Napioa, the _Old Man_, floated upon a log in the waters, and had with
him four animals: Mameo, the fish; Matcekûpis, the frog; Maniskeo, the
lizard; and Spopeo, the turtle. He sent them down into the waters in the
order named, to see what they could find. The first three descended, but
never returned; the turtle, however, arose with his mouth full of mud.
Napioa took the mud from the mouth of the turtle, rolled it around in
the hollow of his hand, and in this manner made the earth, which fell
into the waters, and afterward grew to its present size.
There was only one person named Napioa. He lived in the world when the
people who dwelt with him had two heads. He did not make these people,
although he made the world, and how they came upon the earth no one
knows. The Bloods do not know where Napioa came from. They do not know
whether he was an Indian or not. He was not the ancestor of the
Blackfeet, but the Creator of the Indian race. He was double-jointed. He
is not dead, but is living in a great sea in the south. He did not make
the white people, and the Indians do not know who made them.
After he made the earth, he first made a woman. Her mouth was slit
vertically, and he was not satisfied, so he closed it, and recut it in
the same shape as it has remained till to-day. Afterward he made several
women, and then he made several men. The men lived together, but
separate from the women, and they did not see the women for some time.
When the men first saw the women they were astonished and somewhat
afraid. Napioa told them to take one woman each, but they were afraid.
He encouraged them, and then they each took a wife.
Napioa made the buffalo. They were quite tame. He gave bows and arrows
to the Indians and told them to shoot the buffalo. They did so; and as
the buffalo were tame, they killed a large number.