YAYAPONCHAM
EDWARD KENNARD
Introduction
Edward Kennard collected a number of Hopi texts between 1934 and 1935. Five or six
years before his death in 1989, Professor Kennard gave Tlalocan thirteen of these in
type-written form for their publication. In Volume XI we published one of them,
"Honanyestiwa and Honanyesnoma, —A visit to the beyond" (Kennard 1989:151-172),
and in this volume we publish a second, which treats the meaning of the kachina
dance of the Yayaponcham. It was told by Frank Masak"aftiwa, a Second Mesa Hopi,
who must have been over seventy years old at the time. The text was translated by the
late Mrs. Ann Mae Setima. Masak"aftiwa was regarded as one of their most gifted
narrators by his fellow Hopi, as noted in the introduction to the "Honanyestiwa"
text. Ken Hill and Emory Sekaquaptewa very generously provided additional
information on the origin of the text and the dialect. According to Professor Hill, the
story teller's name is pronounced ma.SA.kwafti.wa (. = syllable boundary, capital
letters = stressed syllable, f = bilabial fricative), and "Yayaponcham" is pronounced
yaa.ya.pon.tsam. It refers to supernatural beings associated with windstorms. It has
no analysis beyond its reduplicative prefix (1'aa-) and plural suffix (-m), i.e., .yapontsais morphologically opaque. The use of the syllable-final [f] distinguishes Second Mesa
Hopi from Third Mesa Hopi which has a [p] in that position. First Mesa also probably
has [p].
We have tried to present the .text here as accurately as possible, following
Professor Kennard's typescript. The original text was unnumbered, with no
paragraphs marked. We have separated it into paragraphs in order to make it easier to
match the text to the translation.
Orthography
The symbols used in the text, as described for the "Honanyestiwa ...." text, are the
following.
18
TIALOCAN XII
VOWELS
There are six short vowels in Hopi: a in father, e as in pet, o as in hope, i as in pi,
has no real English equivalent, but is like the u in but with the tongue raised highe
and further back in the mouth, and ó is a rounded vowel that occurs in German
words like schón. All of these occur either short or long in duration. The long vowel
are marked by a following colon: a: The distinction is phonemic. Pef- `there
contrasts with pe: f `almost'.
In addition there are a series of glides or dipthongs: ay in tayta `look' or English
aisle; óy in Nóyta `to chase', iy in hiylawi `to distribute'; aw in awta `bow' or English
how; ew in pew'i `come here', he in pica `again'; uw inpuwi `to sleep'.
CONSONANTS
Stops. There are five stops in Hopi: p, t, k q, and 7, the glottal stop. They differ from
the English sounds represented by the same symbols in that they are always medial
and unaspirated, as in Spanish. The labialized consonants are recorded with a "as in
k." ak."ay `thanks, man speaking', the palatalized by as in k'asta `there is lots'. The q
exemplified by giiga `elder sister', differs from the k in that the contact of the base o
the tongue is farther back in the throat, with the uvula, rather than with the velum.
c the affricate (like church in English) shares the lack of aspiration with the stops
It is in free variation with is so that one may hear either cay or tsay `child'.
Nasals m and n present no problems, but a the velar n represented in Englis
sing and in some dialects of Spanish as word-final n, can occur in initial position i
Hopi as in the word for medicine -yahi.
r in Hopi is retroflex with the tip of the tongue curled up, which gives it a fricativ
quality. It is devoiced before a consonant, so that kyaro `parrot' becomes kyasn''am
`parrot clan'.
The rest of the consonant symbols, h,1, s, y, y, and w do not differ from the Englis
sounds represented by them.
ACCENTS
= primary accent; ' = secondary accent.
19
YAYAPONCHAM
YAYAPONCHAM
oráyve yaw yé:siwa. niq píma yaw powámitotá. niq yaw 9ayám
k"iníya yáyaponcam piw tíwat kí9yigwa. niq píma yaw ní:tim
powámi totani. ní:tim powámi totani. niq yaw mogwí?am
"9 ítam ní:tim yígyiwmani."
niq yaw ?ó:vi tó:tim k"ágtotóyna. pi9 yaw 9oráymi yígyiwmáwisa. niq yaw 9 ef ?óki. ?ánca yaw powámi gacínam ?á?nel tíkiveyí
gwa. niq píma yaw ?ó:vi tí:cow•a. 9agg" nó:ga.
pi9 yaw tí:wat yáyapóncam 9ág" 9á?awnáya.
