Thursday, October 27, 2011

Evil Kachina and Yellow Corn Woman


Yellow Corn Women lived in the village of Spider Woman her maternal grandmother. Yellow Corn Woman left early one morning with her clan sisters to go to the springs to haul water. Near the spring, they came across a girl from another village. The girl form the other village showed Yellow Corn Woman a crystal with powers to diagnose illness.  The young girl told the women "Please take this crystal for it can help the people. Evil Kachina stole this many years ago from your village."

            Yellow Corn Woman returned to her village carrying the gift that would change the lives of her people. Yellow Corn Woman gave the crystal to her husband Squash Man. Her husband took the crystal and studied it, and the crystal taught him its secrets. Squash Man became the first Crystal Gazer.

            Yellow Corn Woman's happiness grew with her husband's success. But, because she had offended Evil Kachina he would return. This simple fact never crossed her mind. She lived a life of contentment, but she could only try to close her eyes to the intuition perhaps or even an aura that something was going to change her life forever.

            Early one morning when Spring was trying to become Summer, Yellow Corn Woman went to the springs alone. The rising Sun danced with his song against the brick red walls of the Mesa. The sands of the wash announced the coming of a deity. As Yellow Corn Woman filled her water pot the Evil Kachina road up on a horse as white as winter snow in the high country. As the horse approached Yellow Corn Woman, dust clouds mapped the assent of her fate.

            Evil Kachina swooped down upon his mark and scooped her up into his arms as he galloped past. Yellow Corn Woman felt both fear and security as her body was enveloped into his strength.

            Evil Kachina road toward the East and he made camp each night on the way. Evil Kachina never restrained Yellow Corn Woman. He both protected and respected her.  Each night she would watch him set up camp, as he took care of the horse, hunt, gather and prepare the evening meal. Escape was always possible. Though Yellow Corn Woman planned to escape, each day brought a new mystery and she thought; "tomorrow I will escape". She stayed to watch to the mysterious new events from the safety of her relaxed incarceration. It took several weeks to travel from the high desert plateau of the red stone mesas to where the sea shore looked East to greet the rising Sun.

            On the flat broad coast is where the Evil Kachina's Marti-Clan lived. Yellow Corn Woman would be given her own small house near where the lazy river met the sea. She had the freedom of the village. Once again she thought of escape. But, she felt a need to understand her silent captor. Also she easily befriended the women of the village and almost from the start felt at home.

            Yellow Corn Woman very soon became part of a network of close women friends. Each day Yellow Corn Woman gathered wild plants, worked in the communal gardens, help in the preparations of the communal meals, made leather garments, and exchanged bit of news about peoples lives.

            In the early afternoon after a light meal the women of the village would quietly comb and braid their men's hair and the rest until the Sun began to cool. Because Yellow Corn Woman was without a man she would join the widows and young women and braid each other's hair. Yellow Corn Woman loved these strange people by the sea.

            In this curious land where Summer's were long and Winters short life was easy. The warm breezes blowing off the sea caressed the shores each evening. One Summer came and went. Summer turned into a mild Winter that was over before it started.  Spring is the beginning of Summer.

            Slowly she would give her self to her captor. By the end of the first summer they were living as wife and husband. She no longer thought of escape. The three years Yellow corn Woman lived with the people of Evil Kachina were the best she could remember.  She had forgotten her previous life and settled into to stay.

            Life is never like we plan. Her other husband from that other life did come at last to rescue her from her prison. The day of her liberation was a sad day indeed. It start out good as everyday did then a sound in the distance piloted a certainty that change would once again alter the life of Yellow Corn Woman forever. The sound of fate echoed off the shore as her original people led by her old husband mounted the attack to bring Yellow Corn Woman back to her Marti-Clan and her former life.

            The rescue was triumphant. Albeit Yellow Corn Woman resisted she was taken under duress from her new preferred home by might. The party of liberation traveled by day and by night until she was returned back to her original home.

            It was less than a week before Yellow Corn Woman would find her opportunity to escape. Escape she did. She traveled back to the coast and the life that she loved. When she finally reached the coast there was no village to be found. There was no sign that there had ever been a village. She traveled to the north many days and then she traveled to south many days she found no trace of the people she had grown to love. The people on the coast were not the people she had known and they knew nothing of the people she was looking for. Because the new people on the coast believed her mad the local people let her be.

            Because she was carrying a baby within her she could not live alone. When the baby was born she returned with the child to village of her mother. Her clan sisters welcomed Yellow Corn Woman. Her first husband had given up hope at this time and found some else. When talking to the elderly women of her village Yellow Corn Woman found out that the story of the Evil Kachina is a familiar one to the people of the Upper Rio Grand. The story is the same a gift is left in plain sight a young girl introduces the gift to another young women. The Evil Kachina exacts his revenge; the young woman falls in love with the Evil Kachina and after sometime her people rescue the young woman. The main difference is each time it is a different generation in another village.

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