him into the woods and left him there. The news was spread about the country that he was dead, but the next day he reappeared among the people. They were afraid, but gathered together and killed him again. After carrying him to the woods they cut his flesh and scattered the pieces, pounded his bones into powder and cast it to the winds, but the next day at the same hour he was about among them again. Again they killed him, and this time his body was burned to ashes. Yet he was among them the next day as before. Then a great council was called and they discussed plans for getting rid of Elder Brother. Some declared that if they did not kill him the fourth time they would never kill him. So they called on Vulture, who had been saved with Elder Brother at the time of the flood, thinking that he must have magic power or he would not have survived the flood.
Vulture was a man who transformed himself into a bird with his own magic power and had gone through the openings in the sky and thus saved himself from destruction during the flood. After he came down from the sky he wandered about the country and finally built a va’-akĭ, magic house, the ruins of which yet remain, south of where Phoenix now stands, between the Gila and Salt rivers.
Vulture was living in this vaʼ-akĭ when the people came to him with their complaints concerning Elder Brother. They asked if he could do anything to help them. Vulture said he had never used his magic power, but he would test it. He asked the people to come to his va’-akĭ and he would make the trial in their presence.
After the people had gathered in the house and the doors had been closed he brought on darkness with his magic power while it was yet daytime. The darkness was so heavy that the people could see nothing. A beam of light arose which grew stronger and stronger until during the second night of their sojourn in the house it became as brilliant as sunlight. There were four colors, four threads of light, that extended upward until they reached the sun. Vulture then ascended each thread in turn, telling the people that he must have magic power or he could not have done so. He told the people that in four days Elder Brother would fall dead. On the fourth night he reached the sun and remained there. All the people who were in the va’-akĭ saw these miracles performed.
Vulture told the sun to spit on the house of Elder Brother,[1] on the four pools of water at the va’-akĭ where Elder Brother kept his magic power, on his dwelling places so that heat might fall upon him and smother him. The sun did as he requested. Toward the end of the four days Elder Brother acted like a lunatic. The heat became so intense that the cool fountains became boiling water and he was finally suffocated.
- ↑ Said by Thin Leather to be in the Estrella mountains. Antonio thinks it is in Baboquivari mountain.
