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(see also, Ellen Furlong Crispen)
A long, long time ago, animal-people and man-people spoke the same language. These earth-people lived in the land of the Umpquas, whose home was on the bank of a river where there were many fish. They lived in the shadow of a great mountain. In the long ago time, that mountain was high and forever the top was covered with snow. Below that snow there were trees. There were meadows where the grass grew high and young animal-people played in the sun.
On this mountain lived the bear, the deer, the panther and the elk, with animal cousins and friends who came there and had much talk. The man-people, they came. They talked with the animal-people. All were friends, those people.
An evil chief grew up among the man-people. He said he was greater than Old Man God, who was Chief of the World. He said the people should obey him. He put bad thoughts in the minds the man-people. They began to kill the animal-people. The animal-people were scared. They were saddened. Why did their friends do these things to them?
They talked to their Tamanous (Great Spirit), those animal-people. They said their friends were killing them. If they were all killed, Tamanous would have few people left to rule. It would be the end of the world. They said that.
Old Man God was worried. That wicked chief was leading the people away from his counsel. That chief had a bad tongue. He told the man-people that Tamanous was a selfish god because Tamanous said it was wrong to kill the animal-people. He told the people these things, that bad chief.
Shyum, the bear, was chief of the animal-people. He had an honest tongue and spoke good words. His people loved him. He called all the animal-people together to the council house on the side of the mountain. When they talked about the troubles of the animal-people, they said, "We will call Tamanous. He will give us good council. He will tell us what to do."Shyum said to Eagle, "You go tell Tamanous we need him to talk to us. Ask him to meet us in the council house."
Eagle went.
Eagle told Old Man God that man-chief wanted to betray Bear. That chief wanted to steal Bear's power and make him a slave. Then all the animal-people would become slaves of the man-people. These things Eagle told Tamanous when Tamanous asked Eagle why he came to that place.
Tamanous told Eagle, "You tell Shyum to have all the animal-people come to the council house when the moon is high. I will come to them at that time."Eagle went to Bear. He told Bear what Tamanous had said. When the moon was straight up, the animal-people gathered in the council house. Tamanous kept his promise. He came. He told the animal-people to leave, but they were afraid to go. They knew no place to go. They did not know what to do, those sad people. They were afraid not to obey Tamanous. Their minds were not quiet.
Bear went to sleep for two moons. He woke up. On the first day he told the birds to leave. On the third day he told all the other animals to obey Tamanous.
Crawfish could not go. He cried. He said, 'I will dig a hole. I will stay here."Eagle said, "No, you cannot stay here."
Crawfish said, "How can I go?"
Eagle said, "Hang onto my foot."
Crawfish got ready to go. Wildcat came. He saw Crawfish was happy. He saw Crawfish was going to leave.
Wildcat said, "Where are you going?"Crawfish said, "I am going with Eagle. I will hang onto his foot."
Wildcat said, "No, you cannot go on Eagle's foot. I am going to eat you."
Eagle heard this. He flew down and took Wildcat's ears in his talons. He ripped them. Wildcat screamed. His ears hurt. He backed away and spit. After that, all cat-animals had tufted ears. All cat-animals walked backward and spit.
Wildcat nursed those ears that were sore. He watched Eagle fly away with Crawfish. He went to Bear, that Wildcat. He said he was going to tell the man-chief that Bear was sending all the animal-people away. He said Tamanous told Bear to do that.
Man-chief was mad. He send a runner to tell Bear to come to his lodge. Then the man-chief waited. All that time, Wildcat was lazy by the fire. He had a pretty bushy tail. He waved it back and forth and watched it from the side of his eye. He was vain, that person.
Wildcat thought, "Now man-chief will kill Bear. Wildcat will be chief of the animal-people."That runner came back. He was scared. No Bear. No Eagle. No Wolf. No little animal-people. No fish. No birds. They had all gone away. The runner told that man-chief those things. Man-chief was mad. He went outside to do his war chant. He raised his arms and told Tamanous he had to come to his lodge. He told Tamanous that thing, that man-person.
Wildcat wanted that man-chief to look at him. He waved his tail and grinned, that cat.
Man-chief looked at Wildcat. He said, "You leave this place. I do not like you."Wildcat would not go. He bent his back and walked backward. He spat. Man-chief picked up that Wildcat. He held Wildcat over the fire until his tail was burned off close to his back.
Man-chief said, "There, Wildcats will have no tails."The Great Tamanous came on a big wind. He looked at Wildcat. He asked the chief of the man-people what he had done to Wildcat's tail.
Man-chief said, "I burned it off. I do not like him. He wants to be chief."Tamanous said, "You have hurt the only person that liked you. Wildcat was your friend. Now you must go to the slimy pool."
Man-chief said, "No, I will stay here."
Then a great wind came from the top of that mountain. The man-people had to lay flat on the ground. Trees fell and pulled their roots from the earth. Man-people could not breathe that hot wind. They called for rain.
Tamanous said, "There will be no rain."When Old Man God went away, the people looked up. Black smoke rolled high over the mountain top. The top of that mountain vomited fire. The mountain flew high in the air. Then it sat down on the earth and a sound like thunder shook everything.
Now the mountain had no top. There was a big hole in that top. A long time this hole filled up with water that grew deep, deep. The man-people were all dead. Their bodies were gone. Their spirits walked over rough rocks.
Tamanous said, "I will put the souls of the man-people in that big water hole on the top of the mountain. They will stay there forever. Their lodges will be in the bottom of that hole."He put the chief of the man-people in that hole. He changed him to a woman to shame that chief. He became a witch.
The dead people live in that lake. They are evil people. They were destroyed because they were like that.
Bear came back. He called all the animal-people to come back. They came, the big animals with the little animals, the fish and the birds. All came back.
Bear was not happy. His people were not happy. Bear said to the Great Spirit, "Send us the man-people. We are lonesome. We want to talk with them."Tamanous said, "I will send you man-people, but you cannot talk to them. Man-people and animal-people will never speak the same language again."
Tamanous put man-people on the earth. They were Indians, those people. Old Man God told them never to go on the mountain with a hole in the top. He said bad medicine was there. The Umpquas and their friends, the Calapooias, the Klamaths, they do not go near that hole. They are afraid.
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