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Native Californians incorporated the notion of controlled burns as part of their creation stories. In a Pomo creation story collected during the summer of 1904, a trickster coyote employed fire in a world-burn that burns mountaintops and then supplies water (specifically Clear Lake) by throwing native tule roots and non-native grapevine roots into the mountain tops to create streams. As in many creation stories from other regions, the trickster creator does not achieve the respect that he feels is deserved, his people are soon looking for ways to destroy him.

Coyote enticed the birds to giving him their feathers so that he could create humans.

Source for Further Reading: S.A. Barnett, “A Composite Myth of the Pomo Indians,” Journal of American Folklore 19: 72 (Jan.-Mar. 1906), 37-51.