Jóhonaaʼéí -Tales From America's South West

I have edited Clive Gilson’s books for over a decade now – he’s prolific and can turn his hand to many genres. poetry, short fiction, contemporary novels, folklore and science fiction – and the common theme is that none of them ever fails to take my breath away. There’s something in each story that is either memorably poignant, hauntingly unnerving or sidesplittingly funny. 

Lorna Howarth, The Write Factor

Tales From The World's Firesides is a grand project. I've collected ‘000’s of traditional texts as part of other projects, and while many of the original texts are available through channels like Project Gutenberg, some of the narratives can be hard to read by modern readers, & so the Fireside project was born. Put simply, I collect, collate & adapt traditional tales from around the world & publish them as a modern archive. This book is the 3rd in Part 2 – North America, following on from the 19 titles in Part 1 covering a host of nations & regions across Europe. I'm not laying any claim to insight or specialist knowledge, but these collections are born out of my love of story-telling & I hope that you'll share my affection for traditional tales, myths & legends.

Cover image by Asatira from Pixabay

Jóhonaaʼéí

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Tales From America’s Southwest

Traditional tales, fables and sagas from the First Nations of North America

Compiled & Edited by Clive Gilson

Tales from the World’s Firesides

Book 3 in Part 2 of the series: North America

Jóhonaaʼéí,

edited by Clive Gilson, Solitude, Bath, UK

www.clivegilson.com

First published in 2020

2nd edition © 2020 Clive Gilson

3rd edition © 2023 Clive Gilson

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by United Kingdom copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Printed by IngramSpark

ISBN: 978-1-913500-76-4

SOLITUDE

Contents

Preface

Naiyenezgani

The Beginning Of Newness

The Story Of The Creation

The Men Of The Early Times

Sedit And The Two Brothers Hus

The Story Of The Flood

Creation And Longevity

An Ancient Feud

Kol Tibichi

Old Mole's Creation

The Story Of Vandaih, The Man-Eagle

The Creation Of The World

Vinimūlya-Hapātša

Spider's Creation

The Hakas And The Tennas

How Old Man Above Created The World

The Story Of The Turquoises And The Red Bird

The Search For The Middle And The Hardening Of The World

The Migration Of The Gans

Origin Of Light

Tirukala

Pokoh, The Old Man

The Story Of Wayhohm, Toehahvs And Tottai

Creation Of Man

The Coyote And The Water Plume Snake

The First Man And Woman

Haka Kaina

Old Man Above And The Grizzlies

The Story Of Hawawk

Coyote And Sun

A Bear Story

Legend Of The Flood

The Birds And The Flood

The Great Flood

The Flood And The Theft Of Fire

Legend Of The Flood In Sacramento Valley

The Dream Of Juiwaiyu And His Journey To Damhauja's Country

The Fable Of The Animals

The Story Of Tawquahdahmawks And Her Canal

The Course Of The Sun

Releasing The Deer

The First Battle In The World And The Making Of The Yana

The Theft Of Fire (I)

The Theft Of Fire (Ii)

Traditions Of Wanderings

The Raven Story

The Migration Of The Water People

How Nooee Killed Ee-Ee-Toy

Ee-Ee-Toy's Resurrection And Speech To Juhwerta Mahkai

The Story Of Ee-Ee-Toy's Army

The Destruction Of The Vahahkkees

The Story Of Sohahnee Mahkai And Kawkoinpuh

Coyote And The Mesquite Beans

Deer Woman

Origin Of The Sierra Nevadas And Coast Range

Legend Of Tu-Tok-A-Nu'-La (El Capitan)

