ngs form a cross. He would like very much to go
to heaven, and the shamans have to work hard to keep him from doing
so. There is also a female devil, his wife, who bears many children,
always twins, who are the original Mexicans.

Their paradise consists in big ranches, where they will get all the
animals which in this life they sacrificed to Tara Dios. The occupation
of Tata Dios in heaven is to run foot-races with the angels, while the
Devil vies with the sorcerers in making the lives of the Tarahumares
uncomfortable, he being the chief sorcerer of all.

The Tarahumares are the sons of God, and the Mexicans the sons of the
Devil. For this reason the Tarahumares say that it is no crime to eat
the cows of the Mexicans; they think the cows do not really belong to
the Shabotshi anyway. Neither do they tell when a Tarahumare steals
anything from a Mexican, while they are very quick to find out if
one Tarahumare steals from another.

I give here some of the myths and traditions of the tribe. Those
which Christian ideas have entered into will easily be recognised,
and it is not necessary to draw special attention to them.

Creation Myths

In the beginning there were many worlds before this, but one after the
other came to an end. Just before the world was destroyed for the last
time, all the rivers flowed toward the place where the sun rises. But
now the waters also flow toward the other side, where the sun sets. [5]

The bears put the world into shape. Before their time it was nothing
but a waste of sand.

In ancient times there were plenty of lagoons around Guachochic;
but the land was put in order, when the people came and began to
dance yumari.

The rocks were at first soft and small; but they grew until they
became large and hard. They have life inside.

The people grew up from the soil, while the earth was as level as a
field ready for sowing. But in those days they lived to be only one
year old, and then they died like the flowers.

According to another tradition they descended from heaven with corn
and potatoes in their ears, and were led by Tata Dios into these
mountains, the middle of the world, having originally come from the
north-east or east.

The Sun and the Moon in the Beginning of the World

In the beginning the Sun and the Moon were alone, and they were
children. They wore dresses made of palm-leaves, and they lived
in a house thatched with palm-leaves. They had neither cattle