Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-08-11
TEocHTL, THE RAVEN GOD.
Battle of Mount St. Elias-sitka Indian
Legend of the Tides.

Battle of Mount st. Elias-Sitka Indian
Legend of the Tides.
''How do you explain the tide9"
asked the Indian boy who was pad
ding back to Sitka after an excur-
sion among the nearby islands. It
was low tide, and he pointed to the
high water mark some 5 feet up q
rock. 1t showed difference that
suggested some tremendous power,
and I knew that he had a theory Of
his own to account forit. The Alas
ka Indians have easy theories about
everything. But l told him the
"San Franciscos, the Indian name
for all W ties, attributed the rise
and fall of the waters to the moon.
Beautiful he said, "but ours is
easier to believe. y
Then he gave it.
In the beginning the world was
all water, and no living creature
could live, for those that were born
were drowned before they could
build a canoe. The water was as
furious and as hungry then as now
and much mightier in battle. But
one day, after rain, Teochtl, the
black raven that is god, came flying
across the waters, and he was full
of the spirit of war. He was going
to engage the waters in hand to
hand conflict. He had been seeking
chance for many, many winters,
more than there have been since
that day, but he could not find
foothoid.
This day, however, the light of
the sun shone deep into the waters,
and Teochtl, piercing into the cold
shadows under the waves with his
all seeing eye, spied the white top of
Mount St. Elias. That was his
chance. That was the battle-ground
he had been looking for since the
world began.
Now, Teochtl is no swimmer. He
would be able to swim if he needed
the power, but it is too easy and toe
common. He never gave himself the
trouble to learn to swim either like
a goose or an iceberg. Teochtl can
dive when it is necessary, when he
has world to conquer So the great
raven circled about the top of Mount
st. Elias till the waters perceived
his purpose and began leaping up at
him. But no waters can fly like
Teochtl, and every time they rose
at him he laughed, Cav, caw,"
and down they fell, sinking almost
as low as they had risen.
That was just what the willy raven
expected. And he challenged the
waters till they, enraged, sprang at
his tail, and clinging to it were lift
ed high in the sky. Then they fell
back exhausted, slid down the noun
tain side and almost exposed the
peak of Mount st. Elias. Itwas near
enough for Teochtl. The brave god
dived to the top of the peak, made
fast with his feet, and, graphing
with the waters, pushed them off the
summit.
Then began the battle of the ages.
Teochtl, the mighty wrestler, clutch
ed the waters in his deadly grip and
showed them down the mountain
side. When he took breath, the wa
ters forced him back up toward the
peak, and down he bore them again
and again. Sometimes he was al
most tired out and the waters al
most regained their lost ground.
Teochtl fought on, however, never
giving up. He uncovered the white
caps that summer, and the next
summer he got half way down the
mountain side. The waters never
gave up either, and though each
time Teochtl wrestled with all his
might he threw the waters farther
down the mountain, they each time
carried him back part of the way.
So it went on for thousands Of
years and the waters rose and fell
storming. freezing, flowing and
grinding, but Teochtl, the god of the
land and the air, gradually wore the
waters out. They were driven off
the great white mountain, then off
the smaller mountains, then off the
islands and then off the mainland,
and Teochtl had all the space he
needed for man and trees, bears and
deer and birds, and he created man
and tho animals, planted the trees
and made the land beautiful and fat.
But the commotion Of that battle
never ceased. The waters never
forgot or gave up. They have never
settled down to peace. They still
rise and fall, swinging from that
mighty wrestling match just as they
do when stick my paddle in like
that. See?-New York Commercial
y Advertiser.