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Mexicans in Alaska
Anthropology of Contemporary North America

series editors
James Bielo, Miami University
Carrie Lane, California State University, Fullerton

advisory board
Peter Benson, Washington University in St. Louis
John L. Caughey, University of Maryland
Alyshia Gálvez, Lehman College
Carol Greenhouse, Princeton University
John Hartigan, University of Texas
John Jackson Jr., University of Pennsylvania
Ellen Lewin, University of Iowa
Bonnie McElhinny, University of Toronto
Shalini Shankar, Northwestern University
Carol Stack, University of California, Berkeley
 Mexicans
in Alaska
An Ethnography of Mobility,
Place, and Transnational Life

Sara V. Komarnisky

University of Nebraska Press

Lincoln and London
© 2018 by the Board of Regents of the
University of Nebraska

Parts of chapter 5 were originally published in “Suitcases

Full of Mole: Traveling Foods and the Connections between
Mexico and Alaska,” Alaska Journal of Anthropology 7, no. 1
(2009): 41–56. Reprinted by permission of the Alaska
Anthropological Association.

All rights reserved. Manufactured in the

United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Komarnisky, Sara V., author.
Title: Mexicans in Alaska: an ethnography of mobility,
place, and transnational life / Sara V. Komarnisky.
Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018. |
Series: Anthropology of contemporary North America |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2017038779 |
isbn 9781496203649 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn 9781496205636 (pbk.: alk. paper)
isbn 9781496206466 (epub)
isbn 9781496206473 (mobi)
isbn 9781496206480 (pdf)
Subjects: lcsh: Mexicans—Alaska—History. | Mexican
Americans—Alaska—History. | Mexicans—Alaska—Social
conditions. | Mexican Americans—Alaska—Social
conditions. | Foreign workers, Mexican—Alaska—History.
| Foreign workers, Mexican—Alaska—Social conditions. |
Migrant labor—Alaska—History.
Classification: lcc f915.m5 k66 2018 |
ddc 305.868/720798—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017038779

Set in Charter itc by E. Cuddy.

Para la próxima generación de Acuitzences en Alaska:
que no se olviden de sus raíces
Echarle vueltas y vueltas y vueltas
(Going back and forth and back and forth).
luis br avo sr., describing his working life
 Contents

List of Illustrations xi
List of Tables xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Acuitzences in Alaska xix

Introduction: Yes, There Are Mexicans in Alaska 1

1. Tracing Mexican Alaska: A Transnational Social Space 19
2. The Annual Migration of the Traveling Swallows:
Shared Experiences of Mobility across North America 45
3. “My Grandfather Worked Here”: Three Generations
of the Bravo Family in Alaska and Michoacán 75
4. “You Have to Get Used to It”:
Living the North American Dream 107
5. The Stuff of Transnational Life: Suitcases Full of Mole,
T-Shirts, Roosters, and Other Things That Move 135
6. “It Freezes the People Together”:
Producing a Mexican Alaska 165
Conclusion: Freedom to Move 197

Notes 215
Bibliography 241
Index 251
 Illustrations

figures
1. Air crossroads of the world, 2013 50
2. Canadian-U.S. border along the Alaska Highway, 2011 60
3. Road between Tiripetio and Acuitzio, 1967 67
4. The Bravo family, 2012 78
5. “Oscar” and his rooster, 2012 136
6. Xochiquetzal-Tiqun at the Anchorage Museum, 2011 174
7. Chichén Itzá—Chugach 184
8. Chichén Itzá—North Slope 184
9. Zitácuaro—Chugach 184

maps
1. Interior Michoacán, Mexico 29
2. Alaska 36
3. Routes between Mexico and Anchorage, Alaska 49
 Tables

1. Acuitzences in Alaska as of 2011–12 xx

2. North American economics, 2012 111
3. Things that travel, 2011–12 140
 Acknowledgments

Gracias a todos los Acuitzences en Alaska y en México. Les valoro la

oportunidad que se dieron de compartir parte de sus experencias como
migrantes e inmigrantes en los Estados Unidos. Agradezco especial-
mente a mis amigos de ambos países: Mariano y Lupe Villaseñor, Mari-
ano Villaseñor Jr., Andrea Villaseñor, Ady Villaseñor, Ricardo y Tere
Villaseñor, Natali Villaseñor, Cirila Sánchez, Vicente Sánchez, Gardenia
Sánchez, Maria Elena y Daniel Calderón, Rosa Altamirano Dorantes,
Daniela Villa, Jose Sánchez, Gonzalo y Eugenia Calderón, Taide y Espe-
ranza Calvillo, Edgardo Calvillo López, Carlos Arjon, Brenda Calvillo
López, y Ken and Imelda Cox. Gracias también a Martha, Adriana, Pau-
lina, Luci, y Rosalía: nos divertimos mucho!
In Anchorage, thank you to Maria Elena Ball and Bart Roberts for
talking about the Mexico in Alaska postcards with me and allowing me
to reproduce them here. I am indebted to Ana Gutiérrez-Scholl, Ana Del
Real, and everyone in Xochiquetzal-Tiqun for inviting me to practices
and performances and for teaching me how to dance. I have learned a
lot from Dayra Velázquez and Brooke Binkowski; both have their own
fascinating projects about mexicanos in Alaska. Thank you to Sarah Hazell
and Cameron Welch, who were fellow Canadian anthropologists in
Alaska. Thank you to Kerry Feldman for your support over the years.
And finally, thank you to the archivists who worked at the U.S. National
Archives in Anchorage (especially Robyn!) and to Alea Oien, who did
research for me at the Alaska State Archives in Juneau.
At the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Colum-
bia, Vancouver, I want to especially acknowledge Gastón Gordillo, who
gave me guidance and mentorship when I needed it, and the space to
make this project my own. Thank you, Gastón. I am grateful to Alexia

