Primal Myths

by Barbara C. Sproul

  This myth describes the origin of people (born from a plant, which surprises Raven), the differences between the inland and coastal peoples, the three worlds of the sky, earth, and water and the sacred spirits that inhabit all of them. In the end, it recalls the conflict between two Raven brothers over the proper placement of the sun and, as the world grows older and more ordered, the gradual loss of sacred power. As the Raven brother settles down to marriage and earthly life, he loses his ability to ascend from earth to the spirit world. Thus the separation of the two, so palpable now, is established.

  IT WAS in the time when there were no people on the earth plain. During four days the first man lay coiled up in the pod of a beach-pea. On the fifth day he stretched out his feet and burst the pod, falling to the ground, where he stood up, a full-grown man. He looked about him, and then moved his hands and arms, his neck and legs, and examined himself curiously. Looking back, he saw the pod from which he had fallen, still hanging to the vine, with a hole in the lower end, out of which he had dropped. Then he looked about him again and saw that he was getting farther away from his starting place, and that the ground moved up and down under his feet and seemed very soft. After a while he had an unpleasant feeling in his stomach, and he stooped down to take some water into his mouth from a small pool at his feet. The water ran down into his stomach and he felt better. When he looked up again he saw approaching, with a waving motion, a dark object which came on until just in front of him, when it stopped, and, standing on the ground, looked at him. This was a raven, and, as soon as it stopped, it raised one of its wings, pushed up its beak, like a mask, to the top of its head, and changed at once into a man. Before he raised his mask Raven had stared at the man, and after it was raised he stared more than ever, moving about from side to side to obtain a better view. At last he said: “What are you? Whence did you come? I have never seen anything like you.” Then Raven looked at Man, and was still more surprised to find that this strange new being was so much like himself in shape.

  Then he told Man to walk away a few steps, and in astonishment exclaimed again: “Whence did you come? I have never seen anything like you before.” To this Man replied: “I came from the pea-pod.” And he pointed to the plant from which he came. “Ah!” exclaimed Raven, “I made that vine, but did not know that anything like you would ever come from it. Come with me to the high ground over there; this ground I made later, and it is still soft and thin, but it is thicker and harder there.”

  In a short time they came to the higher land, which was firm under their feet. Then Raven asked Man if he had eaten anything. The latter answered that he had taken some soft stuff into him at one of the pools. “Ah!” said Raven, “you drank some water. Now wait for me here.”

  Then he drew down the mask over his face, changing again into a bird, and flew far up into the sky where he disappeared. Man waited where he had been left until the fourth day, when Raven returned, bringing four berries in his claws. Pushing up his mask, Raven became a man again and held out two sal-monberries and two heathberries, saying, “Here is what I have made for you to eat. I also wish them to be plentiful over the earth. Now eat them.” Man took the berries and placed them in his mouth one after the other and they satisfied his hunger, which had made him feel uncomfortable. Raven then led Man to a small creek near by and left him while he went to the water’s edge and molded a couple of pieces of clay into the form of a pair of mountain sheep, which he held in his hand, and when they became dry he called Man to show him what he had done. Man thought they were very pretty, and Raven told him to close his eyes. As soon as Man’s eyes were closed Raven drew down his mask and waved his wings four times over the images, when they became endowed with life and bounded away as full-grown mountain sheep. Raven then raised his mask and told Man to look. When Man saw the sheep moving away, full of life, he cried out with pleasure. Seeing how pleased Man was, Raven said, “If these animals are numerous, perhaps people will wish very much to get them.” And Man said he thought they would. “Well,” said Raven, “it will be better for them to have their home among the high cliffs, so that every one can not kill them, and there only shall they be found.”

  Then Raven made two animals of clay which he endowed with life as before, but as they were dry only in spots when they were given life, they remained brown and white, and so originated the tame reindeer with mottled coat. Man thought these were very handsome, and Raven told him that they would be very scarce. In the same way a pair of wild reindeer were made and permitted to get dry and white only on their bellies, then they were given life; in consequence, to this day the belly of the wild reindeer is the only white part about it. Raven told Man that these animals would be very common, and people would kill many of them.

  “You will be very lonely by yourself,” said Raven. “I will make you a companion.” He then went to a spot some distance from where he had made the animals, and, looking now and then at Man, made an image very much like him. Then he fastened a lot of fine water grass on the back of the head for hair, and after the image had dried in his hands, he waived his wings over it as before and a beautiful young woman arose and stood beside Man. “There,” cried Raven, “is a companion for you,” and he led them back to a small knoll near by.

  In those days there were no mountains far or near, and the sun never ceased shining brightly; no rain ever fell and no winds blew. When they came to the knoll, Raven showed the pair how to make a bed in the dry moss, and they slept there very warmly; Raven drew down his mask and slept near by in the form of a bird. Waking before the others, Raven went back to the creek and made a pair each of sticklebacks, graylings, and blackfish. When these were swimming about in the water, he called Man to see them. When the latter looked at them and saw the sticklebacks swim up the stream with a wriggling motion he was so surprised that he raised his hand suddenly and the fish darted away. Raven then showed him the graylings and told him that they would be found in clear mountain streams, while the sticklebacks would live along the seacoast and that both would be good for food. Next the shrew-mouse was made, Raven saying that it would not be good for food but would enliven the ground and prevent it from seeming barren and cheerless.

