Reading Notes: Part B
Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard (1911). The Supernatural Person in the Lake
I was initially drawn to The Supernatural Person in the Lake, because it sounded like a scary story and that made me really excited! I know that every culture has their own legends and myths that are passed down from generation to generation (which we have seen a lot of in this course), and I was exited to see if this was a common legend that belongs to the Apache people. When I read the story,however, I found that it was not what I assumed it would be. It was not a spooky story as I had once thought, and it doesn't really seem to give origin to any great myth or mystery, but it was an interesting read. This story tells the tale of a woman who gives a gift to her son, hoping that one day he will become a medicine man. After giving him the gift, she requests that he bring her food, as she was very hungry. The next day, the son hunts many antelope by the lake with ease. The antelope seem to be flocking to the hunters. It is at this point in the story that I believe the son gives the gift to the supernatural one who resides in the bottom of the lake for all of his provision. When the son returns with the food for his mother, she asks for her gift back. He tells her that he has given it to the supernatural one, for which she curses him, and when the son and the rest of the town go to look for the supernatural one, they cannot find him. After a couple years had passed, some of the town went to war and were greeted by a strange voice from the bottom of the lake. He provided the people with a buffalo and asked that they make smoke for him in return. He also gives them battle advice, which they followed promptly.
This is a story of divine intervention and provision. The person at the bottom of the lake seems to serve as some omnipotent being that knows and meets the needs of his people and asks for little in return. I really enjoyed this story, as well as the themes that it uses to convey this message of provision and omnipotence.
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| Apache medicine man, Blogspot |
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