For almost seven hundred years, the Havasupai Indians, who call themselves People of the Blue Water, have lived in an area that includes the depths of the western Grand Canyon and the heights of the San Francisco Peaks. Here they inhabited the greatest altitude variation of any Indians in Southwestern America.

Written in consultation with some of the last Havasupai shamans, this book details their religious beliefs, customs, and healing practices. A second section presents legends of the Havasupai origin, the first people, and tales of Coyote, Gila Monster, Bear, and others.

Carma Lee Smithson was engaged in doctoral research when she succumbed to lymphosarcoma in 1961. At her request, Robert Euler arranged and expanded her work for publication. Originally published in 1964 as Havasupai Religion and Mythology, this work has been reedited and includes photographs and a new foreword by Euler, now a consulting anthropologist.

Preface

 

Religion

        Sacred Places and Spirits

        Conceptions of the Soul

        Shamans and Illness

        Concepts of Disease and Illness

        Preventive Medicine

        Medicinal Therapy and Contraceptives

       The Sweatlodge and Its Therapeutic Functions

       Death and Funeral Customs

       The Funeral of Mexican Jack

       Dances

 

Photographs

 

Legends

       Origins

       Havasu Canyon Walls Closing Up

       Frog Rock

       Origin of Menstruation

       The Man Who Went After His Wife

       The Lady Who Could Have No Children

       Grandmother and Little Boy

       The Sun and His Daughters

       The Man Who Caught Himself in the Eagle’s Nest

       Bear’s Wife

       Turkey (or Eagle)

       Turkey (version 2)

       Fox and the Giant Bird

       Fox and His Brother

       Gila Monster and Hunter Hawk

       Porcupine

       Porcupine (version 2)

       Bat

       Coyote and His Family

       Coyote Steals the Heart of a Chief

       Coyote, Wolf, and Lion

       Coyote Packs a Pole

       Wolf, Coyote, Bat, and Elk

       The First Sweatlodge

       Coyote and Deer

       Coyote’s Death

 

Bibliography