The Giant And The Twin War Gods

Legend Of Tis-Se'-Yak

The Corn Maidens

The Search For The Corn Maidens

The Song Hunter

The Man Who Visited The Sky With The Eagles

The Guiding Duck And The Lake Of Death

The Story Of Paht-Ahn-Kum

The Boy Who Became A God

The Deer Story

The Great Fire

The Story Of Nahvahchoo

How The Bluebird Got Its Colour

He Who Became A Snake

Origin Of The Raven And The Macaw

The Story Of The Children Of Cloud

The Boy And The Beast

The Coyote And The Turtle

How The Rattlesnake Learned To Bite

Coyote And Rattlesnake

The Hunter Who Secured The Bear Ceremony

Why The Apaches Are Fierce

Origin Of The Saguaro And Palo Verde Cacti

Ta-Vwots' Has A Fight With The Sun

The Thirsty Quails

The Doings Of Coyote

The Frog And The Locust

The Foxes And The Sun

The Cloud People

Coyote And The Hare

Coyote And The Quails

Coyote And The Fawns

Coyote's Eyes

Coyote And The Tortillas

Coyote As A Hunter

The Spirit Land

Historical Notes

About The Editor

ORIGINAL FICTION BY CLIVE GILSON

Songs of Bliss

Out of the Walled Garden

The Mechanic’s Curse

The Insomniac Booth

A Solitude of Stars

AS EDITOR – FIRESIDE TALES – Part 1, Europe

Tales From the Land of Dragons

Tales From the Land of The Brave

Tales From the Land of Saints And Scholars

Tales From the Land of Hope And Glory

Tales From Lands of Snow and Ice

Tales From the Viking Isles

Tales From the Forest Lands

Tales From the Old Norse

More Tales About Saints and Scholars

More Tales About Hope and Glory

More Tales About Snow and Ice

Tales From the Land of Rabbits

Tales Told by Bulls and Wolves

Tales of Fire and Bronze

Tales From the Land of the Strigoi

Tales Told by the Wind Mother

Tales from Gallia

Tales from Germania

EDITOR – FIRESIDE TALES – Part 2, North America

Okaraxta - Tales from The Great Plains

Tibik-Kìzis – Tales from The Great Lakes & Canada

Jóhonaaʼéí –Tales from America’s Southwest

Qugaaĝix̂ - First Nation Tales from Alaska & The Arctic

Karahkwa - First Nation Tales from America’s Eastern States

Pot-Likker - Folklore, Fairy Tales, and Settler Stories from America

EDITOR – FIRESIDE TALES – Part 3, Africa

Arokin Tales – Folklore & Fairy Tales from West Africa

Hadithi Tales – Folklore & Fairy Tales from East Africa

Inkathaso Tales – Folklore & Fairy Tales from Southern Africa

Tarubadur Tales – Folklore & Fairy Tales from North Africa

Elephant And Frog – Folklore from Central Africa

Preface

I’ve been collecting and telling stories for a couple of decades now, having had several of my own works published in recent years. My particular focus is on short story writing in the realms of magical realities and science fiction fantasies.

I’ve always drawn heavily on traditional folk and fairy tales, and in so doing have amassed a collection of many thousands of these tales from around the world. It has been one of my long-standing ambitions to gather these stories together and to create a library of tales that tell the stories of places and peoples from the four corners of our world.

One of the main motivations for me in undertaking the project is to collect and tell stories that otherwise might be lost or, at best forgotten. Given that a lot of my sources are from early collectors, particularly covering works produced in the late eighteenth century, throughout the nineteenth century, and in the early years of the twentieth century, I do make every effort to adapt stories for a modern reader. Early collectors had a different world view to many of us today, and often expressed views about race and gender, for example, that we find difficult to reconcile in the early years of the twenty-first century. I try, although with varying degrees of success, to update these stories with sensitivity while trying to stay as true to the original spirit of each story as I can.

I also want to assure readers that I try hard not to comment on or appropriate originating cultures. It is almost certainly true that the early collectors of these tales, with their then prevalent world views, have made assumptions about the originating cultures that have given us these tales. I hope that you’ll accept my mission to preserve these tales, however and wherever I find them, as just that. I have, therefore, made sure that every story has a full attribution, covering both the original collector / writer and the collection title that this version has been adapted from, as well as having notes about publishers and other relevant and, I hope, interesting source data. Wherever possible I have added a cultural or indigenous attribution as well, although for some of the tiles, the country-based theme is obvious.

This volume, Jóhonaaʼéí covers a range of cultures and themes based around the California Basin and Southwestern nations. There is no single mythology of the indigenous North American peoples. There are numerous traditions and narratives associated with religion, ethics and core beliefs. These stories are deeply based in nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons, weather, plants, animals, earth, water, fire, sky and the heavenly bodies. Common elements are the principle of an all-embracing, universal and omniscient Great Spirit, a connection to the Earth and its landscapes, a belief in parallel worlds in the sky and beneath our feet, diverse creation narratives, visits to the 'land of the dead', and collective memories of ancient sacred ancestors.

A characteristic of many of the myths is the close relationship between human beings and animals including birds and reptiles. They often feature shape-shifting between animal and human form. Marriage between people and different species, particularly bears, is a common theme.

