Apache: Creation Story

In the beginning nothing existed--no earth, no sky, no sun, no moon, only darkness was everywhere. Suddenly from the darkness emerged a thin disc, one side yellow and the other side white, appearing suspended in midair. Within the disc sat a small bearded man, Creator, the One Who Lives Above. As if waking from a long nap, he rubbed his eyes and face with both hands. When he looked into the endless darkness, light appeared above. He looked down and it became a sea of light. To the east, he created yellow streaks of dawn. To the west, tints of many colours appeared everywhere. There were also clouds of different colours. Creator wiped his sweating face and rubbed his hands together, thrusting them downward. Behold! A shining cloud upon which sat a little girl. "Stand up and tell me where are you going," said Creator. But she did not reply. He rubbed his eyes again and offered his right hand to the Girl-Without-Parents. "Where did you come from?" she asked, grasping his hand. "From the east where it is now light," he replied, stepping upon her cloud. "Where is the earth?" she asked. "Where is the sky?" he asked, and sang, "I am thinking, thinking, thinking what I shall create next." He sang four times, which was the magic number. Creator brushed his face with his hands, rubbed them together, then flung them wide open! Before them stood Sun-God. Again Creator rubbed his sweaty brow and from his hands dropped Small- Boy. All four gods sat in deep thought upon the small cloud. "What shall we make next?" asked Creator. "This cloud is much too small for us to live upon." Then he created Tarantula, Big Dipper, Wind, Lightning-Maker, and some western clouds in which to house Lightning-Rumbler, which he just finished. Creator sang, "Let us make earth. I am thinking of the earth, earth, earth; I am thinking of the earth," he sang four times. All four gods shook hands. In doing so, their sweat mixed together and Creator rubbed his palms, from which fell a small round, brown ball, not much larger than a bean. Creator kicked it, and it expanded. Girl-Without-Parents kicked the ball, and it enlarged more. Sun-God and Small-Boy took turns giving it hard kicks, and each time the ball expanded. Creator told Wind to go inside the ball and to blow it up. Tarantula spun a black cord and, attaching it to the ball, crawled away fast to the east, pulling on the cord with all his strength. Tarantula repeated with a blue cord to the south, a yellow cord to the west, and a white cord to the north. With mighty pulls in each direction, the brown ball stretched to immeasurable size--it became the earth! No hills, mountains, or rivers were visible; only smooth, treeless, brown plains appeared. Creator scratched his chest and rubbed his fingers together and there appeared Hummingbird. "Fly north, south, east, and west and tell us what you see," said Creator. "All is well," reported Hummingbird upon his return. "The earth is most beautiful, with water on the west side." But the earth kept rolling and dancing up and down. So Creator made four giant posts--black, blue, yellow, and white to support the earth. Wind carried the four posts, placing them beneath the four cardinal points of the earth. The earth sat still. Creator sang, "World is now made and now sits still," which he repeated four times. Then he began a song about the sky. None existed, but he thought there should be one. After singing about it four times, twenty- eight people appeared to help make a sky above the earth. Creator chanted about making chiefs for the earth and sky. He sent Lightning-Maker to encircle the world, and he returned with three uncouth creatures, two girls and a boy found in a turquoise shell. They had no eyes, ears, hair, mouths, noses, or teeth. They had arms and legs, but no fingers or toes. Sun-God sent for Fly to come and build a sweathouse. Girl- Without-Parents covered it with four heavy clouds. In front of the east doorway she placed a soft, red cloud for a foot-blanket to be used after the sweat. Four stones were heated by the fire inside the sweathouse. The three uncouth creatures were placed inside. The others sang songs of healing on the outside, until it was time for the sweat to be finished. Out came the three strangers who stood upon the magic red cloud-blanket. Creator then shook his hands toward them, giving each one fingers, toes, mouths, eyes, ears, noses and hair. Creator named the boy, Sky-Boy, to be chief of the Sky-People. One girl he named Earth-Daughter, to take charge of the earth and its crops. The other girl he named Pollen-Girl, and gave her charge of health care for all Earth-People. Since the earth was flat and barren, Creator thought it fun to create animals, birds, trees, and a hill. He sent Pigeon to see how the world looked. Four days later, he returned and reported, "All is beautiful around the world. But four days from now, the water on the other side of the earth will rise and cause a mighty flood." Creator made a very tall pinon tree. Girl-Without-Parents covered the tree framework with pinon gum, creating a large, tight ball. In four days, the flood occurred. Creator went up on a cloud, taking his twenty-eight helpers with him. Girl-Without-Parents put the others into the large, hollow ball, closing it tight at the top. In twelve days, the water receded, leaving the float-ball high on a hilltop. The rushing floodwater changed the plains into mountains, hills, valleys, and rivers. Girl-Without-Parents led the gods out from the float-ball onto the new earth. She took them upon her cloud, drifting upward until they met Creator with his helpers, who had completed their work making the sky during the flood time on earth. Together the two clouds descended to a valley below. There, Girl- Without-Parents gathered everyone together to listen to Creator. "I am planning to leave you," he said. "I wish each of you to do your best toward making a perfect, happy world. "You, Lightning-Rumbler, shall have charge of clouds and water. "You, Sky-Boy, look after all Sky-People. "You, Earth-Daughter, take charge of all crops and Earth-People. "You, Pollen-Girl, care for their health and guide them. "You, Girl-Without-Parents, I leave you in charge over all." Creator then turned toward Girl-Without-Parents and together they rubbed their legs with their hands and quickly cast them forcefully downward. Immediately between them arose a great pile of wood, over which Creator waved a hand, creating fire. Great billowy clouds of smoke at once drifted skyward. Into this cloud, Creator disappeared. The other gods followed him in other clouds of smoke, leaving the twenty-eight workers to people the earth. Sun-God went east to live and travel with the Sun. Girl-Without- Parents departed westward to live on the far horizon. Small-Boy and Pollen-Girl made cloud homes in the south. Big Dipper can still be seen in the northern sky at night, a reliable guide to all.

