A long, long time ago, our earth was not there. There was nothing but the heavens above a vast ocean, and the animal spirits that all lived above in Galunlati, the Sky Vault.

There was unrest in Galunlati, however, as it was very overcrowded. The animal spirits wondered what was below the water beneath them.

To put all their wondering to rest, the little water beetle, Dayunisi, flew down to the ocean, and reached beneath the water. When he came up, he brought up mud that he then laid down over the water.

The animal spirits were impatient waiting for the mud to dry. The Great Buzzard was sent down next to speed up the drying. As his wings flapped downward, he created great valleys, and when they went upward, tall mountains arose.

This is taking too long...

Let's send the buzzard down...

The Great Buzzard's wings were successful in drying the mud. Floating in the ocean was now a great island of rock--the earth that we know today. The animal spirits happily came down to explore the new earth.

Once the animal spirits completed their descent, they realized it was very cold and dark. They decided to place the sun on a track running east to west just above the earth, thinking this would be perfect.