"yígya?ity," yaw kíta.
pi9 yaw píma 9ag" yigya. niq yaw nínicalé?wayom 9ispi 9ánca ti
wat hákim 9ál6gtiy. píma oráyvi pímiy gatiwí?yígwa.
"há:ki ? ímiy niq nakimayani."
Yayaponcham
They were living at Oraibi. And they had come to the time of Powamu. And over to the
north the Yayaponcham also were living. And they, like them, were going to have
Powamu. And their chief (said),
"We, like them, will have a night dance."
So the boys were looking forward happily. Then they went to Omibi for a night
dance (in the kiva). They arrived. And indeed, the Powamu Kachinas were having a big
dance. So, they finished dancing. They came out.
Then, in turn, the Yayaponcham let them know.
"Come in," he said.
Then they went in there. They went in. And they were all fierce-looking. Those
Oraibis did not know them because they were different.
"Wait until I feed you, then you go ahead."
1 In the original <??ne> is given instead of <?á?ne>.
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aAX.poe., jaiC •ixn, uzulu Mbuu4, gkunsisid buXutuiMx MbuES kud„
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ul[itn ;tl iCtuud
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TM! MEG „E0Áfzi&
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Mid Uuijd MUX
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•utuutu MbflUe., Xud uuljd uuxuMuu:uuub
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•iuxufigu lun
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uzElk
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,ubuu3vuuu uzuui a lubiuMix:iM iCuMfzuu6 il:y1i 4, iAx91o4, jai( buljuuuu
u31[ 6 3ad ixga ululia MbCzue., ákunsisid buXiulMx bfrEX kud imo„
«i,ixg uuM,12 UuI~ t bubug„
ulfiin:{3 Mid MuX aid •t?uuzóg
u~ Mid MuX
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aid
« •40/i0 y„
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id •ESiMIOAEU Mid M2SLfiüig IuILAIx OAOiS MbfIE6 MEA Mid
•ufzgu Utujd Mini X>'dub aid •ilolXuT:>;qub uutjd MuX
„'iuxufzgu ELit[ t Aid lun:pub
Aid •SV6UOU9, 6 kph,
ud 'MU L iA:96 •EuxEMUu:>;uub
`ttu~tuu~ uzud MUX aid
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iMfiuX-tuixos tiiMfIUtiiutlOb ifiMfIUiitlOg titMflEiCtlOUlul AiMfiuifiluxxog
á4,ubEl3>?uuu
biuMlx:IM kuMfluüiu:Lui4,
lia •t?nMitjEX;“
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Luulle, MbfIEe., OÁUMSisid butiuiulMx„
utuie., bubLij„
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ulfztn:~l lubuuXpiix MuX aid •Euuzóq age., Siuzjd turd aid
X NVDOZVI.L
OZ
YAYAPONCHAM
21
Then he sprinkled white corn meal on them. He asked the dance leader,
"Where did you come from?"
"We have come from Pisiswayo, from the north. We are bringing the meaning of
our dance here at Oraibi. We heard about it, and we prepared our costumes. This,
pain in the leg, pain in the knee, pain in the back, head ache, pain in the finger nails,
we prepared for. This is the way we came."
And he said to them,
"Well all right. We don't want it. So, don't you dance. You will go out."
They were unhappy. They did not come out.
Then once more they went to another kiva to see how they would be received.
Again they let them know. They shook their rattles down into the kiva. And (they
called) from there,
"Come in."
Then they went in there. So, once more they stood up in line. Again they sprinkled
white corn meal on them. Again they asked,
"Where did you come from?"
"Yes, over this way to the north at Pisiswayo, that's where we come from. There
we heard that we should bring our performance here at Oraibi. When we heard it, we
got ready. This pain in the leg, pain in the knee, pain in the back, pain in the headthese we prepared. This is the way we came here to you."
