Another ghostly experience took place just three years ago at my house. One night, while getting over an illness, I was lying in bed and happened to look out my bedroom door at the hallway. Suddenly, I felt a very heavy presence in the room. At the same time I also heard the sound of a loud hum. I’m not sure what this sound was, but it was followed by another strange thing. The atmosphere in my bedroom felt to me as if it was becoming thick. This was followed by a strong mass of weight that began to push me down against the bed. The force was so strong and heavy against my chest that it made my breathing stop. I began to panic. Then I saw a figure appear slowly at my doorway. It moved its arms back and forth, and then it paused and looked in my direction. The ghost had the outline of a man, and it was very dark, like a shadow. With all my might, I tried to break away from the hold that this force had taken over me. With much effort, I extended one arm and tried to yell, but I could not make a sound. The dark shadow just stood at the door and stared at me. Then it moved away with a bouncing, walking motion. At the same time, the heavy weight lifted off me and I began to breathe normally.
About six months after this incident, our dogs barking outside my bedroom awakened me. I got out of bed and walked to the window to have a look. In our backyard we have a motion sensitive security light on a pole. The security light turned on as I got to the window. As I pulled up the shade and peered outside to have a look, there in the window staring back at me was the same dark, shadowy figure that I had seen before in my doorway! It was just a few inches from my own face, on the other side of the window! I was terrified! I automatically let go of the shade cord, and it quickly unrolled and hit the windowsill with a bang! I got into bed and shook with fright. I kept repeating to myself, “Oh God, oh God.” Eventually I fell asleep.
In 1996, my mother, my brother and I had another ghost experience at about 10 p.m. That night we heard someone pound hard on our window, while an excited male voice in distress yelled out, “Natani, Natani!” Natani is my brother’s name, so we quickly ran to the window and then outside. We saw no one. The dogs didn’t even bark. We grabbed our guns and looked everywhere and found nothing. We all assumed that it was a spirit voice attempting to contact us for some unknown reason. Many times in our kitchen we’ve experienced our microwave oven, lights, and refrigerator go on and off. This only happened in the kitchen. Now this might sound as if we had problems with our electrical wiring, but I know that this was not the case.
My parents decided to have our local Mormon elders pay us a visit and conduct a prayer service to get rid of the negative presences. Prior to the service, the elders instructed my family to keep our eyes closed and not to speak, and to keep our minds clear. We all sat in a circle in the living room and as the service began, a low moaning sound started up in the kitchen, like a dog howling at the moon. As the service continued, the moaning sound became louder and louder. At one point, with my eyes still closed, I felt as if the whole house was rocking me back and forth, and I felt a powerful gust of wind that was moving in and out of the space between me and the others. Then I felt something begin to brush me on my left, and then whatever it was started to moved over to my right side. This “thing” brushed up and down against my arms. I kept my eyes closed tightly. Then the moaning sound became clear to me as it got louder and louder. It was the word “No”! Imagine, if you can, the word “no” being stretched out in a loud, long, “Noooooooo!” That’s how it sounded. Then suddenly the noise was gone.
About a minute passed and although we were instructed not to open our eyes, or say a word, I slowly opened my eyes. I decided to break the tension and silence by saying, “Did you guys hear that?” As soon as I finished saying these words, everyone opened up and began to say, ”Yeah, I heard it, did you, yeah, etc.” Then the elders got up, said a quick good-bye and were out the door! We got a “kick” out of their frightened reaction. As of this day, that was the last incident of any ghostly activity that I have experienced.”
Maricopa Ak-Chin
The Maricopa nation’s history is one of constant battles with neighboring tribes. Their numbers were small and they claimed their homeland as being along the lower Gila and Colorado rivers. In 1825, a major event took place when their friendly neighbors, the Pima, welcomed the Maricopa into their villages. This union obviously benefited the Maricopa, as now aggressive attackers had a much larger, united force to confront. In the year 1864, settlements of Mormons from the northern state of Utah had begun in the area, but not unnoticed by the watchful eyes of the Apaches. The Apaches loathed the intrusion of their land by these alien strangers and attacked the settlements with gusto. The Mormons obtained the help of both the Pima and Maricopa who acted as scouts and security. This focal area was in Lehi, which today the Maricopa retain as part of the reservation. Collectors for its beauty and creative use of shape now seek Maricopa red-clay, geometrical pottery. Like the Pima, they have prospered in modern society.
Albert Joaquin Manuel Sr.’s (Maricopa) Story
After arriving at the reservation at mid-afternoon, I located the Manuel house among several others in the far west area of their housing development. Walking up to Albert and his wife who were sitting at their front porch, we chatted about several unrelated things, such as the weather, their children and health issues. When it came time to speak about ghosts, Mrs. Manuel spoke, “I think we should go inside where it’s safer.” Immediately Albert’s demeanor took on a more solemn tone and once inside, he spoke of his experiences with a reverence and sincerity of which you’ll now discover for yourself.
— Antonio
“I’m Maricopa and I’ve lived in this area all my life. I’m fifty-eight years old. As a kid I would see many things in my dreams, visions and lots of strange things. I worked as a farm worker some years ago, in the small town of Standfield, just a few miles away. I remember the times, when I was working some nights, several fellow workers would talk among themselves about seeing what we called, “El Cu-cui,” or the boogieman, in the fields. The workers would speak about seeing ghost lights and other strange things. There were nights when they would get so scared that they would leave work and go home. But I wasn’t scared, and everyone knew this. So my boss would send me to where this ghost was seen to finish the job on the farm. I never actually saw El Cu-cui, but I did hear it.
Back in 1958 when a lot of us Indians were in the fields picking cotton, there were some guys who died out in the fields. They were young Indians who committed suicide. I never found out why. I guess they were depressed or something. Not long after their deaths, we would all hear and experience very scary things. At the time, all the farm workers slept together in a common room, and at night when the lights were turned off, strange noises would start-up and our beds would start to shake. I remember even being touched all over my body while lying in bed. My face would be touched and invisible hands would hold my arms tightly. I knew this was caused by the deaths of the guys who died in the fields. It was their spirits. I remember also smelling a cologne or perfume in the room.
That same year, there was one Indian man who was killed one night, after leaving a bar. While at the bar he got into a fight with another guy. After the fight, he left the bar and walked home. As he was walking along the road, the guy he had the fight with came looking for him in his car. When the driver spotted him walking on the side of the road, he drove his car over him and killed him. The hit-and-run took place right next to a big tree, not far from