xv
Bloch, Juanita Sundberg, Pilar Riaño-Alcalá, Jon Beasley-Murray, and
Lynn Stephen for their invaluable insights and suggestions. Thank you
all. Felice Wyndham also contributed important ideas to the develop-
ment of this project. As I struggled with writing, I read Shaylih Muehl-
mann’s book When I Wear My Alligator Boots, which encouraged me to
try to write like the ethnographies I love to read. For reading and engag-
ing with earlier drafts of this work, thank you especially to Marlee
McGuire, Natalie Baloy, Ana Vivaldi, Solen Roth, Tamar Scoggin-McKee,
and Molly Malone. Thank you to Wade Tymchak and Tony Calvillo for
your help with table 2. This work has also benefited immensely from
conversations with my friends and colleagues who work in the Canadian
North: thank you to Zoe Todd, Crystal Fraser, and Lindsay Bell. I also
acknowledge Julie Cruikshank for her encouragement and interest in
my work and Raymond Wiest for taking me on as a student and intro-
ducing me to Acuitzio, and for his support and mentorship since then.
I completed the book manuscript while a postdoctoral fellow at the
University of Alberta. This has been an incredibly supportive environ-
ment in which to write and start new research, especially thanks to my
mentor, Beverly Lemire, the whole Object Lives and Global Histories of
Northern North America research group, and my colleagues in the
Department of History and Classics—Sarah Carter, Crystal Fraser, Jay-
mie Heilman, Liza Piper, Susan Smith, and Shannon Stunden-Bower.
Thank you to Colleen Skidmore for publishing advice!
Carrie Lane and James Bielo, editors for the Anthropology of Con-
temporary North America series, were enthusiastic about this project
from start to finish. Thanks to you both! I also thank Alicia Christensen,
American studies editor at the University of Nebraska Press, who has
been a patient and supportive guide through the process. Thank you to
reviewers Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz and Leigh Binford: your insightful cri-
tiques, comments, and suggestions have made this a better book.
Research for this project was funded by the Vanier Canada Graduate
Scholarships program, the University of British Columbia, and the Liu
Institute for Global Issues at ubc. For institutional support during field-
work, I would like to extend my sincere thank-you to the Colegio de
Michoacán and Dra. Gail Mummert Fulmer for arranging an alumna
visitante position for me during fieldwork in Mexico, and to the Institute

xvi acknowledgments
for Social and Economic Research (iser) and Dr. Marie Lowe for a vis-
iting student position at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
Finally, thank you to Chris Shapka, the very best person I can imagine
to travel through life with. As I prepared the final draft of this manu-
script we welcomed our sweet daughter, Ingrid. I wish her, too, deep
roots and the freedom to move.

acknowledgments xvii
 Acuitzences in Alaska

This is an ethnography of people from Acutizio del Canje, Michoacán,

Mexico, who live and work in Anchorage, Alaska. Most of these people
have dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship or U.S. permanent residency (Green
Card) and are able to move between Mexico and the United States,
between Acuitzio and Anchorage. Everyone in this book is a real person
(not a composite), but I have used pseudonyms and changed identifying
details about them. Many of these people are part of interconnected
multigenerational networks, families, compadres, and friends who have
lived between Acuitzio and Anchorage for generations now. Those with
last names (Bravo and Cárdenas) are part of families analyzed as mul-
tigenerational networks in the book. Here, I introduce you to the Acuit-
zences in Alaska who appear in this book:

xix
 Table 1. Acuitzences in Alaska as of 2011–12

xx
main
pseudonym age alaska connection residence “papers” relationships work

Bravo family

Ana Bravo 42 Moved to Alaska in 1992 after Anchorage Dual citizen (-) Married to Miguel Bravo. Industrial food
marrying Miguel Bravo. Araceli Bravo is their daughter. preparation
Ana’s brother Tomás also lives
and works in Anchorage. Her
sister Rosa lives in Acuitzio.

acuitzences in alaska
Araceli Bravo 18 Born in Alaska. Anchorage U.S. citizen Miguel and Ana’s daughter, Restaurant
and Luis Sr.’s granddaughter. hostess

Gloria Bravo 48 Visited Anchorage from July Anchorage Dual citizen Luis Sr.’s daughter and Industrial food
to September 1980, and moved (1998) Renata’s mother. Her siblings, preparation
there with her husband in 1995. Luis Jr. and Miguel also live in
Anchorage.

