Origin Of Light
: Myths And Legends Of California And The Old SouthwestGallinomero (Russian River, Cal.)
In the earliest beginning, the darkness was thick and deep. There was no
light. The animals ran here and there, always bumping into each other.
The birds flew here and there, but continually knocked against each
other.
Hawk and Coyote thought a long time about the darkness. Then Coyote felt
his way into a swamp and found a large number of dry tule reeds. He made
a ball of them. He gave the ball to Hawk, with some flints, and Hawk
flew up into the sky, where he touched off the tule reeds and sent the
bundle whirling around the world. But still the nights were dark, so
Coyote made another bundle of tule reeds, and Hawk flew into the air
with them, and touched them off with the flints. But these reeds were
damp and did not burn so well. That is why the moon does not give so
much light as the sun.
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