Collection: Directories and Documents > Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection

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Title: Handbook of Yokuts Indians - Pahmit's Story Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection # of Pages: 11 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-09-03 22:09:32 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:18:10 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 03:18:10

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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244 HANDBOOK OF YOKUTS INDIANS again on the pesasin string and traveled six days toward the south and the rancheria where his parents-in-law lived. Then he hid in the brush until after almost everyone at the rancheria had gone to sleep. When all was quiet the husband crept quietly to the house where his parents-in-law lived and called to them. He could hear them crying softly inside. When he called they stopped crying and answered him. They were overjoyed at his return and stopped crying. Upon being asked where he had been he said, ‘‘I have just been walking around the country. I must hide. Fix a place for me.’’ A small lean-to was built on the side of the house. In this the husband hid. By morning no one could tell that the house had been changed at all. _ In the morning the people at the rancheria were all surprised to see that the parents-in-law did not ery. They were so happy that the people knew the husband had returned. The people kept asking about him. He was just inside the thin tule partition and could hear everything that was said. For five days and nights the husband hid and listened to the people inquiring about him. ‘Then he could endure it no longer. He came out and told all the people to come together around the fire and he would tell them where he had been and all that he had seen. The people all came and listened to the husband’s story. Just as the husband finished talking, a rattlesnake, who was there as a watchman for Tihpiknits, bit him and he immediately fell dead. That is how the Yokuts came to know where the dead people go and what they do in Tihpiknits Pahn. oh YOIMUT’S STORY eos THE GHOST DANCE All of the Indian tribes around Tulare Lake had good Doctors. Some doctors were just Ahntru (Ahn’-troo). They could give people medicine and help them a little. But they could not help very much. Some of the doctors were Trip’-ne (had supernatural power]. They could do anything. They could make it rain. They could make anyone die. They could change themselves into coyote, bear, or eagle. We were alMae afraid of Tripne Doctors. We were not afraid of Ahnutru Doctors, fi HANDBOOK OF YOKUTS INDIANS 24 5 The Chunut doctors had a Tripne (magic) stone. It wa 5 just like a doughnut. They called it Cuhmumwum Weah (Culy moom’-wum We’-ah), the thunder and lightning stone. I used to know its song, but I have forgotten it. My old uncle, 7'ehnih’-pahs, taught it to me. I think once all the Indians aroun q Tulare Lake had these songs. They used the Cuhmumwum Weah to make thunder and lightning and to make whirlwind $ and cool breezes. I saw my uncle make whirlwinds once with this stone. The doctors had another stone. Even the Ahntru Doctors knew how to use it to doctor people. But the Tripne Doctors could do lots more things with it. It was a long stone with G hole through the middle. The Chunut called it T'a’-khot-wN% Tis-a’-he. The doctor put the hollow stone over the place where the person was hurting and sucked on the other end. He took the pain out that way. Sometimes he took out an arrow poin rattlesnake rattles, or lizard tail, Then the sick person gef well. I saw them do that. Almost all the doctors were men. Once a man and his wife were both Tripne doctors. Finally they went out of sight in the middle of the day. This was at Chaw-lo’-win, the old Wowol village where Alpaugh is now. They lived there on the sand ridge for many years, but the people could never see them , They saw tracks in the sand and saw where the doctors had dug tule roots, but they could never see the Tripne man and wife. They could see the smoke from their fires. They also found pieces of abalone shell in the sand at their campis « They brought the first abalone shell to Tulare Lake. My old uncle told me all about this. He was a Wowol. Tumnah (Toom’-nah) was a real old Tachi when I was & little girl. We thought he was more than one hundred year $ old. He was a young man before the Spanish people came te Tulare Lake after the Indians. He used to tell me about how’ the Spanish came and took the Indians away from Toku h Lihnuh, the West Side. Once Tumnah told me about two bad Indian doctors. H< had helped kill one of them who lived at the old Nutunutu vi . —lage at Kingston. These doctors had killed some Tachi people . They would change themselves into coyotes and go sneakin« around after the Tachi and making them sick. They woulA