Humberto Bravo - Worked in Alaska in the 1960s. - - Luis Sr.’s brother. -

(deceased)

Juana Bravo* 44 Moved to Anchorage with her Anchorage Dual citizen Married to Luis Bravo Jr. Industrial food
husband and children in 1996. (2005) They have three children: preparation
Toño, Verónica, and Sophia.
Lupe’s cousin Eduardo also
works in Anchorage.
 Luis Bravo Sr. 78 Worked in Alaska for twenty- Acuitzio Mexican citizen All of his children except for Retired
five years, from 1960 to 1985. one currently live and work
in Anchorage.

Luis Bravo Jr. 46 Came to Anchorage to work Anchorage Dual citizen Luis Sr.’s son, married to Restaurant
in 1983. (1995) Juana Bravo. They have cook
three children: Toño,
Verónica, and Sophia.

Luis Antonio 20 Born in Mexico and moved Anchorage Dual citizen Luis and Juana’s son, and Luis Restaurant
(Toño) Bravo to Anchorage with his family (2004) Sr.’s grandson. His sisters are dishwasher
as a small child in 1996. Verónica and Sophia Bravo.

Miguel Bravo 43 Went to Anchorage to work Anchorage Dual citizen Luis Sr.’s son, married to Restaurant
in 1986. (1990) Ana Bravo. Araceli Bravo owner
is their daughter.

Renata Bravo 19 Born in Mexico but moved to Anchorage Dual citizen Gloria’s daughter and Luis Waitress
Anchorage with her parents (1999) Sr.’s granddaughter.
as a small child in 1995.

Sophia Bravo 16 Born in Mexico and moved Anchorage Dual citizen Luis and Juana’s youngest Restaurant
to Anchorage with her family (2004) daughter, and Luis Sr.’s office adminis-
as a small child in 1996. granddaughter. Her siblings tration
are Toño and Verónica Bravo.

acuitzences in alaska
Verónica Bravo 18 Born in Mexico and moved to Anchorage Dual citizen Luis and Juana’s daughter, Restaurant
Anchorage with her family as (2004) and Luis Sr.’s granddaughter. hostess

xxi
a small child in 1996. Her siblings are Toño and
Sophia Bravo.
 main
pseudonym age alaska connection residence “papers” relationships work

xxii
Cárdenas family

Alina Cárdenas* 50 Lived in Anchorage from 1989 Anchorage Mexican citizen; Married to Ernesto Sr. Claudia Restaurant
to 1991 and then moved back to U.S. permanent is their second-oldest kitchen
Acuitzio with her children while resident daughter. manager
Ernesto kept working in Alaska.
The family moved back to
Anchorage in 2000.

Bernardo - - Anchorage - Married to Ernesto Jr.’s sister. Restaurant

acuitzences in alaska
Cárdenas He co-owns a restaurant with owner
Miguel Bravo.

Claudia 30 Born in Mexico and lived in Anchorage Dual citizen Ernesto Sr.’s granddaughter Tax
Cárdenas* Alaska as a child from 1989 to (2007) and Ernesto Jr. and Alina’s preparation
1991. Moved back to Acuitzio daughter. Married to Iván.
with her family. Spent a short
time in Anchorage from May
to October 2001 and moved
to Anchorage again in 2002.

Ernesto 78 Lived and worked in Alaska for Morelia - All of his children and most Retired
Cárdenas Sr. eleven years from 1966 to 1977. of his grandchildren live and
work in Alaska. His wife was
born in the United States
but not in Alaska.
 Ernesto 54 Went to Alaska to work Anchorage Dual citizen Ernesto Sr.’s son. Married Costco
Cárdenas Jr. in 1987. (1999 or 2000) to Alina. Claudia is their
second-oldest daughter.

Iván Cárdenas 30 Has lived and worked in Anchorage Mexican citizen; Married to Claudia. His Merchant
Alaska since 2001. U.S. permanent uncle worked in Alaska (buy/sell)
resident from the 1950s to 1970s.

Adán 28 Has never been to Alaska but Acuitzio Mexican citizen Luis Jr., Miguel, and -
would like to work there Gloria Bravo are his
someday. Has worked elsewhere tios (uncle/aunt).
in the United States.

César* 49 Has been in Anchorage off Anchorage Mexican citizen César’s wife and children Restaurant
and on since 1996. Said he was live in Acuitzio. sous-chef
there from 1996 to 1997; 2002
to 2003; 2003 to present, a total
of nine years.

Diego 28 In Alaska from 2002 to 2009. Acuitzio Mexican citizen Has a child who still lives Store owner
Left because he feared in Anchorage.
deportation.

acuitzences in alaska
Eduardo* 64 Has worked in the United Acuitzio Mexican citizen; Wife, children, and Costco
States for most of his adult U.S. permanent grandchildren all live in or

xxiii
life, and in Alaska since 2003. resident (1992) near Acuitzio. His cousin is
Juana Bravo. His sister and her
family also live in Anchorage.
 main
pseudonym age alaska connection residence “papers” relationships work

xxiv
Efrén 39 Born in the United States, and Anchorage U.S. citizen Married to Soledad. Efrén Janitorial
has lived and worked in Alaska and Serefina’s husband services
since 1990. Started out working are brothers. manager and
in a remote fish cannery. business owner

Esteban 53 First went to Anchorage in Anchorage Dual citizen Married to Laura. Went Costco
1989. Stayed until 1991 and (1996) to school with many of the
then went back to Mexico. men from Acuitzio in his age
Went back to Anchorage in group and works with many

acuitzences in alaska
1992 and has been there since. Acuitenzes at Costco.

