THE MOUNTAIN ABODES OF ELDER BROTHER

by BOB CATES

It is a long, long journey, and by the time one arrives at the base of Baboquivari, one wonders if it will really be worth all those dreary hours on the road. Twice now I have traveled there and I have yet to see the mountain from any appreciable distance; it's always dark when I arrive at the roadhead and likewise when I depart. One time, having been rained out on a climb over in Organ Pipe, I figured on finally obtaining that long-distance view. So I motored back to Sells, then south to Topawa and beyond, there to be greeted by storm clouds stubbornly clinging to the peak, completely obscuring it right down to its lowest ramparts. Foiled again. Still, I have been luckier than many. I have always met with fair weather on the day of the climb, found the critical pitch free of ice, and been blessed by the company of good friends and fine climbers who would lead that pitch. Yes, all in all the gods have been good to me, or should I say l'itoi instead. For Baboquivari is a sacred mountain, the dwelling place of l'itoi, guardian of the Papago Indians, upon whose reservation the peak is located. According to legend, l'itoi '... had a grinding hole up there on Baboquivari and when he wanted to grind mesquite beans he would sing. Then the wind would come out and get l'itoi and take him up on Baboquivari, and when he finished the wind would take him back. There are at least two sacred caves located on Baboquivari, one on the east and one on the west (perhaps near the roadhead?). Carl Lumholtz, a Norwegian anthropologist/ ethnologist/explorer, visited the western cave during 1909-1910. According to Lumholtz, The cave is called Elder Brother's House ... We climbed nearly one thousand feet, and on the south side of a hill, below the peak, our guide, the medicine-man, pointed out the entrance to the sacred place, half hidden among bushes. It was closed with a wall of loose stones and was so small that a man could only squeeze through with difficulty. The cave was found to be spacious and well formed. At one corner was deposited several hundred arrows, upright in a bunch, with nothing but the wooden part remaining ... There is another cave on the east side of Baboquivari, discovered lately by Mr. Jefferson Milton, where a considerable number of obsidian-tipped arrows were secured... Sometimes known also as First Born, because of his importance in Papago creation myths, l'itoi is more often referred to as Elder Brother, the guardian of the Papago tribe. He often appears in legends wherein the, tribe has encountered a desperate problem, unsolvable but for his aid. A runner is dispatched for help to l'itoi's cave home on Baboquivari. Sometimes Elder Brother is encountered there as an ancient and withered patriarch, and the runner returns to tell the tribesmen not to expect much aid from such an old man. As the messenger is relating his bad news, l'itoi suddenly appears, having changed his form to that of an athletic young man. Based on l'itoi's ability to travel on the wind, it is not too surprising to find that he also resides in a cave at the base of Cerro Pinnacate across the border in Mexico, over 100 miles from Baboquivari. Two legends concern his relationship with this prominent volcanic cone, the first one easily explaining l'itoi's fondness for this locale.

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