GIFFOED] THE KAMIA OF IMPERIAL, VALLEY 13 Meanings were obtained for certain of the lineage names : kwinyiL,

black; kwatL, skin or hide; tumaii, grasshopper; lyacharp, to desire to

own

something; ®sun, Gila

woodpecker

{Centwrus uropygialis).

The

^{first is} said to refer to the black cloud (akwi, cloud), the first

black thing in this

world

^; the second ^to skinning a sacrificed eagle

;

and

the fourth to the desire to

own

the wildcat.

The Kamia

lineages

seem

in part, at least, tofcemic. Certain totems (apparently called sikus in

Kamia)

are mythically associated with certain lineages.

Lineage

14 BUEEAU OF

AMEEICAlsr

ETHNOLOGY

^[bull.97

made

^the

nyimet

^the

head

of those

who

plant crops."

Pukumat

said to the nyimet, ^"

You

will study

and know

about the

moons and

^thus

know when

to plant crops."

The

original

nyimet was

a

man and

the son of

Pukumat. He was changed

into feline

form and

his

knowl-

edo-e is believed to be

embodied

in his feline descendants.

The

wild- cat is also

important among

the Diegueiio mythologically.

The god Pukumat made nyimet

responsible for the

months and

farming, at the

same

time voicing a threat ^{as to}

what would happen

to

nyimet

in case of famine.

The god

said: "If people get

hungry and

starve they

may

^kill

^and

^{eat you."}

He

^{said this}

^{when nyimet}

was transformed from

a

man

into a ^" tiger " (wildcat).

The Kamia

say that they

and

the Diegueiio eat feline animals

when

they chance to kill them.

There

is

no

belief that the four lineages

which have

the " tiger "

as

totem

are descended

from

the totem.

In

fact the

mythology

is quite ^specific to the contrary, stating that such

and

such

animal was

given to the ancestor of the lineage.

The myth

states that

when

"tiger"

went

to the

mountain Wikami

he

was human

in form, but

when

he returned he

was

the first to turn into

an

animal.

Informants

described

two

kinds of nyimet.

One

has

dark

trans- verse stripes

on

the

upper body and

legs but is pale beneath.

The

other is

brown

without stripes.

Both

are short tailed; both are killed

and

eaten at times;

and

both are reputed to

know

about the months.

There

is

no

association of red

and

^blue

^with

them, as

with

the wildcat in Eastern Diegueiio mythology.-^

They

live

on

rabbits

and

other small animals.

Without

specimens the identification of the

two forms

of

nyimet

is well

nigh

impossible. Prof.

Joseph

^Grinnell has suggested the possibility that the striped

nyimet might

be the ocelot {Fells farda-

lis)

and

the unstriped

nyimet

the eyra {Felis cacomitU).

The

ancestor of lyacharp lineage is said to

have

desired to

own

the " tiger " too.

His wish was

granted

by

the

god Mastamho. No

specific reference

was

obtained as to

how

the lineages neeix

and kwaxa came

to

have

the " tiger " for totem.

Apparently

the black cloud for

which

the

kwinyiL

lineage is

named may

^{be regarded as a totem,}

^though

^{the coyote (xaspa) is}

also associated with this lineage. Coyote seems ^to

have

bestowed only speed in

running upon

his totemites.

He ^was

not ⁱⁿ

any way

associated withthe calendar or agriculture, therefore he lacks the use- fulness to

human

beings

which

wildcat ^{is alleged to possess.}

The prominence

of the wildcat or ^" tiger " as

totem

of four of the

Kamia

lineages, together

with

^{the coyote as totem of one lineage,}

26Gifford, Clans and Moieties, p. 169.

GiFFORD]

THE KAMI

^A

OF IMPERIAL VALLEY 15

suggests the possibility of influence

from

the Southern Californian

Shoshonean groups which have

^{totemic moieties.}

These

groups are the Cahuilla, Cupefio,

and

Serrano,

and

their totems are the wildcat

and

coyote.^^

The

lineage ^sun is said to

have

been the ^"first " lineage in the beginning of the world,

when

the birds

were human

beings. After the death of the

god Pukumat

they left the

mountain Wikami and became

birds. Thereafter the

god Mastamho made

people.

