Long ago there was a terrible flood. It rained and rained for many days. The earth was covered with water. The animals were wet and miserable. Wesakaychak came along on a raft, and the animals needed help. They wanted their land back, so they asked Wesakaychak if they could rest on his raft.
Duck, beaver, mink and muskrat crawled onto the raft. They were really tired because they were looking around for land. Wesakaychak and the animals went to go look for land, but they didn’t see anything. They just saw water everywhere they looked.
Wesakaychak said, “I can make land again. I just need a little bit of mud.” All of the animals looked on their claws for some mud, but the water had washed them clean. All of a sudden, the duck had an idea to go down to try and get some mud. They all agreed.
The duck dove in the water and he was down there for several minutes. Then he came up and said, “No luck, too deep.” So the mink dove in. He was down there longer than the duck. The mink came up and said, “No luck, too dark and murky.” So it was the beaver’s turn and beaver said, “I can make it. I have a strong tail.” So the beaver dove in the water. The beaver was down there longer than the duck and the mink. Beaver came up and he said, “No luck, too dark to see.”
So they just sat there crying. Then the muskrat said, “I’ll go.” The animals said, “No, you can’t. You’re too small. If beaver can’t make it, you can’t.” But they couldn’t stop her. She dove in the water and the animals were waiting for a long time.
After a while they saw something lifeless pop up out of the water and it was the muskrat. The animals started to cry and said, “She risked her life for us.” Wesakaychak said, “I can bring her back to life again. Stand back”. The animals listened to Wesakaychak and he blew in her mouth four times. They looked at her and saw her eyes blink and her whiskers twitch. The animals said, “She is alive!
Wesakaychak asked her “Did you get any mud? Muskrat responded, “I don’t know. I felt something solid, but then I blacked out.” The animals asked, “What if she touched the bottom?” Wesakaychak said, “What if she didn’t? Check her claws.”
So they did and they didn’t see anything. Wesakaychak saw a little bit of mud and he grabbed the mud from the muskrat’s claw. Then Wesakaychak blew on the mud four times and their land reappeared before their eyes. The animals were so HAPPY! The animals said, “Thank you to Wesakaychak and muskrat.”
And that is how Wesakaychak and muskrat saved the world from the great flood.