How Silver-Fox Created the WorldAs with most creation myths, this one begins with a large body of water. Coyote and Silver-Fox share the world above the sky, but Silver-Fox becomes curious and cuts a hole in it while Coyote is gone to peer down at the world. He goes down to the water and creates and island. Coyote eventually joins him and asks questions. Silver-Fox does not reply immediately to a lot of his questions. He is very mysterious that way.
Silver Fox keeps making the world bigger, pushing dirt out into all four directions. Where is he getting this dirt? I have no idea.
He makes Coyote run around the world to find how big it is growing. Then the two argue about how many moons should be in one winter. Coyote says 10, Silver-fox says two. It is then decided that there will be four moons in a whole year - 1 moon for spring, 1 moon for autumn, and two moons for winter. Notice how there’s no mention of Summer in here?
How Beaver Stole Fire
Before there were people, there were animals and trees that walked and talked like people. Only pine trees had fire and that means all the animals nearly froze to death in the winter. So one day, the animals got fed up with the greediness of the pine trees and plan to steal fire from them.
Beaver volunteers to do the job. As the pine trees are warming themselves at a large fire, a coal rolls down to the riverbank and beaver snatches it away, hiding it in his breast. Personally, I think this would burn, but maybe that’s just me.
A grand chase ensues between Beaver and the pine trees. The pine trees chase after him for a long way and eventually grow tired and stop in random places. This is why there are so many pine trees in certain parts along the river bank.
Once beaver is far ahead of everyone he gives fire to the trees and animals so that they can stay warm.
This is a myth of the Nez Perce. I wonder why it was beaver they chose to tell the story about? I would think fire and a water animal wouldn't mix, but maybe that’s just me.
The First Totem Pole
Wakiash was the chief of his tribe, but unlike the other chieftans, he never had a dance for his people. This made him ashamed, so he went to find solitude and fasted for four days.
On the fourth day he woke up and discovered he was on Raven’s back and Frog was on his chest. Frog was telling him that Raven was taking him to the house of animals to learn how to dance. I’ve heard Raven is a pretty important animal in Native American mythology, so I’m not surprised he’s featured here.
Anyway, the chieftan comes to the house of animals and hears them dancing inside. The animals have all shed their skins and are now in the form of people. Interesting! So I wonder if the Pacific Northwest natives have myths about Selkies too!
The animals can sense the stranger and send Mouse outside to investigate. She comes across the chieftan and he explains that he wants to learn the dances to bring to his people. Mouse tells him to come in just as the animals start dancing. So as they begin to dance again, Wakiash jumps into the room and the animals are shamed because they’ve been caught by a human in their people form. They ask what he wants and he answers truthfully.
So the animals teach Wakiash their dances and their songs. He packs up their house and the animals in it and takes them with him back to his tribe He returns to his people after being away for four years and throws down the bundle, revealing the house and the animals on a totem pole. Then he throws for his people the biggest dance ever seen and makes all the chieftans in the land ashamed. Afterwards he carves another totem pole and puts it outside his house and calls it Kalakuyuwish: The pole that holds up the sky.
Totem Poles in Vancouver
From Totem-Pole.net
No comments:
Post a Comment