Then Utset told the buffalo to try, and he returned saying,
"Father-mother, the door is good. I passed without trouble."
Utset called the scarab beetle and gave him the sack of stars, telling
him to pass out first with them. Scarab did not know what the sack
contained, but he was very small and grew tired carrying it. He wondered
what could be in the sack. After entering the new world he was so tired
he laid down the sack and peeped into it. He cut only a tiny hole, but
at once the Star People flew out and filled the heavens everywhere.
Then Utset and all the people came, and after Turkey passed, the door
was closed with a great rock so that the waters from below could not
follow them.
Then Utset looked for the sack with the Star People. She found it nearly
empty and could not tell where the stars had gone. The little beetle sat
by, very much frightened and very sad. But Utset was angry and said,
"You are bad and disobedient. From this time forth, you shall be blind."
That is the reason the scarabaeus has no eyes, so the old ones say.
But the little fellow had saved a few of the stars by grasping the sack
and holding it fast. Utset placed these in the heavens. In one group she
placed seven--the great bear. In another, three. In another group she
placed the Pleiades, and threw the others far off into the sky.
The Flood and the Theft of Fire
Tolowa (Del Norte Co., Cal.)
Along time ago there came a great rain. It lasted a long time and the
water kept rising till all the valleys were submerged, and the Indian
tribes fled to the high lands. But the water rose, and though the
Indians fled to the highest point, all were swept away and drowned-all
but one man and one woman. They reached the very highest peak and were
saved. These two Indians ate the fish from the waters around them.
Then the waters subsided. All the game was gone, and all the animals.
But the children of these two Indians, when they died, became the
spirits of deer and bear and insects, and so the animals and insects
came back to the earth again.
The Indians had no fire. The flood had put out all the fires in the
world. They looked at the moon and wished they could secure fire from
it. Then the Spider Indians and the Snake Indians formed a plan to steal
fire. The Spiders wove a very light balloon, and fastened it by a long
rope to the earth. Then they climbed into the balloon and started for
the moon. But the Indians of the Moon were suspicious of the Earth
Indians. The Spiders said, "We came to gamble." The Moon Indians were
much pleased and all the Spider Indians began to gamble with them. They
sat by the fire.
Then the Snake Indians sent a man to climb up the long rope from the
earth to the moon. He climbed the rope, and darted through the fire
before the Moon Indians understood what he had done. Then he slid down
the rope to earth again. As soon as he touched the earth he travelled
over the rocks, the trees, and the dry sticks lying upon the ground,
giving fire to each. Everything he touched contained fire. So the world
became bright again, as it was before the flood.
When the Spider Indians came down to earth again, they were immediately
put to death, for the tribes were afraid the Moon Indians might want
revenge.
Legend of the Flood in Sacramento Valley
Maidu (near Sacramento Valley, Cal.)
Long, long ago the Indians living in Sacramento Valley were happy.
Suddenly there came the swift sound of rushing waters, and the valley
became like Big Waters, which no man can measure. The Indians fled, but
many slept beneath the waves. Also the frogs and the salmon pursued them
and they ate many Indians. Only two who fled into the foothills escaped.
To these two, Great Man gave many children, and many tribes arose. But
one great chief ruled all the nation. The chief went out upon a wide
knoll overlooking Big Waters, and he knew that the plains of his people
were beneath the waves. Nine sleeps he lay on the knoll, thinking
thoughts of these great waters. Nine sleeps he lay without food, and his
mind was thinking always of one thing: How did this deep water cover the
plains of the world?
At the end of nine sleeps he was changed. He was not like himself. No
arrow could wound him. He was like Great Man for no Indian could slay
him. Then he spoke to Great Man and commanded him to banish the waters
from the plains of his ancestors. Great Man tore a hole in the mountain
side, so that the waters on the plains flowed into Big Waters. Thus the
Sacramento River was formed.
The Fable of the Animals
Karok (near Klamath River,. Cal.)
A great many hundred snows ago, Kareya, sitting on the Sacred Stool,
created the world. First, he made the fishes in the Big Water, then the
animals on the green land, and last of all, Man! But at first the
animals were all alike in power. No one knew which animals should be
food for others, and which should be food for man. Then Kareya ordered
them all to meet in one place, that Man might give each his rank and his
power. So the animals all met together one evening, when the sun was
set, to wait overnight for the coming of Man on the next morning. Kareya
also commanded Man to make bows and arrows, as many as there were
animals, and to give the longest one to the animal which was to have the
most power, and the shortest to the one which should have least power.
