Mono Creation Story

Mono creation story – – Madera County

In the beginning everything was water. Prairie Falcon and Crow surveyed it all from a log sticking up from the water. They decided to call Duck to make a world above the water. Prairie Falcon called and asked what number he dreamed. Duck said two but Prairie Falcon told him to dream for three days and in the dream to dive to the bottom and bring up some land. He dreamed and dove and died under the water, his body floating to the surface. Prairie Falcon brought him back to life but sent Coot down below to bring up some land. He died too and Prairie Falcon brought him back to life. This time he sent Grebe below. He reached the bottom and brought up some sand but he passed out of the dream state on the way up and died. Prairie Falcon brought them back to life and asked him if he had gotten any earth. But the sand had passed out of his hands. Prairie Falcon had found some sand under Grebe’s nails. He threw it in all the directions and this became the world. Things did not go right. Condor had a spring which he brought victims to and beheaded, the blood flowing into the spring. Condor built a fire under the spring to flood the world. He tried to flood Ground Squirrel’s house. Some of them escaped but he captured one and brought it to the spring where he put it aside while he took a drink. Condor’s daughter spoke to Ground Squirrel. “You must kill him or he will flood the world.”  Ground Squirrel cut off Condor’s head but it flooded the world, killing everybody in the world that Prairie Falcon and Crow created.