MYTHOLOGY - CREATION MYTH

There was a time when nothing existed to form the universe--no earth, no
sky, and no sun or moon to break the monotony of the illimitable darkness.
But as time rolled on, a spot, a thin circular disc no larger than the
hand, yellow on one side and white on the other, appeared in midair.
Inside the disc sat a bearded man but little larger than a frog, upon whom
was to fall the task of creating all things. Kuterastan, The One Who Lives
Above, is the name by which he is now known, though some call him
Yuadistan, Sky Man.

[Illustration: Apache Still Life]

Apache Still Life

_From Copyright Photograph 1903 by E.S. Curtis_

Kuterastan, as if waking from a long sleep, sat up and rubbed his face and
eyes with both hands. Then bending forward, he looked up into the endless
darkness, and lo! light appeared everywhere above him. He then looked
down, and all below became a sea of light. A glance to the east created
yellow streaks of dawn, another to the west the saffron tints of the dying
day, both soon becoming obscured by numerous clouds of many hues, formed
by his looking around and about in all directions.

Again with both hands Kuterastan wiped his eyes and sweating face and,
rubbing his hands together as if he were rolling a small pebble between
the palms, suddenly parted them with a quick downward fling, and there
before him on a shining, vaporless, mirage-like cloud sat a little girl no
larger than a doll. Kuterastan directed her to stand up, asking where she
intended to go, but she replied not. He cleared his vision once more with
his hands, then proffered his right hand to the girl, Stenatlihan, Woman
Without Parents, who grasped it, with the greeting "Whence came you?"

For reply Kuterastan merely repeated her question, adding, "Look to the
east, it is light! There will be light in the south, in the west, and in
the north." And as she looked she saw light. He then came out upon the
cloud.

"Where is the earth?" asked Stenatlihan, to which Kuterastan replied by
asking:

"Where is the sky?" Then requesting that he be not disturbed, he began to
sing: "I am thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking what shall I do next."
Four times he thus sang, at the end of the fourth time brushing his face
with his hands, which he rubbed briskly together and parted quickly; and
there before him stood Chuganaai, the Sun. Raising his l