The

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

of the Ohlone (Costanoan) Native American people of Northern California include

creation myths A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...

as well as other ancient narratives that contain elements of their spiritual and philosophical belief systems, and their conception of the world order. Their myths describe supernatural anthropomorphic beings with the names of regional birds and animals, notably the

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

, the Coyote who is humanity's ancestor and a

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story ( god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...

spirit, and a hummingbird. The Chochenyo (Chocheño) mythology of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

has a strong culture hero figure named ''Kaknu'', coyote's grandson, who is an anthropomorphic and closely resembles a peregrine falcon.

Creation stories

Rumsen (Coyote, Eagle, Hummingbird)

One Ohlone creation myth begins with the demise of a previous world: When it was destroyed, the world was covered entirely in water, apart from a single peak, ''Pico Blanco'' (north of Big Sur) in the Rumsien version (or ''

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most ...

'' in the northern Ohlone's version) on which Coyote, Hummingbird, and Eagle stood. "When the water rose to their feet" the eagle carried them all to Sierra de Gabilin (near Fremont) where they waited "for the water to go down" and the world to dry out. Coyote was sent to investigate and found it was dry now. After the flood, the eagle led Coyote to a beautiful girl inside or in the river and instructed him "she will be your wife in order that people may be raised again." Eagle gave Coyote instruction how to make her pregnant in her belly. This first wife became pregnant by eating one of Coyote's lice, but she was afraid and started running. Coyote could not persuade her or slow her down, she ran to the ocean with Coyote chasing her and she jumped into the ocean and turned into a sand flea or shrimp. Coyote married a second wife and this time had children who became the Ohlone people. This is how "people raised again". The Coyote taught humanity the arts of survival.

Rumsen (Eagle and Hawk)

Another creation myth begins with the earth flooded in water. Eagle tells Hawk to dive into the floodwaters to find some earth. Hawk dives but fails to find any earth the first day. He tries again the next morning, this time holding a feather plucked from the middle of Eagle's head. The feather grows longer and helps Hawk to reach some earth under the waters. The water eventually receded.

Chochenyo (Coyote and grandson Kaknu)

The Chochenyo myths describe the "First People" or "Early People" as supernatural anthropomorphic beings with the names of regional birds and animals. Of the fragmented myths that are recorded, the Coyote was the supreme being:

''"The Coyote was 'wetes', the one who commanded. He was our God, the God of all the world."''

Coyote was the grandfather, companion and advisor to the Chochenyo's mythical hero, the Kaknu. Kaknu was another anthropomorphic being, described to be like a predatory bird, most closely resembling a peregrine falcon.''Origin of Death'', Chochenyo narrative as recorded by John P. Harrington in the 1920s; Bean, 1994, p. 105-106, 115-116.

Making the world safe

Chochenyo (Kaknu fights Body of Stone)

"Finally when Kaknu didn't want to fight anymore with anyone, he turned into a dove and entered into the earth". Kaknu dived into the earth by folding his wings, and went to confront the "Body of Stone" called Wiwe. Body of Stone was the underground lord of the earth, described as a man with a stone body, who fed people to his servants. His terrain was scattered with bones. The Body of Stone held many of Kaknu's "people" in captivity and they assisted Kaknu in an epic battle. When Kaknu shot the Body of Stone in the neck and navel with all his arrows, the Body of Stone died and burst into pieces, and became all the rocks scattered across the world. Kaknu makes peace with the people in this once hostile underground.

Death and afterlife stories

Chochenyo (Land of the Dead)

According to the Chochenyo, death was created by Coyote so that people would have enough to eat, but this meant. "Kaknu had to take the road to the land of the dead...the people followed his example." According to the Chochenyo, the Land of the Dead had only one road and a man who receives the incoming spirits. There is white foam like the sea, before this are two pieces of smoking and burning wood and two hollowed stones, one filled with water, and the other with a sugary substance, where the spirits can drink and eat, before they plunge into the foam. The burning wood is a warning, the type of warning not elaborated.

Context

These myths have been called incomplete story fragments on the creation of the world. They share some elements with the neighboring people in Central and Northern California, such as

Miwok mythology The mythology of the Miwok Native Americans are myths of their world order, their creation stories and 'how things came to be' created. Miwok myths suggest their spiritual and philosophical world view. In several different creation stories collec ...

. The

Bay Miwok The Bay Miwok are a cultural and linguistic group of Miwok, a Native American people in Northern California who live in Contra Costa County. They joined the Franciscan mission system during the early nineteenth century, suffered a devastating ...

people also believed that the world started with water surrounding the tallest mountain in the region,

. The Ohlone myths contain numerous similarities to Yokuts mythology and cosmogony.Kroeber, 1925, page 472.

References

Citations

Sources

* Gifford, Edward Winslow, and Gwendoline Harris Block. 1930. ''California Indian Nights''. Arthur H. Clark, Glendale, California. (Two previously published narratives, pp. 100–102, 302-303.) * Kroeber, Alfred L. 1907. "Indian Myths of South Central California". ''University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 4:167-250. Berkeley (Six ''Rumsien Costanoan'' myths, pp. 199–202); available a
Sacred Texts Online
* Kroeber, Alfred L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C. (Notes on origins myths, pp. 472–473.) * Ortiz, Beverly R. 1994. "''Chocheño'' and ''Rumsen'' Narratives: A Comparison". In ''The Ohlone: Past and Present'', edited by Lowell John Bean, pp. 99–163. Ballena Press, Menlo Park, California. (Myths, mostly fragmentary and some of uncertain ethnolinguistic affiliation, collected by Alfred L. Kroeber in 1902, John P. Harrington in the 1920s and 1930s, and Alex Ramirez in 1991.)

External links

Sacred Texts Online
see ''Rumisen Costanoan'' myths by

Alfred L. Kroeber Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the first ...

. {{Ohlone Ohlone Native American mythology of California Traditional narratives (Native California)