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 |  | Monday November 23, 2009 3:16 AM |
 | | Native American Myths and Legends | |
The Creation of the Animal People
The earth was once a human being. Old-One made her out of,
a woman. "You will be the mother of all people," he said.
Earth is alive yet, but she has been changed. The soil is her flesh;
the rocks are her bones; the wind is her breath; trees and grass
are her hair. She lives spread out, and we live on her. When she
moves, we have an earthquake.
After changing her to earth, Old-One took some of her flesh and
rolled it into balls, as people do with mud or clay. These balls
Old-One made into the beings of the early world. They were the
ancients. They were people, and yet they were at the same time animals.
In form, some of them were like animals; some were more like people.
Some could fly like birds; others could swim like fishes. In some
ways the land creatures acted like animals. All had the gift of speech.
They had greater powers and were more cunning than either animals or
people. And yet they were very stupid in some ways. They knew that
they had to hunt in order to live, but they did not know which
beings were deer and which were people. They thought people were
deer and often ate them.
Some people lived on the earth at that time. They were like the
Indians of today except that they were ignorant. Deer also were
on the earth at that time. They were real animals then too. They
were never people or ancient animal people, as were the ancestors
of most animals. Some people say that elk, antelope, and buffalo
also were always animals, to be hunted as deer are hunted. Others
tell stories about them as if they were ancients or half-human beings.
The last balls of mud Old-One made were almost all alike and
were different from the first ones he made. He rolled them over
and over. He shaped them like Indians. He blew on them and they
became alive. Old-One called them men. They were Indians, but
they were very ignorant. They did not know how to do things.
They were the most helpless of all creatures Old-One made.
Some of the animal people preyed on them and ate them.
Old-One made both male and female people and animals, so that they
might breed and multiply. Thus all living things came from the earth.
When we look around, we see everywhere parts of our mother.
Most of the ancient animal people were selfish, and there was
much trouble among them. At last Old-One said, "There will soon
be no people if I let things go on like this."
So he sent Coyote to kill all the monsters and other evil beings.
Old-One told Coyote to teach the Indians the best way to do things
and the best way to make things. Life would be easier and better
for them when they were no longer ignorant. Coyote then traveled
on the earth and did many wonderful things.
(Inland Northwest - Okanogan)
from
Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest
, edited by Ella E. Clark,
University of California Press, 1953
Last Updated
December 23, 2004
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