Remember, the whole point here is that there are many versions of these stories--so please don't assume that my brief summaries are in any way authoritative. I did consult a good source, Ruth Benedict's two-volume Zuni Mythology, which is footnoted by Levi-Strauss, but Benedict herself describes a number of variants for each of the stories sketched on this page.

• The emergence of the people from the earth
  1. The sun pities his people, who are living underground.
  2. The sons of the sun decide to lead the people out into the light.
  3. The people plant corn, but can't eat until the suns of the sun cut mouths for them.
  4. The people separate. One tribe eventually discovers the center of the world, where people cannot be overthrown, since their hearts are never to one side or the other.

• The war against the Kyanakwe
  1. A tribe of Zuni, the kachinas, are hunting on the same ground as the Kyanakwe.
  2. The Kyanakwe hide the game from the Zuni.
  3. There's a war. The Kyanakwe win, because they have better bowstrings.
  4. The kachinas reach an agreement with the Kyanakwe, in which the former will be farmers and the latter hunters.

• The flood to punish incest
  1. Outraged by the wrongdoing of his clan, a boy calls on the spirit of his dead uncle.
  2. The spirit terrifies the people of the clan, who leave their village.
  3. The boy's grandmother and sister are warned to leave as well.
  4. Once the grandmother and sister have left, a great flood breaks out.
  5. The flood is interpreted as a punishment for the clan's reliance on incest.
  6. From now on, everyone agrees, there will be no incest. Sexual relations can only take place between members of different clans.

• The sacrifice of the brother and sister
  1. A boy asks his grandmother who his father was. She tells him that she doesn't know.
  2. While the boy is out hunting, he meets the eight daughters of the priests.
  3. He offers the daughters some mush, but they reject him.
  4. The boy is taken up, in turn, by the Mountain Lion, Bear, Badger, Wolf, and Spider Woman.
  5. He visits the house of an old man, who turns out to be his grandfather.
  6. He meets his father, who won't admit to the relationship until the boy passes a number of tests.
  7. He does pass the tests, with Spider's help, and he is transformed by his father's sisters into a handsome youth.
  8. His father tells him that when he returns home, the priest's daughters will want to marry him.
  9. The father also tells the youth to kill the daughters one by one and to put their heads and hearts in his flute.
  10. When the youth returns home, all goes as the father had predicted.
  11. After all eight daughters have visited, the youth takes the heads, hearts, and flute to the father.
  12. The father tells the youth to blow on the flute--and when he does, the daughters emerge from it.
  13. Eventually, the priests notice that their daughters are missing and ask the youth's grandmother where they are.
  14. The youth returns with the daughters. The daughters return to their homes, but call for rain.
  15. The priests and the youth's grandfather determine that the rain cannot be stopped without a sacrifice.
  16. The son and daughter of one of the priests are sacrificed, and the flood is stopped.