Inlandia pg. 1-11 compare and contrast.

The stories depicted in the first eleven pages of Wattawa's, Inlandia, tell the tales of creation, establishment, control, and death. While each of the tales end in a death, they also portray a sense of unity, and gain of control over the situation.
The first two stories discuss creation and the establishment of culture by way of god's and powerful ancient people who could fly. In the first, two Gods share the responsibility of creating the world- ultimately ending in one's God's demise. His death establishes the basis of the Cahuilla life, influencing cusotms and ceremonies still practiced. The second story's characters, while not gods persay, are ancient people with the ability to fly. These airbourne humans traveled through all the various valleys and mountains of the area, untill their leader dies. His death causes the pack to cease flying and decend from their mountaintop perch, to the low valley. Both deaths were caused by over confidence, and resulted in a new way of life for the people they left behind.
The second pair of stories involve the establishment of civilzation on behalf of people, not Gods. In the first, an expeditionist describes the lands around him, discussing scenery, weather, and indigenous people. It ends with the death of a cow and a horse while attempting to cross the Santa Ana River. The second submits an expidition leader's request for approval to move forward, for fear of his people's lives. It ends in description of the deaths of several horses due to drought. The deaths exhibit the importance water, it's ability to control life and death, and the respect it command as a resource.