The Creation of Man

The Dawn of the World, by C. Hart Merriam, [1910], at sacred-texts.com

p. 83

AFTER a while the world cooled off and Wek'-wek came back to Oo'-yum-bel'-le (Mount Diablo) to see his father Mol'-luk and his grandfather O-let'te. He said to Mol'-luk, "O father;" and Mol'-luk answered, "What is it my son?"

Wek'-wek asked, "How can we make Mew'-ko (Indian people) and have them in the country?"

His father replied, "I cannot tell you; ask your grandfather, he can tell you."

So Wek'-wek asked his grandfather, O-let'-te, how they were going to make people.

O-let'-te answered, "Hah-hah, it will take you a good while to do that. If you are going to do that you must have a head. If people are coming you must first put out [provide] everything everywhere so they can live. If you want to do this I will think about it."

"I want to see it done," answered Wek'-wek.

"All right," said O-let'-te, "I know how. I must catch the three birds--Choo'-hoo the Turkey Buzzard, Kok'-kol the Raven, and Ah-wet'-che the Crow. The only way to catch these birds is to make-believe dead."

So Wek'-wek and O-let'-te went out on the plain

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together and O-let'-te lay down on the ground and pretended he was dead. He opened his mouth and let his tongue out and relaxed himself so Choo'-hoo the Buzzard would think he was dead. He told Wek'-wek he would call if he caught the birds; and Wek'-wek went away.

Soon Choo'-hoo the Turkey Buzzard came sailing over and saw the dead Coyote-man and circled around and lit on the ground beside him. Kok'-kol the Raven and Ah-wet'-che the Crow saw Choo'-hoo go down and knew that he had found something to eat, so they too hastened to the place. just as all three began to eat, O-let'-te suddenly sprang up and caught them. He then called Wek'-wek to come, and told him to pick off the feathers and be careful not to lose a single one. This Wek'-wek did; he picked all the feathers from the three birds and. took them all home.

Then he asked his grandfather, "What are we going to do next?"

"Make people," answered O-let'-te.

"All right," said Wek'-wek, "do you know how?"

"Yes," answered O-let'-te.

Wek'-wek then told Mol'-luk his father that they were going to make people. Mol'-luk answered, "All right."

Next morning O-let'-te and Wek'-wek took the feathers and traveled over all the country. They picked out the places where they wanted Indian villages to be, and in each place stuck up three

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feathers--one for Chā'-kah the Chief, one for Mi'-yum, the head woman or Woman Chief, and one for Soo-lā-too the poor. And they gave each place its name--the name it has always had and bears today.

The next morning the three feathers at each place stood up and came to life and became Mew'-ko [Indian People]. This is the way people were made in the beginning and this is the way all the different rancherias or villages were named.

After that O-let'-te said to Wek'-wek, "Now we also are going to change; I am going to be a hunting animal and you are going to be a hunting bird." So O-let'-te the Coyote-man, whose form up to this time we do not know, changed to the Coyote, a furry hunting animal and became the first furry animal. And Wek'-wek changed to the Falcon, a hunting bird.