Sun Eagle Mask
Long, long ago when the earth was new the people began to grow in number and build many villages. As people increased, so did the spiritual twilight and the memory of Wonderful Doer was forgotten. Different tribes warred against each other, burned down the forests of their enemies and committed many murders. Even pregnant women, babies and young children were killed. More powerful tribes captured weaker neighbors and made then into slaves. Slaves who tried to escape were tortured and killed without pity.
The people did many wicked acts including cruelty to gentle animals honored by the tribes. They threw frogs into the fire as sport, shot eagles with arrows to obtain their feathers and feet as ornaments and killed salmon with out eating the flesh or returning the bones to the waters.
The Transformer was sorry that he created the earth because the people had become so evil. “The new earth, once a beautiful blue ball in my heavens, is now soaked with blood of innocent people and my precious animals,” he said to Wonderful Doer in the Great Spirit Lodge as the good spirit helpers listened.
Only a few of the people remembered to harvest the live-giving camas bulb. Instead of praying to Wonderful Doer they called to Raven and the many rebellious spirits who promised to make them powerful. Some cut themselves and begged the spirits to enter into their bodies and speak mystic messages through them. Raven sent eager spirits into the shamans, who experienced fits of rage like captured wild animals -- spitting, screaming, twisting and leaping into fire, terrifying anyone near. Once in control of the shamans, the spirits inspired all kinds of cruelty and treachery such as casting curses upon those who offended or resisted them. The people were afraid of the shaman’s spells and did what ever they asked, so that the power of Raven grew strong throughout the earth.
There was a chief named Kakaw and his people remembered the ways of Wonderful Doer and honored him instead of the deceptive animal spirits of Setko. Because the people followed the way of the Transformer, their enemies hated them and sent war parties to attack without warning. Stone arrows, spears and clubs killed many of Kakaw’s braves. Children lost their fathers -- wives their husbands and others were captured and forced to work as slaves.
Kakaw and his people fought back or escaped to their secret hiding place in caves of the tall rock that overlooked the beach, but every few years they were overwhelmed by the mighty war canoes sent by their enemies who lived to the north, south and east.
In those days the spiritual twilight was not as dark as it is today and Transformer could still be seen when he walked the earth. When he visited the enemy villages in disguise as a lost hunter or herb digger, he was insulted and turned away. But, when the Transformer visited Kakaw’s village, he was recognized and honored with a feast of camas and salmon. When they had finished eating, the Transformer in the form of a stranger traveling from far away, took the chief aside to speak in private.
He looked into Kakaw’s eyes and said, “Our father Wonderful Doer looks down from heaven and sees all the evil that engulfs the world. But, you have found favor in his site because you honor his ways and respect the animals just as your people teach. Even when the wicked animals lash out at you in rage and maim or kill your hunters, you do not desecrate their bodies but follow the ways of the ancestors in preparing game flesh properly. You are not like the people of the other villages who are deeply lost in darkness and insult me when I visit them. So, the great Chief in Heaven has decided to renew his creation by destroying the corrupt world with a flood of cleansing water. By this time next year, he will send me his Spokesman and Transformer -- along with some of the good spirit helpers -- to save the few good animals and people who do not walk in the way of Raven.
That night Chief Kakaw dreamed a supernatural dream. In his dream the great black whale lifted his head out of the jade colored ocean and called his name is a high pitched voice -- like a child crying in the wind -- and told him to make a great cedar canoe, large enough to hold his family and the good animals. “The great cedar canoe will be as large as my body. You will build three lodges on the canoe -- like my head, stomach and bowels each with a roof. You will enter the canoe and it will save you and your people and the animals from the rage of the storm that the Chief in Highest Place is about to release,” said the Whale in the dream. Then the whale leaped out of the jade ocean and transformed into an eagle and flew like an arrow into the sun.
