There once was a storyteller The Holy Man Wasicong who told the story of Anpao this is how it went…
Anpao and his twin brother Oapna, had been staying in a village for a few days. There was a beautiful girl that lived there; all the rich men wanted to merry her, but she didn’t want to merry them the sun was promised to her. When Anpao asked her to merry him, she said yes. But he had to find the lodge of the sun and tell him that he wished to merry her, because the sun wanted too also.
So with only his brothers company he set out for the suns lodge; not knowing what adventures that was in store for him. After a few days, Anpao and Oapna saw a man Anpao said, “Do you know where the sun lives.” He said, “no, but stripped-face will know go to her.” When they found her she said, “Yes I will tell you tomorrow, I will share my food with you and you can rest.” Anpao said, “The Moon is so beautiful!” Oapna said, “Yes it is so ugly (he says every thing back wards).” It got dark and Anpao heard Oapna say “help” when he called his name, there was no answer. Anpao realized he was alone. Then the moon came back out; there was a bright new star Anpao wanted it so he shot it down. When he went to get it, he saw that it was Oapna. Then the darkness came and Oapna had vanished. When he awoke, striped face was staring over the top of him she told him that he needed to find himself. Then vanished into the water. Anpao mourned over the loss of his brother and cried himself to sleep.
When he awoke berries had grown over him. He put them in his hair then he continued; he saw a swan person she said, “Get on my back my grand mother has sent for you.” Therefore, he did. When they got there, Anpao wanted to find his brother so he asked the old woman if she knew where the lodge of the moon was. She said it is made of white stone and all of the people that she thought had insulted her, she ate and then and keep their eyes on the wall. Then she gave Anpao a spruce cone, a rosebush, a piece of devils club, a small piece of whetstone, and a pipe. Then some swans took him to the lodge he threw the spruce cone down; after he got his brother the spruce cone made cries like Oapna’s. They leapt into the sky and threw the devils club down, but she caught up. So he threw the rosebush; then the whetstone. They got to the water and swam as fast as they could. Then they went back to the old woman’s house. She asked if they wanted to remember what they had forgotten they said “yes” she asked them to sing the first song they remembered they did then she said, “yes my sons I will tell you.”
In the beginning there was only old man. He made water and then he made birds. The birds asked if he would make something so they could get out of the water and fly. So he did, he made sky. Then they asked for land so they could build their nests. He said he would need help they would have to get the mud at the bottom of the water. Each bird tried to dive down to the very bottom of the water they came back with nothing. Then the little coot tried, when he came up he had mud. The old man rolled it into a huge ball, then he asked grandmother turtle to carry it on her back. He planted all different things. He took a rib from himself blew on it and made humans.
One day he saw a man and a woman. The woman said do we live forever? Old man said I’ll throw this piece of wood into the water if it floats we will die for 4 days then come back. The woman said if I throw this rock into the water and it sinks we die, it sunk the next day the old man died, his last words were “Anpao, it is the dawn of the world.”
The next day there was a woman looking for old man. She looked into the water and saw that she was old and ugly, she put her hair up; she became beautiful again. The sun saw her and wanted her. So she went up to the world above the world. They had a son and named him Anpao. One day she went to pick potatoes the sun said, “Don’t pick the potatoes with the tops eaten off.” The next day she and Anpao went to pick potatoes again. The Sun again told her the same thing. That day she saw a big potato with the top just eaten off but she picked it any way. After she pulled it out, she looked down. She saw the world and her people. Each day she braided the sinew until it almost reached the earth. In the middle of the night she took Anpao and the sinew rope and left. When she got to the hole she tied Anpao to it and sent him down. It wasn’t long enough though. She climbed down it but it was still to short. The sun came home and saw her tracks he followed them. He saw his mistress and got mad. He bent a root into a hoop and said roll down the rope miss the child and knock the woman off. It did then the rope fell and Anpao fell on to his dead mother’s stomach. It broke open and the blood that came out onto Anpao’s head and left a scar.
When Anpao woke up the only thing he remembered was his mother and his name. Anpao finds the hoop that his father threw down. Anpao couldn’t stay by his mother forever or else he would starve. So he went to the tipi that he saw. Each day the woman that lived in the tipi would leave food out for him and he would take it. One day she caught him because she wanted a child. She let him call her grandmother spider. He went to work with her every day. She taught him to look at everything in the world.
One day he wanted to stay home and play with his hoop. Grandmother Spider said “don’t throw it in the air something bad will happen to you.” Anpao threw it up any way, it came down and split him in half so there were two of him. When they went home, Grandmother Spider said, “Anpao you both must leave when there was one of you, you were one with the tipi now you have a friend, you must leave in the morning.”
In the morning, they left, she told them not to forget their Grandmother spider.
The pipe was re-lighted and Anpao went threw some thing like a bad dream. When he awoke Oapna was the only one there, he broke out of a cocoon and went into Anpao’s body, where there was just two boys now there was only one.
