The Great Flood
Long,long ago, there were so many
people in the land that they were
really crowded together.
Soon the animals became scarce
and food almost gone, so that the people
fought over hunting areas.
The people were skilled in making canoes
and making clothing from hide and bark
and grasses. In vision their wise elders
could see the future, and there came
a time when they all had dreams that
kept coming to them over
and over again. The dreams warned of a
great flood. This troubled the people
who told each other about their dreams.
They found that they all had dreamed that
rain fell for such a long time, or that the
river rose, causing a great flood so that
all of the people were drowned. They
called a council to
hear their dreams
and decide what should
be done.
One said that they should build
a great
platform to ride on, by attaching canoes
together. Some of the people agreed, but
others laughed and scoffed at their
dreams.
The people who believed in the dreams
started building the platform. It took
several suns of hard work, attaching the
log canoes together with strong
ropes of bark. When it was
completed, they tied the boats with a great
rope of bark to the top of Mount
Cowichan by passing one end of the rope
through the centre of a huge stone which
can still be seen there.
During the time the people were working
on the platform, those who did not believe
in
the dreams did nothing but laugh,
but they did admire the work
when it was at finished and could float
in the Bay.
Soon after the platform was finished,
rain started falling, rivers
overflowed, and the valleys were flooded.
People climbed Mount Cowichan
to avoid the great flood, but it was soon
under water. Those who had believed
the dreams took food to the platform and
their families climbed into it as the
waters got higher. They stayed on the tied
canoes many
days and could see nothing
but water.
Soon the mountain tops had disappeared
beneath the flood. The people became
much afraid when their canoes began to
flood and they prayed for help. Nothing
happened for a long time, then the rain
stopped.
The waters started to go down after a
time, and finally the canoes were grounded on
top of Mount Cowichan. The huge stone
anchor and heavy rope had held it safe.
As the water gradually sank lower and
lower, the people could see their lands,
but their homes were washed away.
The valleys and forests had been
destroyed. The people went back to their
old land and started to rebuild their
homes.
After a time the number of people
increased, until once again the land was
filled and the people started to quarrel
again. This time they separated into
tribes and clans, all going to different
places. The storytellers say this is how
people spread all over the earth.