An Apache creation myth – The One Who Lives Above

There was nothing in the beginning; no earth, no sky, no sun and no moon. There was only darkness.

There was only darkness until a thin disc emerged. Sitting on the disc, which was yellow on one side and whote on the other, was a small bearded man. He was Creator. He was the One Who Lives Above.

Creator rubbed his eyes as if he was waking from a deep sleep and looked into the neverending darkness. Light appeared. Creator looked down and there was a sea of light. He looked to the east and created the yellow streaks of dawn. He looked to the west and fades of colours appeared everywhere.

Next, The One Who Lives Above mopped his sweating brow, rubbed his hands together and thrust them downwards. There sat a little girl.

“Stand and tell me where you are going,” said The One Who Lives Above but the girl did not reply. So Creator rubbed his eyes again and offered his hand to Girl-Without-Parents.

As she took his hand, she asked; “Where did you come from?”

“From the east where it is now light,” replied The One Who Lives Above.

The girl studied him again, “Where is the earth?”

Creator responded with a question, “Where is the sky?” Then he sang four times, “I am thinking, thinking, thinking what I shall create next.” Four was the magic number.

The One Who Lives Above brushed his face again and flung his sweat covered hands wide apart. There stood Sun-God. Once again Creator touched his brow, lowered his hands and there was Small-Boy.

Together the gods sat on a small cloud and thought. “This cloud is too small for the four of us to live on,” noted Creator and so he created Tarantula, Big Dipper, Wind, Lightning-Maker and Lightning-Rumbler to live in the western clouds.

The One Who Lives Above sung four times, “Let us make earth. I am thinking of the earth, earth, eath; I am thinking of the earth,”

The four gods shook hands, mixing their sweat so when The One Who Lives Above rubbed his palms again a small brown ball fell from his fingers to the ground.

Creator, The One Who Lives Above, kicked the ball and it grew. Girl-Without-Parents kicked the ball and it grew again. Sun-God kicked it and it expanded. Small-Boy kicked the ball and once again it grew.

The One Who Lives Above told Wind to rush inside the ball and blow it up. Then Tarantula spun a black cord, attaching it before quickly crawling eastwards and stretching the orb. Repeating this, Tarantula streched the ball by attaching a blue cord to the south, a white cord to the north and a yellow cord to the west. When Tarantula had finshed the once-small brown ball and grown huge; it had grown into the earth.

The One Who Lives Above scratched his chest and rubbed his fingers. Then there was Hummingbird. “Fly north, south, east and west – well us what there is to see,” said The One Who Lives Above. Hummingbird did so and returned to say that the earth was beautiful with water to the west.”

To stop the earth from rolling and bouncing up and down The One Who Lives Above forged four giant posts to support it; one black, one blue, one yellow and one white. Wind carried each of four posts placing them beneath the cardinal points of the earth.

When the earth was still The One Who Lives Above sung four times, “World is now made and now sits still”. He sung a song about the sky four times and twenty-eight people appeared. Together they made the sky and made it above the earth. Creator sung about making chiefs for the sky and for the earth.

Lightning-Maker was sent to circle the world. When Lightning-Maker returned he carried three creatures; two girls and a boy from in a turquoise shell. None of them had mouths, noses, ears, eyes or even hair, they had arms and legs but neither fingers nor toes.

Sun-God had Fly build a sweathouse. Girl-Without-Parents covered the sweathouse with four heavy clouds and placed a soft red cloud to use as a foot-blanket at the doorway. The three creatures entered the building for their sweat. When it was time to finish, they came outside, used the red cloud for a foot-blanket and The One Who Lives Above shook his hands at them granting each fingers, toes, mouthes, noses, ears, eyes and hair.

The three were named Sky-Boy, who became chief of the Sky-People, Earth-Daughter, who took charge of the earth and its crops and the last became Pollen-Girl who was in charge of the hearth of all the Earth-People.

At this time the earth was still flat and barren and so The One Who Lives Above created the trees, a hill and the animals of the land, water and sky.

Pigeon was sent to fly around the new earth. Four days later Pigeon returned with a warning, “the earth is beautiful but in four days time the water in the west will rise and flood.” The One Who Lives Above created a tall pinon tree which the Girl-Without-Parents covered in a framework of pinon gum to create a huge and hollow ball. When the flood came, four days later, The One Who Lives Above took to the air and brought his twenty eight sky helpers with him. Girl-Without-Parents placed the others in the hollow ball and sealed it tightly.

Twelve days later, when the water had receded and the ball was left resting on the hill top, Girl-Without-Parents led the gods out to the new earth. She took them up on her cloud until they where with The One Who Lives Above and his helpers again.

The One Who Lives Above welcomed them but said; “I am planning to leave you. I wish each of you to do your best towards making this a perfect and happy world.” He placed Lightning-Rumbler in charge of clouds and water. He placed Sky-Boy in charge of the Sky-People and Earth-Daughter in charge of the crops and Earth-People. Poll-Girl was charged with looking after the health of the Earth-People and guiding them and Girl-Without-Parents was left in charge of it all.”

The One Who Lives Above rubbed legs and palms with Girl-Without-Parents again, cast his hands downwards and this time a great pile of wood appeared. Creator waved a hand and the wood burst into flame sending great clouds of smoke into the sky.

Into this cloud of smoke did The One Who Live Above disappear. The other gods followed him leaving the twenty-eight helpers on the earth. Sun-God went to the west and to the Sun. Girl-Without-Parents went to the west and to the horizon. Small-Boy and Pollen-Girl made homes in the clouds to the South and Big Dipper can still be seen to this day.