The Mythology of the Diegueños: The Mythology of the Diegueños

THE Diegueños have been classified as belonging to the Yuman family of Turner and Brinton. They make part of the Mission Indians of San Diego County, California, in which are also included fragments of Shoshonean tribes, akin to the Nahuatlan peoples of Southern Mexico. It would not be surprising to find in the folklore of the Shoshonean tribes traces of Aztec influence; but if the Diegueños belong to another family, a rather curious problem is presented by the following relics of tribal mythology related to me by old Cinon Duro, the last chief of the Diegueños, since they seem to suggest by internal evidence relations with primitive Aztec tradition.