Fernando - Went to Alaska in 1992 por Anchorage Dual citizen Married to Ivonne; they met in Costco
buscar trabajo, to find work. Alaska. Salvador is his brother.

Gilberto* - Went to Anchorage in 1986 Anchorage - Lola’s brother-in-law. Married Restaurant

after working in vegetable to Mónica. His godfather was waiter
and fruit fields in California one of the first Acuitzences to
for many years. go to Alaska. His father was
also a migrant, a bracero.

Gonzalo 80 One of the first Acuitzences to Long Beach Dual citizen None of Gonzalo’s close family Retired
Calderon go to Alaska. Lived and worked (1959?) members live in Alaska. Some
there from 1952 to 1973, with of his extended family does,
visits back to Acuitzio. including a nephew.
 Inés 39 Has lived in Anchorage Anchorage Mexican citizen; Married to Salvador. Fast food
since 2008. U.S. permanent restaurant
resident employee

Ivonne - Born in the United States Anchorage U.S. citizen Married to Fernando. Office
but not in Anchorage. Went administration
to Anchorage to join her
parents there in 1992.

Jaime 75 Lived and worked in Alaska Acuitzio Mexican citizen None of his close family Retired
from 1960 to 1968. Was lives in Alaska.
deported in 1968. Never
went back to work in the
United States.

Laura 43 Has lived in Anchorage Anchorage Dual citizen Married to Esteban. Library
since 1996. (2001) employee

Leonardo 46 Has lived in Anchorage since Anchorage Dual citizen President of the Construction
1989. Before that, worked (2000) Migrant Club. worker
elsewhere in the United States.

Lola 41 Lived in Anchorage for eleven Acuitzio - Married to Gilberto’s brother. Councilor of
years from 1990 to 2001. Both Gilberto and Lola’s migrant issues
husband work in restaurants.

acuitzences in alaska
Mónica* - Has lived in Anchorage Anchorage - Married to Gilberto. They met Fast food
since 1994. and got married in Alaska. restaurant

xxv
employee
 main
pseudonym age alaska connection residence “papers” relationships work

xxvi
Octavio 66 Has lived and worked in Anchorage Dual citizen Uncle to Luis Jr., Miguel, Restaurant
Alaska since 1968. (1995) and Gloria Bravo. Both owner and
Luis Jr. and Miguel worked bartender
at his restaurant.

Oscar 36 Has lived in Alaska since Anchorage Dual citizen Oscar’s parents also live Taxi driver;
1992, with annual trips (1995) between Alaska and Acuitzio, rooster breeder
back to Acuitzio. and most of his siblings live
in Anchorage. His son lives

acuitzences in alaska
in Acuitzio.

Pascual 37 Lived in Alaska for six Morelia Mexican citizen His father also worked in Ecotourism
years, from 1991 to 1997. Alaska in the 1960s. business
owner/
operator;
photographer

Rosa 44 Has never been to Alaska. Acuitzio Mexican citizen Many of her siblings live -
and work in the United
States, including Ana Bravo
and Tomás, who both live
in Alaska.
 Serefina 30 Has lived in Anchorage since Anchorage Dual citizen Serefina’s husband is Efrén’s Hairdresser
2002. (2007) brother. He has been living
and working in Anchorage
for much longer.

Salvador* 47 Has lived and worked in Anchorage Dual citizen Married to Inés. He and Costco; janitor
Anchorage since 1992. (2002) Fernando are brothers.

Soledad 39 Has lived in Anchorage since Anchorage Dual citizen Married to Efrén. Nonprofit
1999. (2009) manager;
janitorial
services
business owner

Tomás 46 Has been living and working in Anchorage Dual citizen Ana Bravo’s brother. Costco
Anchorage since 2003. (2000)

*Also interviewed in 2005.

acuitzences in alaska
xxvii
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 WUS WANTS TO MARRY A BUTTERFLY

CHARACTERS

Djáudjau Flying Squirrel

Wálwilégas Butterfly
Wus Fox

Wus and his mother lived at Wusnésee. Wus was a middle-aged

man. There was a spring of water right by their house, at the foot of
a high mountain. It was a nice place to live, and Wus and his mother
had been there a long time.

One day Wus asked his mother: “Is there a swimming pond on any
of the mountains around here?”

“Why do you want to know?” asked his mother.

“I want to go and swim.”

“You are too old to go; only young men, who want to be great
gamblers or doctors, go to those swimming places.”

Wus had fallen in love with a Wálwilégas girl that he had seen near
the spring, but his mother didn’t know that.

He kept asking the old woman to tell him where the swimming ponds
were, and which were the best ones. She wouldn’t tell him; she
always said: “It is too late for you to go to such places. You are too
old. You should have gone when you were young. There are no
swimming ponds near here.”
“I don’t care how far away they are,” said Wus. “I’m going. You must
send for old Djáudjau to come and make holes in my ears and nose.”

