Sacred Texts Native American Southwest Index Previous Next
STCHEUADACK Seeven wanted to gamble with Tcheunassat Seeven, who lived at Kawtkee Oyyeeduck, and sent a man with an invitation to come and play against him, and bring all his wives.
And Tcheunassat Seeven said: "I will go, for my wives are used to travelling, and we will take food, and will camp on the road, and day after tomorrow, about evening, we will be there."
So the messenger went back with this word, and in the morning Tcheunassat Seeven got his lunch ready, and he and his wives started; and the first night camped at Odchee, and the next day came to the little mountain, near Blackwater, called Sahn-a-mik, and they crossed Ak-kee-mull, The River, the Gila, there, and Tcheunassat Seeven told his wives to wash their hair and clean themselves there, and then he told them to go ahead to Stcheuadack Seeven while he took his bath. And while he bathed they went on and came to Stcheuadack Seeven's house, where he was singing and his wives dancing.
Then the wives of Tcheunassat Seeven did not ask for invitation, but went right in and joined the dance, and went to Stcheuadack Seeven and took hold of his hand in the dance, pushing each other away to get it.
And Stcheuadack Seeven thought from this that he would get all of Tcheunassat Seeven's wives away from him.
Tcheunassat Seeven, after his bath, cut a piece of oapot wood and sharpened it, and split the other end into four pieces, and bent them over and tied the ends of crow's feathers to them, and stuck it in his hair, and dipped his finger in white paint and made one little spot over each eye, which was all the paint he used, and then he went and watched his wives dancing and taking Stcheuadack Seeven's hand.
And Stcheuadack Seeven asked them if that was their husband, and they said: "Yes, he is our husband. He is, not very good-looking, but we care so much for him."
Tcheunassat Seeven watched the dancing awhile and then stepped back a little and took out his rattle and began to sing. And at once everybody crowded around him, and all his wives came back to him, and finally all Stcheuadack Seeven's wives came and contended for his hand, as his wives had been doing with Stcheuadack Seeven.
And this went on into the night, all dancing and having a good time, except Stcheuadack Seeven, who walked around looking at his wives dancing.
And finally he sent a message to the most beautiful of his wives (who had a beautiful daughter) and told him to tell, her: "I am sleepy,
and I want you home now, and I want all my wives to go into the house."
And she said: "I will come. I will tell my daughter, who is over there, and then we will come home."
But she did not tell her daughter, and did not come home, and Stcheuadack Seeven waited awhile, and then found his messenger and asked him: "Did you tell her?"
And the messenger said: "I did."
And he said: "Tell her again that I am waiting outside here, and I want, her to come to me and we will go home."
Then the messenger told the woman again, but she did not come, and Stcheuadack Seeven wandered around outside till morning.
And near morning Tcheunassat Seeven sang a beautiful song, and began to move toward his own home, dancing all the way, and all the women going before him.
And he did this till morning, and then stopped, and went home, taking all his own wives and all of Stcheuadack Seeven's wives with him.
And Stcheuadack Seeven went home, when he saw this, and took his beautiful cloak all covered with live butterflies and humming-birds, and lay down, covering himself with it.
But four days after, Stcheuadack Seeven told the messenger to take this beautiful cloak to Tcheuassat Seeven, and ask him to send back that beautiful wife and her daughter, and to keep
the rest of the wives; and to keep the cloak and use that to marry more wives.
But Tcheuassat Seeven said to the messenger: "Tell him I do not want his cloak. I have one just like it, and I have all I want, and I will not send back any of his wives. It was his wish that we should gamble, and if he had been the better singer and had won my wives I would not have asked for any of them back."
And now Tcheunassat Seeven appeared as a beautiful. person, with long hair and turquoise ear-rings, and he said: "He need not think I always look as I did when I came to his dance. That was only to fool him."
The beautiful daughter of the beautiful wife grew up, and Tcheunassat Seeven married her, too, and she had a baby.
And when Stcheuadack Seeven heard of it, he said: "I am going to punish him." And he made a black spider and sent it thru the air.
And in the evening when the mother wanted to air her baby's cradle, she took it out, and then the: black spider got in the baby's cradle and hid himself, and when the baby was put back the spider bit it, and it began to cry.
And its father and mother tried to pacify it, but could not, and when they took it out of the cradle, there they found the black spider.
And Tcheunassat Seeven sent word to Stchenadack Seeven to come and see his grand-child, which was about to die, but Stcheuadack Seeven
said to the messenger: "What is the matter with Tcheunassat Seeven? He is a powerful doctor. Tell him to cure the child. I will not come.
The bite of a black spider is poisonous, but it never kills anybody, Tell him to get some weeds on Maricopa Mountain and cure the child."
And he sent the messenger back again.
And Scheunassat Seeven said: "How can I get those weeds when I do not know which ones are right and there are so many! I cannot go."
And he did not go, and the child died.