Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1905-09-20
AN INDIAN LEGEND.
The Way Nan-Rb-bcju Made the New
Earth After the Flood.

- will tell you the story of Nan-ab-
beju. He is the man who made the
new earth after the big water came
and covered il.
Big waters came. and there was
nothing anywhere except water and
the sky and the sun and the stars. g"
said the old Chippewa. "Nan-ab-beiu
made n great raft and put on it some
relic Of everything that had been on
the earth-SpecimenS OF each kind OF
animals. Of all the trees. shrubs. plants.
flowers. birds. rocks. and one man and
ono woman. In short. he did not leave
anything except sand. He forgot to
save some sand. and yet he could not
do anything without 70. He sailed ont
far into the flood and made n little
island, very. very small. Then he found
he had no sand. He made very big
line. longer than hundreds Of deer
skins cut up into ribbons and tied to-
gether. and he took a muskrat OF the
raft and tied the line to Il and threw
IL into the water. The frightened rat
dove down and down. and when there
was no longer any pulling ut the line
Nan-ah-beju knew the rat was ut the
bottom OF the sea Then he began 10
pull the line up. AT the end Of IL came
the poor muskrat. stone dead. drowned.
But Nan-ab-beiu saw that the little
black paws OF the animal were clcnch-
Ell as il there was something I'm their
palms and that the rat held tight hold
Of even after death. The little paws
were forced open. and I'm them were
found half n dozen grains Of sand. one
grain would have been enough for the
great Nan-ab-bcju.
"Nan-ab-beju blew his breath on the
muskrat, and its life came back to It.
Then he mixed the sand In the little
Island that he had made and blew on
that also. As he blew and blew II
swelled and swelled until Il was so big
that Nan-ab-beju could not see the
sides or end OF IL In any direction.
Nan-ah-beju was not quite certain
whether he had made Il as big as the
old earth before the big water came.
He had 20 make II as big as IL had
been-So big. in fact, that no man or
creature could find the end OF IL. He
had plenty OF animals that could travel
over the earth and find out how big II
was. so he decided 20 take two huge
buTaloes of the raft and send them to
see whether there was any end 10 what
be had made. The bufaloes ran or
with all speed, and Nan-ab-betu sat
down and waited. In n few days the
bunaloes came back and said they had
found the end Of the earth. SO Nan-ab-
beJu blew and blew and blew on the
ground again. and IL swelled so fast
that you could see IL broadening. When
he had blown until he was tired he
took crow Off the raft and sent It to
see If 1t could find the end OF the
earth. The crow was gone n very long
time, but at last it came sailing back
on the wind and said IL had flown TN It
was tired out and there was no sign Of
any end 10 the earth.
"Nan-ab-beju. TO make sure. blew
again and swelled the earth great
deal bigger. Then he united and IN
Gagged and untrapped all the animals
and drove them from the raft on 10 the
land and left them free to roam where
they might He took all the trees.
plants, bushes and shrubs and planted
them around, and he blew the grass
out OF his hands as hard as he could
blow 1t, so that it scattered all over.
Next he let loose all the birds and bee
ties and bugs and snakes and toads
ana butterflies, and finally he invited
the man and woman, both Chippeways.
10 go ashore and make the new earth
their hunting gound. And Nan-ab-
beJu's task was dOne"-St. Nicholas.