When Kakaw awoke he called his people to the family winter lodge for a council, held the speaking stick and said, “The Great Spirit is about the bring a flood to destroy and renew the earth. The ocean will rise and cover all the land and much water from heaven will swamp all the fishing and war canoes. But, building a canoe like a whale out of the giant cedar tree will save us. It will be big enough for us and all of the good animals that Wonderful Doer is preparing to bring to us.”
In those days, the animals were also under the spell of Setko, but Wonderful Doer knew that some of the animals resisted and remained good in his sight. So, the voice of the Great Spirit could be heard in the mountains, meadows and forests whispering in the ear of bear, deer, lion, eagle, elk, otter and wolf.
He gathered several pairs of all the good animals that he wanted to save and spoke saying, “The people have grown too wicked and the spiritual darkness too dark so that the created order is decaying and its smell is offensive to me. Even the animals have disobeyed me as well and I have come to judge and wipe them out. But, you few have remained good in my site and are untouched by the deceiving spirits. So, I am about to destroy the world with a flood to cleanse it of the effects of rebellion, war and death. I choose to save you and your mate, so go now to the village of Kakaw. I am causing him to make a huge canoe to save you from the flood of my anger.”
So the Transformer caused the good animals to draw near to the lodge of Kakaw two by two, male and female. The animals were guided by good spirit helpers who caused them to become docile, move together in peace towards the village and to eat from the hand of men. When the animals arrived, they had no fear of people and played like children among the long houses and on the village beach. The mountain lion loved to have his ears scratched by Kakaw’s wife and little children took naps in the lap of black bear. Eagle and his mate perched contentedly on the totem pole of the chief’s house, waiting for the great canoe to be finished. Each animal brought with it special powers to benefit the humans and ensure that they survive.
So the sons of the tribe and their wives and children began to build the huge canoe. First they cut down the sacred cedar that was as big as the largest lodge in the village by wrapping wet deer hides around the trunk and building a fire to eat away the wood. When the great tree had fallen, the body was also burned in the same way, exposing enough for the carvers to cut away plenty of space with elk antler tools and jade axes. Cedar planks were added to make the three decks and the roof as the whale dream instructed.
When the carvers finished constructing the huge whale canoe, they finished it by carving fine figures of the animals on the bow, stern and sides and on the walls of the three lodges including a flying eagle in front, a killer whales and salmon on each side along with bears, lions, frogs, deer and a two otters in back. Kakaw saw the design in his dream and instructed the carvers how to fashion the figures. The animals saw the carvings and were pleased with the designs that honored them and their power of protection grew.
When the carvers were done, the canoe was coated with fir pitch inside and out. Then the people loaded the canoe with cedar boxes of food and water, enough for all the people and animals for the trip during the duration of the flood.
On the day that the last animal and person boarded the canoe the Transformer appeared. He looked up to heaven and saw the blue fire burning in the Spirit Lodge. He then bent down and spat upon the ground. Lightening flashed from his eyes and a thunderous roar echoed from the clouds. The earth shook and broke open and much water sprain out. Rain, hale and snow fell from the sky. The water rose and rose and covered every village on the earth, swamping all canoes and all the people to the north, east and south drowned. Soon every hill and mountain was covered. The waters also killed the animals under the control of Setko and as the bodies sank, many spirits forced to depart the dead bodies of the creatures could be heard crying and screeching into the darkness of the storm. The sound frightened all in the great cedar canoe for many moons.
Night after night passed until the sounds of the wailing spirits faded and the rains stopped. Every day the people and animals looked for the waters to subside hoping to see some dry land. The otters swam out from the canoe each day looking for land, but returned when they found none. The eagles flew high tying to spy a place for the canoe to land but returned each time, seeing only water in every direction. Then one of the eagles agreed to fly day and night to search for land and return to guide the canoe if land was discovered.