Lakota (Sioux): The Gift Of Corn

Alone in a deep forest, far from the village of his people, lived a hermit. His tent was made of buffalo skins, and his robe was made of deerskin. Far from the haunts of any human being, this old hermit was content to spend his many years. All day long, he wandered through the forest, studying the different plants and collecting roots. The roots he used as food and as medicine. At long intervals some warrior would arrive at his tent and get medicinal roots from him for the tribe. The old hermit's medicine was considered far superior to all others. One day, after a long ramble in the woods, the hermit came home so tired that, immediately after eating, he lay down on his bed. Just as he was dozing off to sleep, he felt something rub against his feet. Awakening with a start, he noticed a dark object. It extended an arm toward him. In its hand was a flint-pointed arrow. "This must be a spirit," thought the hermit, "for there is no human being here but me." A voice then said, "Hermit, I have come to invite you to my home." "I will come," the old hermit replied. So he arose, wrapped his robe around him, and started toward the voice. Outside his door, he looked around, but he could see no sign of the dark object. "Whatever you are, or wherever you be," said the hermit, "wait for me. I do not know where to go to find your house." He received no answer, nor did he hear any sound of someone walking through the brush. Reentering his tent, he lay down and was soon fast asleep. The next night he again heard the voice say, "Hermit, I have come to invite you to my home." The hermit walked out of his tent to find the person with that voice, but again he found no one. This time he was angry, because he thought that someone was making sport of him. He determined to find out who was disturbing his night's rest. The next evening he cut a hole in the tent large enough to stick an arrow through. Then he stood by the door, watching. Soon the dark object came, stopped outside the door, and said, "Grandfather, I came to--" But he never finished his sentence. The old hermit had shot his arrow. He heard it strike something that produced a sound as though he had shot into a sack of pebbles. Early the next morning the hermit went out and looked at the spot near where he thought his arrow had struck some object. There on the ground lay a little heap of corn, and from this little heap a small line of corn lay scattered along a path. The old hermit followed this path into the woods. When he reached a small mound, the trail ended. At its end was a large circle from which the grass had been scraped off clean. "The corn trail stops at the edge of this circle," the old man said to himself. "So this must be the home of whatever invited me." He took his big bone axe and knife and proceeded to dig down into the centre of the circle. When he got as far down as he could reach, he came to a sack of dried meat. Next, he found a sack of turnips, then a sack of dried cherries, and then a sack of corn. Last of all was another sack, empty except for one cup of corn. In the other corner was a hole where the hermit's arrow had pierced the sack. From this hole the corn had been scattered along the trail, which had guided the old man to the hiding place. From this experience the hermit taught his people how to keep their provisions while they were travelling. "Dig a pit," he explained to them, "put your provisions into it, and cover them with earth." By this method, the Sioux used to keep provisions all summer. When fall came, they would return to their hiding place. When they opened it, they would find all their provisions as fresh as they were the day they had been placed there. The people thanked the old hermit for his discovery of this method of preserving their food. And they thanked him for his discovery of corn, the first they had seen. It became one of the most important foods the Indians knew.

