The Apa Tanis live in Northeast India.

In the beginning, the Earth was like a human being and was called Kujum Chantu. She had a head, arms, legs and a big fat belly, just like anyone else, and she lay on the ground while the people lived on her.

One day, she realised that if she got up, the people would fall off her and die. So she decided to die so that she would remain in the same position. After she died, her head became the mountains and her backbone the smaller hills. In the valley of her chest lived the Apa Tanis, while her neck became the country of the Tagin people. Her fat buttocks turned into the rich, fat soil of the Assam plains. Her eyes became the sun and the moon, and from her mouth came Kujum Popi, who sent them to shine in the sky.