“There is no use in making holes in your ears and nose,” said the old
woman. “You are too old to go to the swimming ponds. The earth
and the mountains won’t listen to what you say.”

When she told old Djáudjau what her son wanted, he said: “It is too
late, but let him try; maybe he can get something [215]out of this
earth. If the earth pushes him away, he will come home. But I think
he is after some woman, and is trying to fool you.” The old man
made holes in Wus’ ears and nose, and tied a deerskin blanket
around him.

When Wus was ready to start, he asked: “Where are the most
powerful swimming places?”

“The first swimming place is on the top of Mlaiksi, the other one is on
Mlaiksi’s brother,” said the old man. “But I don’t think you will get to
either place.”

“No matter how far away they are,” said Wus, “I can get there.”

“I don’t think you will go far,” said the old man. “I think you are in love
with some woman. But if you go, you must do right; don’t stop on the
road, except at night, and don’t touch anything. When you get there,
you must pile stones and talk to the mountains and the earth. When I
was a young man I went to all the swimming places. I talked to the
mountains, to the earth, to the trees, and to the rocks. They gave me
power and made me strong, but I did just what old people told me to
do. If you do your own way, the earth will push you away. I wouldn’t
have thought of these things, but you have wakened me out of old
age. These things were told to us when the world was made. After
you leave here, you mustn’t think of yourself. You must lose yourself.
You mustn’t think of what you have in your heart. I can see your
heart. I know that you are trying to fool us. After you have been on
the mountains and done your work, there will be time enough to get
a wife. You must sing on the way and sing as you go around on the
mountains; say: ‘My father, I have come to you; I want to be your
son. I want you to give me all you can; I want you to put good
thoughts in my head.’”

When Wus started, old Djáudjau walked behind him and called to the
mountains: “Wake up! wake up! Wus is coming for you to see him
and take care of him. You have ears to hear with. I want you to listen
to him, and give him all that is in this world.”

When Wus got to the foot of the mountain, he saw that the mountain
was covered with snow. It looked so high and cold [216]that he almost
turned back. He didn’t think he could live to get to the top, but he
kept on walking. He camped ten nights. As he traveled, he sang the
song the old man had taught him. All the way the words of old
Djáudjau pushed him along. At first he didn’t mean to go, he was
fooling his mother. When he was near the top of the mountain, he
was so weak that he fell and rolled back—that was because he was
too old—but he got up and went on. At dark he was at the top; he
piled up stones and talked to the mountain, to the earth, to the sky,
to the clouds, to the trees, and to the rocks. Then he lay down and
went to sleep.

Wus dreamed that the mountain was a white-headed old man who
asked: “What are you doing here? I am the biggest of all the
mountains,” said he. “I shall live always. I shall never grow old or die.
Is that the kind you want to be? I will give you your life because you
have called me father, but you must live where the sun goes down,
for other people are coming to live where you are living now.”
When Wus woke up, he started for home. He had been gone a long
time, and his mother thought he was lost, but old Djáudjau said: “I
know where he is. He has made no mistake.”

When Wus was on the way home, his mother saw a big fire on the
top of the mountain. It looked as if it went way up to the sky. Wus
didn’t build that fire; the mountain built it to show his mother that Wus
had been there. She thought he had gone off somewhere else.

When old Djáudjau knew that Wus was near home, he heated
stones and sweated; then he went to meet him. He said: “If you
dreamed anything bad, you must tell it; but if you dreamed of the
mountain talking to you, you mustn’t tell the dream. The mountain
talked to me when I was young. It said that I should never die, that
my spirit would live always, that I should live among the mountains—
but I shall not have this form much longer.”

Wus was changed. He didn’t look as he did when he went away; he

looked better and stronger.

The old man said: “You mustn’t eat meat for ten days. [217]If
medicines appeared to you in your dream, you mustn’t eat meat for
twenty days.”

“I don’t know about any of the medicines that travel around on this
earth,” said Wus.

The old man said: “After ten days I want you to try and get one of
those nice-looking Wálwilégas girls for a wife.”

When the ten days were over, Wus sweated, then Djáudjau painted
his face and body red and gave him nice clothes. The old man was
glad that Wus was the Mountain’s son. He said: “Take your bow and
arrows and shoot birds. Don’t pick up the first one you shoot; don’t
pull the arrow out; leave the bird right there, as if you threw it away.”

Wus killed a yellow-footed duck and left it on the ground; then he

killed other ducks and took them home. The old man had deer meat
ready and Wus ate. He was glad to eat; he hadn’t eaten anything
since he started to go to the mountain.

When he had eaten enough, he said: “I want to go and see people.”

He started out but hadn’t gone far, when he saw a crowd of
Wálwilégas girls; they were washing roots in the creek. He watched
the girls a long time, then he said: “How beautiful those girls are.
They are too small, but they are beautiful. I don’t know which one I
like best.”

The girls were on each side of the creek; some of them saw Wus
and called out: “There is Wus. He is coming here!” Others said: “No,
that isn’t Wus.” The nicest-looking one of all the girls said: “No, that
isn’t Wus.” Another girl said: “Yes, it is the same old Wus, but he has
been on the mountains; that is why he looks differently.”

