Coyote Creates the Earth

Long ago there was no earth, only water. Coyote was floating around on a small raft when he met the ducks. They were the only other creatures. "My brothers," he said, "there is no one else around. It is no good to be alone like this. You must get me some earth so I can make things right."

He turned to the red-headed mallard. "Dive beneath this water and try to bring up some earth. We’ll use it as a means of living."

The red-headed mallard dived. He remained down for a long time but came up without bringing any earth.

Coyote turned to the pinto duck, "I sent the older one, but he was not able to get any earth. Now I will let you try." The pinto duck came up after a long time and said, "My brother, I was not able to get any."

"How is that? I thought surely you would bring some."

Then Coyote asked a smaller, blue-feathered duck to dive. "If you do not bring up any, we will have no land to live on." He dived down, but he came up with no earth.

Coyote did not know what to do.

Then the grebe spoke up. "My older brother, you should have asked me to go before you asked these others. The are my superiors, but they are helpless." He took his turn diving and stayed down a long time. When he came up Coyote said, "What sort of luck did you have?"

"I have brought some." He had a little dirt between his webbed feet.

Coyote said, "To every undertaking there are always four trials. You have achieved it." Then he took the mud and said, "I will make this into the earth. You will live in the ponds and streams and multiply there where you can build your nests. Now, I an going to make this earth."

Coyote took the mud in his hand and he started in the east. "I will make it large so we have plenty of room." As he traveled along he spread the mud around and made the earth. He traveled like this for a long time going toward the west. When he had finished he said, "Now that we have this earth, there are some things that want to be here."

They heard a wolf howling.

"Already there is one howling," said Coyote.

He pointed toward the Sun, which was going down, and said, "Listen, there is another one out there now." It was a coyote. "That coyote has attained life by his own powers," said Coyote. "He is great."

Then they all went for a walk. Out on the plains they saw some shining objects. When they got up close they saw that theses were medicine stones.

"This is part of the earth," said Coyote, picking up one of the stones which looked like a buffalo, "the oldest part. There shall be stones like this everywhere. They are separate beings."

When they had gone on some ways they saw a person standing near a hill.

"Look." said Coyote, "there is a human being. He is one of the Stars, but now he is down here standing on the ground. Let’s go look at him."

When they got up close, the star-person changed himself into a plant. It was the t0obacco plant. There were no other plants around at the time. It was the first. Coyote said, "From now on all people will have this plant, take it in the spring and raise it. It is the Stars up above that have come down like this. They will take care of the people. Take care of this plant. It will be the means of your living. Use it in dancing. When you plant it in the spring, sing this song:

Female comrade, the earth, where shall I plant it?"

After that , Coyote found there was no grass. "This is no good." He made it. "Let us make some mountains, hills and trees." He made them all.

He saw there were no fish in the creeks, so he put some there. This is the way he started the whole thing. (Cree)

Coyote Creates Human Beings

One day, long before there were any people on the earth, a monster came down from the north. He was a huge monster and he ate everything in sight. He ate all the little animals, the chipmunks and the raccoons and the mice, and all the big animals. He ate the deer and the elk and even the mountain lion.

Coyote couldn’t find any of his friends any more and this made him very mad. He decided the time had come to stop the monster.

Coyote went across the Snake river and tied himself to the highest peak in the Wallowa Mountains. Then he called out to the monster on the other side of the rifer. He challenged the monster to try and eat him.

The monster charged across the river and up into the mountains. He tried as hard as he could to suck Coyote off the mountain with his breath but it was no use. Coyote’s rope was too strong.

This frightened the monster. He decided to make friends with Coyote and he invited coyote to come and stay with him for awhile.

One day Coyote told the monster he would like to see all of the animals in the monster’s belly. The monster agreed and let Coyote go in.

When he went inside, Coyote saw that all the animals were safe. He told them to get ready to escape and set about his work. With his fire starter he built a huge fire in the monster’s stomach. Then he took his knife and cut the monster’s heart down. The monster died a great death and all the animals escaped. Coyote was the last one out.

Coyote said that in honor of the event he was gong to create a new animal, a human being. Coyote cut the monster up in pieces and flung the pieces to the four winds. Where each piece landed, some in the north, some to the south, others to the east and west, in valleys and canyons and along the rivers, a tribe was born. It was in this way that all the tribes came to be.