Kakaw commanded the eagle to sit on his uplifted arm as he stood before all the people and animals and prayed to Wonderful Doer, then he released the proud bird into the air. After three days and three nights, high pitched cries could be heard and the people rejoiced to see the eagle flying home with something in his claws. Eagle landed on the canoe holding greenery in his feet. He brought a swag of cedar branch to show that he had found dry land. After feeding eagle some salmon flesh, Kakaw took the cedar branch and, singing a song of thanks, tossed it into the sea. Just then seven killer whales appeared before the canoe, jumping and swimming excitedly. The otters jumped in as well to help guide the voyage to land. With the sons of the tribe paddling, the killer whales led the canoe to the dry land that eagle had found.
The people looked back and saw many salmon following the canoe to the land. The fish swimming in their wake delighted them because so many fish meant plenty of food. Each spring since that day the salmon continue to follow the same route from the deep oceans to the inland waters for spawning. It is a continuous cycle of blessing from the hand of Wonderful Doer. The new run of salmon coming each year reminds us that the earth was renewed after the flood.
It took six days and five nights of paddling before the canoe arrived and beached on what is now the Mountain of the Eastern Sunrise. Kakaw and his sons set up a camp on the mountaintop and built a fire pit in the center of a circle of temporary lodges. He called the camp: Place Where the Earth Began Anew. Even today you can climb the mountain and see the white ashes from his fire pit and the remains of the great whale canoe -- which became a large black rock. It is a sacred place for our people and the destination of many a young man’s spirit quest.
Kakaw announced that he would host a big party, the first potlatch feast, to commemorate the rebirth of the earth, free from the corruption of the evil spirits and the shadow of Raven. The women dug plenty of camas roots -- which grew abundantly
on the mountainside, and the men caught a large amount of salmon. The children picked baskets of red and blue berries in the forest.
The animals were given special treats of food as their potlatch gifts. The women brushed the fur of many animals with fish bone combs and the children petted and stroked each one with affection. Some of the animals even joined in the dancing around the fire. After a moon cycle of feasting and story telling, it was time for the animals to depart. Each animal was sorry because they had come to love the people dearly. Still under the influence of the good guardian spirits, bear, deer, lion, otter and wolf and all the rest kissed or licked the feet and faces of all the people before they wandered into the forests to begin their new life. Eagle and his mate flew to the top of the chief’s lodge, called out a goodbye call, then flew off into the eastern sky, always remembering how kind the people had been to them. These were the ancestors of all the animals and birds that we know today.
Because animals and humans endured the flood together, we say that both man and beast are friends and fellow creatures of Wonderful Doer. For this reason, we always treat animals respectfully and are sure to ask the Creator permission in prayer whenever we begin a hunt. And after a hunt, we use every part of the animal that we kill – the flesh provides nourishment for the people, the fat is rendered to preserve berries, the hides are tanned and made into warm clothes or shoes and the bones are made into tools, weapons or ornaments. Nothing is wasted in order to honor our animal friends. In this way their guardian spirit helpers are pleased.
When the last animal departed the village, there was a strange silence. Then someone looked out at the ocean and saw a canoe approaching the village beach. The people were surprised because they thought that no one else had survived. When the canoe landed, a deer hunter, wearing a ceremonial cedar-bark hunting hat with a fawn and mother deer design and holding a bow and arrow got out. Then the people recognized that this was the Transformer in disguise and welcomed him with a meal of king salmon and roasted roots. After he had eaten, he told stories from the distant past and taught the people how they should love each other with the same love that fills the heavenly Spirit Lodge.
He also showed them a new healing herb flower growing in the forest shade called Bloodroot and told them to crush it into red paint. “Use the Bloodroot paint to mark your forehead red. This will be a sign that you escaped the judgment of the flood and are a new kind of people—the Kaw-Seth.” The next morning he left the way that he came, promising that he would send the Great Spirit to visit them each winter feast to ensure that the tribe follows the way of Wonderful Doer and remembers how he saved them from the flood and made the world new. That is why today when a Kaw-Seth boy or girl comes of age, we decorate their skin with Bloodroot to remind us all that we were spared death in the flood. It is also how we know that the Creator sits invisibly with us on these nights.
