We threw more wood on the fire and we got it burning brightly. We decided to take my father’s friend’s advice and leave the canyon that night. As we packed up our gear, I again noticed the shadows of people, or spirits, running from bush to bush. I let the rest of the men know what I had just seen. My father decided to sing a prayer and the rest of us joined in. My father’s friend then ended the prayer by announcing, in the direction of the spirits, that the creator was watching over our well being and that they should leave us alone. Suddenly, we heard the low sound of laughter and hoof beats leave our camp. This is when I knew our power of prayer helped us chase away what ever was watching us.
We all got in our trucks and drove home that night. We did not speak again about our experience until the next morning. During breakfast we told our mother about our experience. She said that during the day and night we were gone, an owl had been making hooting sounds in the tree in our front yard. This was very unusual and she knew that this was an omen that something bad was happening to us. She herself began to pray for us to return safely home. Aside from this experience I have had a couple more that have taken place, but I don’t think I’d like to talk anymore about this.”
Tohono O’odham
The Tohono O’odham, or “Papagos,” as they were named prior to 1980, presently exists on a reservation, which extends over a hundred miles following the Arizona and Mexican border. This reservation is also the second largest in the U.S. It begins north in the Casa Grande area, east in the Aguirre Valley, west in the Sand Tank/Sauceda Mountains, and then ends south in Old Mexico, where a small population of Tohono O’odham presently reside in the state of Sonora. They still practice much of the traditional ceremonies and beliefs that were alive prior to contact with Spanish missionaries in the late 17th Century.
The People chose to renounce the negative name “Papago” which means “Bean Eaters,” for the more appropriate and suitable name that they have always called themselves, Tohono O’odham. The Tohono O’odham are a true desert-farming people. In years past, they used a “dry farming” technology (like the Hopi to the north), which utilized the infrequent thunderstorms and rains that flooded the washes and valleys. They planted traditional seed crops in these areas and simply waited as the earth’s wet season provided the needed moisture for germination. Presently, these farming practices are no longer in use by the people and, instead, they utilize water provided by modern wells.
An Italian Jesuit missionary named Father Eusebio Francisco Kino made contact with the Tohono O’odham in the year 1687. This meeting changed the culture of the Tohono O’odham forever. New crops and domesticated animals were introduced, as was a new political system and religion, Catholicism. Today, church structures remain as evidence of this legacy. The Tohono O’odham provided the prime labor and artists who built all these beautiful buildings. The joint knowledge of the Tohono O’odham and Europeans regarding construction and design is admirable and will for all time be deserving of notable recognition.
David War Staff’s (Yaqui) Story
David’s story is unnerving given its location and time of night. I tend to wonder how anyone might have reacted in a more rational manner if found to be in a same situation as he. During my research I rarely come across stories compelling such attention as his. Fortunately for David and his cousin, they were aided by two strangers who just happened to be in the area. Let’s simply hope we all can be so lucky as they were.
— Antonio
“It was February in the year 1991 when I had my experience with a ghost. I was seventeen years old at the time. One Saturday evening in Phoenix my high school was having a basketball game, and after the game my cousin Ralph and I left the school gymnasium at around 10 pm.
My cousin is from Tohono O’dham and I was going to spend the weekend with my aunt’s family. Like myself, my aunt is Yaqui. She married a Tohono O’dham man some years ago and had two kids. One is my cousin Ralph. We got on interstate 10 and then switched on to south highway 15 for the drive to the town of Sells on the Tohono O’dham reservation. About 40 minutes into our drive we were deep in the desert. Because my car needed new tires, I had to drive just below the speed limit. The threads were just about completely worn out. I guess I had the type of car that we Indians call an “Indian Car.” It was a pretty beat-up looking car, but it got me where I wanted to go. Anyway, there we were driving in the middle of the desert with the CD player going, and the darkness all around.
Suddenly, a large javalina crossed the road, and I hit that wild pig with a big-old “bang!” I didn’t have time to even think about stepping on the brakes because all at once there was just the road before us, and the next there was this javalina. I knew we had some big trouble with the car because the radiator began to hiss and steam began pouring out. I immediately drove to the side of the road, and stopped the car to check on the damage. Sure enough, that big pig had hit the front grill head-on, and a piece of metal had punctured my car’s radiator.
Directly behind the car in the darkness we could hear the pig loudly squealing. It was a weird experience to be alone at night in the desert and to hear the loud dying sounds of an animal just a few yards away. It kept up the terrible squealing sound for a long, long time. I had a flashlight, but I sure wasn’t going to go check on its injuries without a gun. I know that javalinas can turn on you, giving a nasty bite when cornered or injured. My cousin said, “You know, with a busted radiator, we’re not going to be able to go any further tonight.” “Yeah,” I answered, “We’re going to have to spend a cold night in the car, or else start walking and hope someone picks us up.” We decided to stay with the car, open up the hood and hopefully, if anyone driving by saw us, they might give us a lift.
After about a half hour, the javalina stopped screaming. As we sat in the front seat, we waited and waited for a passing car. A few passed by, but none stopped. I looked at my watch; the time was 12:10 am. Aside from being cold, we were both sleepy. We decided to turn off the car’s radio in order to conserve the battery. We also decided to go outside and sit on the car’s trunk, to keep from falling asleep. We kept each other up with jokes and talking about the basketball game. After a while we ran out of jokes and things to say. We each started to yawn every few minutes. I took a look at my watch, the time was 1:40 am. “Damn,” I thought, “When are we going to get home.”
After a few more minutes passed I heard the sound of something moving within the bushes. I turned to look at Ralph. I could tell by his reaction that he also heard the sound. We kept still and alert. The sound was of someone slowly walking and breaking twigs and brush with each step. The sounds were coming from the direction where the javalina was lying on the road. The moon was bright enough to make out forms in the darkness, but we were not able to see anything. Then from out of the bushes, about twenty feet away, we saw a barefoot man! I turned on my flashlight and focused the weak yellow light on him as I yelled, “Hey, what’s up?” The man stopped and turned to face us. Because of the weak batteries in my flashlight and the man’s distance from us, it was not easy to make out his features. I thought he was a desert tramp. There are a few of those old guys living out there. Ralph yelled out, “Watch out, we hit a javalina and its somewhere out where you’re walking!” Again there was no reply from the man. Then it occurred to both of us, what’s this guy doing in the desert at this hour? This was not normal. Things were becoming kind of weird. We got a little scared, we both yelled out, “Hey, you, can’t you hear us, get away from there.” The man stopped, turned in our direction and looked at us. We were definitely “on the edge” at that point. I thought if this guy has a gun, in which direction would we run? I spoke to Ralph, “This guy is some kind of weirdo, we better be careful.”