Turtle and the Sky Bowl

Darkness had lasted too long, and all the other forest animals knew it was Turtle's fault. Long ago, before Turtle had her hard shell, in order to prove her bravery to the others, Turtle had volunteered for one of the most important and dangerous jobs of the forest. Her duty was to bring the Sky Bowl, filled with yellow corn, up to the cliff top each morning before Sun's first light turned the hillside red. She would scatter the corn over the earth, and Sun, knowing he was needed, would rise. This morning, though, as Turtle discovered when she awoke, the Sky Bowl had disappeared. Vulture lived in the crags far to the west where Sun set. He always complained about how bright the days were and how short the nights. Vulture had taken the bowl. Since the Sky Bowl was her responsibility, Turtle set off through the forest toward the west. She worried about how she would get the bowl back because the crags were too high and steep for her to climb. As she emerged into a shadowy clearing, Turtle saw Grizzly, grumbling and rolling as she slept. "Grizzly," she called to the bear, "I've seen how fast and strong you are and how well you climb. Come help me get the Sky Bowl back from Vulture so Sun can rise." "No," Grizzly grumbled, her eyelids heavy. "I have to protect my cubs in the dark." Turtle heard the little barks and pants of the cubs behind her. Turtle left Grizzly and continued on. Finally, she broke through the trees. At the edge of the wilderness, Moon's cool, hard light fell on Turtle and she shivered. She saw the crags now, their chalky faces rising slowly off the valley floor. Just then Eagle glided down over the foothills above Turtle. "Eagle! Help me!" Turtle yelled. Eagle turned his hard, steel-gray eyes on Turtle. "What do you want?!" Eagle's voice whistled down like an arrow shooting through the air. "You can fly. Soar up to Vulture's nook and get the Sky Bowl back so Sun can rise." "I'm too hungry," said Eagle. "I've been flying for hours, trying to catch something. I can't see well in the dark." Turtle turned away, knowing the job was hers alone. She went to the crag, looking up, up, up the chalky stone awash in Moon's cold light. Vulture's nook sat up there, where the rock brushed against the sky. Turtle tried to climb the steep slope, but slipped back down. Turtle felt thirsty and needed to think, so she went and sat by the cool mountain stream flowing down out of the crags. Moon's roundness floated above, reflected in the water, making the stream's bubbles and waves gleam. As Turtle sipped the water she stared at Moon, noticing how beautiful she was. She'd never seen Moon for so long before, and she no longer feared her. Suddenly, from deep within the darkness came Moon’s voice, whispering softly, "You have shown your bravery well, Turtle. Now go to Vulture and tell him you want the sky bowl back." And as Moon spoke, moonbeams fell to earth like night rain, and cascaded silently across Turtle’s back, forming a hard shell around her. Turtle wasn't certain how her new shell could help her get the Sky Bowl back, but she would try. Turtle went to Vulture's crag, and called up to him. "Hey, Vulture! Give back the Sky Bowl!" "Or what?" Vulture asked, laughing. "Go home before I rip you apart with my talons." He flew from the nook down toward Turtle, carrying the bowl in his beak and teasing her with it. Turtle stood firm. Vulture descended suddenly, trying to claw Turtle with his sharp talons. He hit the hard shell instead, barely making a scratch. Angry, he pecked at Turtle, forgetting he held the bowl. His beak struck the shell hard and bent at an angle, making him drop the bowl. Turtle, still unhurt, grabbed it, and retreated back into her shell. Vulture scratched at the shell for a while, then gave up and flew off. That was how Turtle earned her shell and Vulture got his crooked beak. Sun came back the next morning, but from then on he would shine only half the day, leaving the night to Moon and darkness so that we might never again forget him.