The Old-One, also called the Chief, is the highest being of Nlaka'pamux tradition: a creator who exists before the world takes its present form and who sets earth and sky in order. He works chiefly through delegates, sending Coyote and the transformer brothers to travel the land, subdue monsters, and shape the country for the human people who are to follow. Sources differ on how sharply he is distinguished from the transformers themselves, and Teit notes that he is invoked descriptively rather than by a single fixed name.