or rattlesnake shamanism.” However, other unrelated usages of puimak were known to several of his informants. Both Emma (Williams) and John (Nichols) said that puimak was brought from Tale River. Only wealthy people could afford to have it as it was expensive. John said it was “strong” and could make people do whatever you wanted them to do.

It might be used in business or in love to make the other party accede to your wishes. Also it was rubbed on the back during dances, for what purpose he did not explain. . . . A man might use puimak to make a girl come to him despite her parents’ opposition. . . . It was often used by people who wanted to make money. If you had puimak people would come to your house to trade with you and you were always successful. It might be used by a man who wanted a certain girl, especially if she was reluctant.

Emma said that a rag “with some sort of medicine on it, possibly puimak, might be hung over the door of one’s house and people would come to the house regardless of their wishes in the matter.”

Bob (Rabbit) said that puimak was used by shamans and also other men. It would make them crazy. Puimak might be used to make people go crazy or it might kill them. It works at any distance. One type . . . is a rock crystal. The possessor has to put the right kind of “dope” on it to insure its efficacy. It might disappear or kill the owner unless he knows how to keep and use it. . . . Once an Indian on a high mountain took out his eagle feather. He talked. . . . The puimak appeared. The Indian knew how to make the puimak stay with him. [It has an] attraction for lightning. The lightning will come and take the puimak away. This is why trees get hit with lightning. One Indian (Juan) was killed by lightning because he had puimak in his pocket.

Of three kinds of puimak - - red, white and blue-green - - according to Bob, the red “was for fighting. . . . The puimak that is best for [making] rain is blue-green like galena. . . . Puimak was no good against witches.” Bob mentioned still another usage: To make pinyon trees bear, a cone on a large limb is painted with puimak. It brings good results for seven years. The same procedure is recommended for acorns and chia (!).

My informants, including John and Emma, and those of Cappannari, described puyumả aku as a “deadly poison” which, if placed anywhere on the skin, will sting like the bite of a red ant - - and cause death. The kaap(i)sikmi are said to put it on their arrow points. It makes dead worms come to life and can grow flesh on bare bones. A pohagadi employs it against his victims. One pohagadi had grown flesh on [the bone of] a human finger. It was discovered in her nephew’s trunk after she had died. Marie Girado told of an old man who had heard an owl hooting in a nearby tree. He shot it. The next morning he looked for the bird but found nothing but old bones. A witch had wanted to kill the man, and had brought the bones to life with puyumả aku. But the intended victim had not touched the owl and thus escaped harm.

As suggested by John Nichols, the “powder” is also an effective love potion. An informant knew of a Kawaiisu woman who had learned of its power from a pitadi Indian. If the substance is kept in the house, a couple cannot stay apart. They will spend their time making love. The woman used some on a man nicknamed sina ̉vi “coyote” (perhaps so called because of his sexual preoccupation, though in this instance it would seem more aptly applied to the woman!). It proved predictably potent. But the man’s aunt disapproved of the match, and when, on one occasion, she found the couple out of the house, she looked under the pillow and saw some hair on which there was puyumả aku. She took the hair and threw it into the creek. The man had known nothing about the presence of the “powder,” and soon left the woman.

An old pohagadi at Tejon lived across a creek from a couple. The young wife was alone while her husband was working in a nearby town. The pohagadi was about to put puyumả aku in the woman’s chamberpot, but the latter saw her. When the husband returned, his wife told him of the witch’s attempt to poison her. Pretending that he was going off to work, he walked a short way and hid. That night he knocked at the witch’s door and, when she opened it, he killed her with an axe.

A Kawaiisu man called Pete wanted to marry a certain girl. He had some of that powder. He came up to her and sat back-to-back against her. There were people there and they all felt “pretty good.” They started to sing and dance. An old woman who had been picking juniper berries came singing and dancing along the trail. “Maybe Pete rubbed against the girl. She jumped up and asked, ‘What are you doing?’ Then everybody had to dance. He threw the powder away. Be didn’t get it here - - maybe at Tejon.” The girl didn’t marry him. “If we had the powder here now, it would make us all dance.”

(2) A man was up at the cave above Indian Creek. He ate a large piece of tobacco because he wanted luck. After he ate the tobacco, the entrance to the cave closed. He began to walk through the tunnel and it had no end. He was very frightened. He saw many different animals - - deer, bear, and others. They spoke Kawaiisu just like people. Someone handed the man a basket with one pinyon in it. He ate it and there was still a pinyon in it. He was also given a never-emptying basket with one acorn in it. There were many different kinds of luck on the cave walls. He saw a bow and arrow of a good hunter in a prominent place. He took something for his luck. (The informant did not know what it was.) Finally he came to the end of the cave. He saw water that was transparent like a window. He came out through the water and found that he was way up in Back Canyon - -a few miles from the cave entrance. That man had been gone a whole year. His relatives didn’t know where he had been. There is another ending which parallels that of a different yaah^we ̉̉̉̉̉ era tale (see above): Yaah^we ̉̉̉̉̉ era told the man that for f –unreadable- he was not to tell anyone where he had been. The man resisted a–unreadable- tions for a time, but finally told his story before the end of the -unreadable- day period. He died.