Most of the myths from the California Basin and the Southwest were first transcribed by ethnologists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These sources were collected from Native American elders who still had strong connections to the traditions of their ancestors. They may be considered the most authentic surviving records of the ancient stories.

Myths of this region are dominated by the sacred creator and trickster, Coyote. Other significant characters include the Sun People, the Star Women and Darkness.

Myths of the Navajo, Apache and Pueblo peoples tell how the first human beings emerged from an underworld. According to the Hopi Pueblo people, the first beings were the Sun, two goddesses known as Hard Being Woman, or Huruing Wuhti, and Spider Woman. It was the goddesses who created living creatures and human beings. Other themes include the origin of tobacco and corn, and horses. Some of the key nations include:

Zuni myths, legends & folklore

Zuni mythology is the oral history, cosmology, and religion of the Zuni people. The Zuni are a Pueblo people located in New Mexico. Their religion is integrated into their daily lives and respects ancestors, nature, and animals. Because of a history of religious persecution by non-native peoples, they are very private about their religious beliefs.

Cultural institutions that provide religious instruction and cultural stability include their priests, clans, kivas and healing societies. A ceremonial cycle brings the community together. While some ceremonies are open to non-Zuni peoples, others are private - for instance the Shalako ceremony and feast has been closed to outsiders since 1990.

Hopi myths, legends & folklore

The Hopi maintain a complex religious and mythological tradition stretching back over centuries. However, it is difficult to definitively state what all Hopis as a group believe. Like the oral traditions of many other societies, Hopi mythology is not always told consistently and each Hopi mesa or village may have its own version of a particular story.

It is also not clear that those stories which are told to non-Hopis, such as anthropologists and ethnographers, represent genuine Hopi beliefs or are merely stories told to the curious while keeping safe the Hopi's more sacred doctrines. As folklorist Harold Courlander states, there is a Hopi reticence about discussing matters that could be considered ritual secrets or religion-oriented traditions. In addition, the Hopis have always been willing to assimilate foreign ideas into their cosmology if they are proven effective for such practical necessities as bringing rain.

The Hopi had at least some contact with Europeans as early as the 16th century, and some believe that European Christian traditions may have entered Hopi cosmology at some point. Spanish missions were built in several Hopi villages starting in 1629 and were in operation until the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. However, after the revolt, it was the Hopi alone of all the Pueblo tribes who kept the Spanish out of their villages permanently, and regular contact with later settlers did not begin again until nearly two centuries later.

Navajo myths, legends & folklore

The Navajo creation myth describes the prehistoric emergence of the Navajo, and centres on the area known as the Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo. This story forms the basis for the traditional Navajo way of life. The basic outline of Diné Bahaneʼ begins with the Niłchʼi Diyin, or Holy Wind, being created as the mists of lights which arose through the darkness to animate and bring purpose to the four Diyin Dineʼé or Holy People, who are supernatural and sacred in the different three lower worlds. All these things were spiritually created in the time before the Earth existed and the physical aspect of humans did not yet exist.

Miwok myths, legends & folklore

The mythology of the Miwok Native Americans are myths of their world order, their creation stories and 'how things came to be'. Miwok myths suggest their spiritual and philosophical world view. In several different creation stories collected from Miwok people, Coyote was seen as their ancestor and creator god, sometimes with the help of other animals, forming the earth and making people out of humble materials like feathers or twigs.

According to Miwok mythology, the people believed in animal and human spirits, and spoke of animal spirits as their ancestors. Coyote in many tales figures as their ancestor, creator god, and a trickster god. The Miwok mythology is similar to other Native American myths of Northern California.

Apache myths, legends & folklore

Apache religious stories relate to two culture heroes, one being the Sun/fire, or Killer-Of-Enemies/Monster Slayer, and one of Water/Moon/thunder, or Child-Of-The-Water/Born For Water, that destroy a number of creatures which are harmful to humankind.

Another story is of a hidden ball game, where good and evil animals decide whether or not the world should be forever dark. Coyote, the trickster, is an important being that often has inappropriate behaviour in which he overturns social convention. The Navajo, Western Apache, Jicarilla, and Lipan have an emergence or Creation Story, while this is lacking in the Chiricahua and Mescalero.

