A long, long time ago there was no land, only the vast and unending ocean. The Great Spirit was not satisfied with this, and so called on his four companions from the four directions. Grandfather Loon came from the north, from the west splashed Otter, Sea Eagle flew from the east and Grandfather Turtle swam from the south. Together they pondered the issue and finally decided that above the ocean should be created earth, a place on top of which animals could rise and make their nests.

In order to create earth, the Great Spirit needed a small piece of lan1. So he dived under the surface to fetch it from the bottom of the ocean. He was gone for a long time. Finally the Great Spirit raised his head back over the water, but his panting breath told his companions that he had not reached the bottom. All were silent. Finally Grandfather Loon spoke:

- I can dive deep for that is the way I gather my food. I can dive to the bottom and bring some soil up in my beak.

Loon disappeared under the water and was gone for a long time. The others thought that he had surely drowned. Just then they saw Loon rise to the surface, weak and nearly unconscious. He was still able to say:

- I did not reach the bottom. Maybe there is no bottom to this ocean at all!

Sea Eagle and Turtle also tried, but failed both. It was beginning to seem like no lan1 could ever be gotten from the bottom of the ocean. That was when Otter stepped forth and spoke in a quiet voice:

- It is also my wish to try.

The others laughed because they all had already tried and failed, but finally the Great Spirit gave his approval and Otter dived to the depths.

Otter was gone much longer than the others. Soon the other animals were certain that Otter had lost his life on the way to the bottom. Far below the surface however, Otter had just come across the bottom. Weak from lack of breath he grasped a tiny morsel of soil and gathered all his strength for the trip back to the surface.

The other animals saw Otter float to the surface, motionless. The Great Spirit took hold of the body by the foot, saying:

- Friends, Otter went too deep below the surface and is now dead.

They were all about to sing laments for dead Otter when The Great Spirit suddenly exclaimed:

- Look, he has something in his paw.

Carefully The Great Spirit opened the small paw. All of the Companions stood to watch what there was inside. A tiny piece of lan1 was revealed. The Companions shouted with joy, for Otter had sacrificed his life so that earth could be made.

The Great Spirit placed the piece of earth atop Turtles back and unleashed his powers. Suddenly there was a wind from all the four directions, and the piece of earth started to grow, forming first a tiny shoal, then an island, and finally a huge continent. Still Turtle held the land atop his back, kept it falling to the almost bottomless depths. And so earth was made on top of which The Great Spirit could continue to create inhabitants.

From that day The Great Spirit has also been called Earthmaker and still to this day it is Grandfather Turtle who keeps the land from plunging to the depths by carrying it atop his back.

Author: Matti Järvinen
Translation: Eetu Mäkelä