Friday, October 29, 2010

"Cottontail and Wind" a Shoshoni story

Cottontail lived with the people on the side of Olancha Peak. The people had no wind; there was none in the whole valley. They could hear it up on the top of the mountain, but it never came down.

Cottontail said, "I can bring the wind down the valley." He took a flute and went way up on the mountain side, blowing it "tu hú du dù du dù, mi áh" and singing "tavotsikita wo bü hai yuvü" (in effect, "I am Cottontail"). By means of his flute playing and his singing, Cottontail brought the wind down to the people in the valley.



Saline Valley, California
Some Western Shoshoni Myths by Julian H. Steward - Bureau of American
Ethnology Bulletin 136 [1943]

From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories

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