Medicine men learn ceremonies, which can also be acquired by direct revelation to the individual. Different Apache cultures had different views of ceremonial practice. Most Chiricahua and Mescalero ceremonies were learned through the transmission of personal religious visions, while the Jicarilla and Western Apache used standardized rituals as the more central ceremonial practice. Important standardized ceremonies include the puberty ceremony of young women, known as the Sunrise Dance, Navajo chants, Jicarilla long-life ceremonies, and Plains Apache sacred-bundle ceremonies.

Certain animals - owls, snakes, bears, and coyotes - are considered spiritually evil and prone to cause sickness to humans. .

Many Apache ceremonies use masked representations of religious spirits. Sandpainting is an important ceremony in the Navajo, Western Apache, and Jicarilla traditions, in which healers create temporary, sacred art from coloured sands.

The Apaches participate in many religious dances, including the rain dance, dances for the crop and harvest, and a spirit dance. These dances were mostly for influencing the weather and enriching their food resources.

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As always, it’s been an incredible journey in reading and adapting these stories, and with over 50 tales in this collection I’m sure you’ll find more than a few that you can engage with.

Notes in this preface are taken from Wikipedia and the online Britannica

Clive

Bath, 2023

Naiyenezgani

This adaptation is taken from a story collected by Pliny Earle Goddard in Myths and Tales from the White Mountain Apache, which was originally published by The American Museum Of Natural History Science Education in 1919. This is an Apache tale.

LONG AGO THE SUN SET AND, there in the west, he became the son-in-law of Toxastinhn, also known as Water-old-man, whose daughter he married. She, who was to become the wife of the Sun, built a house with its door facing the sunrise. She sat in the doorway facing the rising sun from which the red rays streamed toward her. These rays entered her and since her period was about to occur she became pregnant as a result.

When the child was born, its hands and feet were webbed. There was no hair on its head and it had no nose. When the boy was grown up he asked where his father lived. His mother replied that his father lived where one could not go, for the Sun was his father. The boy asked again where he lived. His mother said he lived at the sunrise, but that one could not go there. The boy then said that he would go there and set out on the journey.

He came to a place where the cliffs come down of themselves. They moved in front of him, and the lightning shot across with him. Beyond that place he came to the mountain of cactus which formed a dark barrier in front of him. There a black whirlwind twisted a path through for him so that he passed by. From there he went on where the mountain of mosquitoes stood like a black ridge in front of him. A female rain fell for him and the wings of the mosquitoes became damp, and he passed over them. From there he went on where the mountains moved up and down toward each other. He jumped away from them and then toward them, but in no way could he get through . Black-measuring-worm, whose back is striped with lightning, bent over it with him.

He walked on toward the house of the Sun. As he was going along, near sundown, a spider drew its thread in a line below the boy's knee and tripped him. He got up and went back, but fell again at the same place. Wondering why he had fallen, he started on again, when he saw the head of Spider-old-woman projecting from her hole three inches away.

Grandchild, where are you going? she asked.

He replied that he was going to the house of his father, the Sun. She told him to come into her house instead. He replied that the opening was too small. When assured that it was large enough, he went in. She told him one could not go to the Sun. The spider girls were lying there without skirts or shirts. They lay with the head of one toward the feet of the next. Spider-woman asked what the piece of cloth tied to his shirt was for? He gave it to her and she worked with it all night, and the next morning each girl had a shirt and a skirt. She made them from the young man's piece of cloth.

When the Sun rose, Spider-old-woman went out-of-doors. It is not yet time, my grandson, she said. She held up five fingers horizontally and said it would be the time when the Sun shone over them. When the time came to go, they set out toward the house of the Sun. The boy came to the front of the house where there were twelve doors and all of them were shut. Without anyone opening a door for him, he came to another of the Sun's wives.

What sort of a person are you? she asked.

He replied he had come to see his father. The woman warned him that no one was allowed around there. She rolled him up in a blanket, which she tied with lightning, and hid him by the head of the bed.

When the sun set, the boy heard the noise of the Sun's arrival. The Sun came inside his house. I do not see anyone, he said, but from the mountain where I go down some man had gone along.

You tell me you do not have love affairs where you go around the world. This morning your son came here.

She went to the head of the bed, undid the lightning with which he was tied up and took the boy out. The Sun saw it was his boy. There were twelve pipes in which tobacco was burned. The Sun fixed a smoke for him in one of these. It was not the Sun's proper tobacco, but a kind that killed whoever smoked it. The boy drew on the pipe just once and the tobacco was burned out. The Sun prepared another pipeful, which was gone when the boy had drawn on the pipe twice. He filled a third pipe, and this time the boy drew on it three times and the tobacco was consumed. The last time the pipe was filled, the boy drew four times before the tobacco was burned out.

