Nihalgai, The Fourth World

Nihalgai, The Fourth World was a white world. When locust and the Holy People first emerged, they found the world covered with water. They tried several times to drain the flood, but every time the water came back up. Then First Man discovered that Coyote had stolen Water Monster’s baby. He forced Coyote to return the baby back down the reed and the floods receded. After First Man replaced the sacred mountains, he took out the stars, the sun and the moon and placed them in the sky. He began placing the stars carefully, but Coyote grew impatient. He grabbed the corners of the blanket that held the stars and used the blanket to throw the stars randomly across the sky. Changing Woman was born, grew to womanhood, and gave birth to the Twins, Monster Slayer and Born for Water. The twins visited their father, the Sun. The Sun gave the twins lightning-bolt bows and arrows. They used the bows and arrows to kill the monsters and make the world a safe place to live.