M27. Returning from Heaven.43.64.70.

The tree or staircase that people took to heaven collapses; on the way back, people fall down. Usually some stay in the sky forever or longer than others.

The coast is the Plateau. Snowman [the boatmaker knocks at night; the chief in heaven tells him to be picked up, tied to the roof of the house for a year; to return it, people make a chain of arrows (the little bird can do it); Winter and Summer Robins find the boat maker tied; Beaver pretends to be dead, swims to the salmon top; a little girl notices that the dead is smiling but is not believed; Beaver grabs fire, goes down ; four bear shamans are camlaing, the chain of arrows breaks; the Beaver and others fall but are not injured; the Snake and the Lizard stayed hanging and descended only in spring; since then, people have not made boats at night; The Milky Way is the heavenly leader's river]: Haeberlin 1924, No. 21:411-412; skagit [a man makes a boat, picks unripe berries, they take it to heaven; earthly inhabitants shoot arrows, only Chickady it is possible to make a chain; it hardens, the Woodpecker makes steps on it; animals, birds, fish climb up; it's cold upstairs, Malinovka warms up by the fire, her breast turns red; Beaver distracts attention by climbing into the top; while it's fresh, others find the boat builder; everyone, including Beaver, climbs down; the chain of arrows breaks, everyone falls; fish get their current features depending on how they fell; children with since then, prevent you from eating raw berries]: Hilbert 1985:3-5; snookualmi [The Fox and the Blue Jay climb a rope into the sky; the Fox turns into a beaver, falls into the trap of the Month; it refreshes it; until He sleeps for a month, the beaver comes to life, takes fire and sun out of his house, takes small pines and cedars with him; turns back into a Fox, brings the stolen goods to the ground; when the Month climbs after him, the rope breaks, the Month crashes, turns into Mount Xi]: Hunt, Kaylor 1917:515-516 in Clark 1953:38-39; Puget Sound [The old fire goes out; the fire owners live in the sky; the raven orders to make a chain of arrows; this is a little bird succeeds; only Beaver can pretend to be dead and not laugh when his skin is removed; the chain of arrows breaks when the Rattlesnake and Garter snake are still upstairs; their relative The Old Toad cries, but they're still offended; they're falling from the sky, now they're eating frogs; the rattlesnake makes its teeth out of arrowheads]: Ballard 1929:52-54; catlamet [five SW winds they blow continuously; Blue Jay tells people to sing, the sky goes down, it is tied to the ground; people climb into the sky; Blue Jay and Stingray duel; Stingray turns sideways, Jay is wounded by an arrow; Beaver fire goes to steal; it is caught, scorched, it comes to life, the fire is carried away; Malinovka is sent to scout the entrance to the celestial house; she remains basking by the fire, her breast turns red; Skunk did not scout, returned in fear; Mice and Rats gnawed through bow bowstrings, ties on enemies' women's clothes; Eagle, Owl, Golden Eagle, Turkey, Hawk grab five Winds; four are killed, the youngest has slipped away; people return to earth, Blue Jay cuts off the rope, the sky rises again; Stingray stayed there, turned into a constellation]: Boas 1901a, No. 9:67-71; quinalt [a bright star turns out to be a young man, marries an elder sister; red is an old man, takes the youngest; the girls' father organizes a trip to heaven; large animals fail, the Wren makes a chain of arrows; animal people climb into the sky; it's cold there; the flycatcher is sent behind the fire, it remains to warm up; the Beaver allows himself to be trapped; brings fire to the expedition members; Mice gnaw through the bowstrings of celestials, the expedition members attack them, return to earth ]: Clark 1953 [return with both girls; Stingray and Marten remain in the sky; Stingray turns into Ursa Major; Marten causes eclipses by biting the moon and sun]: 158-160; Farrand 1902, No. 5 [older the sister hurries Spider to bring her down to the ground; the rope is short, the girl dies sitting in a basket between heaven and earth; people go to save her sister; the dog is sent for fire, she remains to eat the roots; on the way back, the chain of arrows breaks off, the rest in the sky turn into stars]: 107-109; quileout: Andrade 1931, No. 26 [the younger sister wants a dim star, the older one wants a bright one; the younger sister wants a dim star, the youngest wakes up with the old one, the eldest wakes up with her young husband; the girls' father makes a bow; Keith, the Bear, the Elk can't pull it, the Wren shoots, makes a chain of arrows; only the Snail sees an arrow that pierces the sky ; Osprey lends her eyes, does not return it; animal people climb into the sky; the Spider lowers her younger sister on a rope, she hangs between heaven and earth, turns into a star; in the sky, a Thrush (Snowbird), then the Dog is sent for fire; both stay warm, do not return; the Rabbit kidnaps and brings fire; Rats spoil the weapons and clothes of the Stars; in battle, many Stars are killed; animal people descend to the ground, the chain of arrows breaks; those left in the sky become stars]: 71-83; Clark 1953 [a man from the sky steals the sun; Wren suggests making a chain of arrows; first Shark, then Puma, Kingfisher, The hawk and others shoot successfully; the