How the world was created: a wolf story

As the insane persecution of the wolf continues, I thought I'd share a story for a different perspective. Much of the fearmongering with wolves goes back to fairy tales and ancient tales and legends. Yes, the wolf is a predator and the proverbial 'big bad wolf' in some of them - but he is also serene, courageous, helpful, wise - a guide, a brother, even a god in some of the old tales. So for a bit of balance - let this wolf sink in.

The Native American tribe of the Northern Paiute people knew wolf to be the creator. And on long winter nights the story of the creation of the world was told. I brought some of the tales of the Northern and Southern Paiute tribes into my last novel to give a sense of the richness of joy, imagination, beauty and belief of American Indian culture. I want readers to be inspired by these tales, and I want them to want to learn more about the American Indian people, their ways of life and their stories.

That novel takes place in the times of frontier newspapers and I've researched through countless newspaper articles from the times of gold and silver rushes and all the way into the 20th century. The written word can inform and illuminate, but with regard to American Indians, those frontier papers were most often used to the detriment of native peoples. Newspaper articles of the time were often ruthlessly biased in favor of white man’s 'manifest destiny', depicting American Indians as ignorant and cruel savages.

The truth was a very different one. And the rich tribal cultures, lived vibrantly and passed on orally, were almost buried and destroyed forever, if not for those who fought to keep the stories alive. They were told, and retold, and finally collected in written form over the course of hundreds of years. I am deeply grateful to all those who, then and now, have labored to collect the countless stories that have allowed me to write my novel. We need to learn from Indigenous peoples around the world. They were here, living in harmony with the seasons, long before white man. Against overwhelming odds, they are here today – and today, more than ever, we must learn from them to restore our balance with nature.

Enough of these ramblings - here's the Northern Paiute tale of how the world was created (oh, by the way, when 'people' are mentioned in these earliest of legends, what is meant is the animals, as they were the first people - I think that this in itself is something we should always remember with humility):

In the beginning, there was nothing in the world and the people sat in darkness. Wolf told Coyote to go and look for land. Coyote didn’t like being ordered around but he knew that his brother Wolf was not to be questioned. He skulked through the darkness in widening circles. Before long he fell into water, crawled back out and angrily shook himself dry.

“There is nothing,” Coyote growled when he was back. “There’s just water all around us.”

“Water,” Wolf mused. “Yes. I require what is at the bottom of the water.”

“Count me out,” Coyote said.

“I’ll go,” Otter eagerly said. “I’m the best swimmer.” They couldn’t see him in the darkness, but they heard the splash when he jumped in and then they heard nothing more for one day, and then two days, until Otter finally returned.

“What have you brought me?” Wolf asked.

“There was nothing down there. I went as far as I could, further than anybody else could, and I almost drowned and still there was nothing. There is just water. Just water,” Otter panted, exasperated in defeat.

“May I give it a try?” Muskrat asked.

“Of course,” Wolf said, and an instant later they heard Muskrat dive away.

They waited. One day. Two days. Three days. Coyote and the others grew convinced that Muskrat had drowned, when Muskrat splashed back. She crawled to them, gasping, tired and starved.

“Otter was right. Even though I went down even further than he did, there was nothing down there, absolutely nothing. Even more nothing than the nothing we have here.”

“Maybe I should be in charge,” Coyote said. “My big brother Wolf is supposed to be the creator, isn’t he? Well? I for one am not impressed.”

There was a murmur of agreement in the darkness, but Wolf just smiled to himself. He knew them well.

“Mud Hen,” Wolf said. “Will you go collect what I need?”

“But I’m just a mud hen,” she said.

“Yes, you are,” Wolf replied and something in the way he said it made her swell with pride. She jumped into the water and was gone for five days and when she returned, no one could understand what she was saying because she had mud and grass in her bill. She had made it all the way to the bottom and everyone cheered as she handed over the seemingly insignificant finds to Wolf.

Walking around, with the mud and with the grass, Wolf began to sing his song and with it, the land began to grow. Every time he stopped singing, Coyote walked the land from end to end and kept returning with the complaint that it was nowhere near big enough. Wolf sang another song, and then another, until both he and Coyote were satisfied and the land was as big as it is today. Wolf sang one more song to put the sun into the sky and then everybody saw what he had made. The first people sang and danced and then went into all directions. Bighorn Sheep went up into the mountain and deer roamed the forests. Birds flew seeds into every corner of the land and fish swam from the oceans into the land. Moving their tails back and forth, they pushed forward deeper and deeper and made the rivers.

It was beautiful. Everything. Wolf and Coyote sat on a hill in the evening sun. Coyote knew it was beautiful, perfect, in fact. But he couldn’t get himself to admit it in front of Wolf.

“What’s on your mind, Brother?” Wolf asked

“I was just wondering – all of this is a bit … boring, don’t you think? Is this all there is?”

“No … There will be more. Much more.”

“Good – then let’s get started,” Coyote said, jumping up and eagerly circling his big brother.

Wolf said nothing and did his best to hide a sigh. He knew what was and he knew what would be. While not everything had its reason, it all had its place. And it all had its time. And time would come soon enough.

“Let’s just sit here for a while,” Wolf finally said.

Coyote, perplexed, stopped in his tracks and looked at Wolf. His big brother seemed even more pensive than usual. He’d have to play a few tricks on him to get him out of his mood. But for now, he sat down next to him again and gave in to the peace of the moment and the evening sun on his fur and the scent of the world. Yes, it was beautiful.

The brothers smiled.