American-Literature

and then another time; at last they had raised it seven

handsbreadths so that it was just under the sky arch. Then it

was right and they left it so. That is why the medicine men

called the high place " the seventh height." Every day the

sun goes along under this arch on the under side; it returns

at night on the upper side of the arch to its starting place.

There is another world under this earth. It is like this

one in every way. The animals, the plants, and the people are

the same, but the seasons are different. The streams that

come down from the mountains are the trails by which we

reach this underworld. The springs at their head are the

doorways by which we enter it. But in order to enter the

other world, one must fast and then go to the water, and

have one of the underground people for a guide. We know

that the seasons in the underground world are different,

because the water in the spring is always warmer in winter

than the air in this world; and in summer the water is cooler.

We do not know who made the first plants and

animals. But when they were first made, they were told to

watch and keep awake for seven nights. This is the way

young men do now when they fast and pray to their

medicine. They tried to do this. The first night, nearly all

the animals stayed awake. The next night several of them

dropped asleep. The third night still more went to sleep. At

last, on the seventh night, only the owl, the panther, and

one or two more were still awake. Therefore, to these were

given the power to see in the dark, to go about as if it were

day, and to kill and eat the birds and animals which must

sleep during the night.

Even some of the trees went to sleep. Only the cedar, the

pine, the spruce, the holly, and the laurel were awake all

seven nights. Therefore they are always green. They are also

sacred trees. But to the other trees it was said, " Because

you did not stay awake, therefore you shall lose your hair

every winter."

After the plants and the animals, men began to come to

the earth. At first there was only one man and one woman.

He hit her with a fish. In seven days a little child came down

to the earth. So people came to the earth. They came so

rapidly that for a time it seemed as though the earth could

not hold them all.

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