sky is cold; the wren rushes to the sun to warm up; while some treat a person to baked roots, others take the sun away; raise it to illuminate the whole world; Eagle and the Hawk takes the Snail's keen eyes; Stingray turns into Malaya, Bear's skin into Ursa Major]: 151-152; Farrand, Mayer 1919, No. 10 [sisters sleep outside; one wants red husband, the other blue star; Stars take them to heaven; red is an old man with sore eyes, blue is young; sisters want to go home, Stars send them to earth; earthly people decide to fight against heaven; (episodes with Wren and Snail like in Andrade); once in the sky, Raven and Stingray duel; Stingray turns sideways and Raven is wounded by a spear; a little bird asks the fire owners to let them warm up; her breast turns red; (Beaver episode like Andrade); heavenly people win, earthly people hurry back, stairs break; the rest turn into stars, including Stingray]: 264-266; shuswap [Fish and Birds under Led by the Black Bear and Wolverine, they fight against the inhabitants of the sky; only Wren's arrow pierces the sky; the warriors of the earth rise up a chain of arrows; the Bear quarrels with Wolverine, knocks him down a chain of arrows; the Bear quarrels with Wolverine, knocks him down feet still on the ground; earthlings are broken, stairs fall, Fish and Birds jump down; Pisces falling on rocks are crippled: sematsai fish skull flattened, kwaak broken jaw, tcoktcitcin bloody mouth, sucker has broken all bones (the origin of the anatomical features of fish species); those left in the sky are killed and become stars]: Teit 1909a, No. 57:749; Thompson: Boas 1895, No. II.3 [(short excerpt); the birds decided to go to war against the inhabitants of the sky; they fired arrows into the sky to make a chain; only a wren arrow pierced the sky; the animals climbed into the sky; then the stairs were cut short only a part of the animals were able to return]: 17 (=2002:86); Teit 1912a [sky dwellers (including Grizzly, Black Bears, Moose) kidnap Swan's wife; only Wren reaches the sky, he makes a chain from arrows; the inhabitants of the earth climb up, are defeated, come back; the chain breaks, some animal people remain in the sky forever]: 212; lillouette [like Thompson]: Teit 1912b, No. 12:311; Okanagon [the inhabitants of the earth decide to go to war against the inhabitants of the sky; only Chickady (Wren?) you manage to plunge an arrow into the sky, then shoot arrows one at the other's tail to make a chain; Black Bear and Grizzly quarrel, the chain breaks to half; the Earth's inhabitants are defeated, start going down, see that the chain does not reach the ground; fall, breaking or maiming; fish are particularly affected, Sucker has broken all his bones]: Teit 1917c, No. 5:85; kalispel [like Okanagon; Wren shoots; since then, sucker's body has had many small bones; before the war with heavenly inhabitants (i.e. stars), there were more animal species, but many died in the sky]: Teit 1917 d, No. 6:118; sanpual [fire in the upper world; Woodpecker or Chickady shoots at the sky, makes a chain of arrows; the bear is the last to climb, breaks the chain; animal people fall back to earth with fire; arrows pierce into fish, they now have a lot of bones]: Clark 1953 [in different versions Chickady, Little Woodpecker, Great Woodpecker, Flycatcher makes a chain of arrows; Eagle Chief sends a Dog and a Frog to scout, they are lazy, they don't find fire; The beaver pretends to be dead, hides the coal under its claw, puts fire in trees on the ground]: 189-192; Ray 1933, No. 11, 12 [Excrement is sent behind the fire first; dogs eat it in the sky; Beaver pretends to be dead, there are enough coals; fire owners urinate trying to put out the fire; it's raining, but the fire is preserved], 13 [as in No. 12; Excrement and the Dog are sent first, one eats the other]: 152-159; coutene [ Brother Muskrat's widow rejects him; he kills her, runs to heaven; animal people make a ladder out of arrows; the Raven's beak serves as the lowest step; everyone goes up without waiting for Wolverine; he breaks the stairs ; people kill Muskrat; kill Thunderbird, descend on its feathers]: Boas 1918, No. 50 [Fish jump down, Bats plan on blankets; Little Woodpecker and some of the other warriors return through horizon]: 73-77; Clark 1960 [two Hawk brothers manage to make a chain of arrows; those who could not descend were killed in the sky became stars]: 32-33; 1966 [like Boas; Coyote's arrow did not reach, y Hawk arrows pierced the sky]: 146-147.

Eastern Amazon. A hissing [monstrous of cancans, a bat, and a caraman√£ the size of a heron) attack humans; they tie bamboo poles and climb them into the sky; a swarm of cancans attack there too, people go back down; a storm hits, stairs fall, people fall, crash into dust; now hisses live both on the ground and in the sky]: Nimuendaju 1920:1008-1009.

Eastern Brazil. Kariri [Tuppart sends the Great Father to live among the cariri; people ask him for meat; he turns their children into wild pigs; pigs go up to heaven on a huge tree, people chase them, many are killed; the Great Father sends ants to gnaw through the trunk; toads try to protect the tree, but ants bite them (the origin of warts on the skin of toads); the tree is fallen down, people go down the rope, it tears; people fall and break their legs; this is how joints appeared]: Martin de Nantes 1671-1688 in Lowie 1946:559; in Wassen 1933:125-126.