The people did many wicked acts including cruelty to gentle animals honored by the tribes. They threw frogs into the fire as sport, shot eagles with arrows to obtain their feathers and feet as ornaments and killed salmon with out eating the flesh or returning the bones to the waters.
The Transformer was sorry that he created the earth because the people had become so evil. “The new earth, once a beautiful blue ball in my heavens, is now soaked with blood of innocent people and my precious animals,” he said to Wonderful Doer in the Great Spirit Lodge as the good spirit helpers listened.
Only a few of the people remembered to harvest the live-giving camas bulb. Instead of praying to Wonderful Doer they called to Raven and the many rebellious spirits who promised to make them powerful. Some cut themselves and begged the spirits to enter into their bodies and speak mystic messages through them. Raven sent eager spirits into the shamans, who experienced fits of rage like captured wild animals -- spitting, screaming, twisting and leaping into fire, terrifying anyone near. Once in control of the shamans, the spirits inspired all kinds of cruelty and treachery such as casting curses upon those who offended or resisted them. The people were afraid of the shaman’s spells and did what ever they asked, so that the power of Raven grew strong throughout the earth.
There was a chief named Kakaw and his people remembered the ways of Wonderful Doer and honored him instead of the deceptive animal spirits of Setko. Because the people followed the way of the Transformer, their enemies hated them and sent war parties to attack without warning. Stone arrows, spears and clubs killed many of Kakaw’s braves. Children lost their fathers -- wives their husbands and others were captured and forced to work as slaves.
Kakaw and his people fought back or escaped to their secret hiding place in caves of the tall rock that overlooked the beach, but every few years they were overwhelmed by the mighty war canoes sent by their enemies who lived to the north, south and east.
In those days the spiritual twilight was not as dark as it is today and Transformer could still be seen when he walked the earth. When he visited the enemy villages in disguise as a lost hunter or herb digger, he was insulted and turned away. But, when the Transformer visited Kakaw’s village, he was recognized and honored with a feast of camas and salmon. When they had finished eating, the Transformer in the form of a stranger traveling from far away, took the chief aside to speak in private.
He looked into Kakaw’s eyes and said, “Our father Wonderful Doer looks down from heaven and sees all the evil that engulfs the world. But, you have found favor in his site because you honor his ways and respect the animals just as your people teach. Even when the wicked animals lash out at you in rage and maim or kill your hunters, you do not desecrate their bodies but follow the ways of the ancestors in preparing game flesh properly. You are not like the people of the other villages who are deeply lost in darkness and insult me when I visit them. So, the great Chief in Heaven has decided to renew his creation by destroying the corrupt world with a flood of cleansing water. By this time next year, he will send me his Spokesman and Transformer -- along with some of the good spirit helpers -- to save the few good animals and people who do not walk in the way of Raven.
That night Chief Kakaw dreamed a supernatural dream. In his dream the great black whale lifted his head out of the jade colored ocean and called his name is a high pitched voice -- like a child crying in the wind -- and told him to make a great cedar canoe, large enough to hold his family and the good animals. “The great cedar canoe will be as large as my body. You will build three lodges on the canoe -- like my head, stomach and bowels each with a roof. You will enter the canoe and it will save you and your people and the animals from the rage of the storm that the Chief in Highest Place is about to release,” said the Whale in the dream. Then the whale leaped out of the jade ocean and transformed into an eagle and flew like an arrow into the sun.
When Kakaw awoke he called his people to the family winter lodge for a council, held the speaking stick and said, “The Great Spirit is about the bring a flood to destroy and renew the earth. The ocean will rise and cover all the land and much water from heaven will swamp all the fishing and war canoes. But, building a canoe like a whale out of the giant cedar tree will save us. It will be big enough for us and all of the good animals that Wonderful Doer is preparing to bring to us.”
