Crow

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It rained a hundred days and nights, and all was water. "What shall we do?" Old Man Coyote asked. "We will make the earth. Ducks black and white, come! Which of you is ablest to bring earth?"

"We are about the same."

"White duck, you go ahead, look for earth."

The white duck flew up and went far. He dived down and stayed long. When he came back, he said, "Old Man Coyote, there is no earth."

"Go, white duck, try again."

The white duck dived and came back after a long time. "There is no earth."

"You lie! You almost cause us to die. Black duck, you go now and look for earth."

The black duck dived. After a long time he came out with mud in his hands. "There is earth. Here it is. Take it, make the earth."

"Later we will make it," Old Man Coyote said.

"No, it is well you do it now."

Old Man Coyote put the mud on the water, and it spread out to become the earth.

"Where shall we live?" asked the ducks.

"Keep still! We will invoke somebody. We will invoke Cunning-woman. Come, Cunning-woman, make homes for these ducks."

"It is easy," Cunning-woman said. With her cane she drew lines. They were rivers. "Go, ducks, live there. Chew the plant leaves, and rub your swellings with them. Chew the plant roots and rub them where you hurt. Your food plants are all there. When they are hot and ripe, eat them."

This is the end.

Robert H. Lowie, Crow Texts (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1960), 198-200.