Hactcin

HACTCIN Jicarilla Apache Supernatural beings that personify the power of natural forces and objects. In the APACHE EMERGENCE AND MIGRATION account, nothing existed until the hactcin created the Earth—both the above world and the UNDERWORLD—and the SKY. BLACK HACTCIN created ANIMALS, BIRDS, fish, and the first humans. According to Jicarilla Apache tradition, once people all looked alike. The hactcin created people’s differences in appearance, character, and intelligence. One day the sky appeared to catch fire, and the hactcin left the Earth to put out the blaze. They never returned.

SOURCE:

Native American Mythology A to Z – ( first edition ) – Written by Patricia Ann Lynch – Copyright © 2004 by Patricia Ann Lynch