Indian Myths

The Brothers met far to the north on the shores of a Great Water which was filled with ice. Se' sta had done all he could to mend the evil works of Ska' reh. Ska' reh was angry with him. He was in a rage. He struck Se' sta to kill him.

Then began the first great battle between the Good One and the Evil One. In that land of ice and snow Ska' reh was the stronger one. As Se' sta was pushed back, Ska' reh waved his stone club toward the north and cried, "Come up! Arise, O Winter!"

Then a fierce white figure arose from the icy water. It spread across the sky. Its head seemed to touch the stars. Slowly it took the form of a man. And his name was Winter. He shook his long white hair. It streamed far out in the North Wind. Snow came out of it. Ice came out of his mouth, and his breath was the hail and the sleet. As he came riding on the clouds to help his master, the flowers died and the leaves of the trees fell to the ground. The birds flew in fright before him. Snow blew over the wastes and covered the world. Thick sheets of ice formed on the lakes and rivers. As Ska' reh fought and Winter stalked in his wake, every green and growing thing took on the look of death. Only where Se' sta stepped did life remain. Where his footsteps fell, there grew the pine and the evergreen.

Ska' reh drove Se' sta far down the Great Island. They came to the sea. One of the Swans lived there. She had helped to bear up the Woman who fell down from Heaven. Her home was in the blue water along charming shores. She was frightened. She saw forests gripped in death and mountains covered with snow and hail. The world grew dark, and she saw hideous Winter riding down upon his terrible clouds which filled the sky. She loved Se' sta. She feared he would be driven into the sea and slain. She flew screaming over the water, striking it with her feet as though she were walking. Where she touched it, huge waves arose. They washed up the sands of the sea and made dry land for Se' sta. He walked slowly backward upon this strip of new-made land, battling with his evil brother.

At the end of the new land Ska' reh lost his strength. Se' sta began to push him back. As Ska' reh gave way, Winter stopped and turned about. Se' sta waved his torch of fire over the seas. Heno came up, and thunder rolled along the sky. Se' sta cried with a mighty voice, "Come forth! Arise from the Great Water!"

A shadow came out of the seas. It filled the sky. It took the form of a beautiful woman. And her name was Summer. She came on. She rode on the rain clouds. Heno was by her side. In her hands she held the lightnings. The Rainbow was under her feet. She stood in the sky above Se' sta. She spoke to the Sun, who burst upon the world in his glory and bathed it in beauty. She moved up the Great Island. She drove Winter before her and he retreated far into the ice caves of the north. She poured down warm rains from the lazy clouds on which she rode. She melted the snow and the ice. She made the grass and the corn to grow. She scattered flowers on the hills and along the valleys. The geese and all the water birds followed her, and she sent the song birds to sing again and be happy in the trees.

When Ska' reh came to the north, he ran into his ice caves. But he had done much harm. Every year at that time when he began to fight his brother, old Winter comes again out of the icy water. His white hair streams again in the North Wind. As he goes down the Great Island the land is locked in snow and frost and ice. The flowers die and the leaves fall to the ground.

When Winter reaches the place where Se' sta turned about, Summer rises from her beautiful home under the seas. She drives cruel Winter back to his home in the north. She brings life and birds and grass and corn. She strews the land with flowers. She brings warmth and sunshine and joy for all. She is love and beauty and happiness, and she gives herself to the people of the world.

This great battle between Winter and Summer must go on as long as the world stands.