Big Cloud Fire, Thunder Song

It is a long time ago. It has been sky-clear and warm all day, but as shadows deepen into evening, dark clouds roll down the mountains and flow like the river through the Rogue Valley.

Takelmas walk along the trail toward their village, moving slowly with baskets of acorns, fish and deer-meat on their backs.

Civet Cat, Raccoon's cousin, starts drumming.

The people look up. In the dark clouds, Civet Cat moves round and round his fire, beating a drum, making thunder and singing. As clouds roll apart there is lightning, flashes sparked from his fire through the clouds.

The drumming rolls along the river, hilltop to hilltop through the valley, and lightning makes nighttime as light as day.

The people rush to their houses and gather their wolf-dogs. They pinch those dogs. They pinch and they pinch, and the dogs start yelping and barking. Then the long, high howls, climbing the sky. Soon many wolf-dogs howl and bark, their noses to the sky, and they are nearly as loud as Civet Cat's drumming and singing.

Clouds drop low to the earth. Civet Cat, scared of the wolf-dogs, drops his drum and runs and hides in his house. The rain comes and puts out his fire.

And the people dance in the rain.