Changer and the Creation of the World (Coast Salish)
In Coast Salish tradition, dukʷibəɬ the Changer (also known as Xe'las or Xelas) walked the earth when the world was not yet as it is today. Sometimes he appeared as a brilliant light from the East, sometimes as a young man, sometimes as several young men, and sometimes as an invisible old person who knew everything. The Changer went everywhere, preparing the world for the First People who were yet to come. He transformed inappropriate things into useful ones: he turned rocks that beat people over the head into hammers, sticks that struck people into fish spears, and dangerous beings into anima