Indian Myths

The war between the Brothers, Se’ sta and Ska’ reh, Fire and Ice and Stone, did not end. Se’ sta could over­come Ska’ reh, but he did not like to be always at strife.

One dark morning Se’ sta was wakened by the cries of his people. He knew at once that some new trouble had come upon the world in the night. When he came forth, he was told that all the water was gone. He went to the spring, but he found no water there. He went to the streams and found them dry. He went to the lake, and it was empty. He looked up to see why the sun did not shine, and he saw Ska’ reh standing in the sky. In his hands he held a bag of skin in which was all the water of the lakes, streams, and springs in the world. He had stolen it in the night. The bag was so large that it shut out the rays of the sun. Ska’ reh knew the people would die if they had no water, even his own people. But he did not care.

Se’ sta knew he must get the water back. He brought forth his giant bow. For an arrow he used the trunk of a mighty pine. He shot this great arrow into the bag, tearing it apart. The water was spilled. It fell upon the earth. It filled the valleys and covered the hills. So the Lower World was destroyed by the flood.

When Se’ sta saw that all life was in danger, he quickly lead his people to the beautiful forest above the earth. It was made by the Rainbow when she made the Beautiful Burning Bridge from the Lower World to the sky for the Deer. In that charming country they lived until the waters ran back into their places and left again the dry land. And even then only the beasts and the birds brought by Se’ sta returned to the Great Island. Before the Wyandot could come, the last battle between the Good One and the Evil One was fought, and all life in the Lower World was fought.

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