Gros Ventres (Astina)

(map)

Earthmaker, the keeper of the Flat Pipe, knew that the earth would be flooded. He must have been the only one who knew, for only he prepared for it, by building a raft. Presently the whole earth was flooded, and the Earthmaker floated on his raft with only the Pipe. In time he saw a mountaintop rising above the water and landed there.

There were many birds and animals there. The Keeper told the helldiver (mud hen), turtle, beaver, and muskrat to dive for some earth from the bottom. Helldiver and Turtle both came up drowned, but he found some mud on their feet or neck and put it on the raft. Beaver and Muskrat came up drowned, but without any mud.

When the mud had dried, the Keeper held a pinch of it towards the east, brought it back to his shoulder, and sang a song. He did this three times and then released the dust, which spread and formed land far into the distance. He repeated the ceremony facing south and again facing west, making more land.

Then, taking his Pipe, he wandered around the land. Tired of being alone, he molded mud into the shape of a human being, breathed on it three times, and made a man like himself. When they had traveled together for a time, the Keeper said, "We need a female in order to increase in number." When the man was asleep, he took the man's lowest rib, breathed on it three times, and a woman was created. They bore children, and soon there were many people. The Keeper taught them about the Pipe, sacred songs, and so forth.

John M. Cooper, The Gros Ventres of Montana: Part II, Religion and Ritual, The Catholic University of America Anthropological Series No. 16 (Washington, DC: Catholic Society of America Press, 1957), 435-437.