"Well, all right. (But) we don't want that. So, you will go out without dancing."
They were unhappy; the kachinas were unhappy so they went out.
"They don't want us. We will go home."
(Since) they did not want them, they went home from there.
At the edge of the village, on the north side, there was another kiva. And way down
there some old lady also had a kiva.
"We will try again to bring them the word here."
Then they sent the word again there.
"Come in," she said to them.
They went in. The old lady sprinkled tl- cm with sacred meal.
Then she asked them,
"Where did you come from?" she said.
"From Pisisvayo, north of here we came from ther:. Here at Oraibi we heard and
brought our dance. We prepared this pain in the leg, pain i i the knee, pain in the
22
TLALOCAN XII
hokYátiyagwiy tamótiyagwiy hó?tiyagwiy qStitiyangwiy sokítiyagwiy
?ítam yí:yahá. pit ?ítam yánkyakYag ?imími ?óki."
"?ánca?á. pay ?íma há:laykyákYag tí:vani."
pi" yaw pI'ma pef tí:va. pi? yaw pfma tí:conayaga?é há:laytoti. pi?
tí:pevét pfma pfmiy momómiy só:sokmiy tí:pevit hfytotá. pfmiy pI'ma
há:laytoti. pi? ?ang ptma n6ga. ?ang pfma nínma. pfma ki ?ef ?áki.
sówitit há:laytoti. pá:pi píma yé:se.
pi? yaw ?í:yisti. pi? yaw píma pay kir sówitit pá:sayat tiwi?yigwa.
pay yaw só:witit ga?á?awnáya nit pay yaw pfma pá:sayát ?íywisa. ?égem yaw ?íyya.
pi? yaw tíwat só:witi pá:say ?aw kíyvato. ?ef yaw píti. pay yaw
kir hak pá:sayát ?í:ya. okíw yaw só:witi gahá:Iayti.
"hínoq hak niy pas nawkí niy ga?á?awnát ?ivásay ?í:ya."
pi? pay ?angW pam níma. píti. só:witi qahá:layyi. pi? yaw pam kir
háqam ?íyni.
pi? pay yaw pam gásew piw ?aw k fyvato. yaw ?ef pá:say ?ef píti.
niq pay yaw ?í:yi kfyta. ?ókiw yaw na:ok""átiwa. gáspi?i háki ? í:yi?at
pay kfyta. pay yaw kir pas sósok pá:sayat hak ?í:ya. gahága?e ?aq"
sírJWiwta. kir hága?e só:witi tfwat ?íyni. ní:ga?e qahá:layi. ?ef yaw
?ókiw só:witi háki ?Piyi?at ?aw winfwta.
niq yaw ?ággaq hak ?aq wáyma. ?ó:vi yaw só:witit ?ef ?aw píti.
"?im yéfháqam wáynima? ?im híncaknimá?"
"pi ni? yef ?it ?as pá:sa?táq pay kir hak niy náwki. ní:ga?e pay kir
?í:ya. niq ni? ?ókiw qahín há:layti. gáspi háki ? íyi?at pay k íyta. pas
sósok kir ?í:ya. niq ?ó:vi ni? gahá:layi."
pi? yaw pam tá:qa ?aw pitfga?e pi? yaw pam pit ?aw ?á?awná. pay
pam
"?ira powámiyvé ?ítam yígyiwmá. niq ?itámiy qahíta gahímiyá.
niq ?íra ?it ?im niq ?ira ?im ?itámiy ná:la ?itámiy há:layti.2 ?im
ná:lay ?itámiy winímawini. ná:la ?im ?itámiy winimaná. niq ?ítam ?irJ
há:laytotí. ní:qa?e ?ó:vi páyhisat ?them it yag ?íyya. ?ó:vi ?i? sósoy
?í?iyi. ?ó:vi 2ím3 há:layni. cágaw pay kíyta."
2 In the original <há:alyti> is given.
3 In the original only <4-m> is given.
YAYAPONCHAM
23
back, pain in the head, pain in the finger nails. We prepared that (and) this way we
have come to you."
