Klabus and Yilahl

Overview

Klabus escapes the world fire through the last northern opening before the torch-bearers meet, then takes refuge outside the eastern sky. Yilahl escapes in the west. When they arrive above, Olelbis asks whether earth remains anywhere. Although Yilahl initially denies knowing a place, his explanation of his own escape reveals that soil survives beyond the western edge of the sky. Olelbis sends both to fetch it.

The two grandmothers make large baskets. Klabus fills and carries them to Olelbis’s fine-meshed sky net for five days and nights, sifting soil down onto the burned and washed rocks. Yilahl shows him the deposit but does not help dig or carry. Only after the new earth has been spread does Olelbis send Klabus to enlist Yilahl for the next stage.

Working from opposite directions, they reshape the land: Yilahl makes small hills and rolling country, while Klabus raises great mountains and ranges. Their final work is the top of Bohem Puyuk. The narrative distinguishes the unequal carrying labour from their later shared shaping work. Curtin’s personage list identifies Klabus with mole and Yilahl with gopher; their actions here belong to the first-world story rather than a claim about ordinary animals engineering modern mountains.

Origins & earliest records

Jeremiah Curtin’s Creation Myths of Primitive America (1898), opening Wintu narrative Olelbis. His provenance notes describe the California collecting context; this chapter does not name its individual teller. Curtin states that an earlier version appeared in The Sun on29March1896.

Records & interpretation

Complete Olelbis,pp.3–48, read through the final disposition of the first people; notes490–493 also read. Especially14–15,26–30. Curtin’s comparative theories are not treated as established origins.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Creation Myths of Primitive America in Relation to the Religious History and Mental Development of Mankind

   Jeremiah Curtin · 1898

   Complete Olelbis,pp.3–48; Especially14–15,26–30. Notes486–493 for collection, prior publication and editorial interpretation.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textCurtin1898: complete opening Wintu narrativeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.