Montagnais

(map)

Messou was hunting with his dogs, when his dogs got caught in a large lake. He couldn't find them until a bird told him that it had seen the lost dogs in the lake. Messou entered the lake to rescue them, but the lake overflowed, covered the land, and destroyed the world. Messou sent first a raven and then an otter to find a piece of earth, but neither could find any. He next sent down a muskrat, which dived and returned with just a tiny amount of land, but enough for Messou to form the land we are on. Messou fired arrows into the trunks of trees, and the arrows turned into branches. He took revenge on those who had detained his dogs. He married the muskrat and by it peopled the world.

Brinton, Daniel G. The Myths of the New World (New York: Greenwood Press, 1876, 1969), 225; Frazer, 1919, 296.

Being angry with giants, God commanded a man to build a large canoe. The man did so, and when he embarked, the water rose till no land was visible anywhere. Weary of seeing nothing but water, the man threw an otter into it. The otter dived and brought up a little mud, which the man breathed on and caused to expand. He placed the earth on the water and prevented it from sinking. After awhile, he placed reindeer on the new island, but they completed a circuit of the island quickly, so he concluded it wasn't yet large enough. He continued to blow on it and grow it so the mountains, lakes, and rivers were formed; then he disembarked.

Frazer, 1919, 296-297.