Wus went to the bank of the creek and sat down among the girls.
That minute all the youngest and nicest-looking girls got up and went
away. One of the largest and oldest called out: “Why do you go
away? Why don’t you stay here and finish washing your roots?” But
they had scattered and gone.

Wus was mad in his heart; he got up and started for home. On the
road he came to a house and went in to see who lived there. He
found Gíuwas and his wife. They were glad to [218]see him. The
woman was kind. She asked: “Have you had anything to eat?”

“No,” said Wus, “I haven’t been hunting. I have been down by the
creek where there was a crowd of girls.”
“Those are bad girls,” said the woman. “They act proud, as if they
thought every man must fall in love with them; they never feed
anybody. How did they treat you?”

“They got up and flew off,” said Wus. “Hereafter, they will travel in
that way, but they will be people no longer.”

All the old Wálwilégas women were crying, for their daughters were
no longer people. The girls had lost their minds. They had become
common butterflies.

After Wus had eaten enough, he said: “I am going now.”

The woman was afraid he would turn them all to animals; she told
her husband to hurry to the river where their son was fishing and tell
him to get out of the way.

Wus knew their thoughts; he could hear them as if they talked aloud,
and he said: “I won’t hurt you or your son.”

When the young man saw Wus coming he hid and Wus went by,
didn’t see him.

When Wus got home, his mother asked: “Did you see those nice-
looking girls? Did they give you roots to eat?”

“No, they treated me meanly. They are nothing now. They have no
minds.”

Wus and his mother moved away from the foot of the mountain, but
Djáudjau wouldn’t go. He said: “I am named for the mountains and I
will never leave them.”

Old Djáudjau is hunting on those mountains yet. People who travel

on high mountains often hear him calling his own name. Wus and his
mother went to Klamath Lake, and people say that they live there
now. [219]
[Contents]
 LOK SNEWÉDJAS

CHARACTERS

Blaiwas Eagle Lok Bear

Kai Rabbit Snewédjas Married woman
Kaiutois Wolf (Gray) Tskel Mink
Kékina Lizard Tusasás Skunk
Kískina Beetle

Lok Snewédjas was a woman in the daytime and a bear at night.

She lived under the ground on the top of a high mountain; nobody
could see her either when she was a bear, or a woman.

A big chief lived in the lava bed country between that mountain and
Lake Klamath.

One day his son came home without game. The chief was mad and
he scolded. The young man felt badly. His mind told him to go to the
mountain and forget his troubles. As soon as he started, a great
snow-storm came and the wind blew so terribly, that he could hardly
walk. When he got to the foot of the mountain, he sat down under a
cedar tree and waited.

Once in a while the clouds went away and it stopped snowing; he

could see everywhere. Then it snowed again.

Once, when it was bright, the young man looked up and saw, on the
mountain, something hanging on a pole. Lok Snewédjas made him
see it. She had seen him when he was hunting and had heard him
talk to himself and say he had no friends and no place to go. That
made her feel sorry for him. She liked him; she wanted him to come
to her.

When the young man saw the pole, he said: “I didn’t know that
people lived up there. I have been on this mountain many times, but
I have never met anybody or seen any house. [220]I will go and find
out who lives there.” As he started, it stopped snowing; he could see
everywhere.

When he got to the pole, he found a deer hide on it, and right there
by the pole was something that looked like the smoke hole of a
house. He stood around a while, then he went in. He found a
beautiful house with nice things everywhere. On the north side of the
house sat Lok Snewédjas. She was a good-looking woman; she had
long black hair and bright eyes. The young man sat down on the
south side of the house.

Lok Snewédjas got up, took a pinch of yĕlalwek, a sweet seed that
nobody else in the world had, put it in the center of a straw plate, and
set the plate down by the young man.

He thought: “I wonder what I am going to do with that little bit of

seed?” He took up one seed and put it in his mouth. It melted and
was nice and sweet; he thought it was the best thing he had ever
eaten. He kept eating, ate fast, but the same amount of seed was
always on the plate. He was afraid to be in a strange house with
such a powerful woman.

Lok Snewédjas knew his thoughts; she could hear them as well as if
he spoke. She gave him pounded deer meat, and he thought:
“Where does she get this meat?” She laughed, for she heard him
think.
When the young man couldn’t eat any more, he rested his elbow on
the ground and put his head on his hand. Right away he was asleep.
Lok Snewédjas thought: “I wonder why he is sorry that he came
here;” she waited to see if he would wake up and go home. When he
woke up, he reached to get a deerskin to put under his head for a
pillow. Lok Snewédjas said: “I have made a bed for you, you must lie
on it.” He was scared, but he lay where she told him to; then she
made him go to sleep. She was afraid if she went to sleep first, he
would see her when she was a bear.

In the night the young man woke up. The fire was burning. He looked
over to where the woman was sleeping and saw a big black bear; its
mouth was open and its long teeth were sticking out. He was terribly
frightened; he wanted to run away but he couldn’t move.

Lok Snewédjas woke up; she knew what the young man [221]thought
and she felt sorry. She said: “I am this kind; I am a woman in the
daytime and a bear at night. I belong to the mountain. The earth is
my mother, the mountain is my father. They give me my food and
keep me alive. I have always seen you traveling around on the
mountain. I saw your heart; I was sorry for you. You felt lonesome;
you said you had no kin who cared for you. I liked you and wanted
you to come and live with me.”

