One day, long ago, Raven was on a desolate beach. Alone, he needed company and came upon a half-open clamshell.  When he examined the shell, he saw tiny people inside.  The people were shy and slowly peeked out of the shell.  “Come out!  Come Out!” called Raven.  The tiny beings opened the shell and climbed onto the sandy earth.  These were the first Haida.

Tales of the Coyote

Of all the animals that take part in the creation stories, none appear more frequently than Coyote.  He was admired for his wisdom, skills, and keenness; his ability to survive in times of peril was a trait that all people wanted to possess.  In some tales, Coyote is represented as a wise, elderly man who respects his friends as well as the earth.

Crow tales of Coyote. In the beginning, Old Man Coyote stood alone with water surrounding him.  Two ducks swam by, and Coyote asked if they had seen anyone else.  The ducks said no but thought that something might exist under the water.

Coyote asked if they would travel underwater for him and report on what they saw.  The ducks did as they were asked, finding nothing.  He asked again, and the ducks returned with a root.  On the third try, they found mud and Coyote was happy.  He told the ducks that they could build with it, and he began to shape and mold the mud into an island.  He blew on it, and it expanded.  He blew again, and it grew into the earth.  The ducks said they did not like the earth’s emptiness, so Coyote created grass and trees out of the roots that came from the water.

Coyote and the ducks loved the earth, but it was flat.  They wanted rivers, valleys, mountains, and lakes.  So it was done.  Soon Coyote and the ducks made a perfect earth, but they grew lonely, with only the three of them to sit and enjoy the land.  So Coyote molded dirt to form men and then more mud to create many types of male ducks.  Soon, they realized that without women, the males could not have children.  So with more dirt he made women and female ducks to populate the earth.