
The Short, Swift Time of Gods on Earth
The Hohokam Chronicles
University of California Press
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 9. September 1994
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-520-08468-1 (ISBN)
Description
In the spring of 1935, at Snaketown, Arizona, two Pima Indians recounted and translated their entire traditional creation narrative. Juan Smith, reputedly the last tribesman with extensive knowledge of the Pima version of this story, spoke and sang while William Smith Allison translated into English and Julian Hayden, an archaeologist, recorded Allison's words verbatim. The resulting document, the "Hohokam Chronicles", is the most complete natively articulated Pima creation narrative ever written and a rare example of a single-narrator myth. Now this extraordinary work, composed of thirty-six separate stories, is presented in its entirety for the first time. Beautifully expressed, the narrative constitutes a kind of scripture for a native church, beginning with the creation of the universe out of the void and ending with the establishment in the sixteenth century of present-day villages. Central to the story is the murder/resurrection of a god-man, Siuuhu, who summoned the Pimas and Papagos (Tohono O'odham) as his army of vengeance and brought about the conquest of his murderers, the ancient Hohokam.
Donald Bahr extensively annotates the text and supplements it with other Pima-Papago versions of similar stories. Important as a social and historic document, this book adds immeasurably to the growing body of Native American literature and to our knowledge of the development of Pima-Papago culture.
Donald Bahr extensively annotates the text and supplements it with other Pima-Papago versions of similar stories. Important as a social and historic document, this book adds immeasurably to the growing body of Native American literature and to our knowledge of the development of Pima-Papago culture.
Reviews / Votes
"While fascinating enough as an account of Pima mythology, the collection is even more compelling because much of the mythology it recounts concerns the Hohokam Indians, ancestors of the Pima whose culture disappeared around 1450 -- hence the subtitle, The Hohokam Chronicles." * San Francisco Chronicle *More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-08468-1 (9780520084681)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Donald Bahr | Juan Smith | William Smith Allison
The Short, Swift Time of Gods on Earth
The Hohokam Chronicles
E-Book
04/2023
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€39.49
Available for download
Persons
Donald Bahr is Professor of Anthropology at Arizona State University and author of Pima-Papago Ritual Oratory (1975) and Piman Shamanism and Staying Sickness (1974).
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
0 PRELUDE, THE FONT TEXT
1 GENESIS
2 THE FLOOD
3 NEW CREATION AND CORN
4 THE WHORE
5 ORIGIN OF WINE AND IRRIGATION
6 MORNING GREEN CHIEF AND THE WITCH
7 FEATHER BRAIDED CHIEF AND THE GAMBLER
8 SIUUHU'S DEATH AND RESURRECTI0N
9 THE C0NQUEST UNTIL BUZARD
10 THE C0NQUEST UNTIL SIWAN WA'AKI
11 AFTER THE CONQUEST
Conclusion: Mythologies
Appendix: Correlation of Conquests
Notes
References
Index
Introduction
0 PRELUDE, THE FONT TEXT
1 GENESIS
2 THE FLOOD
3 NEW CREATION AND CORN
4 THE WHORE
5 ORIGIN OF WINE AND IRRIGATION
6 MORNING GREEN CHIEF AND THE WITCH
7 FEATHER BRAIDED CHIEF AND THE GAMBLER
8 SIUUHU'S DEATH AND RESURRECTI0N
9 THE C0NQUEST UNTIL BUZARD
10 THE C0NQUEST UNTIL SIWAN WA'AKI
11 AFTER THE CONQUEST
Conclusion: Mythologies
Appendix: Correlation of Conquests
Notes
References
Index