The young man didn’t speak, but he wasn’t afraid any longer. Just at
daylight Lok Snewédjas became a young woman; she was bright
and nice to look at. She gave him water to wash his face; she stirred
the water with her finger and it rose up like foam. She had everything
ready to eat. She never cooked; the mountain and the earth gave
her food.

When the young man wanted to track deer, Lok Snewédjas said:
“Don’t go far; stay near the house.” Right away he saw a big deer.
He killed it and carried it to Lok Snewédjas. After that she only let
him hunt once in a long time. She was afraid he would go off and
leave her.

“I never stayed at home; I hunted every day,” said the man.

“I know that,” said Snewédjas; “I saw you. You had to kill deer then,
but when we have plenty to eat, it’s not right to hunt. The mountain
and the earth feed us.”

Blaiwas, Kaiutois, Tskel, Kai, Kískina, Kékina, and all the people who
lived in the young man’s village, were out looking for him. They went
everywhere on the mountain, but they couldn’t find him. Sometimes
they were walking on top of Lok Snewédjas’ house, but they didn’t
see it.

One day the woman said: “I hear people crying. Your mother and
sisters are mourning for you. Do you want to go and see them?”

“No,” said the young man, “my father abused me. I don’t care for him
any longer. I want to stay here with you.”

Lok Snewédjas was glad. She said: “If you are going to stay here, I
will tell you about my father and mother. When you walk on the
mountain, you are walking on my mother. Don’t harm a tree, or a
bush, or a leaf, or anything. Put [222]your mind on the deer you are
tracking, and don’t listen to anything. When a deer leads you to the
other side of the mountain, you must not touch a plant or even a leaf
there. If you do, it will cut your body. On the trail you will see a little
animal; then right away you will see a great many of them. If you turn
your head to look at them, you will lose your mind; you will wander
off on the mountain and get lost. Don’t think of those animals; follow
the deer. The animals are there because the mountain doesn’t want
you to go where they are. My father doesn’t know you yet, but he
knows that you are here with me.”
Once, when the young man was out hunting, he heard a great noise,
then he saw a deer standing on the edge of a high rock. He shot at
it. The deer reached out its head. The arrow hit one of its horns and
bounded back to the bow. The young man said: “Lok Snewédjas
forgot to tell me about you.” He didn’t shoot again; he went home.
When he got there, he said: “I didn’t kill a deer to-day. I shot at one,
but the arrow came back to the bow. The deer stood in the same
place, but I didn’t shoot again. I thought I knew the place well, but I
never saw that kind of a deer before.”

Lok Snewédjas said: “You saw it because the mountain didn’t want
you to kill deer where that deer was. The mountain always whoops
and makes a great noise if a stranger goes there. If you had shot a
second time, the mountain would have twisted your mouth and body.
You must not go there again.”

The young man was afraid now; he said: “My mother and sisters are
lonesome; that is why they cry all the time.”

“Why don’t you go and see them?” asked Lok Snewédjas.

“I don’t want to, but I’m going to stay in the house with you.” He
stayed in the house a whole year. Lok Snewédjas had a little boy. As
soon as he was born, she rubbed him with red paint; after that she
rubbed him three times each day; in the morning, in the middle of the
day and just as the sun went down. It made the child grow fast.

One night, when the boy was crying, his father said: “I [223]will take
him off the board and let him sleep on the mat.”

“We might roll over and kill him,” said the mother.

“No,” said the father, “I will take care of him.” And he took the baby
off the board and put it on the mat with its face up against his own
face. In the night he woke up and looked at the baby. It was a little
bear. The father was frightened. He thought: “Maybe some time my
wife or child will kill me, and eat me.” He wondered if his son would
be a bear when he was grown up. He was sorry that the child was
like its mother.

The mother bear knew what he was thinking about; she turned over,
and said: “Uh! uh!” in her sleep. The next morning she asked: “What
did you think about in the night?”

“I thought how nice our boy looked when he was a bear. In the
daytime he is like both of us, but in the night he is like you.”

The child grew fast. Soon he was walking around. One day the
woman asked: “Why don’t you go and see your father and mother?”

“How can I? The boy is too little to go with me.”

“He won’t cry,” said the woman. “When you are half-way he will
forget me.”

“If we go to-day, will you go with us?” asked the man.

“I will go to-morrow. I am going to look over my beads to-day,” said

the woman. “You can go to-day, but when evening comes don’t let
anybody touch our boy, and don’t let him play with the children. At
two different times he will turn to a bear,—in his sleep, and toward
night, when he plays. There is a Tusasás in that place. In the
evening he may play with the child and tease him. If he should, the
boy would turn to a bear; then somebody might kill him.”

“I will take care of him,” said the father.

Lok Snewédjas put a handful of yĕlalwek seed in a piece of deerskin,

and said: “When you get home put five deerskins on the ground;
then, with three of your fingers, take five pinches of the seed and put
on each one of the five skins. You [224]will have plenty to feed your
father and mother and all the people in the village, but don’t let them
carry any of the seed away. If they do, it will spoil this food; we can
never use it again.”

