Aw-Aw-Tam Indian Nights: Being the Myths and Legends of the Pimas of Arizona — Reading Notes

The Ethnographer's Frame and the Storyteller's Voice

Lloyd's introductory sections, such as "The Story of these Stories," employ a personal, almost diaristic tone: he notes the heat, the Irish mail-carrier, and his host's absence. This contrasts sharply with the myths themselves, which begin with formulaic openings like "Ee-ee-toy lived in the Salt River Mountain." The shift in register is abrupt—from Lloyd's reflective "I had expected Mr. Wood to meet me" to the myth's declarative "And the people disliked Ee-ee-toy because of this." The translation by Wood, a Pima educated at Albuquerque, likely mediates between Pima oral patterns and English readability, producing a style that is repetitive and paratactic, with frequent use of "and" to link clauses.

Repetition and Variation in Myth Episodes

The tale "How Nooee Killed Ee-ee-toy" exemplifies a structural pattern: the people attempt to kill Ee-ee-toy multiple times—by clubbing, burning, boiling—yet he returns each morning. The repetition is not mere redundancy but a narrative device that builds tension and underscores the god's resilience. Each attempt is described with slight variation: first two boys, then all the people, then cutting into bits. This incremental repetition, common in oral traditions, creates a rhythmic pacing that differs from the linear progression of Lloyd's frame. The myths also embed cultural details, such as the use of a "cheeopah" (mortar) and the constellation "Quee-ay-put" (The Cactus-Puller), grounding the fantastic in everyday Pima life.

Pacing: Between Ethnographic Detail and Mythic Time

Lloyd's editorial interjections occasionally break the mythic flow, as when he notes that "the confusion in the Pima thought on religious matters is well revealed in this tale." These asides slow the narrative, inviting the reader to consider the tales as ethnographic evidence. Conversely, the myths themselves move at a swift, almost breathless pace, with events telescoped: "And that same night all the people went to Moehahdheck, and found Ee-ee-toy asleep, and fell upon him and killed him." The lack of descriptive elaboration—no setting, no character interiority—creates a stark, urgent tempo. The juxtaposition of Lloyd's measured prose with the myths' rapid succession of actions produces a distinctive rhythm, alternating between reflection and immediacy.

Cultural Specificity in Language and Detail

The text is peppered with Pima terms—kee (house), mahkai (shaman), tis-win (whiskey)—that are either glossed in parentheses or left unexplained, creating a texture of authenticity. Lloyd's descriptions of food preparation, such as grinding mesquite beans in a cheeopah or gathering cactus fruit with a hooked pole, are precise and observational. These passages, drawn from his own experience, contrast with the mythic episodes where such details are absent. The effect is a layered narrative: the myths exist in a timeless, generalized landscape, while Lloyd's frame anchors them in specific practices and places, like the Salt River Mountain (Moehahdheck) and the Gila River Reservation.

Readers attentive to voice will notice how the collection oscillates between the ethnographer's self-aware narration and the seeneeyawkum's unadorned storytelling. The myths' repetitive structures and swift pacing reward a reading that attends to rhythm rather than plot progression. Lloyd's framing, while occasionally intrusive, provides a valuable record of the conditions under which these tales were preserved—a collaboration between a curious outsider, a bilingual interpreter, and an elder determined to pass on his knowledge.

There’s something about sitting with these Pima tales, hearing the storyteller’s voice shift behind the translator’s words, that brings back the same quiet hush I felt with the old Egyptian legends. Both collections feel less like reading and more like overhearing a distant campfire, its warmth fading slowly as the night settles. Ancient Egyptian legends — A Closer Reading holds that same patient, half-remembered cadence.