Toward the east, there was a blazing fire of black yabeckon into which the Sun threw the boy. He turned into a downy feather and landed in front of his father who expressed his surprise. There was a fire of blue yabeckon toward the south into which the boy was next thrown. He again turned into a feather and landed in front of his father. The fire toward the west was of yellow yabeckon from which the boy escaped in the same manner. Finally, the boy was thrown into a white fire of yabeckon which blazed up in the north. He escaped in the same manner as before. Each time when the boy was thrown in, the fire had been poked with lightning of the corresponding colour.

When the boy had successfully withstood this last test, the Sun directed his wife to prepare a sweat bath. She did this by spreading four blankets of cloud, black, blue, yellow, and white. She put on the four blankets from the four sides in proper rotation. The Sun went in with all his boys. While they were in the bath, the skin between the boy's fingers and toes was pulled back and joints made in his fingers. He was also provided with hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, nose, and ears. Hair was placed on his body and nails supplied for his fingers and toes. Counting this boy, the Sun had twelve sons with whom he formed a line. He then asked his wife to find him in the line, but this she was unable to do because they all looked alike, she said.

The Sun then placed a gun and a panther-skin quiver on a shelf and asked his son to choose which he would have. After sighting the gun, he concluded he did not like it. He put the quiver over his shoulder and took out two arrows. When he tried these, he hit the target in the centre. He chose the panther-skin quiver saying he liked it. All the other sons of the Sun had guns. The Sun had them shoot at each other in fun. Those who had guns beat the boy who had arrows and drove him off.

On one side, horses were being made and on the other deer. The one who was in charge of making these is named Iltca'nailt'ohn.

The sun and his family made a light brown mountain for the boy, inside of which, cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, mules, and donkeys were living. All these are the food of white people. In this mountain also were guns, blankets, and all kinds of metals.

On the other side they put, for him, a mountain on which century plants were growing with their yellow flower stalks standing all around the edges. On this mountain, too, were sunflowers, yellow with blossoms, cactus, yucca, piñon, oaks, junipers, the fruit of all of which was perpetually ripe. All the other wild vegetable foods of the Apache grew there also. The mountain was always yellow with flowers.

The Sun asked the boy which of these two mountains he would choose. He decided to take the one which was yellow with flowers where fruit was always ripe. He did not care for the light brown mountain which stood toward the east. He announced that the yellow mountain would be his and would belong in the future to his people.

They then opened a door in the side of the brown mountain and drove out cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys, and mules. These became the property of your white people's nation. The Sun's son asked that some horses be given him. The Sun reminded him he had asked for the other mountain, and wanted to know why he had not then asked for horses.

From the east, mirage people rounded up some horses for him. The red dust of the round-up covered the ground. There are no horses, the Sun said. The boy asked again for horses only to be told he should have asked before when he chose between the two mountains. He asked, that notwithstanding, he be given some horses. The Sun took up a rope and led back a chestnut stallion from the east. He tied the horse which stood pawing the ground and nickering. The boy rode back on it to the place where I suppose Toxastin and his grandmother lived. He rode back in a single day and tied his horse. The horse kept nickering and pawing the earth all the time. He would not graze and the boy was not satisfied. He rode back to the house of the Sun, took off the rope, and the horse ran off toward the east kicking up his heels.

The boy told his father, the Sun, that the stallion he had given him was not satisfactory, and that he had come to ask for a different horse. His father went away and returned with two horses, a stallion and a mare. These are what you want, I suppose, the Sun said, and gave the boy a rope, a halter, a saddle blanket, and a saddle.

The boy led the horses back to the place where Toxastin, his grandmother, and his mother lived. He led the horses back to a place called Cottonwood-branches-hang-down. To the south, blue cottonwood branches hung down. To the west, yellow cottonwood branches hung down. To the north, white cottonwood branches hung down. The place was named the centre of the earth. The saddle was placed at the east, the saddle blanket at the south, the halter at the west, and the rope at the north.

In the dry stream bed to the east, black burdocks grew, while to the south, blue burdocks grew. To the west, yellow burdocks grew, and to the north, white burdocks. He turned out the two horses here to the east. Each time the Sun's son came back there, he found the two horses playing. After four days, he drove the horses up the valley a little way four times. When he went the fourth day to see them he found the tracks of a colt.

