The Children Of Cloud
: Myths And Legends Of California And The Old SouthwestPima (Arizona)
When the Hohokam dwelt on the Gila River and tilled their farms around
the great temple which we call Casa Grande, there was a beautiful young
woman in the pueblo who had two twin sons. Their father was Cloud, and
he lived far away.
One day the boys came to their mother, as she was weaving mats. "Who is.
our father?" they asked. "We have no one to run to when he returns from
the hunt, or from war, to shout to him."
The mother answered: "In the morning, look toward the sunrise and you
will see a white Cloud standing upright. He is your father."
"Can we visit our father?" they asked.
"Yes," said their mother. You may visit him, but you must make the
journey without stopping. First you will reach Wind, who is your
father's eldest brother. Behind him you will find your father."
The boys travelled four days and came to the house of Wind.
"Are you our father?" they asked.
"No, I am your Uncle,"answered Wind." Your father lives in the next
house. Go on to him."
They travelled on to Cloud. But Cloud drove them away. He said, "Go to
your uncle Wind. He will tell you something." But Wind sent them back to
Cloud again. Thus the boys were driven away from each house four times.
Then Cloud said to them, "Prove to me you are my sons. If you are, you
can do what I do."
The younger boy sent chain lightning across the sky with sharp,
crackling thunder. The elder boy sent the heat lightning with its
distant rumble of thunder.
"You are my children," said Cloud. "You have power like mine."
But again he tested them. He took them to a house near by where a flood
of rain had drowned the people. "If I they are my sons," he said, "they
will not be harmed."
Then Cloud sent the rain and the storm. The water rose higher and
higher, but the two boys were not harmed. The water could not drown
them. Then Cloud took them to his home and there they stayed a long,
long time.
But after a long time, the boys wished to see their mother again. Then
Cloud made them some bows and arrows differing from any they had ever
seen, and sent them to their mother. He told them he would watch over
them as they travelled but they must speak to no one they met on their
way.
So the boys travelled to the setting sun. First they met Raven. They
remembered their father's command and turned aside so as not to meet
him. Then they met Roadrunner, and turned aside to avoid him. Next came
Hawk and Eagle.
Eagle said, "Let's scare those boys." So he swooped down over their
heads until they cried from fright.
"We were just teasing you," said Eagle. "We will not do you any harm."
Then Eagle flew on.
Next they met Coyote. They tried to avoid him, but Coyote ran around and
put himself in their way. Cloud was watching and he sent down thunder
and lightning. And the boys sent out their magic thunder and lightning
also, until Coyote was frightened and ran away.
Now this happened on the mountain top, and one boy was standing on each
side of the trail. After Coyote ran away, they were changed into mescal
- the very largest mescal ever known. The place was near Tucson. This is
the reason why mescal grows on the mountains, and why thunder and
lightning go from place to place - because the children did. That is why
it rains when we gather mescal.
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