Reading Notes: British North America Part A

Creation of the World

Tortoise with Island on Back

Before the earth existed, the people were living beyond the sky. One day, the shaman told the people to dig around the roots of an apple tree, but when they did, they dug through and broke the floor of the sky. The chief's daughter was lying around and accidentally fell through the hole from the sky. The world beneath was only water. There were swans swimming around, and when the men broke the floor of the sky, they heard hunger and saw the strange woman falling. They knew that she would not survive in the water, so they swam toward her and let her fall on their backs. Because they did not know what to do with her, they decided to ask Big Turtle so that they could discuss it in a council. During the council, someone thought that divers could swim to find a little earth from the roots of the tree that had fallen down so that they could make an island for the woman. Many divers tried, Otter, Beaver, Muskrat, but they all drowned. No one else wanted to offer themselves, except for Old Toad; many laughed at her, but she dived anyway. She took a long time but finally made it back up, and in her mouth, she carried a few grains of earth. She rubbed them around the edge of Big Turtle's shell and it began to grow into an island until it eventually became as large as it is today. Now, when an earthquake occurs, it is because Big Turtle is moving his legs. 

Story source: Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917).