That cottonwood tree stood in the centre. On the east side of it a black stallion stood. On the south side a blue stallion stood, on the west side a yellow stallion, and on the north side a white stallion. Horses were walking around in the valleys to the east, south, west, and north. Thus there came to be horses here on the earth.

The Beginning Of Newness

This adaptation is taken from a story collected by Katharine Berry Judson in Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest, which was originally published by A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, in 1912. This is a Zuni tale.

BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW-MAKING, the All-father Father alone had being. Through ages there was nothing else except black darkness.

In the beginning of the New-making, the All-father Father thought outward in space, and mists were created and up-lifted. Thus through his knowledge he himself made the Sun who was thus created and is the great Father. The dark spaces brightened with light. The cloud mists thickened and became water.

From his flesh, the Sun-father created the Seed-stuff of worlds, and he himself rested upon the waters. And these two, the Four-fold-containing Earth-mother and the All-covering Sky-father, the surpassing beings, with power of changing their forms even as smoke changes in the wind, were the father and mother of the soul beings.

Then as man and woman these two spoke together. Behold! said Earth-mother, as a great terraced bowl appeared at hand, and within it water, This shall be the home of my tiny children. On the rim of each world-country in which they wander, terraced mountains shall stand, making in one region many mountains by which one country shall be known from another.

Then she spat on the water and struck it and stirred it with her fingers. Foam gathered about the terraced rim, mounting higher and higher. Then with her warm breath she blew across the terraces. White flecks of foam broke away and floated over the water. But the cold breath of Sky-father shattered the foam and it fell downward in fine mist and spray.

Then Earth-mother spoke, Even so shall white clouds float up from the great waters at the borders of the world, and clustering about the mountain terraces of the horizon, shall be broken and hardened by your cold. Then will they shed downward, in rain-spray, the water of life, even into the hollow places of my lap. For in my lap shall nestle our children, man-kind and creature-kind, for warmth in your coldness.

So even now the trees on high mountains near the clouds and Sky-father, crouch low toward Earth mother for warmth and protection. Warm is Earth-mother, cold our Sky-father.

Then Sky-father said, Even so. Yet I, too, will be helpful to our children. Then he spread his hand out with the palm downward and into all the wrinkles of his hand he set the semblance of shining yellow corn-grains, and in the dark of the early world-dawn they gleamed like sparks of fire.

See, he said, pointing to the seven grains between his thumb and four fingers, our children shall be guided by these when the Sun-father is not near and your terraces are as darkness itself. Then shall our children be guided by lights. So Sky-father created the stars. Then he said, And even as these grains gleam up from the water, so shall seed grain like them spring up from the earth when touched by water, to nourish our children. And thus they created the seed-corn. And in many other ways they devised things for their children, the soul-beings.

But the first children, in a cave of the earth, were unfinished. The cave was of sooty blackness, black as a chimney at night-time, and foul. Loud became their murmurings and lamentations, until many sought to escape, growing wiser and more man-like.

But the earth was not then as we now see it. Then Sun-father sent down two sons (sons also of the Foam-cap), the Beloved Twain, Twin Brothers of Light, yet Elder and Younger, the Right and the Left, like to question and answer in deciding and doing. To them the Sun-father imparted his own wisdom. He gave them the great cloud-bow, and for arrows the thunderbolts of the four quarters. For buckler, they had the fog-making shield, spun and woven of the floating clouds and spray. The shield supports its bearer, as clouds are supported by the wind, yet hides its bearer also. And he gave to them the fathership and control of men and of all creatures.

Then the Beloved Twain, with their great cloud-bow lifted the Sky-father into the vault of the skies, that the earth might become warm and fitter for men and creatures. Then along the sun-seeking trail, they sped to the mountains westward. With magic knives they spread open the depths of the mountain and uncovered the cave in which dwelt the unfinished men and creatures. So they dwelt with men, learning to know them, and seeking to lead them out.

Now there were growing things in the depths, like grasses and vines. So the Beloved Twain breathed on the stems, growing tall toward the light as grass is wont to do, making them stronger, and twisting them upward until they formed a great ladder by which men and creatures ascended to a second cave.

Up the ladder into the second cave-world, men and the beings crowded, following closely the Two Little but Mighty Ones. Yet many fell back and were lost in the darkness. They peopled the under-world from which they escaped in after time, amid terrible earth shakings.

In this second cave it was as