In those days, the animals were also under the spell of Setko, but Wonderful Doer knew that some of the animals resisted and remained good in his sight. So, the voice of the Great Spirit could be heard in the mountains, meadows and forests whispering in the ear of bear, deer, lion, eagle, elk, otter and wolf.
He gathered several pairs of all the good animals that he wanted to save and spoke saying, “The people have grown too wicked and the spiritual darkness too dark so that the created order is decaying and its smell is offensive to me. Even the animals have disobeyed me as well and I have come to judge and wipe them out. But, you few have remained good in my site and are untouched by the deceiving spirits. So, I am about to destroy the world with a flood to cleanse it of the effects of rebellion, war and death. I choose to save you and your mate, so go now to the village of Kakaw. I am causing him to make a huge canoe to save you from the flood of my anger.”
So the Transformer caused the good animals to draw near to the lodge of Kakaw two by two, male and female. The animals were guided by good spirit helpers who caused them to become docile, move together in peace towards the village and to eat from the hand of men. When the animals arrived, they had no fear of people and played like children among the long houses and on the village beach. The mountain lion loved to have his ears scratched by Kakaw’s wife and little children took naps in the lap of black bear. Eagle and his mate perched contentedly on the totem pole of the chief’s house, waiting for the great canoe to be finished. Each animal brought with it special powers to benefit the humans and ensure that they survive.
So the sons of the tribe and their wives and children began to build the huge canoe. First they cut down the sacred cedar that was as big as the largest lodge in the village by wrapping wet deer hides around the trunk and building a fire to eat away the wood. When the great tree had fallen, the body was also burned in the same way, exposing enough for the carvers to cut away plenty of space with elk antler tools and jade axes. Cedar planks were added to make the three decks and the roof as the whale dream instructed.
When the carvers finished constructing the huge whale canoe, they finished it by carving fine figures of the animals on the bow, stern and sides and on the walls of the three lodges including a flying eagle in front, a killer whales and salmon on each side along with bears, lions, frogs, deer and a two otters in back. Kakaw saw the design in his dream and instructed the carvers how to fashion the figures. The animals saw the carvings and were pleased with the designs that honored them and their power of protection grew.
When the carvers were done, the canoe was coated with fir pitch inside and out. Then the people loaded the canoe with cedar boxes of food and water, enough for all the people and animals for the trip during the duration of the flood.
On the day that the last animal and person boarded the canoe the Transformer appeared. He looked up to heaven and saw the blue fire burning in the Spirit Lodge. He then bent down and spat upon the ground. Lightening flashed from his eyes and a thunderous roar echoed from the clouds. The earth shook and broke open and much water sprain out. Rain, hale and snow fell from the sky. The water rose and rose and covered every village on the earth, swamping all canoes and all the people to the north, east and south drowned. Soon every hill and mountain was covered. The waters also killed the animals under the control of Setko and as the bodies sank, many spirits forced to depart the dead bodies of the creatures could be heard crying and screeching into the darkness of the storm. The sound frightened all in the great cedar canoe for many moons.
Night after night passed until the sounds of the wailing spirits faded and the rains stopped. Every day the people and animals looked for the waters to subside hoping to see some dry land. The otters swam out from the canoe each day looking for land, but returned when they found none. The eagles flew high tying to spy a place for the canoe to land but returned each time, seeing only water in every direction. Then one of the eagles agreed to fly day and night to search for land and return to guide the canoe if land was discovered.