When he was finished, Coyote’s friend, Fox said that no tribe had been created on the spot where they stood. Coyote was sorry he had no more parts, but then he had an ides. He washed the blood from his hands with water and sprinkled the drops on the ground.

Coyote said, "Here on this ground I make the Nez Perce. They will be few in number, but they will be strong and pure."

And this is how the human beings came to be. 

Coyote Keeps His Name

One time Great Spirit called all the Animal People together. They came from all over the earth to one camp and set up their lodges. Spirit Chief said there was going to be a change. There was going to be a new kind of people coming along.

He told all the Animal People they would now have to have names.

"Some of you have names now, some have no names. Tomorrow everyone will have a name. This name will be your name forever, for all your descendants. In the morning you must come to my lodge and choose your name. The first one to come may choose any name he wants. The next person will take any other name. That is the way it will go. And to each person I will give some work to do."

All the Animal People wanted to have powerful names and be well known. They wanted to be the first to Old Man’s lodge in the morning. Coyote walked around saying he would be the first. He did not like his name. He was called Trickster and Imitator. Everybody said those names fitted him, but he wanted a new name.

"I will take one of the three powerful names," said Coyote. "The Mountain Person, Grizzly Bear, who rules all the four leggeds, or Eagle, who rules the birds, or Good Swimmer, the Salmon, the chief of the Fish People. These are the best names. I will take one of these names."

Fox, who was Coyote’s brother, said, "Maybe you will have to keep the name you have, which is Sinkalip. People don’t like that name. No one wants it."

"I am tired of that name, Sinkalip!" said Coyote. "Let some old person who cannot do anything take it. I am a warrior! Tomorrow when I am called Grizzly Bear or Eagle or Salmon you will not talk like this. You will beg to have my new name, brother."

"You had better go home and get some sleep, Sinkalip," said For, "or you will not wake up in time to get any name."

But Coyote didn’t go home. He went around asking the Animal People questions. When he heard the answers he would say, "Oh, I knew that before. I did not have to ask." This is the way he was. He lost his shirt in a game of hoop and stick, then he went home and talked with his wife. She would be called Mole, the Mound Digger, after the naming day.

"Bring in plenty of wood now. I must stay awake all night. Tomorrow I must get my new name. I will be Grizzly Bear. I will be a great warrior and a chief."

Coyote sat watching the fire. Mole went to bed with the children. Half the night passed. Coyote got sleepy. His eyes grew heavy and started to close, so he took two small sticks and wedged them between his eyelids to hold his eyes open. "Now I can stay awake," he thought, but before long he was asleep with his eyes wide open.

The sun was high in the sky when Coyote woke up. Mole made a noise that woke Coyote. Shed did not wake him up before this because she was afraid if he got a great name he would go away and leave her. So she didn’t say anything.

Coyote went right over to the lodge of Old Man. He saw no one around and thought he was the first. He went right in and said, "I am going to be Grizzly Bear. That shall be my name." He was talking very loudly.

"The name Grizzly Bear was taken at dawn," said the Great Spirit.

"Then my name shall be Eagle."

"Eagle flew away at sunrise."

"Well, I shall be called Salmon then," said Coyote in a quiet voice.

"The name Salmon has also been taken," said the Great Spirit. "All the names have been taken except yours. No one wanted to steal your name."

Coyote looked very sad. He sat down by the fire and was very quiet. The Great Spirit was touched.

"Imitator," he said, "you must keep your name. It is a good name for you. I wanted you to have that name and so I made you sleep late. I wanted you to be the last one here. I have important work for you to do. The New People are coming, you will be their chief.

"There are many bad creatures on the earth. You will have to kill them. Otherwise they will eat the New People. When you do this, the New People will honor you. They will say you are a great chief. Even the ones who come after them will remember what you have done, and they will honor you for killing the People-devouring monsters and for teaching the New People all the ways of living.

"The New People will not know anything when they come, not how to dress, how to sing, how to shoot an arrow. You will show them how to do all these things. And put the buffalo out for them and show them how to catch salmon.

"But you will do foolish things too, and for this the New People will laugh at you. You cannot help it. This will be your way.

"To make your work easier, I will give you a special power. You will be able to change yourself into anything. You will be able to talk to anything and hear anything talk except the water.

"If you die, you will come back to life. This will be your way. Changing Person, do you work well!"

