guarded by six warriors, the prey gods. Toward the North, he was guarded
by Long Tail, the mountain lion; West by Clumsy Foot, the bear; South by
Black-Mark Face, the badger; East by Hang Tail, the wolf; above by White
Cap, the eagle; below by Mole.

So when he was about to go forth into the world, he divided the earth
into six regions: North, the Direction of the Swept or Barren Plains;
West, the Direction of the Home of the Waters; South, the Place of the
Beautiful Red; East, the Direction of the Home of Day; upper regions,
the Direction of the Home of the High; lower regions, the Direction of
the Home of the Low.


How Old Man Above Created the World
Shastika (Cal.)

Long, long ago, when the world was so new that even the stars were dark,
it was very, very flat. Chareya, Old Man Above, could not see through
the dark to the new, flat earth. Neither could he step down to it
because it was so far below him. With a large stone he bored a hole in
the sky. Then through the hole he pushed down masses of ice and snow,
until a great pyramid rose from the plain. Old Man Above climbed down
through the hole he had made in the sky, stepping from cloud to cloud,
until he could put his foot on top the mass of ice and snow. Then with
one long step he reached the earth.

The sun shone through the hole in the sky and began to melt the ice and
snow. It made holes in the ice and snow. When it was soft, Chareya bored
with his finger into the earth, here and there, and planted the first
trees. Streams from the melting snow watered the new trees and made them