The man took the little boy on his back and started. As soon as he
was away from the house, he forgot all that his wife had told him.
When he got to the village he stood around a good while; then his
youngest sister saw him and called out: “My brother has come!” She
cried, she was so glad to see him. He left the little bundle of seed on
top of the house and went in.

When Tusasás saw the man and child, he said: “That is just what I
thought!”

The women pounded Tusasás; told him to keep still, and not make
the young man feel badly.

The young man said to his sister: “Go out and get what my little boy
brought.”

Then he told his mother to put down five white skins. As soon as
they were spread out, he put five pinches of seed on each skin, and
right away the skin was covered with nice, white seed. Tusasás put a
whole handful in his mouth. It increased and spread, till it came out
of his ears and his eyes and his mouth. It made his stomach so big
that he thought he was going to die.

The young man said: “You thought nothing of me when I was here;
now you see what kind of a wife I have. She has all kinds of roots
and seeds and meat, but she never digs or hunts.”
When the sun was going down, the children wanted to play with the
little boy. He was pretty, they liked him and tried to be nice to him,
but the boy didn’t want to play.

Blaiwas said: “Let the child alone. He is a little fellow; he might get
hurt, and then he would cry for his mother.”

The children were playing and shouting, but the child paid no
attention to them. His aunt carried him around; she liked him, she
wanted to keep him in her arms all the time.

The mother didn’t feel happy. She knew what was happening at her
father-in-law’s house. She wanted her husband to [225]take care of
the child himself, as she had told him. When she heard the children
whooping and running, she got frightened and started off to save her
child.

The young sister began to play with the children. She put the boy
down, and he ran around, too, but he began to run the way a bear
runs. He slapped one child, then another. He pushed them down and
drove them around. The children screamed, they thought he was a
real bear.

When the mother was half-way, she began to cry. She knew harm
would come to the boy before she could get to him.

There was a great noise among the children. Tusasás screamed.

“People! People! A bear is eating your children!” The boy was just
playing as a little bear plays. Tusasás got his bow and arrow and
shot the child under the arm. That minute he was a little boy again.
The father thought his sister had the child in her arms. When he
heard the noise he knew what had happened. He called to the
people: “That is my child! That is my child!” but he was too late; the
boy was dead.
The mother came with a terrible roar. The earth trembled. When she
shook herself, it was as if the earth was turning over. She tore up the
ground, pulled up trees; tore big rocks from under the earth and
threw them around like little stones. When she got near, she shook
herself; the earth moved and the houses fell. A terrible storm of dirt
and wind came with her. She was in the middle of the whirlwind. It
was dark and nobody could see her. 1

There were two orphans, a boy and girl, in the village. They were
little people; they didn’t grow any, but the girl was strong and she
knew things. She always carried a long stick, sharp at both ends.
When the people thought they were going to be killed, the girl told
her grandmother to paint her stick red. Then she painted red lines
across her forehead, breast, and stomach, and on the top of her
arms, and went and sat down in front of where Lok Snewédjas was
coming, twisting and tearing up the earth. Lok Snewédjas turned and
[226]passed on the right side. Just then the girl punched her stick into
the middle of the whirlwind. The storm stopped that minute, and
there on the ground lay a beautiful young woman in a dress covered
with beads and porcupine quills.

The young man cried. He knew that he had killed his wife and child
by not doing as she had told him to. He got Gäk’s medicine basket
and put it on the boy, then he stepped over him and the child came
to life. But he couldn’t bring Lok Snewédjas to life in that way.
Everybody felt sorry. They didn’t know who lived in the world that
could make the woman alive again.

The young man said: “If we can bring her to life, she will never be a
bear again.”

Blaiwas said: “I will give nice things, deerskins, shells, and porcupine
quills to anybody who will bring this woman to life.”
The young man stepped over her five times, then ten times, and
twenty times; she only moved a little.

Some of the people said: “There is an old woman among the rocks
by the lake, Skoks is her medicine, maybe she could make the
woman alive again.”

They sent a man after her; when she came, she said: “I want
somebody to scream for me. This woman’s spirit has got near where
the sun goes down; but maybe we can make it hear.”

Skoks went into a man and screamed loud.

Then the old woman said: “Her spirit has turned around. It is coming
back!” Soon she said: “The spirit is here! It is going into its body.”

Right away the young woman stood up. She was beautiful and bright
and well. When she saw the orphan girl, she said: “You don’t look
strong or powerful. If I hadn’t had that storm with me, you couldn’t
have killed me.”

She stayed three days at her father-in-law’s house, then she went
back to the mountain with her husband and child.

Before they started, the young man said to his mother and his sister:
“You will never see me again. I will stay with my [227]wife always. I
don’t want to kill her spirit by coming back here where I forget all she
tells me.”

They left and nobody ever saw them again.

The young man’s friends hunted for them and got other people to
help, but they could never find their home or see them.
Lok Snewédjas took back all her seeds; she didn’t leave one of
them, so no one has ever tasted of that kind of food.

To this day people can hear voices on that mountain. They are the
voices of Lok Snewédjas and her children, but nobody ever sees
them. [228]

1 The relator of this story said that after telling it there would be heavy wind, for
the story always brought a wind-storm. ↑
[Contents]