Coyote was glad. He went right out and began his work. This is the way it was with him. He went out to make things right. (Okanagon)

How Coyote Brought Fire to the People

In the beginning, the animal people had no fire. The only fire anywhere was on the top of a high, snow-covered mountain, where it was guarded by the skookums. The skookums were afraid that if the animal people had any fire they might become very powerful – as powerful as the skookums. So the skookums would not give any of the fire away to anyone.

Because the animal people had no fire, they were always shivering, and they had to eat their food raw. When Coyote came along he found them cold and miserable.

"Coyote," they begged, " you must bring us fire from the mountain or we will one day die of all this cold."

"I will see what I can do for you," promised Coyote. As soon as the sun came up the next morning, Coyote began the long and difficult climb to the top of the mountain where the skookums kept the fire.

When he got to the top he saw that there wrinkled, old skookums, all sisters, guarded the fire all day and all night, each taking a turn. While one kept watch the other two ate and slept in a lodge nearby. When it was time to change the watch the one at the fire would go to the door of the lodge and call out "Sister, get up and guard the fire."

At dawn, the skookum who had been watching the fire all night was always stiff with the cold and she walked very slowly through the snow to the lodge door to call her sister. "This is the time to steal a brand of the fire," thought Coyote to himself. But he knew, too, that he would be chased. And he knew that even though the skookums were old they were swift and strong runners. Coyote would have to devise a plan.

Coyote thought and thought, but he could not come up with any plan. So he decided to ask his three sisters who always lived in his stomach in the form of huckleberries to help him. They were very wise, and they would tell him what to do.

He defecated.

At first, Coyote’s sisters were reluctant to help him. "If we tell you," they said, "you will only say that you knew it all along." 

Coyote remembered that his sisters were afraid of hail and so he called up into the sky, "Hail! Hail! Fall down from the sky." 

This made his sisters very afraid. "Stop!" they called. "Don’t bring the hail down. We will tell you what you want to know."

Coyote’s sisters then told him how to steal the fire and get it down the mountain to the people without getting caught.

When the had finished talking, Coyote said, "Yes, that was my plan all along."

Coyote then went to see the animal people. He called everyone together, as his sisters had directed, and told each animal – Antelope, Fox, Weasel, Beaver, Squirrel and the others – to take up certain places along the mountainside. When they were all in place, they stretched in a long line from the top of the mountain all the way back to the village.

Coyote climbed back up the mountain and waited for sunrise. The old skookum who was watching the fire had keen eyes and she saw him. But she thought it was just an animal skulking around looking for scraps.

At dawn the skookum left the fire and walked slowly over to the lodge door. "Sister, get up and guard the fire."

Just at that moment Coyote sprang from the bushes. He seized a burning brand from the fire and ran away as fast as he could across the snow. The three skookums were right behind him in an instant. They were so close they were showering Coyote with the snow and iced they were churning up in their fury. Coyote was running as fast as he had ever run in his life. He leaped over cracks in the iced and rolled part way down the mountain like a snowball, but the skookums were right behind him. so close behind that their hot breath scorched his fur.

When Coyote finally reached the tree line, Cougar jumped out from his hiding place, snatched up the fire brand and raced away – just as Coyote fell flat on his face from exhaustion. Cougar ran all the way to the high trees where he gave the fire to Fox. Fox raced until he came to the heavy undergrowth where he gave the fire to Squirrel. Squirrel ran away through the trees, leaping from branch to branch. The skookums could not go through the trees so they planned to catch Squirrel at the edge of the woods. But Antelope was waiting there to get the fire from Squirrel, and Antelope, who was the fastest of all the animals, bounded away across the meadow. One after another, each one of the animals carried the fire, but the skookums stayed right behind them.

Finally, when there was only a glowing coal left, the fire was passed to Frog. Frog swallowed the hot coal and hopped away as fast as he could hop. The skookums were almost on top of him when he dove into a deep river and swam across to the other side. The youngest skookum had already leaped across the water and was waiting for him. As soon as he landed, Frog saw what had happened and jumped between the skookum’s legs and bounded away. An instant later the skookums were on him again and Frog was too tired to jump. So he spat the hot coal out on Wood and Wood swallowed it. The three skookums stood there not knowing what to do. None of the could figure a way to take the fire away from Wood. After a while they left and went slowly back to their lodge on the top of the mountain.

