One day it started to rain. The wise old man of the Chumash tribe shook his head. "This isn't good," he said. He disappeared into his tent and smoked for a week straight. He leaned out once again and saw that the rain was still there and the rivers were full. "Don't worry," chirped the Spotted Woodpecker in his little cage, "My uncle Kpenawa will save us!"

The old man smoked and watched his people farming down in the valley. "Come to the mountains," he told them and they moved to the plateau to hunt wild animals. The rain kept falling streadily. Sometimes faster and sometimes slower but it kept right on falling and the sky grew dark. The old man looked out once again and saw the rivers had completely filled the river valleys. The river were swolled to four times their previous size and looked more like rushing oceans than rivers. "This isn't good!" He moaned to himself and quietly smoked in silence. He smoked for a whole year before looking out again. "Don't worry," chirped the Spotted Woodpecker, "My uncle Kpenawa will save us!"

The rain kept falling. It rushed down the sides of the plateaus and made islands of these mountains. All manner of beasts joined the tribes at the top of the world. The rain kept falling and the islands got smaller and the cold dark waters rushed all around them. At the very end, the old man couldn't smoke anymore because everything was under water. "This isn't good," he said as he tried to light his peace pipe. "Don't worry," chirped the Spotted Woodpecker, "My uncle Kpenawa will save us!" With that he flew away high into the sky. Behind him, everything that was left was destroyed with one final wave.

He flew and flew and didn't stop until he flew into the sun. There he saw his uncle Kaqunupenawa sleeping with his back toward the world. "Uncle, Uncle," cried the woodpecker. "Wake up!" The woodpecker sat on his head and started pecking away. After a while, Kaqunupenawa woke up. "You have to sleep on your other side now," said the Spotted Woodpecker. "Oh, okay," he grunted and turned over and was soon snoring away again.

The light of the sun drained all the plateaus, plains, and river valleys of the cold waters. The world was restored and was better than ever. After a few minutes it seemed like the whole thing was no more than a bad dream and a few minutes after they couldn't even remember that. Everyone was home again and ejoyed their lives like before except for the Chumash tribe which lives in the plateaus to this very day--just in case Kpenawa forgets to rotate sides as he sleeps.