“ The clouds are large bags of water, owned by two old women who push them across the sky. The thunder is their voice and the lightning their torch. When water leaks out of the seams of the bags, it rains on earth. If a spark of lightning falls upon anyone, he has to go to the Ghost Land. ”

“ But others say that Old One built him a house of transparent ice and put inside of it a log of wood which burns forever. The aurora is the light of Coyote’s fire, shining through the ice, or the reflection of it cast up by the ice. Coyote can hear when people speak his name. When he rolls over in his sleep, it creates the sharp wind which makes the earth so cold.
Coyote lived for many years in Nicola Valley. He hunted elk and deer in the winter time, and in the early fall he fished for salmon about six miles above Spence’s Bridge where he had a weir across the Thompson River. ”

“ That night Wisagatcak made magic again. He tried to dig down through the earth to his raft, to get a log from it; but the earth was so thick, and the pressure of it so great, he could not even find a trace of a log. When he failed to get even a stick, he said to Beaver, “I’ll make a creek for you, and you will have to live on grass roots until trees grow up.”
That is why, even today, Beaver eats certain white roots as well as bark. ”

“ Now when Sun saw what was happening to the 48 people of the Earth World, he rushed up the trail, and said, “Why do you do so? Do you think it is good that there should be no people on the Earth World?”
Sun took the half-burned torches and put them out. Then he pushed Mink right out of the Sky Land, saying, “Go right down to the Earth World again. You shall be mink and men shall hunt you.” ”

“ They also ate Big Beaver. Tlecsa said, “Hereafter beaver shall be speared by mankind. The Indians shall use their flesh and skins. Beavers shall no longer have magic power;” and it was so.
Now Tlecsa and his brothers wandered around through the mountains and through Bonaparte Valley, and after a while they went up the Marble Cañon. On a high cliff lived Great Eagle, who swooped down on the Indians in the valley. He would catch an Indian and dash him against the rocks and bring him to the young eaglets in his nest. Tlecsa said, “I shall ornament myself with eagle feathers.” ”

“ But soon the chinook wind began to blow. The ice and snow melted. The people felt the cold no more. Then Fox said, “Henceforth the chinook wind shall no longer belong only to the Heat People of the south. Warm winds shall blow over the north and the rest of the world. They shall melt the snow and dry the earth. Only sometimes may they be followed by fire. Henceforth the Cold People shall not always rule the weather and plague the Indians with their icy winds.” ”

“ At the sunset stands an enormous post which supports the sky and prevents Sun from falling down into the lower world. The trail of Sun is a wide bridge. It is as broad as the distance between the summer solstice and the winter solstice. Sun always walks with his face to the west. In summer he walks on the right-hand side of the bridge, and in winter at the left-hand side. The extreme right-and left-hand sides of the bridge are called “Place where the Sun sits down.” If Sun tarries too long on the left-hand side of the bridge, people say, “Salmon will be dried late this year.” ”

“ Raven and Sea Gull were friends. Their houses were close together in the Lillooet country. It was dark all over the world at this time, because Sea Gull owned the daylight, which he kept in a box. He never let any of it out except for his own use.
Raven said, “It isn’t fair that Sea Gull should have all the daylight. People should have some of it.” Therefore Raven planned to get the daylight.
One night he placed thorn branches on the trail between Sea Gull’s house and the place where his canoe was fastened. Then he ran to Sea Gull, shouting, “Your canoe has gone adrift! ”

“ In those days death did not happen often.
Therefore Old One began to travel. He went everywhere. He came down to the Earth World and went into the Shuswap country. Here he found the people very ignorant. He taught them how to fell trees and make twine, how to sew clothes and make needles and awls. He also taught them how to hunt game, how to trap, and dig roots, and gather berries so they would have food enough. So the people were much happier. There were no salmon there in those days; it was long afterward that Coyote brought the salmon up the river. ”

“ When a man enters Ghost Land there is always a dance given in his honor.
People who are drowned go to Killer-Whale Country. But first they go to The-One-in-the-Sea who gives them their fins and then they go into the houses of the other Killer Whales. When killer whales gather in front of a town, it is thought they are human beings who have been drowned and take this way of informing the people.
One man who went to the Ghost Land, after he had been there for some time, put all his property in his canoe and went to Xada, which is the second Ghost Land. ”

“ Soon Eagle came and stood for a while over the smoke hole. The uncle exclaimed, “Danger! We are in danger! We must have a council at once!”
So they called a council of all the animals. The young man sent around saying, “Come, for there is danger!” They all came at once. The old man stood at the door of his house. Some of the animals he would not allow to enter. He said to Deer, to Bear, and to Wolf, “I do not want you at this council. You can run too fast.” Only the animals that could not run fast were allowed to form a council. Turtle came, and Otter and Skunk and Porcupine and others. ”

“ Moon always sits in the outer room, but in an inside room, the Eskimo saw Sun. She is Moon’s wife. The moment she saw the Eskimo, she brightened her fire and got behind the glow of it, therefore the Eskimo could not look at her for the brightness. Moon had great piles of deer meat lying about, and piled up; yet he did not offer any to the Eskimo until he and Sun had danced a very strange dance.
There are great plains in Moon Land, and large herds of deer roaming over them. Moon allowed the 66 Eskimo to choose one animal, which at once fell through a hole in Moon Land to the earth below. ”

“ And in the myths of British North America, especially on the western coast, there are many legends involving cannibalism—an element entirely lacking in the myths of the United States, whether east or west. Even Alaskan myths practically omit that subject, while in the Old South-west—New Mexico and Arizona—one finds myths of rare beauty and charm of imagery. ”

“ The Summer Birds dropped right down to the earth through a hole in the Sky Land, but the man closed the hole before they all got through. That is why it is not summer all the time. If all the Summer Birds had come to earth, it would always be summer.
Fisher did not have time to jump back to earth, so he rushed up among the stars. The man followed close after him, trying to shoot him with his bow and arrows. But Fisher got safely into Star Land. Only the man shot him once and hit him in the tail. That is why Fisher’s tail is broken. You can see it today—so the Indians say. ”

“ BRITISH NORTH AMERICA BELIEFS Haida
The Earth World is flat and has a circular out-line, and above it is a solid sky like a great bowl. Upon the top of the sky is the Sky Country. The sky rises and falls regularly, and so the clouds strike against the mountains and make a noise. ”

“ The Bella Coola believe there are five worlds, one above the other. The middle one is our own world, the earth. Above it are two upper worlds, one the home of Afraid of Nothing, and the one below that is the House of the Sun. Below our earth are two lower worlds. ”

“ In order to reach it, one must pass through the House of the Sun; though some people say that the sky is rent and one must pass through the great hole to reach the upper world.
The house of Afraid of Nothing stands in the far east. A strong wind blows always toward it across the open prairie so that everything rolls to her house ”

“ Only a man and his mother and his sister were saved. Before the fire there were many people on earth. Then the young man fell out with his father, and they became enemies. The young man had heard that all the world was to be burned, but his father did not believe it. ”

“ One day Blackbird said to Redbird, “There are great fields of wild rice across the lake. We ought to go and gather it.” So the very next day they crossed the lake and found themselves among large fields of wild rice. They began gathering the rice, then they saw people near by. They went to the people and said, “How do you do?”
The people said, “We have never seen you before.” Blackbird said, “No. We live on the other side of the lake. We live on the wild potatoes we find there.” The people said, “Well, you did right in coming over here. You ought to have good food.” ”

“ Indian myths and legends are the efforts of the red men to answer these questions, as well as to interest and amuse each other in the long winter evenings when the fires burned brightly in the tepees and the carved plumstone dice were thrown. Men forgot their games and women the beading of the moccasin, while children listened intently, as the story tellers of the camp related, with dramatic gestures, stories of the Days of the Grandfathers, in the beginning of the Newness of Things. ”

“ So we are salmon-berry bushes and grass. Therefore we die in a short time, because grass and salmon-berry bushes are weak. Therefore people die in just the same way the leaves fall.
119 HOW DEATH CAME Lillooet
Raven was once a chief of great power and very wise. At that time people did not die. One day a man came to Raven and said, “I am not happy as things go now. Let people die so that we may weep, and then we will be happy.”
Raven said, “Very well. If people wish to die, it shall be so.” ”

“ Because Sun tore it in pieces, the big mosquitoes came to be in the world.
Then he escaped to his canoe.
117 ORIGIN OF DEATH Thompson River
Ant and Spider were very wise. They were arguing one day about death. Spider said to Ant, “You are cutting yourself in two with that tight belt. Soon you will die.”
Ant said, “Well, if I do, I shall come to life again in a few hours.”
Spider said, “I think it would be better if people died properly, else the world will soon become overcrowded. If so many people come to earth and none die, soon people will starve.” ”

“ He began to melt Glacier. Glacier could only fight him with hail. Then Chinook Wind came back again, warm and steady and strong. Glacier retreated up the mountain side, leaving his wife behind.
Chinook’s daughter at once stepped into the canoe with her brother and his friends, and they paddled again down to Lillooet Lake. Then her brother turned around and said:
“Henceforth, in this country, it shall be cold and icy only for a few months each year. Then Chinook Wind will come and drive away the cold and melt the ice as we have done. The journey we have made this year shall be made every year.” ”

“ The hunter who has shot deer, or the woman who has found many berries, prays, “Father, you make me happy; you give me what I desire; thus I find what I wished for!”
The Bella Coola also make offerings to the Sun. Hunters throw four small slices of seal meat, or of mountain-goat tallow, into the fire, as an offering to Sun, to obtain success in hunting.
58
There are other gods living in the House of the Sun. Two of them wake man after sleep; without their help nobody could awaken from sleep. One of them is the guardian of the Moon. Every month she restores the Moon to her full size ”

“ If an Eskimo should happen to enter their house, he must run away immediately, or Ingnirtung will strike him. Even the stones are so afraid of her that they jump down the hills whenever they see lightning or hear thunder. ”

“ Shuswap
Fox and Hare were brothers. They lived together with many other people. This was in the days of the grandfathers when there was no fire and the earth was very cold. The Cold People of the north delighted in making icy winds sweep down over the Indian country. The people shivered, shivered always.
One morning Fox smoked his pipe and muttered, “Last night I dreamed. I gained much knowledge.” When Fox had finished smoking, he said to the people, “The People of the Cold have had power over us for a long time. Do you like the cold?”
The Indians at once said, “No. We hate the cold ”

“ He owned all the light, fire, and water; therefore men were very miserable and sighed always. Men pleaded with the old chief for light, but he would give them none. Therefore they tried to get it by craft.
Now all the animals put on their masks and their dancing aprons and went to the old chief’s lodge for a dance. He did not invite them. They went. They were going to get light by craft.
Now each one sang his own song. Fox kept singing,
Khain, khain, khain,
because he thought in that way he would gain light. ”