Story Number 64

Pokoh, The Old Man - The Ute Tribe's Creation Myth

As Phileas Travelled around the Beautiful Salt Lake City of Utah, he started to wonder, like he did in Egypt, how this beautiful came to be? So he decided to ask around. The first man he bumped into was scoffing his face with Utah Scones, "Excuse me their Sir," said Phileas, "I don't supposed you could..." "Hey Buddy! I'm eating here," Shouted the man, "Go bother someone else!" So Phileas swiftly moved on. The next person he saw was a preacher, but Phileas had heard that all before. He decided that he would go further a field to find his answer. Eventually Phileas came across a tribe of Native Americans, who were called the Ute tribe. The tribe were in the middle of a ritual, the women were sat around watching whilst the men were dancing, stomping and singing. Phileas quietly crept over and joined the women, he leaned over and asked an elderly woman "Excuse me, but please could you explain what is going on." The woman smiled and said "This is an ancient celebrating the creation of the world, please stay and watch." Phileas laughed to himself and sat and watched the performance. Later the tribes elder explained the story to Phileas, and it went like this...

The Ute tribe say that Pokoh, an old man, created the world. Pokoh had many thoughts. He had many blankets in which he carried around gifts for men. He created every tribe out of the soil where they used to live.

That is why an Indian wants to live and die in his native place. He was made of the same soil. Pokoh did not wish men to wander and travel, but to remain in their birthplace.

Long ago, The Sun was a man, a bad man, but the moon was good. The Sun used to carry around a quiver of deadly arrows, which he used to use to kill all things.

The sun has two daughters, Venus and Mercury. One day twenty men tried to kill Venus and Mercury, but after fifty days they return to life.

The rainbow is the daughter of Pokoh, and her body is covered in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet flowers.

One day the lightning struck the ground and filled the flint with fire.

There are many worlds. Some have passed and some are still to come. In world the Indians all creep; in another they all walk; in another they all fly. Perhaps in a world to come Indians may walk on four legs, slither like snakes or swim like fish.