Anpao left the camp and went on his journey he saw a figure he called to it ran away. He fell into a ravine and hurt his leg badly. An old man came out of the cave he said, “I will help you if you will stay and hunt for me.” He was a mean old man but he didn’t want to die so he agreed.
One day he shot a bear. He saw some people called the thunders they told Anpao to get the evil old man. So he did the thunders killed the old man and took Anpao to the nearest village. They were friendly there. He stayed for awhile but he needed to move on so he could marry the beautiful Ko-ko-mek-e-is.
Anpao started out with two brothers, they got very hungry, and they found eggs. But Anpao said, “don’t eat them” the older brother ate them thought. After awhile he turned into a snake. He said, “tell the people I’m alive, I am taking care of the big river.” Then Anpao and the brother went back to their brothers’ lodge.
One night there was a dance Amana the brother’s sister went to get Anpao a drink; a woman was sitting there combing her long black hair. The next morning Anpao couldn’t even walk that evening. There was big dance he was the best dancer. He went but than he stopped. He fell to the ground. He was unconscious for 5 days. Then Amana took him to the heeler. He found the poison and cut it out it was snarl of black hair. When they got back Anpao awoke. Then he left.
He came to a camp of shy people who ran away. A raven came with a bundle then he went into the darkness, Anpao look in the bundle; there was some meat he ate it. Then the raven came and angrily took the things away.
Anpao meets one of the shy people and they are bats, one had scared him. Then they all came by the fire and sat. They said they knew where the ravens lodge was. Anpao wanted the powerful meat so Bat took him. They saw that raven got it from a hole and the meat was called buffalo. Anpao went in to the hole after the ravens had left.
There were two chiefs Anpao took the one that had the most power. And took all of the buffalo. The raven said you have to leave the eyes for us when you kill them. He took them back to the people they scared them away so Anpao left with them. One day some sorcerers came they said they would destroy the world if Anpao and Ko-Ko-mik-e-is didn’t die. So they did; but they came back to life and the sorcerers made corn. The sorcerers made all of the pretty animals ugly so that they could blend in.
Anpao leaves he makes a camp and wolves visit him. He meets a boy named Farting Boy and a coyote. Coyote wanted Anpao’s scare. Anpao said, “No.” Then Coyote wanted Farting Boy’s thing. He let him; but then Coyote wanted to give it back but Farting Boy wouldn’t take it.
He comes to a village and he stays for the dance. There is a beautiful girl Deer Woman. She takes a young man with her. The next day they find the young man dead. The Deer Woman had killed him. Anpao leaves he comes to an old man’s hut and he stays there for the night. Then he left and came to another village he stayed for awhile and then two brothers asked him to take them to the buffalo’s if they gave Anpao moccasins and as much food as he could carry. He said, “Yes.” It was a hard trip and the brothers kept complaining and seeing kept mirages.
Then they saw a golden turtle. The brothers ran to get on it; they finally succeeded. Anpao told them to get off; to respect it, but they didn’t and they turned to gold. The turtle went into some dirty water Anpao could do nothing his friends had died.
Anpao had continued on his journey he had came to what he thought was the end of the world. He saw a trail he followed it and he came upon some worrier things he sat and looked but didn’t take them. A boy came out. His name was Morning Star. Anpao said his name was scarface. Morning Star took Scarface to the lodge his mother was the Moon; the sun let him stay. The moon said, “You must not let Morning Star go to the big waters because there are birds there that will eat sons of the sun.”
One day Morning Star told Anpao that there were another kind of people they were white (big knifes) and they brought a disease. They also brought magic dogs and the Sun got some they were by the big waters. Anpao finally gave in. The sun had gotten some of the iron knives that they could kill the birds with, so they went.
Anpao and Morning Star left to see the magic dog. Anpao regretted that he had come when a bunch of birds came down and were very noisy. Then it was silent; it cleared. They saw the magic dog and the birds came back. Anpao had saved Morning Star’s life because he had been pecked almost to death and Anpao carried him away. Then the Moon came and saved them both. Morning Star said that Anpao had saved him. The Sun said, “Since you have saved my son I will do anything you ask.” Anpao said, “Will you remove my scar.” The Sun did and he also called him son so did the Moon. The Sun gave him the magic dog, which he named horse, emblems and fancy cloths and two feathers. The Sun said, “To get to your home; you go on the Wolf Road or the Milky Way.
Anpao did and he came to a village. All the people were ugly and deformed. They wanted Anpao’s things, but Anpao knew that the Sun, Moon, and Morning Star would protect him. In the morning, the people in the village went to kill their enemies, but they were all dead. Anpao left he came upon the village (which was the deformed people’s enemies) and went by. He saw a person; his name was Smallpox and the big knifes had bought him. He breathes on everyone and they die. He wanted to know where Anpao’s village was, Anpao pointed the way he had just came. Then he went to the village were Ko-ko-mik-e-is lived. Anpao and Ko-ko-mik-e-is left the village before Smallpox came.
They went to the village beneath the water. And that is the story of how the world began and how Anpao was born.