  In this way Raven continued for several days making birds, fishes, and animals, showing them to Man, and explaining their uses.

  After this he flew away to the sky and was gone four days, when he returned, bringing back a salmon for the use of Man. Looking about he saw that the ponds and lakes were silent and lonely, so he created many water insects upon their surfaces, and from the same clay he made the beaver and the muskrat to frequent their borders. Then, also, were made flies, mosquitoes, and various other land and water insects, it being explained to Man that these were made to enliven and make cheerful the earth. At that time the mosquito was like the house-fly in its habits and did not bite as it does now.

  Man was shown the muskrat and told to take its skin for clothing. He was also told that the beavers would live along the streams and build strong houses and that he must follow their example, and likewise that the beavers would be very cunning and only good hunters would be able to take them.

  At this time the woman gave birth to a child, and Raven directed Man how to feed and care for it, telling him that it would grow into a man like himself. As soon as the child was born, Raven and Man took it to a creek, rubbed it over with clay, and then returned with it to his stopping place on the knoll. The next morning the child was running about pulling up grass and other plants which Raven had caused to grow near by; on the third day the child became a full-grown man.

  After this Raven thought that if he did not create something to make men afraid they would destroy everything he had made to inhabit the earth. Then he went to a creek near by, where he formed a bear and gave it life, jumping to one side quickly as the bear stood up and looked fiercely about. Man was then called and told that the bear would be very fierce and would tear him to pieces if he disturbed it. Then were made different kinds of seals, and t
heir names and habits were explained to man. Raven also taught Man to make rawhide lines from sealskin, and snares for deer, but cautioned him to wait until the deer were abundant before he snared any of them.

  In time the woman was with child again, and Raven said it would be a girl and they must rub her over with clay as soon as she was born, and that after she was grown she must marry her brother. Then Raven went away to the place of the pea vine, where the first man was found. While he was gone a girl was born and the pair did as they were told, and the next day the girl walked about. On the third day she became a full-grown woman, and was married to the young man as directed by Raven, in order that the earth might be peopled more rapidly.

  When Raven reached the pea vine he found three other men had just fallen from the pea pod that gave the first one. These men, like the first, were looking about them in wonder, and Raven led them away in an opposite direction from that in which he had taken the first man, afterward bringing them to firm land close to the sea. Here they stopped, and Raven remained with them a long time, teaching them how to live. He taught them how to make a fire drill and bow from a piece of dry wood and a cord, taking the wood from the bushes and small trees he had caused to grow in hollows and sheltered places on the hillside. He made for each of the men a wife, and also made many plants and birds such as frequent the seacoast, but fewer kinds than he had made in the land where the first man lived. He taught the men to make bows and arrows, spears, nets, and all the implements of the chase and how to use them; also how to capture the seals which had now become plentiful in the sea. After he had taught them how to make kaiaks, he showed them how to build houses of drift logs and bushes covered with earth. Now the three wives of the last men were all pregnant, and Raven went back to the first man, where he found the children were married; then he told Man about all he had done for the people on the seacoast. Looking about here he thought the earth seemed bare; so, while the others slept, he caused birch, spruce, and cottonwood trees to spring up in low places, and then awoke the people, who were much pleased at seeing the trees. After this they were taught how to make fire with the fire drill and to place the spark of tinder in a bunch of dry grass and wave it about until it blazed, then to place dry wood upon it. They were shown how to roast fish on a stick, to make fish traps of splints and willow bark, to dry salmon for winter use, and to make houses.

  Raven then went back to the coast men again. When he had gone Man and his son went down to the sea and the son caught a seal which they tried to kill with their hands but could not, until, finally, the son killed it by a blow with his fist. Then the father took off its skin with his hands alone and made it into lines which they dried. With these lines they set snares in the woods for reindeer. When they went to look at these the next morning, they found the cords bitten in two and the snares gone, for in those days reindeer had sharp teeth like dogs. After thinking for a time the young man made a deep hole in the deer trail and hung in it a heavy stone fastened to the snare so that when it caught a deer the stone would slip down into the hole, drag the deer’s neck down to the ground, and hold it fast. The next morning when they returned they found a deer entangled in the snare. Taking it out they killed and skinned it, carrying the skin home for a bed; some of the flesh was roasted on the fire and found to be very good to eat.

  One day Man went out seal hunting along the seashore. He saw many seals, but in each case after he had crept carefully up they would tumble into the water before he could get to them, until only one was left on the rocks; Man crept up to it more carefully than before, but it also escaped. Then he stood up and his breast seemed full of a strange feeling, and the water began to run in drops from his eyes and down his face. He put up his hand and caught some of the drops to look at them and found that they were really water; then, without any wish on his part, loud cries began to break from him and the tears ran down his face as he went home. When his son saw him coming, he called to his wife and mother to see Man coming along making such a strange noise; when he reached them they were still more surprised to see water running down his face. After he told them the story of his disappointment they were all stricken with the same strange ailment and began to wail with him, and in this way people first learned how to cry. After this the son killed another seal and they made more deer snares from its hide.

