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The beginning of sickness:
Then they adhered to their reason.
There was no
sin;
In the holy faith their lives were passed.
There was then no sickness;
They had then no aching bones;
They
had then no high fever;
They had then no smallpox;
They had then no burning chest;
They had then no abdominal pains;
They
had then no consumption;
They had then no headache.
At that time the course of humanity was orderly.
The foreigners
made it otherwise when they arrived here.
They brought shameful things when they came. . .
This was the cause of our
sickness also.
There were no more lucky days for us;
We had no sound judgment.
At the end of our lost of vision,
And
of our shame,
Everything shall be revealed.
They came from the East
They came from the east
when they arrived.
Then Christianity also began.
The fulfillment of its prophecy is ascribed to the east. . .
Then
with the true god, the true dios,
Came the beginning of our misery.
It was the beginning of tribute,
The beginning
of church dues,
The beginning of strife with purse snatching,
The beginning of strife with blowguns,
The beginning
of strife by trampling on people,
The beginning of robbery with violence,
The beginning of forced debts,
The beginning
of debt enforced by false testimony,
The beginning of individual strife,
A beginning of vexation.
Plague
Great
was the stench of the dead. After our fathers and
grandfathers succumbed, half of the people fled to the fields. The
dogs
and vultures devoured the bodies. The mortality was terrible.
Your grandfathers died, and with them died the son of the
leader and
his brothers and kinsmen. So it was that we became orphans, O my
sons! So we became when we were young. All
of us were thus. We
were born to die.
Cakchiquel.
On the Death of Atahualpa
We weep
Tears
of blood,
We weep,
In despair, crying.
We weep;
The sun forever has stolen
The light from his eyes.
No more
his face do we see,
No more his voice do we hear,
Nor will his affectionate gaze
Watch over his people.
Suwa!
Segaltimaya!!
May you speak to make me happy!
May you suddenly experience that wherewith you curse me!
May
you suddenly fall dead being sick!
May you fall dead, you who drink my blood!
May you suddenly all perish!
Drink
my blood!
Would that I might be happy!
May I not be sick in any way!
Yana
They shall not wither,
my flowers
They shall not whither, my flowers,
They shall not cease, my songs.
I, the singer, lift them up.
They
are scattered, they spread about.
Even though on earth my flowers
May wither and yellow,
They will be carried there,
To
the innermost house
Of the bird with the golden feathers.
They will appear—may you behold them!
They will appear—may you behold them!
They will appear—may you behold them!
A Horse Nation will appear.
A
Thunder-Being Nation will appear.
They will appear, behold!
They will appear, behold!
. . .
A Thunder-Being
Nation I am, I have said.
A Thunder-Being Nation I am, I have said.
You shall live.
You shall live.
You shall
live.
You shall live.
Sioux
Songs of the Sun Dance
We shall live again
We shall live
again
Comanche.
Song of encouragement
Within my bowl there lies
Shinning dizziness
Bubbling
darkness
There are great whirlwinds
Standing upside down above us
They lie within my bowl
A great bear
heart
A great eagle heart
A great hawk heart
A great twisting wind—
All these have gathered here
And
lie within my bowl
Now you will drink it
Papago
Prayer
Greeting Father's clansman,
I have just made a robe for you, this is
it. Give me a good way of living. May I and my people safely reach
the next
year. May my children increase; when my sons go to war,
may they bring horses. When my son goes to war, may he return with
black
face. When I move, may the wind come to my face, may the
buffalo gather toward me. This summer may the plants thrive, may
the
cherries be plentiful. May the winter be good, may illness not
reach me. May I see the new grass of summer, may I see the
full
sized leaves when they come. May I see the spring. May I with all
my peoples safely reach it.
Apsalooke
A Navajo Morning Prayer
The Earth, my mother
The Universe, my god
Changing woman, my mother
Thank you,
my gods
My mind, my spirit
My respect and my faith
You renew them in my life
You make my life good again
Thank
you my gods
With this:
It is made Sacred
It is made sacred
It is made Sacred
It is made Sacred
Hymn to Ishcoshauahjqui
Hymn to Ishcoshauahjqui
In the Hall of Flames let me not put to shame my
ancestors;
descending there, let me not put you to shame.
I fasten a rope to the sacred tree, I twist it in eight folds,
that
by it I, a magician, may descend to the magical house.
Begin your song in the Hall of Flames; begin your song
in
the Hall of Flames; why does the magician not come forth?
Why does he not rise up?
Let his subjects assist in the
Hall of Flames; he appears,
he appears, let his subjects assist.
Let the servants never cease the song in the Hall
of
Flames; let them rejoice greatly, let them dance wonderfully.
Call ye for the woman with abundant hair, whose
care is the mist and rain, call ye for her.
Navajo Night Chant
With beauty before me, I walk.
With beauty behind me, I walk.
With beauty below me, I
walk.
With beauty above me, I walk
With beauty all around me, I walk.
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished
in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
Kekchi Maya prayer
Now will I sleep beneath your feet,
beneath your hands,
O
lord of the mountains
and valleys,
O lord of the trees,
O lord of the creeping vines;
Again tomorrow there will
be day,
Again tomorrow there will be light;
I know not where I will be.
The Niman Kachica Ceremony
The Father of the Kachinas Speaks:
"Indeed, it is like this.
After all, I set the date
For you at this time.
The sun has come
To the appointed place.
Therefore, you will return.
At your homes
Your fathers,
Your mothers,
Your people,
Are awaiting you.
So, you will start
To carry our words to them.
Listen.
We, Here,
Have worked all day for you.
You have voiced our prayers.
We are tired.
You, too, are tired.
When you arrived at your homes,
These words of ours
You will give to them.
Soon, you will come from there
To bring us drink.
Around here
Our crops, our plants
Are growing poorly.
You will come soon
To bring them drink,
When you have brought them drink,
When they have drunk,
When their children have grown,
When they have eyes,
When our children, the little ones, taste them
They will surely be happy.
Therefore, you will come soon
To bring us drink.
If we drink
All the people
Will live happily.
Then, our lives
will reach old age.
With our children
Our lives will be enjoyed
To old age.
This is why
You will take our words to them.
As soon as it rains
Green things will grow.
Game animals,
Jack rabbits,
Cottontails,
Will feed on these greens
And will increase.
Then, these eagles,
Our animals,
Will grow here with their children.
When the children of these eagles have grown
We shall gather them on our houses,
Raising them here.
With their downy feathers
We shall beautify ourselves
For our fathers in each direction.
Like this it will be.
So, you, with strength,
Happily will go home."
As the father finishes his speech, he sprinkles them all with meal and them makes a road for them toward the west.
Slowly, they follow after him. Everyone stands looking after the last of the Kachinas, their feathers ruffled by an
occasional wind, as they file out of the village. No one moves to go home until the last Kachina is out of sight, for
they all know the masked gods won't come again for half a year.
Taken from:
Kennard, Edward A. ( Edward Allan), 1907. Hopi kachinas
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