American Indians of the South West:

The Seri (call themselves Comcàac or People)

The Raràmuri (or Tarahumara)

The Yaqui (Yoemem)

The O’odham (Akimel & Tohono)

The Yumans (including the Mohave, the Quechan and Maricopa)

The Southern Paiute (or Ningwi)

The Pai (Yavapai, Hualapai, Havasupai)

The Apache (Indé)

The Navajo (or Diné)

and the Hopi

A belief of the Yaqui – The five Enchanted Worlds:

Huya Ania The Wilderness World

This world is the source of all things of Yaqui life. Here, all beings – plants, animals and rocks – form one community.

Sea Ania Flower World

A part of the Huya Ania, this world ‘beneath the dawn” is the home of Saila Maaso, Little Brother Deer, who is represented in the deer dance. The flowers of the Sea Ania are metaphors for all that is good and beautiful in life.

Yo Ania Enchanted World

This realm of the Huya Ania, often associated with caves, can be a source of spiritual power for individuals.

Tuka Ania Night World

This world is marked by unusual occurences during the night.

Tenku Ania Dream World

This very private world involves the special dreams of an individual.

 

 

The Deer Dance:

“The dance started when a man who lived in the country saw the deer, mostly young ones, having a fiesta of their own in the woods. They were dance and gamboling. The man studied their dancing and was able to do it himself.

Therefore, the (Deer) Songs are like prayer. They come from the wilds – just like when you dream. When you dream you go to a place in nature. Nature is the source of inspiration and prayer.”   – Refugio Savala

 

A Southern Paiute belief – The Children of Coyote:

In their traditional stories of their origins, many of the Southern Paiute peoples say that Coyote carried them to their homeland on the nothern frontier of the Greater Southwest.

They see themselves as the children of Coyote, resulting from his union with the daughter of Ocean Woman who lived far to the west.

“Ocean Woman placed the new human beings in a basket and told Coyote to carry them far away to a distant land. She told Coyote not to open the jar until he came to a good place. But, as Coyote walked along, he could hear sounds coming from the jar.

Finally, Coyote could stand it no longer and he opened the jar. People came tumbling out in every direction! These were the Havasupai, the Walapai, the Mohave, the Navajo, and the other peoples who live nearby.

Coyote quickly closed the jar, but only a few people were left. These were the Ningwi – the Southern Paiute. He carried them to where the agave, the deer, and the moutain sheep are plentiful. There they remain to this day.”  – Southern Paiute origin story.