Page:The Pima Indians.pdf/227

222 he to do it? He made a fine green bird, stc-tûk o’-ofĭk, parrot, and sent it to Casa Grande, telling it to swallow all the green stones it could find about the houses. The parrot went to Casa Grande and was found one day by the daughter of Si’al Tc’-tak Si’van$y$. The bird was kept several days, but it would not eat, so it was turned loose. It went about until it found a piece of turquoise, which it swallowed. The daughter of Si’al Tc’-tak Si’van$y$ saw this and told her father, who directed her to give the bird all the turquoises she could find in the house. The people gathered to see the bird that ate stones, but as soon as it had eaten until it was full to the mouth it flew away. Tarsnamkam was glad to see it come safely home. The parrot vomited the stones, which its owner gave to the people to use, and there were plenty for all. Si’al Tc’-tak Si’van$y$ was angry when he learned that the bird had been sent to steal all his turquoises. He sent the rain for four periods, or sixteen days, to destroy Tarsnamkam, but the latter also possessed magic power and was not injured. At the end of the sixteen days Tarsnamkam sent a man with a fine football (rso’nyikĭvol), directing him to give it to Si’al Tc’-tak Si’van$y$'s daughter, whose name was Pia Kŏnĭkam Of’(i). The messenger went near the woman's house as she was at work and kicked the ball so that it rolled close to her. She took it up and hid it under her dress and told the man there had been no bail there when he came up to inquire about it. He declared that it stopped close by her, but she again said no, she had seen no football. The man went off, but-the young woman called to him to come and get his football. When he came back she searched for the ball, but it was not to be found. It had gone into her womb and become a child. When this child was born it was a strange-looking creature. The people wanted to destroy it, but the mother said it was her child and she wished to care for it.

The people wished to destroy the child, because it had long claws instead of fingers and toes; its teeth were long and sharp, like those of a dog. They gave it the name of Hâ-âk, meaning something dreadful or ferocious. This female child grew to maturity in three or four years' time. She ate anything she could get her hands on, either raw or cooked food. The people tried to kill her, because she killed and ate their children. She went to the mountain Ta’-atûkam and lived there for a while in a cave. Then she went to Baboquivari for a time and then to Poso Verde, where she was killed by Elder Brother. As Elder Brother and the people were preparing to overcome the magic power of Hâ-âk they sang together: