The day was long and they traveled a great distance.
It was late in the summer and the great spirit of Waabanong covered the bushes with blueberries. This is what they ate as they walked on.
As the sun set behind them they stopped. Anung made a shelter and a fire near the base of a great rock. On the rock face there were many pictures painted by his people and their ancestors. One picture showed there was a large river ahead. There were pictures that told him he would be entering the land of his brothers the Odawa in a day or two. Anung beat the drum as he looked at the pictures and as the drum beat filled the night the image of Deer began to leap and the image of Wolf began to run and the pictures of Bear and of his ancestors began to dance.
As they were lying down to sleep by the fire Anung asked Turtle to tell him the story about his ancestor carrying the greatest chief and all the people on his back. So Turtle told him his ancestor’s story.
“Long ago great clouds covered the sky and rained down day after day until the entire earth was flooded. Even the tallest ridges were covered by the flood waters. When the water rose so high all of the original people Gitche Manitou created were drowned. All of the animals who lived on land died. Only the animals who could live in water survived this great flood.
“After much time passed the Mishee Mackinakong rose to the water’s surface, for he could see that Sky Woman was lonely. The Great Turtle invited Sky Woman to come down and to rebuild the earth on the back of his massive shell.
“Sky Woman was very lonely and it brought her joy to accept Mishee Mackinakong’s invitation. She gathered all the animals who had survived and asked them to fetch her some mud from the bottom of the deep waters for this is what she needed to rebuild earth.
“All the animals wanted to help Sky Woman. First Otter dove deep into the depths of the waters. Otter was underwater for a long time but when he surfaced he was out of breath and empty-handed.
“Then Beaver took his turn. He plunged into the water and swam deeper than ever before but he could not find the bottom and he finally had to return to the surface, exhausted from his try.
“Then Loon tried. She swam deeper and deeper and she stayed under for a long time but she failed to find the bottom for it was too dark and cold for her and she had to return.
“When Muskrat offered to retrieve the mud so Sky Woman could rebuild the earth all the other animals laughed at him. They did not think the small Muskrat was so strong or as important as they were.
“Muskrat did not let that bother him. He dove into the waters and he swam deep down into the cold and dark. He was down a long time. After a while the animals stopped laughing and were afraid for Muskrat for he had been underwater longer than any of them had. He was under the water a very long time.
“They had just given up hope that he could survive for so long underwater when his body rose to the surface and floated there, still as death. All the animals gathered round as Sky Woman breathed life into him and when Muskrat recovered it was discovered he was holding a small bit of mud in his paws. Sky Woman used this mud to rebuild the earth on the back of my ancestor’s shell. To show her thanks, Sky Woman gave all the turtles the gift of understanding the languages of all of Gitche Manitou’s creatures.
“That is why the people call this land Turtle Island. And that is why your people honor Muskrat.”
