In the world of spirits one god ruled over everything. One day his son dared to argue with him. The god was angry and a long, dreadful battle began. It ended when the god was wounded by his son's spear. He fell to the ground, turning and twisting in pain.
     He dragged himself along, until he reached the bank of the spirit river. There, his body took on the shape of a huge snake. He slipped into the river, which divides the earth from the world of spirits.
     The waters of the river parted and the snake - god fell down to the dry flat planet called Earth. He still needed to find a way to ease his pain. The body of the snake - god cut valleys and raised hills as it pulled itself across the surface of the planet. The waters from the river rolled along the valley behind him and made more rivers.
     Sometimes he stopped because he was in such pain. When he moved on again he left deeper holes that filled with water. Life was given to the earth by the river water. Plants of many colours came up. White came from the clouds, blue from the waters of the spirit river and red from the blood of the snake. The sun now blazed through the hole in the sky made by the god's fall. The sun gave the colour yellow. The snake's body became all the colours of the rainbow as he struggled on.
     The meeting of the sun and the clouds made storms. Lightning flashed and thunder growled. Rain flowed down and the new rivers flooded the land. As the sun, rain, thunder, and lightning played across the earth, things began to stir. The energy from these things joined with the blood of the rainbow snake and the water from the spirit river. Insects, birds and animals then appeared. When the storm ended, man was born.
     The wounds of the rainbow snake finally healed. He looked up at his home in the sky beyond the spirit river. As he jumped through the clouds, he left the rainbow snakeskin hanging in the sky. The earth he left was altered. A dry, dusty desert had become a colourful, watery paradise. There was new life.