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Once upon a time, almost 13,000 Summer Solstices ago, our ancestors lived far away on the edge of the great waters in the land of the setting Sun.
One night, someone noticed that a star that no-one had seen before had appeared in the south very close to where the land meets the sky.
It appeared only briefly that first night before it set again.
The next night, it rose again in the same place and the discoverer decided to walk towards it to see where it had come from and where it went.
Over many nights, the discoverer walked south towards where the new star rose and saw that it rose higher and higher the further they went.
The discoverer kept on walking south. More and more stars that had never been seen before revealed themselves, until at last the discoverer saw the full outline of the Sky-Father standing in the south with his feet on the horizon.
Not only that, but Sky-Father was being followed across the night by the brightest star that the discoverer had ever seen - brighter even than Bright Star of Evening which never set and showed the people which direction was north.
The discoverer turned around and followed Bright Star of Evening back home.
When the discoverer returned, the people asked where the new star had come from and where it went. When the discoverer told them that the new star was the head of the Sky-Father and that he was followed each night by the brightest star in the sky, they all wanted to go and see for themselves.
But the discoverer realised that all they needed to do was stay where they were and eventually the Sky-Father would come to them.
Every year the head of the Sky-Father rose a little earlier, a little more to the east and reached a little higher in the sky so everyone knew that eventually he would appear to them in full.
The discoverer had described the outline of the Sky-Father to the people, so there was a great celebration when his bright red shoulder first appeared in the south.
However, in climbing over the rim of the world Sky-Father had slipped and stepped in the great waters and splashed them because one night there was a terrible noise and the waters rose up and inundated the land of the setting Sun.
The people fled towards higher ground, but the waters kept rising after them.
The people went further and further towards the land of the rising Sun until they came to places that were far enough above the waters to be safe.
Many were drowned, their homes and possessions were lost beneath the waves and all the people were scattered as they ran for safety.
For two generations the waters continued to rise and the people ran to escape it.
Then the water finally stopped rising. The people hoped it would go back down but, because Sky-Father was standing in the great waters on the rim of the world, it didn't.
The people would have to stay where they were until Sky-Father climbed out of the great waters and up into the sky.
They built monuments to their lost families on the high ground all along the new edge of the great waters where they now lived and began to measure the years until Sky-Father would climb high enough to let the great waters return to their old boundaries once more.
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simon
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