Choctaw Creation: The Emergence from Nanih Waiya (Choctaw)
In the beginning, there was a great mound called Nanih Waiya. The Creator fashioned the first people from the earth within this mound. These first Choctaw emerged from a long, dark cave that led from the center of the mound into daylight. After emerging, they scattered across the land to populate the earth. When a great flood arose, the Choctaw people fled by canoe to an island, guided by a dove. They prospered there but eventually overpopulated the island. They traveled back to the coast of Turtle Island and journeyed for hundreds of years, eventually reaching the Yucatan and finally settling