Legend Of The Flood
:
Myths And Legends Of California And The Old Southwest
Ashochimi (Coast Indians, Cal.)
Long ago there was a great flood which destroyed all the people in the
world. Only Coyote was saved. When the waters subsided, the earth was
empty. Coyote thought about it a long time.
Then Coyote collected a great bundle of tail feathers from owls, hawks,
eagles, and buzzards. He journeyed over the whole earth and carefully
located the site of each Indian village. Where the tepees had stood, he
planted a feather in the ground and scraped up the dirt around it. The
feathers sprouted like trees, and grew up and branched. At last they
turned into men and women. So the world was inhabited with people again.