  When the deer caught this time was brought home, Man told his people to take a splint bone from its foreleg and to drill a hole in the large end. Into this they put some strands of sinew from the deer and sewed skins upon their bodies to keep themselves warm when winter came; for Raven had told them to do this, so that the fresh deerskins dried upon them. Man then showed his son how to make bows and arrows and to tip the latter with points of horn for killing deer; with them the son killed his first deer. After he had cut up this deer he placed its fat on a brush and then fell asleep; when he awoke he was very angry to find that mosquitoes had eaten all of it. Until this time mosquitoes had never bitten people, but Man scolded them for what they had done and said, “Never eat meat again, but eat men,” and since that day mosquitoes have always bitten people.

  Where the first man lived there had now grown a large village, for the people did everything as Raven directed them, and as soon as a child was born it was rubbed with clay and so caused to grow to its full stature in three days. One day Raven came back and sat by Man, and they talked of many things. Man asked Raven about the land he had made in the sky. Raven said that he had made a fine land there, whereupon Man asked to be taken to see it. This was agreed to and they started toward the sky where they arrived in a short time. There Man found himself in a beautiful country with a very much better climate than that on earth; but the people who lived there were very small. Their heads reached only to his thigh when they stood beside him. Man looked about as they journeyed and saw many strange animals; also that the country was much finer than the one he had left. Raven told him that this land, with its people and animals, was the first he had made.

  The people living here wore handsomely made fur clothing, worked in ornamental patterns, such as people now wear on earth; for Man, on his return, showed his people how to make clothes in this manner, and the patterns have been retained ever since. After a time they came to a large kashim, and went in; a very old man, the first made by Raven in the sky land, came out from his place of honor at the head of the room, opposite the door, and welcomed them, telling the people to bring food for the guest from the lower land, who was his friend. Then boiled flesh of a kind which Man had never eaten before was brought to him. Raven told him that it was from the mountain sheep and the tame reindeer. After Man had eaten Raven led him on again to show him other things which he had made, and told him not to try to drink from any of the lakes they might pass, for in them he had made animals that would seize and destroy him if he went near.

  On the way they came to a dry lake bed in which tall grass was growing thickly. Lying upon the very tips of this grass, which did not bend under its weight, was a large, strange-looking animal, with a long head and six legs. The two hind-legs were unusually large; the forelegs were short, and a small pair extended down from the belly. All over the animal’s body grew fine, thick hair, like that on the shrew-mouse, but it was longer about the feet. From the back of the head grew a pair of thick, short horns, which extended forward and curved back at the tips. The animal had small eyes and was of very dark color or blackish.

  Raven told Man that when people wished to kill one of these animals they first placed logs on the ground under them, for, if they did not, the animal would sink into the earth when he fell and be lost. In order to kill one of them many people were needed, and when the animal fell on the logs other logs must be thrown over it and held down, while two men took large clubs and beat in its skull between the eyes.

  Next they came to a round hole in the sky, around the border of which grew a ring of short grass, glowing like fire. This, Raven said, was a star called the Moon-dog (i-gha-lum ki-mukh-ti). The tops of th
e grass bordering the hole were gone, and Raven said that his mother had taken some, and he had taken the rest to make the first fire on earth. He added that he had tried to make some of this same kind of grass on the earth but could not.

  Man was now told to close his eyes and he would be taken to another place. Raven took him upon his wings and, dropping through the star hole, they floated down for a long time, until at last they entered something that seemed to resist their course. Finally they stopped, and Raven said they were standing at the bottom of the sea. Man breathed quite easily there, and Raven told him that the foggy appearance was caused by the water. He said, “I will make some new kinds of animals here; but you must not walk about; you must lie down, and if you become tired you may turn over upon the other side.”

  Raven then left Man lying on one side, where he rested for a long time; finally he awoke, but felt very tired, so he tried to turn over, but could not. Then Man thought, “I wish I could turn over;” and in a moment he turned without effort. As he did this he was surprised to see that his body had become covered with long, white hairs and that his fingers had become long claws, but he quickly fell asleep again. He awoke, and turned over and fell asleep three times more. When he awoke the fourth time Raven stood beside him and said, “I have changed you into a white bear. How do you like it?” Man tried to answer, but could not make a sound until the Raven waved his magic wing over him, when he replied that he did not like it, for he would have to live on the sea while his son would be on the shore, and he would feel badly. Then Raven made a stroke with his wings and the bearskin fell from Man and lay empty at one side while he sat up in his original form. Then Raven took one of his tail-feathers, placing it inside the bearskin for a spine, and, after waving his wing over it, a white bear arose. Then they passed on, and ever since white bears have been found on the frozen sea.