PseudoPod 159: Reservation Monsters
Show Notes
For further Coyote Tales, please check out:
and “The Shooting Way” in “The Trio Of Terror”
Reservation Monsters
by Jim Bihyeh
When I was your age, I ran away from school all the time. The tribal police would gather all us kids up from the hogans and the cabins, haul us to the boarding schools, cut our hair, tell us not to talk Navajo, feed us flour with bugs in it. All that crap you hear about now in documentaries. I ran away to my auntie’s house near Canyon de Chelly. She was a seer and a hand trembler. The Navajos around there, if they couldn’t sleep or they were sick, they sent a runner to my auntie and she came with her rock crystal and her corn pollen and went over their home until her hand trembled like she was holding on to an electric fence. And she saw things. Visions no one else could see. The sort of visions you’re seeing now. The things that cause sickness. Death. Things that have to be dealt with. Things that have to be sung and prayed over, so the person can be healthy again.
About the Author
Jim Bihyeh
Jim Bihyeh is the author of a story collection called Coyote Tales, several of which have been featured on Pseudopod. He is a non-fiction writer for publications like The Navajo Times, Arizona Highways, and High Country News. Jim grew up on the Navajo reservation, and returns there regularly to do work as an oral historian.
About the Narrator
Ben Phillips
Ben Phillips is a programmer and musician living in New Orleans. He was a chief editor of Pseudopod from 2006-2010.
