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In this story The Old Man, Napi, makes the land. He makes mountains and plains, all the things we see today. He made plants and animals and finally made humans. He made them out of clay and called them Blackfeet. He made Buffalo for them to eat and made other animals and put them in their right place. He made a woman and child. He decided on death as die and then come back after 4 days since the buffalo chip floated. The woman however did not like the thought of dying. She said to die forever if a stone sank and to not die if the stone floated. The stone sank so it became law for people to die forever. Napi taught the people how to hunt and survive. He then decided to move north to make more people. But he designated lands for each tribe.
Sal’s mother told her this story to pass on the tradition. She was an Indian too and saw the importance of passing on stories. Sal remembers this story because her mother told it too her and any thing her mother did is important to Sal. She remembers her mother through stories like this one. It is important to tell stories to learn from and to remember. This story became not only knowledge but a memory for Sal. Many Indian tribes had stories like this. The Seneca tribe was remembered by their stories as well. Stories are how knowledge of the tribes was passed down.