| Mountain lion Puma Cougar Plain lion Gray lion Silver lion Panther Klandagi Catamount Caracajou Painter Catawampus Quinquajou Long Tail Swamp lion Sneak-cat Deer tiger Puma imagery, thought to be related to myths of the supernatural Underwater Panther, was used as decoration on the pouches in which shamans kept the ritual paraphernalia which allowed them to control the spirits of the hunt. Feline decoration thus linked the form and appearance of the bag with the function of the sacred and powerful materials which it contained, as well as the status and power of the shaman himself. Similar imagery also comes from the American Southwest, where the puma was regarded as a supreme hunter, associated with rain, fertility, and warriors, and worshipped at special puma shrines, where the remains of its paws, hide, as well as stone fetishes carved as pumas, indicate ritual activity. Shamans of the North American Prairie Potawatomi believed in an Underwater Panther, called Nampe`shiu or Nampeshi`k, who inhabited the third tier of the underworld, and had a particular relationship with warriors. Their myths celebrated this great horned feline, which appeared to men who were destined to become great warriors. The mountain lion was carved in stone by the Cochiti Pueblo as a guardian shrine, and incarnated as a kachina spirit by the Hopi. Tuju, as the Hopi call him, is seen as the strongest and bravest of animals, and the best hunter. The Navajo recognize the Mountain Lion Way of hunting, also called the Tiptoe Way: the puma's Navajo name translates as walking silently among the rocks. The mountain lion was also considered a friend and provider by the Cheyenne Indians who watched crows and buzzards to guide them to the remains of a puma feast for the same purposes. In the Cheyenne tradition is the story of a woman who strayed into the woods mourning the death of her baby. Finding a den of motherless panther kittens, she gently pressed one close to her breast and affectionately stroked the tiny animal. Apparently hungry, it began to suckle. The woman raised the kitten, and in time it repaid her by killing deer and bringing in meat to share. After that, other Cheyenne women raised puma kittens for the same purpose, according to their legends. ~ J.B. Tinsley, The Puma The Fire Cat ~ Tribal tale of the Yakimas and Lummis in the Puget Sound area: In August of every year, according to legend, a large puma appears as the Great Fire Cat, jumping from th Olympic Mountains to the Selkirks, to Baker, to Rainier, and back to the Olympics, setting fires. It is said that a long time ago a chief of the Lummi Indians on the islands in Puget Sound acquired great wealth and stored it in a huge cave. He captured a large female puma and trained her to live in the cave and guard his treasures. The chief told his two sons that if misfortune should come to them after his death, they should go with fifty men to the cave and tie a fawn at the entrance to lure the big cat out. They then could slay the animal and recover the riches stored inside the cave. One of the sons grew greedy and gathered fifty warriors with him to steal the wealth. They followed the directions of the chief and killed the puma as it bounded out of the cave. In their greed and haste, they did not realize they killed a kitten of the big female. While rejoicing over the kill, the great guardian cat charged from the depths of the cave and killed the son of the chief with one swipe of her massive paw and then pursued the warriors into the timber, seeking them out one by one until she had killed them all. The beast was so enraged that she clawed the huge tree until the pitch burst into flames and the forests roared with fire. Since then, the great Fire Cat is supposed to return annually in all her fury to fire the mountains in August. Coyote Imitates Mountain Lion, a Zuni tale, retold by Barry Lopez: Coyote was going along and he saw a rock rolling down the hill. It rolled down toward some deer and they jumped. Coyote wondered who was rolling stones and looked up at the top of a hill. Another stone came rolling down past Coyote toward the deer and the deer jumped again. Then a third stone came down and the deer jumped only a little. They knew it was only a stone. The next moment another stone came by Coyote. But this was a soft rock. It was Mountain Lion who had rolled himself up like a rock and was rolling down the hill. "What a funny rock," thought Coyote. "It doesn't make any noise when it rolls." Mountain Lion rolled right up to the deer who were not suspicious of the rolling rocks by this time. Then Coyote saw Mountain Lion get up, jump on a big deer and kill it. Mountain Lion picked up the deer and carried it up to a cliff where he could eat it and see the country all around. The rest of the deer ran off around the hill. Coyote thought this would be a good way to get deer. He rolled a stone down the hill to where the deer were and they jumped. He rolled another stone and they did not jump so far. When he rolled the third stone they only looked around to see that it was just another stone. Then Coyote rolled himself up in a ball like Mountain Lion and rolled down the hill. When he got there he jumped up and tried to get a deer but he couldn't. He was too dizzy. He just fell over and the deer ran away. It comes alive, alive, alive In the north mountain The lion comes alive In the north mountain, comes alive, With this the prey animal Will have the power to attract deer, antelope; Will have power to be lucky. ~ Acoma Pueblo How The Animals Got Their Colors, retold by Michael Rosen: Mighty Sun, You who made woman, You who made man, You who made all the animals -- We remember how you painted Jaguar -- Dipping your hands into coal, You painted the spots on his coat; But Jaguar, in a hurry as always, Dashed away to show off his coat in the forest, And so the spots became blurred. We remember how you painted Puma -- Seeing Jaguar, Puma came to you and said, "Paint me too, so that I might be as handsome as Jaguar." You took two red stones, ground them together, And with the dust, you painted Puma. "More colors," said Puma, "more colors." But you told him this was to be his color forevermore. |
