Two friends, one man and one woman, were walking on an open plain. It seemed to go on forever. Yet, they saw something far ahead in the distance. It looked like a small animal. They went towards it to see what it was. As they came nearer, they realized it was the Great Spider.
"Where are you going?" the Great Spider asked when they were near. "We are looking for a home, a place where we can live," they replied.
"There is a place down there," the Great Spider said, pointing down below him. "It is a vast land. In the winter, it snows and gets very cold. In the summer, it rains and gets very hot. But this land is very good. If you wish to go there, you can. From where I am sitting now, I can lower you down." Then the Great Spider warned, "But, you have to do exactly what I tell you. If you do not, things will not work out well for you."
After some thought, the man and woman replied, " We will go. It will be our home."
"Then climb in," said the Great Spider. He had already made a huge bowl-shaped container with his webbing.
"Climb in and I will lower you down," he said and then attached one end of his spider web to the container. The man and woman climbed in.
"As I lower you, neither of you shall look over the edge. If you do, you will end up in a dangerous place. Keep your heads down until you have landed," commanded the Great Spider.
The man and woman nodded in agreement and climbed in. Down, down, down, down, they went. It took a long time.
"It’s taking too long, " the man and woman thought.
One of them decided to take a peek and then looked over the side. At that very instant, the webbed container stopped. Cautiously, the man and woman stood up and found that they had been put down in an eagle’s nest on the top of a very tall tree. When they looked closely at the tree, they became frightened. The tall tree had no branches below. There was no way to climb down and it was much too high for them to safely jump down from the tree.
As time passed and while they were wondering what they should do, they noticed some caribou walking along the river toward them. The two called out to the caribou and asked to be helped down.
The caribou replied, "We cannot climb trees. We often stumble, walking on barren ground." They went on their way.
Time passed and then another animal walked along the river. It was a bear. The two called out to the bear.
"What do you want?", the bear asked.
"Can you help us down?", the man and woman asked.
Without saying another word, the bear lumbered away in his very unconcerned manner. He did not feel like helping anyone today.
Then they saw a smaller animal pass by. It was a wolverine. They called out, "Hey! Can you help us down please?"
"Of course," the wolverine replied and quickly scampered up the tree. One by one, the wolverine carried them down safely. The man and the woman were very grateful for this wolverine’s kindness and thanked him warmly. The wolverine was soon on his way.
The man and the woman had safely arrived at their new home. They discovered how to survive on this land. In time, they bore children, and their children had children. The people grew in numbers and spread over the land. They paid honour and respect to the Creator for the vast land, and learned to become a part of it, caring for all living things that provided for them. This is how our people began. (Nishnawbe-Aski Nation 1986: 1-3)