Kakaw commanded the eagle to sit on his uplifted arm as he stood before all the people and animals and prayed to Wonderful Doer, then he released the proud bird into the air. After three days and three nights, high pitched cries could be heard and the people rejoiced to see the eagle flying home with something in his claws. Eagle landed on the canoe holding greenery in his feet. He brought a swag of cedar branch to show that he had found dry land. After feeding eagle some salmon flesh, Kakaw took the cedar branch and, singing a song of thanks, tossed it into the sea. Just then seven killer whales appeared before the canoe, jumping and swimming excitedly. The otters jumped in as well to help guide the voyage to land. With the sons of the tribe paddling, the killer whales led the canoe to the dry land that eagle had found.
The people looked back and saw many salmon following the canoe to the land. The fish swimming in their wake delighted them because so many fish meant plenty of food. Each spring since that day the salmon continue to follow the same route from the deep oceans to the inland waters for spawning. It is a continuous cycle of blessing from the hand of Wonderful Doer. The new run of salmon coming each year reminds us that the earth was renewed after the flood.
It took six days and five nights of paddling before the canoe arrived and beached on what is now the Mountain of the Eastern Sunrise. Kakaw and his sons set up a camp on the mountaintop and built a fire pit in the center of a circle of temporary lodges. He called the camp: Place Where the Earth Began Anew. Even today you can climb the mountain and see the white ashes from his fire pit and the remains of the great whale canoe -- which became a large black rock. It is a sacred place for our people and the destination of many a young man’s spirit quest.
Kakaw announced that he would host a big party, the first potlatch feast, to commemorate the rebirth of the earth, free from the corruption of the evil spirits and the shadow of Raven. The women dug plenty of camas roots -- which grew abundantly
on the mountainside, and the men caught a large amount of salmon. The children picked baskets of red and blue berries in the forest.
The animals were given special treats of food as their potlatch gifts. The women brushed the fur of many animals with fish bone combs and the children petted and stroked each one with affection. Some of the animals even joined in the dancing around the fire. After a moon cycle of feasting and story telling, it was time for the animals to depart. Each animal was sorry because they had come to love the people dearly. Still under the influence of the good guardian spirits, bear, deer, lion, otter and wolf and all the rest kissed or licked the feet and faces of all the people before they wandered into the forests to begin their new life. Eagle and his mate flew to the top of the chief’s lodge, called out a goodbye call, then flew off into the eastern sky, always remembering how kind the people had been to them. These were the ancestors of all the animals and birds that we know today.
Because animals and humans endured the flood together, we say that both man and beast are friends and fellow creatures of Wonderful Doer. For this reason, we always treat animals respectfully and are sure to ask the Creator permission in prayer whenever we begin a hunt. And after a hunt, we use every part of the animal that we kill – the flesh provides nourishment for the people, the fat is rendered to preserve berries, the hides are tanned and made into warm clothes or shoes and the bones are made into tools, weapons or ornaments. Nothing is wasted in order to honor our animal friends. In this way their guardian spirit helpers are pleased.
When the last animal departed the village, there was a strange silence. Then someone looked out at the ocean and saw a canoe approaching the village beach. The people were surprised because they thought that no one else had survived. When the canoe landed, a deer hunter, wearing a ceremonial cedar-bark hunting hat with a fawn and mother deer design and holding a bow and arrow got out. Then the people recognized that this was the Transformer in disguise and welcomed him with a meal of king salmon and roasted roots. After he had eaten, he told stories from the distant past and taught the people how they should love each other with the same love that fills the heavenly Spirit Lodge.
He also showed them a new healing herb flower growing in the forest shade called Bloodroot and told them to crush it into red paint. “Use the Bloodroot paint to mark your forehead red. This will be a sign that you escaped the judgment of the flood and are a new kind of people—the Kaw-Seth.” The next morning he left the way that he came, promising that he would send the Great Spirit to visit them each winter feast to ensure that the tribe follows the way of Wonderful Doer and remembers how he saved them from the flood and made the world new. That is why today when a Kaw-Seth boy or girl comes of age, we decorate their skin with Bloodroot to remind us all that we were spared death in the flood. It is also how we know that the Creator sits invisibly with us on these nights.
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