Show 00 NU PITS IN GUISE of LITTLE PEOPLE THROW IN effi en TELL PRANK ON ROCKS the oo nu pits Is an elf sprite goblin fairy or similar being mischievous in all shades even to actual evil it may assume any shape or any character and play its pranks or A ent its spite on the indian this narrator says it may then tell of the prank hy by writing it on the rocks A VERY interesting BELIEF TOLD BY INDIAN SIM 4 4 B this la Is the rock writing which brought from the indian the in te resting disclosure of a belief in near devils the hand drawing is traced from a negative which la Is copyrighted and this illustration la is not to be reproduced without permission of frank beckwith delta U morris told readers of this paper about how the oo 00 nu pits appeared before the indians down near st 8 t george and made noise like hell tor for two nights but vere were driven away the third night let us turn to frederick S del alenbaugh len baugh who went through the grand canyon of the colorado a halt half century ago and quote what he says in the volume A CANYON VOY AGE which will throw light on this topic dellenbaugh says or Inn Is the sin gular the plural it may be translated witch elf or goblin with evil tendencies on the other hand they the indians did not fear a spirit chaar an indian had one 0 of his men remove his shoes which were heavy Meri cats ones and was re dining clining in a princely way smoking a cigarette on a bank near the fire suddenly jie he rose to his feet intent ly listening and peering out through the enveloping gloom of the pinions and cedars I 1 asked him he heard oo 00 nu pits he whispered sol ernly emly never ceasing his watchful gaze then cautiously aiming his long muzzle loading rifle in the di he tired fired a shot and seemed satisfied that the intruder was daiv jen len away or destroyed he described the noise of the oo 00 kupits as a whispering sound he and his men had a habit of waking in the night in our various camps find and singing first one beginning very low the others loining joining in one by one and increasing the power aa as they did so till all were singing in full voice this woke roke us up we threw things at them but with no effect what do you do it for I 1 said to chaar to drive away the Oon he answered in a footnote dellenbaugh adds on the other hand they did not fear a spirit when on the kaibab in july with chaar and several othar other indiana indians prof a white man so nam ed because he was a professor while alone heard a cry something like an indian halloo after we got into camp he said in bis his diary chaar asked george adair what he called that which lived after the body died george replied A spir it well said chaar that Is what halloed in the forest today it was the spirit of a dead indian I 1 have often heard it sometimes it is near sometimes tar far away when I 1 was hear with beeman I 1 heard it call near to me I 1 answered telling I 1 it to come to me it did not come corao nor reply and I 1 felt very much ashamed to think that I 1 bad had called i that from dellenbaugh a halt halaj century ago I 1 j oo 00 nu pite pits mope elf or goblin than devil like white mane satan in the course of this series I 1 said that the indian did not net have a devil like the white mans I 1 had in my in mind when I 1 said that the old faeh fash toned conception of a satan a luct ter an archangel once good but fallen now opposing the principle of good our devil as a person but I 1 did not mean to exclude the devil ish antics of the oo 00 nu pits who certainly raise hell bell true the oo nu iiii pits may assume any form and with that form all the characteristics accompanying vote that stenobe way take on oil any guise but he doesn doean t make foolish of indian as morris says 00 oo nu pits does bonu pits torments tormenta at filets plays mischievous pranks in all the ecale scale from mere innocent mischief to downright evil with in tent and capacity to harm 00 oo nu pits la Is to be feared not bartic propitiated but more driven away by noise song shooting or other means of course the other man mans s beliefs are superstition not ours no but how did the words elf sprite goblin witch fairy bugbear get into our vocabulary except that they were once believed in sincerely by my forbears and by yours it la Is only a very few cen it if that long ago that pinch ings sudden sickness falling tits fits twitching sudden pains and many such afflictions were the work of these very self same little folk polk so prevalent in old old eng lish and irish folk lore tales and fairy stories and fairies of course we ourselves believed in them so let us turn to what waa was told me by an indian about six years ago Oon throw indian in lake Th then write on rocks about it I 1 had on ion the walls of my office an enlarged photo of the very cur ious ous group of of which a hand drawn copy heads this arti artl cle the following notes were made immediately after the conversation occurred which Is now nearly six years age agy and laid by as part of my lecture on the group of a which brought out the incident for lack of a better name I 1 call the rock writing group above the sacrificial scene my notes say T let us take a close up of the pic pie ture and study it we see a man standing bent slight blight ly forward in an attitude typical of action holding in hia his upraised right hand a stone implement knife or tool ot of death and reaching with his left hand across an altar to aleze afie te animal he Is 13 shown as grasping vh he Is about to slay on the altar between him and it behind him stands a nat rigidly erect in the solemnity of the ceremonial behind the attendant la is what may be thought of as jagged tongues of flame leaping up from a something which suggests of a brazier fanciful and drawing on the im agitation agi nation copiously copius ly I 1 admit but it la Is ai good talking point and never ceas cs Ps to interest whether the hearer accepts my interpretations or not I 1 show