Beaver (Dane-zaa)

(map)

A flood, caused by the melting of snow which accumulated during four summerless years, covered the earth. Certain people saved themselves by turning into waterbirds. They tried diving to find land, but without success. A small bird named Xak'ale said he would look. He disappeared under the water for a long time. When he came up, all out of breath, he had a little earth under his fingernails. From that, they made the earth again.

Pliny Earle Goddard, The Beaver Indians, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 10, part 4 (New York: Trustees of the AMNH, 1916), 256 n. 2.