Yana

(map)

Pun Miaupa, son of Rainbow, left home and went north to get the youngest daughter of Wakara (moon). On the way, he went to his uncle Igupa Topa. Igupa Topa knew that Wakara killed all his daughter's suitors, so he went along to help his nephew. Pun Miaupa was concerned because Igupa Topa was old and fell every few steps, but Igupa Topa soon revealed that he could jump between mountaintops even better than Pun Miaupa. At length, they reached their destination and saw Halai Auna (morning star), Wakara's daughter. Igupa Topa put himself into his nephew's heart to strengthen him. Halai Auna was pleased by Pun Miaupa, but she went home and told Wakara she had seen a man. Wakara welcomed Pun Miaupa formally, but then went to his brother Tuina (sun) to see what he thought of Halai Auna's new husband. Tuina had a pipe with tobacco made from his own hair and gave it to Pun Miaupa to smoke, expecting it to kill him. But Igupa Topa in his heart took the smoke, so Pun Miaupa was unharmed. Tiuna repeated the test with increasingly stronger tobaccos made from his skin, flesh, brains, and marrow, to no effect. Igupa Topa left Pun Miaupa's heart that night; Tiupa saw him the next morning and knew the source of Pun Miaupa's power. They offered Igupa Topa food, but he ate nothing until night came; then he ate everything in the house except venison. The same happened the next day. The women fixing the food complained, and Tiuna said he didn't like Igupa Topa either. Igupa Topa heard this; he raised a great cloud and caused heavy rain. He brought his nephew and Halai Auna to the roof of the sweat house. The rain filled the valleys and came up to the roof of the house. Everyone else, inside the house, drowned. At daylight, the rain stopped and the water lowered. Halai Auna cried for her family, but Pun Miaupa told her that his uncle would restore them to life. Just after midday, Igupa Topa looked at the dead bodies and said, "Why sleep all day? It is time to be up!" and the people arose as if from sleep. Later, Wakara took his new son-in-law to play a sport in which one person bends down a tall pole as the other goes to the top and tries to hold on as the pole is released to spring back. Wakara tried to kill Pun Miaupa by pulling the pole very low, but Igupa Topa had entered Pun Miaupa's heart again, giving him the strength to hold on. When it was Wakara's turn to climb the pole, Pun Miaupa bent it very low and flung Wakara into the sky, where he stays. Pun Miaupa went back home with his uncle an Halai Auna. Wakara's other daughters grieved the loss of Wakara. Chuhna (spider) fastened a rope to the sky and drew up all of Wakara's daughters and their husbands; they stay on the sky as stars.

Curtin, Jeremiah. Creation Myths of America (London: Bracken Books, 1899, 1995), 281-294.