Light of the Dawn Mask continued
When the Transformer had finished dancing, he went to work preparing our world for the people that would come. The spirit helpers watched closely from their perch in the sky world. First the Transformer spat upon the dry earth and it filled with a deep ocean. Then he reached down to the bottom of the ocean and pulled up some mud and rolled the mud into balls. With these balls, he built the dry land -- carefully adding mountains, lakes and rivers.
He made sure that the rivers ran down the mountains in just the right places, through meadows and plains and back into the seas. He commanded that ferns and flowers, brush and herbs, bulbs and roots, maple, fir, pine and cedar trees and all forms of plants grew and formed them into forests and grasslands as a home for the animals.
From other bits of the mud he made grizzly bear and goat and put them on the mountainside. He made mountain lion and deer and released them in the forests. He made raccoon and squirrel and wolf along with every kind of animal and gave each a place to live. He gave them food to eat and told them to reproduce and fill the forests and meadows with activity and play. He put salmon, whale, otter, octopus and trout and many fish into the ocean, rivers and the lakes.
He pinched the mud to make feathers for loon, duck, raven, eagle, woodpecker, bluejay and humming bird and set all kinds of birds flying into the sky and gave each one a song to sing. He taught them how to make nests and care for their young.
In those days, not only the birds could sing. The Transformer gave a song to all creatures and even the rocks. He put a song into the heart of every animal, plant, tree, mountain and body of water. Each sang about the greatness of Wonderful Doer and the glory light that shined in the heart of all things. Beautiful songs coming from all directions filled the wind and amazed the spirit helpers who watched with enjoyment.
From a special box stored in the Lodge he took the sun and moon and pitched them into the dark sky. He gave the sun power to mark the beginning and end of each day and commanded him to sing a song about warmth, life and many colored lights. The moon he gave the right to rule the night and gave her a spinning song of pale colors that grew and shrank to mark each month. From the special box he also took handfuls of countless stars and flung them into the night sky, making sure that each point of light knew its song of awe and beauty.
All the world sang a song and all the animals and birds, mountains and hills, lakes, oceans and rivers as well as the clouds and winds, lighting and thunder, moon, sun, and stars, rainbows and northern lights joined in the music that followed in time to the drum beat that could be heard coming from the hand of Wonderful Doer in the his Great Spirit lodge.
Wonderful Doer looked down and was pleased with his creation. He loved to listen to the music of the world. But, he still was not finished. “Look,” he said to the Transformer who sat before the fire in the Spirit Lodge. “I want to share this new world with a people like ourselves.”
So he made people. Taking some of the same mud that he used to form the animals, the Transformer molded a strong and manly man and then a beautiful and wise woman and breathed into them life. First he made the man and then a woman and fit them together perfectly so that they lived as one flesh in love and happiness.
This is why even today when the Kaw-Seth people celebrate the marriage of a young man and woman by binding newly wed couples with a thick ring of ceremonial cedar bark rope to show that they are one flesh under heaven and before the people. We say that the Transformer makes the two beings into one saying, “Look at these newly made people, male and female, I have made them to live in one spirit house of unity.”
The same power that binds a couple in loving marriage also binds together the hearts of all who live with pride in the tribe. This is because he has the special power to transform the many into one.
Then to mark his highest creation Wonderful Doer gave the people the best song of all. He told first-man and first-woman, “Your music will be the most beautiful of all music. You will sing of my glory light and have eyes to see what a great work of art the world is, you will enjoy its creatures and learn to live in peace with nature and care for the earth as a precious gift from me. From you I will rise up all the people and tribes of the earth and all will be my much loved children.”
And the people joined in the music of the world and that is why today human singing is the most beautiful of all.
Next Chapter
He made sure that the rivers ran down the mountains in just the right places, through meadows and plains and back into the seas. He commanded that ferns and flowers, brush and herbs, bulbs and roots, maple, fir, pine and cedar trees and all forms of plants grew and formed them into forests and grasslands as a home for the animals.
From other bits of the mud he made grizzly bear and goat and put them on the mountainside. He made mountain lion and deer and released them in the forests. He made raccoon and squirrel and wolf along with every kind of animal and gave each a place to live. He gave them food to eat and told them to reproduce and fill the forests and meadows with activity and play. He put salmon, whale, otter, octopus and trout and many fish into the ocean, rivers and the lakes.
He pinched the mud to make feathers for loon, duck, raven, eagle, woodpecker, bluejay and humming bird and set all kinds of birds flying into the sky and gave each one a song to sing. He taught them how to make nests and care for their young.
In those days, not only the birds could sing. The Transformer gave a song to all creatures and even the rocks. He put a song into the heart of every animal, plant, tree, mountain and body of water. Each sang about the greatness of Wonderful Doer and the glory light that shined in the heart of all things. Beautiful songs coming from all directions filled the wind and amazed the spirit helpers who watched with enjoyment.
From a special box stored in the Lodge he took the sun and moon and pitched them into the dark sky. He gave the sun power to mark the beginning and end of each day and commanded him to sing a song about warmth, life and many colored lights. The moon he gave the right to rule the night and gave her a spinning song of pale colors that grew and shrank to mark each month. From the special box he also took handfuls of countless stars and flung them into the night sky, making sure that each point of light knew its song of awe and beauty.
All the world sang a song and all the animals and birds, mountains and hills, lakes, oceans and rivers as well as the clouds and winds, lighting and thunder, moon, sun, and stars, rainbows and northern lights joined in the music that followed in time to the drum beat that could be heard coming from the hand of Wonderful Doer in the his Great Spirit lodge.
Wonderful Doer looked down and was pleased with his creation. He loved to listen to the music of the world. But, he still was not finished. “Look,” he said to the Transformer who sat before the fire in the Spirit Lodge. “I want to share this new world with a people like ourselves.”
So he made people. Taking some of the same mud that he used to form the animals, the Transformer molded a strong and manly man and then a beautiful and wise woman and breathed into them life. First he made the man and then a woman and fit them together perfectly so that they lived as one flesh in love and happiness.
This is why even today when the Kaw-Seth people celebrate the marriage of a young man and woman by binding newly wed couples with a thick ring of ceremonial cedar bark rope to show that they are one flesh under heaven and before the people. We say that the Transformer makes the two beings into one saying, “Look at these newly made people, male and female, I have made them to live in one spirit house of unity.”
The same power that binds a couple in loving marriage also binds together the hearts of all who live with pride in the tribe. This is because he has the special power to transform the many into one.
Then to mark his highest creation Wonderful Doer gave the people the best song of all. He told first-man and first-woman, “Your music will be the most beautiful of all music. You will sing of my glory light and have eyes to see what a great work of art the world is, you will enjoy its creatures and learn to live in peace with nature and care for the earth as a precious gift from me. From you I will rise up all the people and tribes of the earth and all will be my much loved children.”
And the people joined in the music of the world and that is why today human singing is the most beautiful of all.
Next Chapter
