Native American Legends
Dance of the Dead
A Luiseño Legend
Once a year the People of Kamak left their village and went up
Palomar Mountain to gather acorns. Everyone went, young and old,
and even the ill were carried along on litters so that the village
could stay together at this important time. The house were left
empty, no one was afraid of thieves in those days.
While the village was deserted, a man from anther nearby village
called Ahoya came to Kamak. He found everyone gone. He knew where
they had gone, and why, so he knew he could not see his friends
this trip. He decided to spend the night and go on his way the next
morning. He did not go into anyone's house, but rather he took a
large basket normally used to store grain and turned it over. He
crawled under the basket, where the wind could not bother him. He
fell asleep.
In the early evening, but long after dark, he was awakened by someone
calling People out to dance. At first he thought the People of Kamak
had come back from acorn gathering. Then, being a old man, he began
to recognize the voices of People he had known many years ago, but
who were now long dead He began to realize that the voices were
spirits of the Dead! While the People of Kamak were away, the Dead
had returned to dance.
The old man lay quietly under the basket, listening to the voices
of all the People, all the way back to the ancient days. He heard
the Woman-who-was-turned-into-rock as she sang, He heard the Man-who-scooped-rock-with-his-hand
as he sang. All the People of the ancient days were here in the
village again.
The old man could not stand to wait any longer. After he had listened
for hours, he wanted to look at the People he had known as a young
man and the faces of the People he had only heard about in old stories.
He threw the basket off and looked where the Dead had been dancing.
There was only a flock of birds, and they flew away, startled by
the basket overturning. The turtle-shell rattle the Dead had played
all night as they danced lay on the ground. It was now just a piece
of soap-root.
The old man was not allowed to see the Dance of the Dead.
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