Creation Story
This story came from my Great Grandma and my Grandpa.
“ a white bear woke up with nothing to do and it was cold. It was very cold and he wondered what to do. A tiny light was seen in the distance and it came closer and nearer. As it came within sniffing distance, White Bear felt the warmth coming from it. White Bear went towards it. The light turned out to be the sun and it went overhead. Gee-sis, the sun, warmed White Bear. Gee-sis turned into Gee-shick. The sun turned into day. The sun, Gee-sis, shone light around so White bear could see the thousand colors of the snow all around. White Bear felt a shiver and he noticed, ever so slightly, that the sun was getting smaller. The sun was leaving.
White Bear decided to follow the heat of the sun and started to run and run. The land changed from flat to hilly to mountainous to flat to hilly and mountainous. White Bear could see things on the ground such as totems, lodges, buildings and all different kinds of beings. He got hotter and colder depending on his efforts to move. White Bear got hungry and he ate some of these things, while running.
Meanwhile Windigo, the soul catcher and cannibal, also wanted the heat of the sun. He set out to follow White Bear. Windigo tormented White Bear and sought an easier way to get the heat. Windigo tried to manipulate, implore and trick White Bear into doing all the work of getting the power of the sun. But he couldn’t. As White Bear ran, he ate and then he shit these things out. They came out looking different and some landed back down but upside down. While others landed back down right side-up. And some things never came out. The more White Bear stayed with the sun, the more the snow melted. The melting of the snow changed the winds direction and this worried the thunderbirds that were observing the events unfolding.
The thunderbirds had thrown their lightening bolts into the ground hoping to awake the sleepers. If they could wake up and tell White Bear to stop then the earth would be the same as it ever was. All White Bear could do was run faster and avoid the hot flashes of light and energy. He passed a half-frozen snake. The rain and thunder slowly moved across the snow and ice. This was a thundersnake that had been awoken by the thundersbirds’ attempt to shift the winds with their thunderbolts and massive wings. But the snake just wanted to find a rock and a warm piece of moss to lie on. He couldn’t move fast enough but with just the right synchronizing he could catch the lightening arc and ride it swiftly under the snow. The lightening allowed the half frozen snow snake to ride with it for just as long as the snake could hold on. This was hard for the snake had no legs and arms. And when the snake couldn’t hold on anymore, the thunder threw him off into the air from underneath the snow. Try as he might, the snake couldn’t get close enough to White Bear to make him stop running. (If you ever find a snake in the snow, it is a fortuitous sign that you will be gifted with some loud magic soon.)
Soon the whole world was water and White Bear had to swim very fast. He saw less and less of the other beings. He was getting hungrier and getting weaker by the moment. Soon there was nothing but the stillness of the sunlight sky. White Bear swam and swam. After passing the moon many times, White Bear came upon a raft and on it, there was a man, a woman, otters, beavers, loons, bats, muskrats and many other animals, birds and insects. White Bear decided to rest on the raft and join everybody there. Windigo caught up and proceeded to disrupt the community. Every bone and muscle in White Bear’s body was stinging from exhaustion. The sun left and he waited for something to happen.
There wasn’t much room on the raft and everybody couldn’t move around freely. White Bear was surprised when the sun came and left and he also noticed that he was getting a little black because he had come too close to the sun a few times. Meanwhile, the animals had decided to do something about their tight situation and were told by the sturgeons that there were plants growing at the bottom. The birds wanted to bring the mud and the seeds together and they all decided to bring the mud up. All of them tried to dive down but nobody could do it
The mighty divers tried to get to the bottom. The mighty loon, the playful otter and even the sturgeon were defeated by the challenge. It was too far down and they were all just about to give up when the overlooked female muskrat volunteered to do it. They never tipped over the raft from the ruckus of their guffawing, hollering and laughter. Muskrat put air bubbles on its fur and dove down. She used the air bubbles to breathe and made it all the way down to the bottom. Muskrat was able to grab some mud and plants and bring it up to the raft. Every one was silent. Muskrat kept doing this till there was enough on top of the raft to make a lot of extra room. The water was pushed aside and became shallower and soon the other swimmers started helping. The seeds were planted and soon the present world was created as it is today. The sun went further away to the moon and created winter and then came closer to earth and created summer. The four winds, the breath of the Great Mystery urged on the changes. White Bear, now known as Black Bear, was tired from running and went to sleep when the snow came. Some of its friends also did the same.
Windigo was scared of running water now and so when the water turned to ice, it could travel. When it is winter, Windigo is at it’s strongest and it can travel the world in a heartbeat, creating destruction. The humans decided through their little winds from their voice that the Anishninawbe would keep alive the life of the sleepers by setting up lodges to tell the stories. ” So said Grandpa and Great Grandma.