Back in ‘75 I had the very nice job of acting as surveyor for an archeological expedition throughout Southeast Alaska. Our primary job was locating and measuring ancient village and burial sites for preservation for future generations. (actually, it was a fabulous, all-expenses-paid fishing trip with a lot of sight-seeing thrown in - but don’t tell anyone that.)
Most of the time we traveled around by boat, landing at various sites among the islands. Occasionally we had to fly by float-plane over the islands to sites on the other side. Tribal elders, both Tlingit and Haida, asked us to watch the highest mountain tops, looking for fortifications that the ancients had erected to keep bears out during their ‘great flood.’ All the mountains were heavily glaciated, of course, so even if there had been any ruins they would have been destroyed.
What struck me was the fact that the story of that flood had been handed down through generations prior to contact with white Christian missionaries. This story was as old as the Raven legends and just as thoroughly believed.