Transcript of Melvina Everett Interview, November 11, 1992

The final interview was with Melvina Everett, born October 5, 1923. She is 3/4 Arikara and 1/4 French. At the date of the interview, November 1, 1992, she lived south of Whiteshield, North Dakota. She learned the stories that she tells from her father and grandfather. She focused on the Creation Story and the Coyote Story. The Creation Story begins with Nashanu Tinachitux, our creator, who believed that the Arikara were good people so he turned them into kernel corn and buried them in the ground. He did this to save them from the great flood. As time went on, Nashanu Tinachitux remembered his people, picked an ear of corn and turned it into a woman, Mother Corn. She was created to bring the Arikara to the surface of the Earth. After doing so, Mother Corn guided the tribe to its destination.