shou photo to indian hie 1113 3 reaction reveals mischief of little people my aly notes of six years ago read I 1 invited an indian into my office where I 1 have a collection of curios and many specimens of indian relics relies and innumerable photos taken on various trips I 1 showed this indian the photo of the group of the facial scene telling him that I 1 had discovered it at joseda and asked him what it wasi was I 1 met with a stub born refusal to speak he being pia lied no doubt because of some parts of the display ft NN hen he did break tua his silence his utmost volubility was to say it looka looks like it to anything 1 I said a surly assent of compliance unmasked I 1 asked him it he had been there no but I 1 drew ont from him though that he knew the place well and also that he avoided it by turning at el berta south and not passing mose da seeing that I 1 was making no less I 1 left the topic alone talked about other things showed him pot tery vases arrow points a stone tomahawk and various metates rhen I 1 swung back unexpectedly and said who told you not to go to mo seda my grandfather why wily little people throw indian in lake there you have it 00 oo nu pits who may assume any form and be come adv thing at will take on the appearance of the little people elves imps goblins fairies or what nots bots even to the dreaded sem blanc os of the cliff dwellers who so of ten go by the name of little peo pie this indian indians a ancestors had ruthlessly raided the homes of the dwellers in the cliffs massacred them taken their waves in captivity and in retaliation were punished b ithe oo 00 pits the si tear fear of the lingering haunting ghosts of those they had murdered who ev er sought opportunity to eve even things up on the indians tina this indian sas little people on rocks further conversation with this in dian than disclosed a very interesting su pei station who made these rock writings 9 little people who are the little people have IOU ou ever seen thema will I 1 ever see thema 1 I no you no no body no they live no body mecum there you have it invisible sprit es alfs goblins fairies little peo pie who haunt lonely places and pull oft off mischievous tricks on the indians play pranks or even harm them in greater degree devilish in their aspects and po tency to harm but it they live what do they teed feed on ona I 1 asked I 1 no know then with an ex shrug of the shoulders the conviction to silence my doubts they live houses no fall down get that fully the old cliff ruins which still stand defy decay are ithe the houses this indian says of the little people last long time stone fall fail out you go back four or five days little people put him back in place that accounts for why the cliff palace and other old ruins can last so long the ble little people slip the stones surreptitiously back in place when you and I 1 aren t watching now listen to this next that comes you look sharp at writing on rocks indian sleep there little people play prank on him and IT ON STONES you see try it my grandfather told me I 1 go sleep steel in rocks on lake bank at Mt lit tie tle people throw indian in lake then four five day write about it on pock rock A jutting point comes down from the hill with ledges ot of rock almost to the waters s edge so that a good stout quartette of little people with ith a yo heave 0 I 1 could toss an indian into the lake all things are possible to a oo nu pits masqueray masque rad ing as a little people I 1 elicited from this indian that it is his belief that when a sudden fain pain inflicts an indian it Is a visitation trum from the little people cramps arache earache a sudden falling dobz those things which are ordinarily la in explicable are the work of these dread little people who haunt the present day indians little people here there go 90 ake wind and here my narrator sucked air with a great noise into his lungs like a tornado in full spate adding pull up trees that ends my notes ASche A I 1 visitant distinguished from an oo 00 nu pits to which I 1 would at this time add stenobe never funny nor make foolish of indian A stenobe vis ion apparition or projection tor for visibility is not to be confounded with an oo 00 nu pits the two powers are entirely separate and distinct any careful observer the indians say can readily tell the difference to the visitation there is no fear possibly awesomeness for it is more or less a heavenly visitor a messenger from above and to be kindly recel received but an oo 00 nu pits ia is an imp a little devil it if ever the indian has one up to all kinds of things from just a twitching of a toothache to spite one up to actual great bodily harm and injury so it if ute indian belief harbours harbourt har bours a devil or a near devil the versa tile oo 00 nu pits moat most nearly comaris es that similarity 1 I 1 put these views forward not aa as a finality to which no one may ob eject or have different conclusions but simply record what I 1 was told by an indian nry own observation and I 1 would be very glad indeed to have anyone write or tell me other views whether agreeing with mine or not for it ia Is only by free express ion from all angles that the truth will be arrived at go back over the clippings of this series and compare what palmer morris and dellenbaugh have to say with what the indian told me it la Is my thought that a stenobe She niobe visitant Is is to be received fearlessly but an oo 00 nu pits to be driven away by any means whatsoever and this oo 00 nu pits may be any kind of imp or devil assume any form be even the dread ed little people who haunt the ancient cliff dwellers houses which don t tall fall down because the in visible little people put stone back in place and never overlook an op port unIty to slip one over on the indian in retaliation for old times the next installment will be about moki chee pope frank beckwith sr attorney for plaintiff ax first pub june 18 final publication july 9 1931 |