In the beginning all people, birds, and beasts were far beneath this
earth, somewhere in the darkness; there was no sun, no moon. It was not a
good place in which to live, because of the darkness. After a time came
Chunnaai, the Sun, and Klenaai, the Moon. They directed the people to
leave the world of darkness, showing the way they were to go by passing up
through a rift in the sky. But the sky was so far above that the people
knew of no way to reach it, so they made a pile of sand in the form of a
mountain, and painted the east side white, the south blue, the west
yellow, and the north side all colors.[1] Then they gathered seeds from
all the plants they knew and placed them inside the little mountain.
Chunnaai sent back his messenger, Anltsistn, the Whirlwind, to instruct
them how to make the mountain increase in size.
Then all gathered about it and danced and sang, until after four days the
seeds sprouted and the mountain began to expand and to increase in height.
This continued for four days, at the end of which time the mountain seemed
almost to reach the sky; but suddenly its growth ceased, and none knew the
cause. From Chunnaai came Whirlwind to tell the inhabitants how two of
their maidens had entered the sacred space on the mountain top and had
wantonly broken and destroyed plants and fruits, thus causing the mountain
to cease growing.
With two long poles and four buffalo horns, which then were straight, the
people made a ladder, which, when placed on the mountain top, reached the
sky. One of the four Great Whirlwinds, Nichitso, went up to see what this
new place was like. He put his head through the opening, and seeing that
the world was covered with water, at once descended the ladder. The four
Whirlwinds then went up; White Wind rolled the water to the east, but
still there was water at the south; Blue Wind rolled it away to the south,
but still there was water at the west; so Yellow Wind blew it away to the
west, and then there was water only at the north, which All-Color Wind
quickly blew away. Then the Winds blew over the earth for four days to dry
it; but they left some of the water, which flowed along in streams.
When they returned and told what they had done, the people sent Ka{~COMBINING INVERTED BREVE~}ge, the
Crow, who was wise, to view the land. They waited long, but Ka{~COMBINING INVERTED BREVE~}ge did not
return. Then they sent Little Whirlwind, who found the Crow perched upon
some dead bodies, plucking out their eyes; and because of his wickedness
in forgetting the people, his feathers, once white, had turned black. Then
Naganschitn, the Badger, was sent to see if the land was good, but just as
soon as he had crawled through he sank in the black mud and could go no
farther, so Little Whirlwind was despatched to succor him. To this day
Badger's legs are black. Next Keldinshe{~COMBINING BREVE~}n, the Skunk, was sent, because he
was light in weight; but even he sank in the mud and blackened his legs.
Then the people sent Cha, the Beaver, who travelled about for a long time,
and finding all the water running away in streams, built dams and thus
formed many lakes. He came back and told the people that the land was good
to live in, which pleased them greatly. Then they started up the ladder,
and when all had passed over, it was found that their weight had bent the
buffalo horns, which ever since have been curved. Thus all the people came
out upon this earth at a place in the north.(3)
During the first days the Sun did not rise above the horizon, having been
held back in the east by a web that Mansche{~COMBINING BREVE~}, the Spider, had woven about
him. But the people succeeded in tearing the web away, and from that time
the Sun each day has travelled across the whole sky.
On emerging from the underworld the inhabitants began moving in a great
circle, travelling from the north to the east, then to the south, then to
the west. When any found a spot that pleased them, they settled there, and
Chunnaai and Klenaai gave them a language of their own. Four times the
land was thus encircled, but each time the circle became smaller, and when
the people came the last time to the north, Haisndayin, the Jicarillas,
found their home in the mountains near the Rio Chama.