"All right. You happily will dance."
Then, they danced there. Then, when they finished dancing, they were happy. And
they distributed sweet corn to all those women. They were happy for them. Then they
went out, and went home from there. They arrived at the house. They were happy for
the old lady. From then on they were living.
Then it came time to plant. It seems they had known about the old lady's field.
Without letting the old lady know, they went to plant her field. They planted it for her.
Then the old lady went to look at her field. She got there, (but) apparently, some
one had planted her field. The poor old lady was unhappy.
"Why did someone take my field away without letting me know and plant my
field?"
She went home from there. She arrived. The old lady was unhappy. She did not
know where to plant.
And she would try again to go see. She came there to her field. And the plants had
come up. The poor thing felt sorry for herself. She envied whoever's plants were
already up. Evidently, someone had planted her entire field. Nowhere was any left
over. The old lady was unhappy that there was no place left to plant. The poor old
lady was standing at someone else's crop.
Then someone was walking toward her. So, he came to her there.
"You are walking around here. What are you doing?"
"This was my field here, but someone has taken it away from me, and planted it.
And I am really unhappy. I envy whoever's plants are already up. All of it was planted.
That is why I am unhappy."
Then the man who had come to her told her that it was his plants.
"Remember at Powamu we came to dance. And no one wanted us. And remember
you, alone, made us happy. You, alone, let us dance. And we were happy for you, and
so long ago we planted this here for you. So, all this is your crop. So you will be happy.
I am glad that it has already come up."
24
TIALOCAN XII
pi? yaw só:witi ?ánca há:layti.
"?ásk"ali ?ásk 'alí ?askwalí. ?í?i ?i?iyi."
yan yaw há:layti. há:laytit pi? yaw ?aijgW níma.
"pay ?im pay ?ítam ?ígem ?ag ?igem timá? layiijni."
pi? yaw pima pit ?égem timá?layigwá. ?ánca yaw lomá?iyita.
niq oráyvit yaw ?ówi ?iyiyigwa. pímiy ?íyamiy qa?áw yókva. pi?
yaw só:witit ?f:yat ?aw ?á?ne yókva. niq ?ó:vi yaw lomá?iyita. niq
yaw kir tawákcit ?énag pima ?i`ya. pam yaw ó:vi pay niváwva.
pi? yaw pima 1ó:yim tíyovit yáponcavit ?áw?i.
pima yaw pef qóysilawi. pay yaw pima pit yiki. qóysit yfki. pi?
yaw pima pit sówitit pay piw qa?á?awnáya. nit pay yaw ?égem
tfpeftota. pi? yaw pima gavógvaq ?Pits pit yá:hawisa. ?égem
yá:haya. yáyaponcam pit tí:pevit moleá:tota. ?agq`" pi? pima pit
só:witit kí:yat ?aw pit kí:wisa. só:witi qanavótita. niq pima pit ?égem
tí:pevit ní:tiváya.
?ánca yaw só:witi há:layti kíyat ?ef pas tí:pevi ?ó:po. pi? yaw
só:witi há:layti. pi? yaw pa, só:witi ti`camto.
"?íma ?inímiq nóswisni. ni? tí:pevi?ta ?íma ?ó:vi ?aqw nóswisni."
á:sipoq kí:nawit pam tí:camá. pi? yaw pima há:laytoti ?aqw noswisá. pi? yaw ánca momóyam cá:cayom ná:nasná. pima ?ánca yaw
tiwat há:laytoti.
?á:pi pámkyag ?í:yi?at tik`"si. pi2 yaw só:witi pit ?i`yi hohógo.
