Lake of Beginnings

Three Stories of the Lake of Beginnings

When the world was young, there were no beings like us. The trees, waters, and some of the Old Ones were all that was there. The Old Ones were soon bored by their world. "Let's make something new," they said, "something that will roam this land, something that will bring change." And so when Grandfather Sun wasn't watching, they came to a nearby lake and started plucking out drops of water, shaping them, and filling them with life. They started off with simple things that could swim the waters and climb the trees, but the excitement soon got the better of them. They spent the night making everything and anything they could think of to fill the land with life and change. Oh, was Grandfather Sun in for a surprise when he returned.

When the World That Came Before was no longer safe for our people, Shining Song led us through the mountains and into tunnel. This tunnel went on and on for days with no light and no sound. Our people were scared and some turned back, but us here did not lose our faith in Singing Light. After days of travel through the darkness, we came across a clearing with a dim light glowing from the ceiling. Those of us that were still following Singing Light began climbing the rock walls to reach the light. We pushed through the light and found ourselves at the bottom of a lake! We swam and swam until we reached the surface. We saw a world that was teeming with life and space for all our people. That is how we came to be here.

Walking Crow was out hunting in the woods one day. The village didn't have enough food, you see, people had to go far away to try to find anything to eat. While she was looking for food, she came across a large lake. Larger than she has ever seen. Curious as ever, she rushed to the shoreline and peered in. She couldn't believe what she was seeing: scaly, shiny animals swimming about without a care in the world. "Hello!" she shouted down to the animals, "I am Walking Crow, what are you?" A group of the scaly creatures swam up to the surface, as curious about Walking Crow as she was of them.
"We are us." they said, confused that there was anything but them.
"How many of you are down there?" asked Walking Crow.
"Too many to count" replied the creatures. "It is getting very crowded down here." they agreed. "How did you get up there?"
Ah, now Walking Crow had an idea. "Why, I jumped!" she replied. "I swam as hard as I could and launched myself into the sky! Go tell your people how to do this and you can come up here with me."
The creatures obeyed Walking Crow's commands and told their friends about the plan. Soon groups of the scaly animals rushed towards the surface. They flew high, high, high into the air!
And landed right into Walking Crow's open bag. Laughing, she began to carry her haul back home. She was too busy laughing that she didn't notice her bag caught on a branch and tore a hole. All the while she was walking back, the creatures were tumbling out of her sack, landing in streams and rivers and swimming off before Walking Crow could notice. This is how fish spread across the world.

Type

Lake