The Dawn of the World: Beliefs Concerning Natural Phenomena: Noise
The Dawn of the World, by C. Hart Merriam, [1910]
The Tuolumne Mewuk say:
In the beginning all noise came from water--running water. [Their word for shouting is Wah-kah-lah'-loo, derived from Wah-kah'-loo, river.]
The Northern Mewuk also say:
All noise came in the beginning from running water; the echo originally came from rapids or boisterous water.
Other tribes say:
Singing came from running water--the first song was sung by the creek.