BOND OF FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMAL ⁸

"When Joe Williams [CP’s brother-in-law] was a small boy, John Nichols took him under his wing to teach him to hunt, to track, and all the ways of the animals. One day John had tracked this mountain lion. It was a fresh track, and he took some of the sand from the track and mixed it in his [Joe’s] food. He told him [Joe] now this would give him the ways of the lion, the ability to track, to scent, and to kill. What‑ ever he was stalking, he would manage somehow to kill it. As a rule they did this with the boys. His [John’s?] comment was that they didn’t usually tell the child when they were feeding it to him - - usually afterwards. The name of the mountain lion is tukuumici. After that they felt a brotherhood between the mountain lion and the one who had eaten of his track. Joe Williams won’t kill a mountain lion to this day.

“One time my father Andy Greene and Joe worked on a ranch. It was a cattle ranch and the boss told them, ‘If you see any mountain lions, destroy them.’ Of course, they were paid bounty on them, too. In the course of knowing that they should do this to keep the cattle from being destroyed, my father shot a mountain lion. He felt extreme remorse afterward because he had been fed the track of this mountain lion, and he felt the binding of this brotherhood. I don’t believe he ever collected the bounty. If I remember right, he brought him home and buried him like you would a pet-something you felt a strong attachment to.”

IN CONCLUSION

Kawaiisu culture began to deteriorate at least 120 years ago as the presence of the non-Indian came to be an inescapable fact. One by one the traditional customs fell into disuse, although the order of their disappearance can no longer be traced. Groups of neighboring households, usually interrelated, continued some basic activities. Ritualized occasions like “fiestas” (often intertribal), the mourning ceremony, and toloache and red-ant swallowing, could not have survived far into the twentieth century. By the 1930s there were no curing shamans and but one rainmaker who was no longer interested in his vocation. There were those, however, who were suspected of being bewitching shamans in the l940s and quite probably beyond. Pinyon gathering outlasted acorn gathering - - it may be because the end-product was more popular. (I participated in a pinyon “expedition” in 1937, but was assured that “it was not like in the old days.” In the l970s one of the women promised to make me some acorn mush on her kitchen stove. Having gathered the acorns, she kept them for more than a year and then died without completing the project.) A half - century ago moden cigarettes may have taken the place of the strong native tobacco for smoking by the men, but the women perpetuated the old tobacco complex at least into the l940s because they enjoyed chewing the tobacco-lime mixture.

What has survived into the 1970s? Thirty-five people - - none of them less than 35 years of age - - can speak the native language, but they never do so except with close relatives. The common speech is English. No one attempts to teach Kawaiisu to the children since, as one mother commented, “Who are they going to speak to?” In only one family are both husband and wife Kawaiisu. Of the survivors, 26 live within an area of about 55 square miles, but they never meet together as a group.

As noted under Shamanism, 107 medicinal plants are listed in the forthcoming Kawaiisu Ethnobotany, but not more than a handful are still utilized. The people consult modern physicians and find no conflict in taking both modem medicines and those dictated by tradition. One elderly woman was given a prescription, but she didn’t understand what she was supposed to do with it. She continued with her old-time remedy and, when she saw the physician again, he told her she was much improved. In the l930s there was a sharp difference of opinion as to whether Mexican or Kawaiisu procedures should be followed to strengthen the crippled legs of the infant son of a Mexican father and a Kawaiisu mother. Possibly both were tried but, in any case, the physical condition was not improved though the son is now nearly forty.

Some of the ideas and beings of the supernatural world still live in the minds of a few people. To the women who have become faithful devotees of the local pentecostal church, the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi is very much alive, but he is now Satan and is kept under control by Christ. CW has told me that she is perplexed by the thought that the old-timers were somehow able to protect themselves from the evil machinations of the ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉inipi even though they knew nothing of Jesus Christ. She has tentatively decided that they must have had “very strong thoughts” through which they escaped disaster. A few of the women make the annual pilgrimage to the Church Assembly in Oregon. En route one year, one of them gathered some of what she believed to be the rainmaking lichen (paazimỏ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉ora). She had no doubt as to its potency (see under Shamanism). There is no longer any huviagadi matasuk^wigadi, or ̉̉̉̉̉̉̉̉uuptzhagadi. One must be somewhat less certain about witches (pohagadi) since suspicion about an individual, if held, would remain a dark secret to be shared only by members of one’s immediate family. The sheer paucity of numbers, however, makes it quite unlikely that anyone now living can be considered qualified for that unfortunate calling. On the other hand, tuuwartiigidi may well lurk in the minds of the few who still have memories of the older beliefs. The occurrence of the “unusual” is an ever-present reality for all of us! AG’s experience with the crawling tuuwartiigidi falls within the present decade. And who can deny that some strange cloud-borne image might appear in the sky tomorrow?

No longer a viable way of life, Kawaiisu culture will have a fragmentary survival in the consciousness of a few people for another decade or two.