American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends) (28 page)

“I was stupid,” said Veeho. “I should have kept my mouth shut.”

{
Gros Ventre
}

The people before the present people were wild. They did not know how to do anything. Nixant did not like the way they lived and did things. He thought, “I will make a new world.”

He had the chief pipe. He went outdoors and hung the pipe on three sticks. He picked up four buffalo chips. One he put under each of the sticks on which the pipe hung, and one he took for his own seat. He said, “I will sing three times and shout three times. After I have done these things, I will kick the earth, and water will come out of the cracks. There will be a heavy rain. There will be water over all the earth.”

Then he began to sing. After he sang three times, he shouted three times. Then he kicked the ground and it cracked. The water came out, and it rained for days, and over all the earth was water. By means of the buffalo chips he and the pipe floated.

Then it stopped raining. There was water everywhere. He floated wherever the wind took him. For days he drifted thus.

Above him the Crow flew about. All the other birds and animals were drowned. The Crow became tired. It flew about, crying, “My father, I am becoming tired. I want to rest.” Three times it said this.

After it said so three times, Nixant said, “Alight on the pipe and rest.” Repeatedly the Crow cried to him, and each time was allowed to alight on the pipe.

Nixant became tired sitting in one position. He cried. He did not know what to do. After he had cried a long time, he began to unwrap the chief pipe. The pipe contained all animals. He selected those with a long breath to dive through the water. First he selected the Large Loon. The Loon was not alive, but Nixant had its body wrapped up in the pipe. Nixant sang, and then commanded it to dive and try to bring mud. The Loon dived. It was not halfway down when it lost its breath and immediately turned back. It came up almost drowned at the place where Nixant was.

Then Nixant took the Small Loon’s body and sang. Then the Small Loon dived. It nearly reached the mud at the bottom. Then it lost its breath and went up again and, nearly dead, reached the place where Nixant was.

Then he took the Turtle. He sang and it became alive, and he sent it and it dived. Meanwhile, the Crow did not alight, but flew about, crying for rest. Nixant did not listen to it. After a long time the Turtle came up. It was nearly dead. It had filled its feet and the cracks along its sides with mud. When it reached Nixant, all the mud had been washed away and it was nearly dead.

Nixant said, “Did you succeed in reaching the mud?”

The Turtle said, “Yes, I reached it. I had much of it in my feet and about my sides, but it all washed away from me before I came to you.”

Then Nixant said to it, “Come to me,” and the Turtle went to him. Nixant looked at the inside of her feet and in the cracks of its sides. On the inside of the feet he found a little earth. He scraped this into his hand. Meanwhile, the Crow had become very tired.

Then Nixant, when he had scraped the earth into his hand, began to sing. After he had sung three times, he shouted three times. Then he said, “I will throw this little dust that I have in my hand into the water. Little by little let there be enough to make a strip of land large enough for me.” Then he began to drop it, little by little, into the water, opening and closing his hand carefully, and when he had dropped it all, there was a little land, large enough for him to sit on.

Then he said to the Crow, “Come down and rest. I have made a little land for myself and for you.” Then the Crow came down and rested. After it had rested, it flew up again.

Then Nixant took out from his pipe two long wing feathers. He had one in each hand and began to sing. After he had sung three times, he shouted three times, “
Youh
,
hou
,
hou,
” and spread his arms and closed his eyes. When he had done this, he said to himself, “Let there be land as far as my eyes can see around me.” When he opened his eyes, then indeed there was land.

After he had made the land, there was no water anywhere. He went about with his pipe and with the Crow. They were all that there was to be seen in the world. Now Nixant was thirsty. He did not know what to do to get water. Then he thought, “I will cry.” He cried. While he cried, he closed his eyes. He tried to think how he could get water. He shed tears. His tears dropped to the ground. They made a large spring in front of him. Then a stream ran from the spring. When he stopped crying, a large river was flowing. Thus he made rivers and streams.

He became tired of being alone with the Crow and the pipe. He decided to make persons and animals. He took earth and made it into the shape of a man. He made also the shape of a woman. Then he made more figures of earth, until he had many men and women. When he thought he had enough persons, he made animals of all kinds in pairs. When he had finished making these shapes, he named the tribes of people and the kinds of animals. Then he sang three times, and shouted three times. After he had shouted, he kicked the ground, and there were living pairs of beings standing before him, animals and men. The reason why men are dark in color is that earth is dark.

Nixant called the world Turtle because the Turtle was the animal that had helped him to make the world. Then he made bows and arrows for men, and told them how to use them. The pipe he gave to a tribe that he called
haa‘ninin,
Gros Ventre. Then he said to the people, “If you are good and act well, there will be no more water and no more fire.” Long before the water rose, the world had been burned. This now is the third life. Then he showed them the rainbow, and said to them, “This rainbow is the sign that the earth will not be covered with water again. Whenever you have rain, you will see the rainbow; and when you see it, it will mean that the rain has gone by. There will be another world after this one.” He told the people to separate in pairs and to select habitations in the world for themselves. That is why human beings are scattered.

{
Gros Ventre
}

There was a man who had the power to call buffalo so that they could be hunted. Whenever there was no game, and the people were starving, this powerful man climbed to the top of a hill and sang: “
Hi-i-tana Wukatyii
.”

Then the buffalo came and could be killed. Then the people had a feast. Nixant was jealous. He also wanted to be able to make buffalo come to him. He asked the powerful man to teach him the song. The man did. He told Nixant: “Don’t use it too often. Use it only once during the hunting months.” Nixant would not listen. He used the song all the time. He wanted to show off. So many buffalo came that they ran all over the camp, trampling over tipis and people.

“Stop singing my song,” the powerful man told Nixant. Nixant would not listen. He kept singing: “Come, buffalo, come to me!”

Nixant’s penis was big. It stood up. It shouted: “Buffalo, do not come, stay away!” The buffalo did not come.

Nixant felt like copulating. He noticed some young women digging wild turnips. He called out to them: “You girls, come over here. I want to dance for you.”