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as a female. This version is unusual for the Cherokee because it refers to
the Sun as "he".
top to the four sacred directions. The ropes are tied to the ceiling of the sky, which is made of hard
rock crystal. When the ropes break, this world will come tumbling down, and all living things will
fall with it and die. Then everything will be as if the earth never existed, for water will cover it.
Well, in the beginning also, water covered everything. Though living creatures existed, their home
was up there, above the rainbow, and it was crowded. "We are all jammed together," the animals
said. "We need more room." Wondering what was under the water, they sent Water Beetle to look
around.
Water Beetle skimmed over the surface but couldn't find any solid footing, so he
dived down to the bottom and brought up a little dab of soft mud. Magically the mud
spread out in four directions and became this island we are living on - this earth.
Someone Powerful then fastened it to the sky ceiling with cords.
In the beginning the earth was flat, soft, and moist. All the animals were eager to live
on it, and they kept sending down birds to see if the mud had dried and hardened
enough to take their weight. But the birds all flew back and said there was still no
spot they could perch on.
Then the animals sent Grandfather Buzzard down. He flew very close and saw that
the earth was still soft, but when he glided low over what was to become Cherokee
country, he found that the mud was getting harder. By that time Buzzard was tired
and dragging. When he flapped his wings down, they made a valley where they
touched the earth; when he swept them up, they made a mountain. The animals
watching from above the rainbow said, "If he keeps on, there will only be mountains,"
and they made him come back. That's why we have so many mountains in Cherokee
land.
At last the earth was hard and dry enough, and the animals descended.
They couldn't see very well because they had no sun or moon, and someone said,
"Let's grab Sun from up there behind the rainbow! Let's get him down too!" Pulling
Sun down, they told him, "Here's a road for you," and showed him the road to go --
from east to west.
Now they had light, but it was much too hot, because Sun was too close to the earth.
The crawfish had his back sticking out of a stream, and Sun burned it red. His meat
was spoiled forever, and the people still won't eat crawfish.
Everyone asked the sorcerers, the shamans, to put Sun higher. They pushed him up
as high as a man, but it was still too hot. So they pushed him farther, but it wasn't far
enough. They tried four times, and when they had Sun up to the height of four men,
he was just hot enough. Everyone was satisfied so they left him there.
Before making humans, Someone Powerful had created plants and animals and had
told them to stay awake and watch for seven days and seven nights. (This is just
what young men do today when they fast and prepare for a ceremony.) But most of
the plants and animals couldn't manage it; some fell asleep after one day, some after
two days, some after three. Among the animals, only the owl and the mountain lion
were awake after seven days and nights. That's why they were given the gift of
seeing in the dark so that they can hunt at night.
Among the trees and other plants, only cedar, pine, holly, and laurel were still awake
on the eighth morning. Someone Powerful said to them: "Because you watched and
kept awake as you had been told, you will not lose your hair in the winter." So these
plants stay green all the time.
After creating plants and animals, Someone Powerful made a man and his sister.
The man poked her with a fish and told her to give birth. After seven days she had a
baby,and after seven more days she had another, and every seven days there came
another. The humans increased so quickly that Someone Powerful, thinking there
would soon be no more room on this earth, arranged things so that a woman could
have only one child every year. And that's how it was.
Now, there is still another world under the one we live on. You can reach it by going
down a spring, a water hole; but you need underworld people to be your scouts and
guide you. The world under our earth is exactly like ours, except that it's winter down
there when it's summer up here. We can see that easily, because spring water is
warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in summer.
in New York City , 1975
American Indian
Myths and Legends
selected and edited by
Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz