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Legends

Montezuma and the Great Flood

Before he made man, the Great Mystery Power made the earth and all things which lived upon it. The Great Mystery came down to earth, where he dug out some clay and formed it into a shape and ascended with it into the sky. Then he dropped it into the hole he had dug. At once out of that hole came the Great Montezuma, leading behind him all the Indian tribes. Last to come out of the hole were the wild, untameable Apaches, running off in all directions as fast as they were created.

The wise Montezuma taught the people all they needed to know; how to make baskets and pottery, how to plant corn with a digging stick, how to make a fire to cook the food. It was a happy time. The sun was much nearer the earth then, so that it was always pleasantly warm. There was no winter and no freezing cold. Men and animals lived as brothers, speaking a common language all could understand, so that a bug or a bird could talk to a human.

But then came the great flood. Long before it engulfed the earth, Montezuma's friend, Coyote, had foretold its coming. "You must make a big dugout canoe," Coyote told Montezuma, who could make anything. "You will need it soon," Coyote said.

Montezuma, following Coyote's advice, built the boat, keeping it ready on top of the high mountain that the whites call Mount Rosa. Coyote also made a strange vessel for himself, gnawing at a tree trunk until it fell down, then hollowing it out with his teeth. Coyote closed up the open end with pinon resin. When the great flood which Coyote had foretold finally swept over the land, Coyote crawled into the tree-trunk vessel he had made, while Montezuma climbed into his big dugout canoe.

And so they floated upon the waters while all other living things perished. As the waters subsided, the top of Monte Rosa's peak rose a little above the flood. Both Montezuma and Coyote steered for this spot, the only piece of dry land far and wide. Thus the two friends met, glad to be alive.

Montezuma said to Coyote: "Friend, there must be other dry spots somewhere. You travel fast on four legs. Go west and do some scouting." Coyote went off and came back tired after four days, saying: "In that direction of the universe I found only water, nothing but water."

Montezuma told him: "Coyote, my friend, rest a while, and then go and see what you can find in the south." Coyote rested and then went southward. Again he came back after four days, saying: "Over there in the south, everything is also covered with water." He went east, and it was the same; water everywhere. Finally Montezuma sent Coyote toward the north, and this time Coyote came back saying: "In the north the waters are receding, and there is much dry land." Montezuma was well pleased to hear this. He told Coyote, "Friend, there in the north we must begin to make a new world."

The Great Mystery Power again was busy peopling the earth with men and animals. After life had been recreated, he put Montezuma in charge of everything. Montezuma divided tribes into nations again, giving them just laws to govern themselves, and once again taught humans how to live. And in these tasks Coyote was Montezuma's faithful helper. Soon the people were increasing together with the animals, and all were happy.

But then Montezuma's power, which the Great Mystery had given him, went to his head. "We don't need a Creator," he said. "I am a Creator myself. My power is equal to the Great Mystery Power. I need nobody to command me; I myself am the Great Commander." Coyote warned him to be more humble. "You know that there is a power above us greater than yours -- the Power of the Universe. Obey its laws."

Montezuma answered: "I don't need your advice. Who are you to try to correct the Great Montezuma? Am I not high above you? Am I not your master? Go; I don't need you anymore." Coyote left, shaking his head, wondering.

Now Montezuma called all the tribes together and said, "I am greater than anything that has ever been, greater than anything which exists now, and greater than anything that will ever be. Now, you people shall build me a tall house, floor upon floor upon floor, a house rising  into the sky, rising far above this earth into the heavens, where I shall rule as Chief of all the Universe." The Great Mystery Power descended from the sky to reason with Montezuma, telling him to stop challenging that which cannot be challenged, but Montezuma would not listen. He said: "I am almighty. Let no power stand in my way. I am the Great Rebel. I shall turn this world upside down to my liking."

Then good changed to evil. Men began to hunt and kill animals. Disregarding the eternal laws by which humans had lived,  they began to fight among themselves. The Great Mystery Power tried to warn Montezuma and the people by pushing the sun farther away from the earth and placing it where it is now. Winter, snow, ice, and hail appeared, but no one heeded this warning.

In the meantime Montezuma made the people labour to put up his many-storied house, whose rooms were of coral and jet, turquoise and mother-of-pearl. It rose higher and higher, but just as it began to soar above the clouds far into the sky, the Great Mystery Power made the earth tremble. Montezuma's many storied house of precious stones collapsed into a heap of rubble.

When that happened, the people discovered they could no longer understand the language of the animals, and the different tribes, even though they were all human beings, could no longer understand each other. Then Montezuma shook his fists toward the sky and called: "Great Mystery Power, I defy you. I shall fight you. I shall tell the people not to pray or to make sacrifices of corn and fruit to the Creator. I, Montezuma, am taking your place!"

The Great Mystery Power sighed, and even wept, because the one he had chosen to lead mankind had rebelled against him. Then the Great Mystery resolved to vanquish those who rose against him. He sent the locust flying far across the eastern waters, to summon a people  in an unknown land, people whose faces and bodies were full of hair, who rode astride strange beasts, who were encased in iron, wielding iron weapons, who had magic hollow sticks spitting fire, thunder, and destruction. The Great Mystery Power allowed these bearded, pitiless people to come in ships across the great waters out of the east -- permitted them to come to Montezuma's country, taking away Montezuma's power and destroying him utterly.
 
 
 
 

* Based on a tale reported in 1883
 
 

The Montezuma in this tale is a Southwestern culture hero, not to be confused with the Aztec emperor of the same name. The Aztec name was carried to the Papago by the Spaniards on their northward march, but the Papago turned Montezuma into First Man, creator of humans and animals and maker of the terrible "Great Eagle." The Papago Montezuma died four times, but always returned to life. After he had done his work of teaching the people how to live, or as some say, after the white man's god forced him to retire, he went to his underworld house in the south and returned to earth no more.