Yavapai (Mojave-Apache)

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Many years ago, the people lived under the ground. There came a time when there was nothing to eat, so the hummingbird was sent to see what he could find. Flying up into the sky, he found a grape vine which grew through a hole into the upper world. He flew through the hold and found a land where mescal and fruits and flowers of all kind were plentiful. The hummingbird flew back and told the people of the beautiful country above, and the people all went up, climbing the grape vine. But they left behind them in the underworld the frog-folk, who were blind.

When the people had lived in that land for a while, they heard a noise come from the hole. A man looked down and saw water rising; it already nearly reached the mouth of the hole. The people said, "The blind frogs have made this flood. If it keeps rising it will wash us all away." They decided to hollow out a tree like a trough, into which they put blankets and plenty of food. They chose a beautiful maiden to lay in the trough and closed it up, saying, "If the waters come, she at least will be saved."

The waters came up through the hole. Though the people ran to the highest mountains, the flood rose over them. The trough floated on the flood, at last bumping against the sky. It struck first to the south, then to the west, then to the north, then to the east. Then the flood went down.

When the trough rested on the ground again, the woman went out. But she found no one with which to bear children. She went into the mountains before sunrise and lay there. The dawn sun shone upon her, and water dripped from the crag, and in this way she conceived and bore a daughter. When the child had grown to maidenhood, the mother showed her what she had done to conceive, and the daughter did likewise. The child she bore was Sekala Ka-amja, "The Deathless One."

Natalie Curtis, The Indians' Book (1923; reprint, New York: Dover, 1968), 329-331. See also Gifford, "Yavapai Myths," 353.