The name

*'sun is said to be that of the Gila

woodpecker

{Centurus uropygialis). It does not ^{refer to} the flicker

(matkwo), nor

to the

"red-headed" woodpecker

(wathu).

The

Gila

woodpecker made no

special contribution to

human

^culture, as did the wildcat. It could only drill holes in

wood. The informant Narpai

said

he had

not seen the ''sun people ^kill their "totem," but there

was no

penalty

if it

were

^killed.

The

lineage nixkai (nyukai) lived in five localities:

Brawley

region,

Xatopet

region,

Algodones

region,

WikwiniL

^or

Blue Lake

(i. e.,

Xachupai)

region,

and Jacumba

region. It is doubtful that they occupied all five at one time.

Low

inundations

and

deaths caused

movements from

place to place. If the inundation waters

were

not sufficient in Imperial Valley planting in

Xatopet

or Algo- dones

was

necessary.

The

nixkai lineage, at times at least,

may

have been the sole planters at

Saxnuwai.

The kwatL

lineage

must have

been fairly numerous, or at least scattered, as indicated

by

the fact that

Rosa Narpai

of that lineage did not

know

if another

kwatL woman

(mother of

Macham,

a

man) was

a relative.

The

lineage

membership

of various living

Kamia

is as follows

:

Jose (Hatpa.inya) belongs to nixkai

and

is said to be the last individual of that lineage.

Charles

Beans

belongs to

kwaxa,

also his daughter

Anna.

Charles Beans's wife belongs to paipa.

Charles Beans's wife's

mother

belongs to

tumau and

is said to be the only one

remaining among

the

Kamia.

Harry

(Takais), a

Kamia

living at Somerton, Ariz., belongs to sun.

His

wife is a

Kamia woman named Akwal. He

sings the song cycle djakwar.

A

neighbor of Charles

Beans

belongs to lyacharp, as do his daughters.

Charles

HiLmiarp (Kwekark),

or Peg-leg Charlie, belongs to hiLmiarp.

His

father

was

a

Kamia,

his

mother was

a Cocopa.

Joe

Yuma

^is also a hiLmiarp.

Xotcuxotc

is a hiLmiarp

man who now

resides at

Campo,

in Eastern Diegueiio territory.

29Gififord, Clans and Moieties, pp. 177-201.

16

^BXJEEAU

^OF AMERICAN ETHKOLOGY

^[bull.97

Kosa Narpai

belongs to kwatL.

Her mother was

a

Halchidhoma.

Narpai

belongs to kwinyiL, also his

daughter

(Mrs.

Wilfred

Parker).

Mike and Sandy Amador,

brothers, belong to neeix; Sandy's daughter likewise.

Her mother

is a

Yuma woman

^{with clan}

name

of hiivchats. Sandy's son

Harry, by an

earlier marriage, belongs to neeix.

Mrs.

Amador, an

old

woman

living near the foot of

Eighth

Street,

Yuma,

belongs to the

nakuL

lineage.

She

formerly dwelt ^" near the Salton Sea."

Another

person of this lineage is Juanita

Herbert

of the

Yuma

Eeservation.

Her

^{father formerly lived south of}

Jacumba,

in

Lower

California.

Three Diegueno

living at

Yuma were

allocated as follows

:

Mrs. Vargas, nurse at the

Yuma Agency

Hospital, belongs to the

nehu

lineage of the Eastern Diegueno.

Latu

Curo, a

man who

runs a chicken ranch

on Yuma

Reservation,

is said to be a ^"

Kamia,"

but

Narpai

did not

know

^of

what

lineage.

I suspect that

he

is a

Western

Diegueiio,

among whom

the

name Curo

occurs.

Mrs. Jose Juarar, of

Campo,

belongs to the

kwinyiL

lineage,

and

is related to Narpai, so the latter said.

Narpai

said

he had

other relatives living in the

mountains

at different places.