Sacred Texts Native American Southwest Index Previous Next
Inside of Shipap there were four rooms. The first room was guarded by a mountain lion and beside him Masewa stood with a bow and arrow. If anyone came, no matter how far away, the lion heard it, and Masewa quieted him. The people sent a messenger, goatcini, to Shipap, and he knocked at the door. Masewa said to the lion, "Be quiet. Do not hurt him." He went to the door and brought in the messenger and took him to the room where the chief priests were. They went in, and stood in front of the altar. On each side they caused two men to stand, the tsamahia. Masewa said to them, "I shall take you down to the village and you will guard Cochiti." He took them down to the village and went back to Shipap. He came back into the house and went into the room of the chief priests. He stood in front of the altar and they caused two shin'auhia to stand in front of it. Masewa said to them, "I will take you down to the village and you will guard Cochiti." He took them down and went back to Shipap. He came into the room of the chief priests and they said to him, "Go to the people and tell them never to forget to believe in these four whom we have given them to guard the village." 31 Masewa went back to Shipap and went into the room of the chief priests. They said to him, "Sit down." After a while they heard a knock. One of the tsamahia had come back. He said, "Some one has died in Cochiti."
The man who had died had never believed in ceremonies or in living again after death. Whenever he saw a bird's nest, he broke the eggs and pulled down the nest. Whenever he saw a bug or a worm, he heeled it. His father and mother used to say to him often, "Do not be cruel to animals," but he paid no attention. One day
he went down to the fields. In a tree he found a bird's nest. In it there were two eggs. He made holes in the ends and sucked them. They were red racer's (snake's) eggs. He came back to the village. At his own house he sat down outside to eat. They heard a great noise coming from a great distance. It sounded like the crack of a whip. It was a snake flying through the air. When the man opened his mouth to eat, the snake flew in. He fell down fainting. "Do not touch him! Leave him alone!" Everybody ran away and was afraid to touch him. The snake came out of his mouth carrying the two eggs and left the man dead.
Next morning the people in the village were preparing him for burial. The chief priests in Shipap sent their messengers down to the village to bring him where they were. They came to the house and took him out secretly. They brought him towards Shipap. As they were going, the man who had died saw that the road was well taken care of. It was all cleared of stones and growth. "There are a great many people to take care of this road." Farther on he saw melons growing. "See how beautifully they grow. You have to have a good heart and believe in everything." They came to Shipap and knocked at the door. All around he saw the principal men sitting with sad faces. Their smoke filled the room. The messenger said to him, "Look at these poor men, how sad they are. We want you to see with your own eyes how unhappy they are because of what you have done." The man saw it and wept. The cacique said to the messengers, "You must take him back to his own body or they will bury it. In the village they are already wrapping it." He said to the man who had died, "Believe in everything." The man who had died knelt down by the old men and asked them to forgive him. "I will not do these things any more." They answered him, "All right, my boy. Be good when you get back to your home." The messengers took him back to the village. They hurried along so as to get there before his body was buried. The chief priest had said to them, "When you get back to the village, throw him violently upon his body." And they had told the man who had died, "Do not be afraid. You will enter your body again and will be alive."
They returned and the man came back to life. He rose and his father and mother embraced him and were very happy. He was very thirsty and called for water. He called Masewa and O'yoyewa and others of the heads of the pueblo and told them what he had seen in Shipap. "The chiefs were sitting in Shipap with sad faces because of what I had done. They told me not to do these things any more and to believe in all the katcinas and medicine men." He always believed in everything after that. He grew to be very old and never wore clothes any more. They made him cacique and that is why we always have to have a cacique.
128:10 Informant 2. Notes, p. 205.
128:31 These four are protectors of the village and live In the hills around Cochiti.