Central Sierra Miwok

(map)

The flood appears only briefly at the end of this story, but in a way which contrasts its power with other weather phenomena.

Yayali the Giant came up the mountain. Chipmunk heard him and, thinking it was his brother-in-law, went to meet him. Chipmunk realized his mistake too late. The Giant saw him and had him lead the way to his home, where he killed him.

Giant then made himself at home and married Chipmunk's widow. Giant cooked Chipmunk and told his new wife to eat the meat. She said, "You eat it."

When the Giant left the house, Chipmunk's widow dug a hole and hid her daughter by Chipmunk there. Giant returned at sundown, with the bodies of many people he had killed. "We have plenty of meat," he said. The woman cooked the meat but ate deer meat herself.

Day after day, the Giant left in the morning, placing large boulders against the doors so his wife could not get out. While he was away, she cooked deer meat that Chipmunk had obtained, feeding that to her daughter. The Giant returned every night carrying many dead people. "I am a better husband than you had before," he said. "I get you more meat." He tried to make her eat the meat, but she only pretended to eat it and ate deer meat instead. When it became dark, the Giant danced. He was so tall that his head stuck through the house's smoke hole.

The Giant's wife gave birth to two boys, both of them little giants. She wanted to kill them but was afraid of the Giant. She cried all day, mourning Chipmunk.

Chipmunk's brother dreamed about him and decided to visit. When he arrived, he found the boulders against the door, and his sister-in-law told him about the Giant. He rolled away the boulder and told her and her daughter to run to her father's house. First, though, he told her to crush some obsidian. "The Giant has many brothers. If they overtake you, throw the crushed obsidian in their faces."

He dug holes under the house, so he could dodge from one to another if pursued. Then he sharpened the edge of a manzanita stick. He killed the two young giants, spearing them in the ankles where their hearts were.

The Giant returned, saw Chipmunk's brother, and chased him into the house. Chipmunk's brother dodged in and out of the holes, and the Giant could not catch him. He said to the giant, "Do your dance, and I will let you catch me." When the giant's head stuck through the smoke hole, Chipmunk's brother cut it off. Then he cut the Giant to pieces and spread the flesh around.

Giant's four brothers dreamed of him and came to visit. They found the meat all around. Thinking their brother had hunted it, they cooked and ate it. Then one of them found the Giant's head and realized the truth. They slept and dreamed that the wife was going west to her father's house, and they followed. They overtook her and her daughter, but just before they caught her, she threw crushed obsidian in their faces. They shouted, for it got in their eyes, and they stopped to remove it. They chased and overtook the two repeatedly, but each time she threw obsidian in their faces, and they got away.

They reached the house of her father, Lizard. He let them in and then spit on the door, turning the house to stone. While the Giants tried to get in, Lizard said, "Let the wind blow them away." A great wind came, but the Giants turned and blew the wind back. "Snow, come and cover everything," the old man said. Snow covered the Giants, but the shouted and melted it all. Next he called hail, but the Giants shouted and stopped it. Finally, he called for the flood to help him. The flood came suddenly, drowning the Giants before they had a chance to shout.

Edward Winslow Gifford, Miwok Myths, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology vol. 12 no. 8 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1917; reprint, www.sacred-texts.com), 292-302; Edward Winslow Gifford and Gwendoline Harris Block, California Indian Nights (1930; reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), 205-209.