/VV LL Indian tribes in North America appear 

 \>V to have had one or more legends concern- 

 ing the beaver. Most of these legends credit him 

 with being a worthy and industrious fellow, and 

 the Cherokees are said to trace their origin to a 

 sacred and practical beaver. Many of the tribes 

 had a legend which told that long, long ago the 

 Great Waters surged around a shoreless world. 

 These waters were peopled with beaver, beaver 

 of a gigantic size. These, along with the Great 

 Spirit, dived and brought up quantities of mud 

 and shaped this into the hills and dales, the moun- 

 tains where the cataracts plunged and sang, and all 

 the caves and canons. The scattered boulders and 

 broken crags upon the earth were the missiles 

 thrown by evil spirits, who in the beginning of 

 things endeavored to hinder and prevent the con- 

 structive work of creation. 

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