Oaxaca

(map)

The cultural group responsible for this story is unknown, beyond that it was collected in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Once, when the world was full of people, a man lived alone with three dogs. He had a dream that the world would be turned upside down, and he began making a rope from hemp. When people asked what he was doing, he told them of his dream, but they did not believe him.

When it started to rain, he used his rope to tie his canoe to his stone metate, which, when the waters rose, acted as an anchor. He and his three dogs stayed in the canoe many days until the waters receded. He had brought many supplies, but they were nearly gone when he reached land.

He planted corn and worked in the fields. One day he noticed that his store of tortillas had grown. He wondered at this, and when it happened also the next day, he decided to double back on the following day to watch what was happening. As he hid, he heard the dogs speak. "Today I'll grind and you make the tortillas," one said, and another replied, "Take off your coat and put on some woman's clothes." Then the dogs took off their clothes. The man quietly went back to the fields and returned as usual that evening.

Then next day, he took some salt with him and again doubled back. When the dogs took of their coats, and they were not looking, put salt on the skins so they could not be reused; then he returned to the fields. When the man returned, the children were crying, begging for their coats. But they had to remain as children.

When the children grew to adulthood, the man married one, and the other two married each other. That is how the population began to grow again. And we never kill dogs in San Mateo because the people there believe the world was founded by dogs.

Palo Alto Cultural Center, Myth and Magic: Oaxaca Past and Present (Palo Alto, CA: Palo Alto Cultural Center and City of Oaxaca de Juarez, 1994), 67-69.