Yahyáhaäs 2 by Jeremiah Curtin
"Yahyáhaäs 2," as recorded by Jeremiah Curtin, is a Native American myth centering on a dangerous supernatural being called Yahyáhaäs and the courage of a small boy who defeats him and saves his people. The story begins with five brothers of the Blaiwas Eagle clan setting out to hunt deer in the mountains. When they make camp, they use a fire-drill but fail to invoke its protection against Yahyáhaäs, a powerful and feared spirit who roams the eastern mountains. Their oversight proves immediately consequential, as one brother spots Yahyáhaäs approaching from the east. The spirit arrives wearing red from head to foot, carrying a sharp red cane adorned with red feathers, and bearing a quiver of red arrows. He demands to be offered smoke as a ritual greeting. When the hunters admit they have no tobacco or means to make fire, Yahyáhaäs insists they must wrestle with him instead. After much delay and reluctant discussion, the eldest Blaiwas brother accepts, reasoning that resistance is futile. One by one, Yahyáhaäs throws each of the five brothers over a cliff into a lake below, where their bodies dissolve into bones that clatter loudly against the rocks. Back in the village, an old medicine woman wakes from a prophetic dream foretelling the men's deaths. The boastful Tusasás, a skunk figure, dismisses her vision, insisting no force in the world could overcome the five brothers. At midday a boy arrives weeping with confirmation of their deaths. The village mourns, cutting hair and covering themselves in ashes. The following morning the community resolves to travel to the site of the killing. Among those who insist on going is the youngest Blaiwas boy, the small son of the eldest brother. His mother and Tusasás both try to dissuade him on account of his size, but the boy is determined to die with his uncles rather than live in loneliness. He asks to be painted with red paint at the center of his head, the seat of thought and spiritual teaching. The community prepares him and sets out, with Tusasás making a loud, laughing show of bravado, carrying a great cedar tree on his head and boasting he will quickly defeat Yahyáhaäs. At the lake, Yahyáhaäs reappears, this time clad in yellow and carrying a yellow cane, still demanding smoke or wrestling. The men again confess they have nothing to offer as smoke, and one by one they wrestle Yahyáhaäs and are thrown into the lake. Tusasás clings desperately to Yahyáhaäs during their match but is also overpowered and thrown in. All the while the small boy sits quietly at the cliff's edge, gazing into the water below. Gradually he begins to perceive the drowned men swimming beneath the surface, including his five uncles, and this vision fills him with strength and resolve. After the women are sent home and the boy is left alone with Yahyáhaäs, the spirit mocks him for his small size and begins tossing him about playfully. The boy quietly endures this, then seizes his moment, twists Yahyáhaäs's leg, breaks it off, and shoves the spirit into the lake. He then calls out to all the drowned men to rise from the water, commanding them urgently not to look back as they climb the cliff, warning that any man who does so will die. The spirit of Yahyáhaäs calls after them from the water, taunting and insisting he has not truly been defeated, but the boy speaks firmly to the spirit without turning his face toward it, declaring that Yahyáhaäs will never again be a person but will persist eternally as a presence near lakes and rivers, walking the mountains and waterways as a spirit rather than a being who harms people. Having led his people to safety, the boy announces that life in the world is too hard, and transforms himself and all his people into birds to live in the air. He himself becomes a medicine bird consulted by healers. Yahyáhaäs, though defeated in bodily form, remains a potent spiritual medicine, and a doctor who possesses him as a medicine spirit is said to be capable of curing even a dying person.
By Jeremiah Curtin · First published 1912 · Genre: Native American folklore, Myth, Legend · 2,435 words
First lines
CHARACTERS / Blaiwas Eagle / Tusasás Joker (Skunk)
Five Blaiwas brothers started off to hunt for deer. When they got to the top of the first high mountain, they took out their fire-drill to make a fire. As they turned the drill they talked to the mountains, to the trees, to the rocks and the bushes, and asked for good luck, but they forgot to ask the drill to keep Yahyáhaäs away. They made a fire, cooked their meat, and then got ready to hunt. When they were leaving the camp, they hung their dry meat and their seeds on a tree where they could get them when they came back in the evening.
What this Textopian page supports
Yahyáhaäs 2 is listed on Textopian as a short story by Jeremiah Curtin, dated 1912 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Jeremiah Curtin
- Date: 1912 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Native American folklore, Myth, Legend, Spiritual/Shamanic fiction, Adventure
- Length: 2,435 words
- Structure: 1 section, 61 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Yahyáhaäs 2 by Jeremiah Curtin
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Genres
- Native American folklore — The narrative is explicitly presented as a traditional story featuring Native American characters, spiritual beliefs, and cultural practices such as fire-drills, tobacco rituals, and shamanic medicine practices.
- Myth — The story explains the origin and nature of supernatural beings and spirits, establishing why Yahyáhaäs exists as an eternal mountain spirit and why the people transform into birds, characteristic of mythological narratives.
- Legend — The narrative recounts heroic deeds of the Blaiwas brothers and the boy who defeats a supernatural adversary, establishing them as legendary figures within the cultural tradition.
- Spiritual/Shamanic fiction — The story heavily emphasizes spiritual elements including medicine women, healing powers, shamanic vision, and the supernatural transformation of humans into birds and spirits.
Tags
Native American folklore · Indigenous mythology · Oral tradition · Traditional stories · Myths · Legends · Folktales · Ethnography · Cultural anthropology · American Indian culture · Spiritual beliefs · Creation narratives