The Havre herald. [volume] (Havre, Mont.) 1904-1908, 1908-09-09
STORY Of The FLOOD
oae of the Strange Legends OF
the Yuma Indians.
CAUSE or THE GREAT sT0RlN.

LAUSE UT HE VnEAl 1t Vstsssa
The Tipping Up Of the Earth Caused
the DeIuge Which Enaulfed the
Worid-The Mysterious Ark and the
Escape Of the Chosen Few.
To this day the great deluge recorded
N the Bible 10 mystery to the Nerth
American Indian. He will not he led
TO believe that the food was srossfA
about by the sins of man. He ~
equally unwilling to believe that it was
the work Of an angry God, as he coutd
aot see how the Almighty should Ne 80
unjust as to punish the Indians of
America for the naughty things ct
race OF people across the ocean. An
ether reason which makes it still more
difficult for the Indian to believe that
the flood was punishment to the
world is the fact that with him there
il no sin. In his language there In no
such word, nor does he expect to be
punished for any Of his acts.
But though there Is no equivalent to
the word sin in the Indian language
{nor in the Indian mind until the
Christians camel, the Indians huFe
their philosophy in regard to what Is
commonly so termed. Some Of their
teachers f1nost OF whom claimed to
have been taught the philosophy Of
hfe and its laws directly by diseHa-
bodied spirits or by ethereal beings
from other planets) taught that as
man lives here SO is his life hereafter
II he Is quarrelsome or wariiiSe here.
so he will be In the more spiritual life.
Ii he lis serene and contented here. 80
he will be there, etc.
The deluge, as described by the few
who were miraculously saved, Was the
more grandly terrible in that it came
on suddenly. From the highlands &C
supied by the Indians they saw Wie
waves OF the sea sweep In upon the
and and recede. only to advance with
immensely increased volume and sau-
pendously huge breakers. Then there
came terrific storm that seemed to
blow from all and In all direetiaas.
The storm caused huge waterspSuts
which appeared over the wild ocean
as far as the eye could see. The terri
fed people fed to the mountains. bHt
these were all soon to be submerged,
with the exception Of one. This msun-
tain which alone remained uncovered
by the food Is called Avee-heifafa
{Mountain of the Noon, yet today ie is
not very high mountain.
For awhile before the mountaias Nc
came submerged there was great
calm. and dense fog covered the
earth. Then suddenly mighty beat
: appeared to the awed view Of tins In
b dams 1t approached and stopped al
the several mountains still uncovered
by the waters, and at each point whefe
1t touched, as If guided by invisible I'm
. telligence. the Indians, as if obeyfme
an unspoken but potent command. ON
tered the boat.
The boat rested first at place @afAef1
Avee-qua-lul (mountain peak, now IN
y lot Knob. ON the border Of MaxfaO
. There was mesa on the top Of tssit
= mountain. though at this day 1t does
). not exist, and ON this mesa the India ns
. first celebra ted their delivery. Tha
!. they did by playing sacred games
chanting sacred songs. etc On rocss
at the foot of this peak there are HERE
glyphics In an unknown languaa ne
which some of the Indians believe weKI
r made by those who survived tho flood
(. Petrified driftwood is still to be seag
N two-thirds the distance up the aides q
}. Avee-heilah. which drift. the Indinm
say, was deposited by the waves Of ths
great food
The Indians, having rested foT flml1
on the mountain peak. again enters
the boat and were carried eastward
? eventually to small valley. Her
Al they again rested, and then. lcavini
il the boat they wandered from one plae
b to another. after time returning y
N the valley. To their surprise, the boo
;, was gone. 1t could not have noate
:, away. for the land was dry whereo
= they had left it, the food having sui
~ The boat could not have erumbled
pieces. for there had not been time Il
I'd IT'S decay They could only conelud
ls the. the mysterious boat. having IN
III filed it's mission of preserving fer
to Of their rnee, had disappeared as na
n, raerlously as it had appeared.
The spot where the mysterious bon
or ark, had rested was marked by I'll
~ Indians placing there huge log. The
u called the place Qual-jo-para (boat
u resting placei. This spot is held sacre
I'd by the Indians. who will seldom poir
1t out to strangers. Not many hundre
I'd years ago, 1t is said, some Indian wa
rIors were passing the spot, and one Z
them to show his skepticism shot q
II arrow Into the side of the great To-
n.y. Immediately a stream of blood gushe
r. from the spot pierced. and the skept
fell dead. The story OF the event Wa
carried to all the near tribes. and sins
~ then Indians passing the place fear
Ks even look leisureiy at the log.
N,~~ 49, 3{rrS