Born of Beasts: Chelan Creation Story

Photo by Chuck Hoffman © Genesis+Art

Lake Chelan, Glacier Peak Wilderness
Chelan Creation Story: Chief Wapato-Chelan Tribe 

Lake Chelan is a clear, deep body of water, where you can look right down almost into the heart of the earth. It is a lake, which covers the world’s viscera like an expanded, sun-blistered membrane. It is a gigantic, organic-shaped lake in the tradition of Klamath in Oregon, Pend Oreille in Idaho, Flathead in Montana, and Almanor in California. Chelan’s sheer size is perplexing, reproachable, somewhat threatening. Lake Chelan, is 55 miles long, no more than 1.5 miles wide in any spot, and over 1600 feet deep in may places. It is a place of legends, of monsters, and least of all, of mortal man.

According to the grandson of Chief Wapato of the Chelan Tribe, a monster came into the country, which was then a great broad plain. The monster ate the elk, deer, bear and all other animals. The Great Spirit heard the prayers of the starving people and killed the monster. Life returned to normal for many years, and the people prospered. Then the monster mysteriously reappeared, this time with an even larger appetite. The people once again implored the Great Spirit to rid them of the monster. The Great Spirit felt sympathy for the people and killed the monster again. After many more years the monster came back to life and returned to ravage the land. The Great Spirit was annoyed and angered. He came down to relieve the desperate people of the persistent monster for the last time. He slaughtered the monster, and then struck the earth, with a huge stone knife. A cloud rose and covered the landscape. When the cloud fled, the people saw enormous mountains and long canyons. The Great Spirit threw the monster’s body into the bottom of this deep, long gorge, and then covered it with water.

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