So he did, and after nine sleeps his work was ended, and the bows and
arrows which he had made were very many.
Now the animals, being all together, went to sleep, so they might be
ready to meet Man on the next morning. But Coyote was exceedingly
cunning--he was cunning above all the beasts. Coyote wanted the longest
bow and the greatest power, so he could have all the other animals for
his meat. He decided to stay awake all night, so that he would be first
to meet Man in the morning. So he laughed to himself and stretched his
nose out on his paw and pretended to sleep. About midnight he began to
be sleepy. He had to walk around the camp and scratch his eyes to keep
them open. He grew more sleepy, so that he had to skip and jump about to
keep awake. But he made so much noise, he awakened some of the other
animals. When the morning star came up, he was too sleepy to keep his
eyes open any longer. So he took two little sticks, and sharpened them
at the ends, and propped open his eyelids. Then he felt safe. He watched
the morning star, with his nose stretched along his paws, and fell
asleep. The sharp sticks pinned his eyelids fast together.
The morning star rose rapidly into the sky. The birds began to sing. The
animals woke up and stretched themselves, but still Coyote lay fast
asleep. When the sun rose, the animals went to meet Man. He gave the
longest bow to Cougar, so he had greatest power; the second longest he
gave to Bear; others he gave to the other animals, giving all but the
last to Frog. But the shortest one was left. Man cried out, "What animal
have I missed?" Then the animals began to look about and found Coyote
fast asleep, with his eyelids pinned together. All the animals began to
laugh, and they jumped upon Coyote and danced upon him. Then they led
him to Man, still blinded, and Man pulled out the sharp sticks and gave
him the shortest bow of all. It would hardly shoot an arrow farther than
a foot. All the animals laughed.
But Man took pity on Coyote, because he was now weaker even than Frog.
So at his request, Kareya gave him cunning, ten times more than before,
so that he was cunning above all the animals of the wood. Therefore
Coyote was friendly to Man and his children, and did many things for
them.
Coyote and Sun
Pai Ute (near Kern River, Cal.)
Along time ago, Coyote wanted to go to the sun. He asked Pokoh, Old Man,
to show him the trail. Coyote went straight out on this trail and he
travelled it all day. But Sun went round so that Coyote came back at
night to the place from which he started in the morning.
The next morning, Coyote asked Pokoh to show him the trail. Pokoh showed
him, and Coyote travelled all day and came back at night to the same
place again.
But the third day, Coyote started early and went out on the trail to the
edge of the world and sat down on the hole where the sun came up. While
waiting for the sun he pointed with his bow and arrow at different
places and pretended to shoot. He also pretended not to see the sun.
When Sun came up, he told Coyote to get out of his way. Coyote told him
to go around; that it was his trail. But Sun came up under him and he
had to hitch forward a little. After Sun came up a little farther, it
began to get hot on Coyote's shoulder, so he spit on his paw and rubbed
his shoulder. Then he wanted to ride up with the sun. Sun said, "Oh, no";
but Coyote insisted. So Coyote climbed up on Sun, and Sun started up the
trail in the sky. The trail was marked off into steps like a ladder. As
Sun went up he counted "one, two, three," and so on. By and by Coyote
became very thirsty, and he asked Sun for a drink of water. Sun gave him
an acorn-cup full. Coyote asked him why he had no more. About noontime,
Coyote became very impatient. It was very hot. Sun told him to shut his
eyes. Coyote shut them, but opened them again. He kept opening and
shutting them all the afternoon. At night, when Sun came down, Coyote
took hold of a tree. Then he clambered off Sun and climbed down to the
earth.
The Course of the Sun
Sia (New Mexico)
Sussistinnako, the spider, said to the sun, "My son, you will ascend and
pass over the world above. You will go from north to south. Return and
tell me what you think of it."
The sun said, on his return, "Mother, I did as you bade me, and I did
not like the road."
Spider told him to ascend and pass over the world from west to the east.
On his return, the sun said,
"It may be good for some, mother, but I did not like it."
Spider said, "You will again ascend and pass over the straight road from
the east to the west. Return and tell me what you think of it."