Haida Nation Creation Story

A long, long time ago, the Creator, whose name is known in the language of the Haidas as Ne-kilst–lass, after creating and getting ready Mother Earth for Human beings, decided to go for a walk along the shore of Nai-con, or as it also called Long Nose in the language the other people.

On the long and sandy beach he came across a clam shell, which he impregnated with his seed. More or less nine months later he walked by the clam shell again and heard tiny sounds coming from it. Wondering what it was, he pried the shell open and found six children, of whom he was the father.

Each of these children were male and female. From three of them the Creator removed the female sex and the other three he removed the male sex, so He had three males and three females.

Ne-kilst-lass then decided to place sea snails in the abdomen of the females. After he did that, he told the six people that if they stayed together and lived as couples, they would have many children.

For some reason all the children were hairy and naked, with long and skinny arms and legs, and could not walk properly.  Only some of those children lived long. But after generations the descendents of those people became strong and handsome, with very little hair on their bodies.

Two of those first people became the ancestors of the Haida People and from their children’s children many were born.

 

 

I work with Muskwa International Foundation Inc. which is an entity that was formed to assist the street children in the Philippines, mostly in Manila and Davao, the two largest cities in the Philippines.  You can find out about their projects here Street Children and Natural Disasters.

The stories I tell here I learned from the Elders and Story tellers and I am passing them on with their blessings. These stories can be anything from 4,000 to 5,000 years old.