E6A. The way through water. 46.47.

People go to their current habitat through a (ice-covered) reservoir, some remain on the other side or sink.

Blacklegs, Sarsi, Grovantre, Sheyens, Arikara, Alabama.

Plains. Blacklegs [people walk on the ice from afar; a horn sticks out of the ice; a small child demands it for himself; his mother saws off the horn; a monster breaks the ice; some people stay on that one forever lake or sea side; tribes diverge in different directions]: Wissler, Duvall 1908, No. 6:22; Sarsi: Curtis 1976 (18) [some people (sarsi) have already crossed the lake on ice, the other part (Chipewayans) have not yet crossed; the child saw a horn protruding from the ice, asked his mother to get it, she began to cut it; the monster moved, the ice split; people in the east and west began to live separately; then it rained and flood, sarsi escaped in the mountains]: 141; Simms 1904 [like blacklegs; those who swam south on ice floes are Sarsi's ancestors who returned to the north - beaver]: 180; grovantre [like blacklegs, without details; child asks for a grandmother; people drown on the ice, those left on different banks no longer meet]: Kroeber 1907b No. 32:112; sheyens [like grovantra, without details]: Grinnell 1892:163 in Kroeber 1907b: 112; Aricara: Dorsey 1904d, No. 3 [giants lived on earth, Nesaru destroyed them with a flood; gathered people with animals in a small underground cave; these people were corn kernels; one N. grain in the sky turned her into a woman, Mother Corn, sent her to bring people to the ground; The Mole, the Badger, the Long-Nosed Mouse take turns digging, making their way out; The mole is blind to the light, stayed in the ground; Badger appeared black stripe on her face, black legs; Mother Corn led people west; there was an abyss ahead, the Kingfisher covered it with stones, some people remained, became kingfishers; the owl paved the way through the forest, knocking down trees on the fly with their wings; Loon flew across the lake, dividing its waters, people dried, some returned and became loons; some did not have time to cross before the waters came together, remained on the other side; while Mother Corn went to heaven, people began to play, kill the losers; she came back, said that N. was dissatisfied, ordered to choose a leader, taught me how to scalp; the Dog came and said that she and Tornado forgot; Tornado will cause disease, then dogs must be sacrificed; Mother Corn: Don't forget to smoke to the heavenly gods in four ways], 4 [people in the underground cave; Mother Corn told the Mole, Badger, Gopher, the Long-nosed Mouse to dig a hole to the surface of the earth; the Mole was blind to the light, Badger had black legs, Gopher had a stripe on his face; everyone went west, an abyss on the way; The kingfisher filled it up, some people decided to stay as worms; the owl paved the way through the forest; the Loon flew across the lake, people went dry between the waters; some drank and became fish; others became loons; the Partridge killed, sacrificed a wild cat; Mother Corn praised, for the spotted ones must be sacrificed, the spots represent stars; the Red Star, the Yellow Star, the Big Black The Meteorite Star (rising in the east) gave a smoking pipe; The partridge flew off successively, let the gods SE, SW, SV, Zenith (Nesaru) smoke; The tornado hit Mother Corn, she regurgitated the red one, yellow, black, white corn; The tornado brought diseases; The dog said it would stay with people as a watchman, her meat was delicious, her fat was healing against ulcers; Mother Corn gave corn, taught rituals], 5 [Mother- Corn takes people out of the underground cave; The Mole or the Long-nosed Mouse, the Skunk, the Badger are digging a way out; everyone goes west to the water barrier; the fish swims, the waters part, people go dry, the waters follow them close; Owl makes its way through the forest, Kingfisher through the abyss; the horns of the giant bison reach the sky; the Mole, the Skunk, the Badger dig holes, the Fish rushes down the Bison's throat when he comes to drink, cuts his fins from the inside, he runs, falls into holes, dies; his skin is grass, his horns are trees with bark, he has a sunflower on his nose, he looks like Mother Earth; his blood is glass, has become stones, they are made of smoking pipes; his meat was divided into sacred bundles; everyone goes further west; animals decide to separate themselves from humans], 6 [giants lived on earth, Nesaru destroyed them with heat, turning them into stones; created little people, wanted to destroy them by the flood, but the animals hid them in an underground cave; Bears, Moles, Mice, Foxes dug their way to the ground; The mole went blind to the light, the Bear widened the hole; woman, who came from a grain of corn, told the man that they were on an island in the middle of the waters; people under the ground were corn grains, now they have become human; the man became a pike, made his way in the water, the woman too; they were tired, some people fell into the water, became fish; the mouse led people through the darkness, the rest in the forest turned into owls; there was a failure, the Bear laid steps, people passed; the Tornado paved the way through the forest, although They forgot to call him; people dressed corn as a woman, threw it into the river, said that Mother would sail to the island we came from; one day an old woman came and left corn], 7 [people were underground; Long-nosed Mouse, Mole, Badger, Fox felt sorry for them, dug their way to the ground, people went out, went west; Badger covered the abyss from the earthquake, people passed; Loon flew across the river, dividing the waters, people passed, the waters came together, some people stayed on the other side; Mother Corn said that Black Wind was angry because he was not invited, brought people under the cedar; Black Meteoric Star is standing strong, his one leg was cedar, the other was a stone; the Black Wind carried away only a part of the people; the Bear made steps through the mountains; the Dog came, his meat was delicious, his father was the Sun, he gave the animals the ability to give power to healers], 8 [Mother Corn came to people in red clothes with 5 moons and a star; these are images of the gods who sent her; she promised to get people out of the ground; Badger dug a hole from his sun the head and front legs turned black; people went west; Owl Barn barn paved a path through the forest; The tornado left the diseases, and the Owl gave roots and herbs to heal them; Cut-Nose came to kill people, his horns seemed to be up to sky; people ran, stopped at the abyss; the bird, the Badger could not, the Mole brought down the edges of the abyss, people crossed to the other side; in front of them is a space of water and ice; of all the birds, only Loon laid People passed the road, pushing water and ice aside; Mother Corn disappeared, leaving a grain of corn under her blanket; the Awaho people were the last to get out of the ground, taught other rituals; Nesaru destroyed first people, they were bad, but they kept corn kernels underground, and they became new people]: 12-17, 18-23, 23-25, 27-30, 31-32, 32-35.

Southeast USA. Alabama [people lived on the other side of the water; saw the beautiful land behind it; the person sitting upstairs lowered two vines for them; grabbing them and swinging, people tried jump to the other side; those hanging on one vine jumped, the other broke off, people fell into the water, became fish; began to sing, dance in the water; those who got to land listened and remembered fish dances and songs ]: Swanton 1929, No. 4:121-122.