The Achomawi Indians of California saw the beginning in another way. The two are all alone together at the beginning of the world. They become persons. Then they think; they think a canoe and float around the water in it until they tire of that. Silver Fox puts Coyote to sleep, and while Coyote sleeps, Silver Fox combs Coyote’s hair. From the combings, rolling, flattening, stretching them out, he makes the earth, and weighs it down with stones. He goes on with this work of creation until the canoe floats up to the edge of the earth. Then he wakes Coyote who, in time, wonders where this new place has come from.
“I do not know,” replies Silver Fox. “We are just here.”