?ánca yaw níwi mági?i. ?ánca yaw hokyá'at tíyva níwi tamfat tíyva.
pi? pam só:witi ?agq`" na:f pit qá?ót wihak mokyáta. pit pam ?ík''iwtáq
níwi hóta?at ?á?ne tíyva. piw yaw góti?at tíyva. pag yaw ?í:k"iw tat
pam tiyva.
pit yaw pima yáyaponcam t€?awváya. kir yaw pima pit ?oráyvit
?Pile híta ?aniwnaye? pit pima ?í?ikwilyáq pímiy híta7am4
tíyvaniq goti?am tíyvaniq pit kir pima tí:?awváya. wí:wiyom
pit pima gamámaciyáq ?ó:vi pima gahágam tí:va. niq paid §ówiti
ná:la pímiy há:laytiq ?ó:vi níwi mági?iq góti?at yef tíyva. pái)sa pit
?ík''iwtagwitniq?ó.
pi? yaw pima yáyaponcam piw
4 In the original <h't a?am> is given.
YAYAPONCHAM
25
Then the old lady was really happy.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is my crop."
This is the way she was happy. Happily, she went home from there.
"We will keep on working for you."
And they were working on it for her. She really had good crops. And Oraibi had a
very small crop. It did not rain on their plants. But it rained hard on the old lady's
plants. That's why she had a good crop. And apparently, they had planted sweet corn
with it. It was already ripe.
Then, two Yayaponcha boys went there. They were making a baking oven. They
finished it. They finished the bake oven. And once again they did not let the old lady
know they had roasted it for her.
Early the next day, they went to take it out. They took it out for her. The
Yayaponcham sacked up that sweet corn, They took it from there to the old lady's
house. The old lady did not know. They brought lots of that sweet corn for her.
The old lady was very happy her house was just filled with sweet corn. The old lady
was happy and she invited them to eat.
"You will come to me to eat. I have sweet corn, so you will come to eat it."
All over, to every house she invited them. And they were happy they came there to
eat. And the women and the children really ate plenty. They, too, were happy.
From the on her crops kept getting riper. Then the old lady started to harvest her
crop. Indeed, before she was finished, she was tired. Her legs hurt, and her knees
hurt, too. Then that old lady bundled up lots of corn by herself. When she put it on
her back, her back ached very much. Her head ached, too. When she carried it that
way (on her head) it ached.
This was what the Yayaponcham brought to her. If those Oraibis had everything,
and they were carrying it their backs would ache, their heads would ache and that is
what they brought (the meaning of the dance). The old ones did not guess, so they
did not let them dance. That old lady, alone, made them happy, so she was tired and
her head ached. She always carried things that way.
Then those Yayaponcham [said] again,
26
TLALOCAN XII
"ta?áy ?ítam piw só:witit ?égem hógwisnitag ?ókiw só:witi pay
mági?i."
?ó:vi ?ítam qá:vo ?égem hóq""isni. pi? yaw p~~ma ?ó:vi ?égem
hóq "isá. pi9 yaw pf ma ?égem hógya yáyaponcam. p ma yaw
kyá:sta. píma yaw kya:staga?e pay ?égem gá?byat sósok kiváyapam
yaw só:witi qanavótitaq ?égem piw pí ma yáyaponcam ?égem p í ma
pas ?fyiyát ?égem mógvastoti.
só:witi há:layti. pam pímiy ?amcvi kYá:hakti. yi'k yá:savá.
§§§
"All right. We will go harvest for the old lady; the poor old lady is tired already. So
tomorrow we will go harvest for her."
And they went to harvest for her. And they harvested for her. There were lots o
Yayaponcham. Since there were so many they brought all of her corn for her. That old
lady did not know that the Yayaponcham again when they planted did everything fo
her.
The old lady was happy. On account of their efforts, she became rich. This is as fa
it goes.
References
KENNARD, Edward
1989
"Honanyestiwa and Honanyesnoma,
—A visit to the beyond", Tlalocan
XI:151-172.
Resumen
"Yayaponcham" es un texto hopi contado a Kennard en 1934-35 por Frank Masakwaftiwa, de la
Segunda Mesa en Arizona. Trata acerca de un encuentro entre dos kachinas y el pueblo de Oraive
Los kachinas quieren hacer un baile donde muestran que "les duele la pierna, les duele la rodilla
les duele la espalda, les duelen la cabeza y las uñas de los dedos". Se refieren a lo que siente la
gente al terminar una abundante cosecha. Sólo una viejita los recibe cuando los demás los rechazan
En agradecimiento la ayudan a ella a sembrar y cosechar para que tenga mucha prosperidad.