Samuel Makidemewabe (storyteller) and Howard Norman (translator) - Born Tying Knots lyrics

When he came out into the world, the umbilical cord was around his toes. This didn't trouble us, that he was tying knots that early. We untied it. Later, he heard his birth story. It caused him to begin tying knots again. He tied things up near his home, TIGHT, as if everything might float away in a river. This river came from a dream he had. House things were tied up at night. Shirts, other clothes too, and a kettle. All those things were tied to his feet so they wouldn't float away in the river he dreamed. You could walk in and see this. Maybe the dream stopped because it was no longer comfortable to sleep with shirts tied to him. Or a kettle. After the dream stopped, he quit tying things. EXCEPT for the one night he tied up a small fire. Tied up a small-stick fire! The fire got loose its own way.