Coyote then called the animals together and they all gathered around Wood. Coyote, who was very wise, knew how to get the fire out of Wood. He showed the animals how to rub two dry sticks together until sparks came. Then he showed them how to collect dry moss and make chips of wood to add to the sparks to make a little fire. Then he showed them how to add small twigs and pine needles to make a bigger fire.

From then on, the people knew how to get the fire out of Wood. They cooked their meat, their houses were warm, and they were never cold again. (Karok)

White Crow Hides the Animals)

Out on the plains there was a camp where the hunters were never successful. They could not understand this. Every time they went out to hunt, the game scattered and hid where it could not be killed. This caused the people to starve.

The people did not know that there was someone who went out and told all the buffalo and deer within reach that the hunters were coming and to hide. There was a man in camp who could turn himself into a white crow. He went out and told all the animals to make their getaway. This person, White Crow, would come back later in the day when on one could see him and turn himself back into a man.

The starving people moved their camp in various directions trying to find where the game went. White Crow did not move. Under his lodge was a hole where all the buffalo were. This is where he got his food.

When the people returned to one camp, they found this man still living there. He said, "Why did you come back? I have nothing to eat. I have been having just as hard a time as you. I have had nothing to eat since you left."

One day, some of the men were playing a game with sticks and White Crow came toward them. The players smelled the odor of buffalo fat coming from the direction where the man was standing. The noticed that the man had on a good-looking buffalo hide, turned inside out to disguise its newness. He also had a sacred stick rubbed with buffalo fat that they could smell. He did not like their looking at him. He slipped away so they could not ask him questions.

Coyote was there in that village. That night he called the men together and offered to look around White Crow’s camp and tell them what he learned. Coyote watched White Crow’s camp for a while, the came back and told the men he needed two good men with good eyes. Owl and Dragonfly were the ones chosen. Coyote told them to lie down in the grass and watch White Crow wherever he went. Dragonfly watched so hard, his eyes came out. Owl strained his eyes until they became larger than ordinary eyes. Owl watched the man until he saw him go down in the ground.

When Owl came back, coyote told the men to gather everyone together and announce they were moving camp. Coyote was going to change himself into a little pup and they were to leave him behind. White Crow had a daughter, Coyote told them. "When the people leave she will search the camp for anything left behind and will find me."

The nest day, everyone moved and Coyote turned himself into a dog, but he forgot to put on the whiskers of a dog. The little girl found him and brought him to her lodge. When White Crow came in he asked to examine the dog. He saw that there were no whiskers and he told his daughter that he was afraid of this. He said it was a person disguised as a dog. But the girl said she wanted to keep it anyway. She refused to throw it away. She gave it a piece of meat while her father went out to warn all the game to be alert.

One day when the man was gone, the little girl removed the stone that covered the buffalo hole. She called the puppy over to look into the hole but he acted as if her were afraid. "Come over here. Look in here pup, see what we have." When she said this, the pup came over. Suddenly he jumped into the hole, and turned into a man and began to holler, "Scatter all over the world! Scatter! Scatter!" The buffalo came out of the ground like a big river. Coyote turned himself into a cocklebur and stuck himself on the fetlock of the last buffalo that go past the girl, who was waiting for him with a club. After the buffalo got out of White Crow’s lodge and were a long way off Coyote became a man again and shouted "Scatter! Scatter!"

When White Crow returned to his camp and saw what had happened, he said to the young girl, "See what you have done! I was afraid something like this would happen. Now we are going to have a hard time."

Coyote returned to his people and they began to enjoy the buffalo again. This mad White Crow angry. He directed the buffalo and the other animals to hide from the hunters. Soon the people were starving again. White Crow let them know he was going to make it harder than before. He flew over the camp saying, "I want you to know it was me who kept you from killing the buffalo before. You are not going to kill meat animals any more."

That night, Coyote called the men together and told them he had a plan. They would have to follow his instructions carefully. They were to announce that everyone should move over to a forest a few valleys away. Coyote would turn himself into a bull elk and hide in the brush where White Crow would not see him. When the people came along they were to kill and butcher him, but they were to leave behind his skeleton and his head with the antlers attached.

So, the next morning, the people moved to where he had directed them and some of them went out to look for game. A hunter scared up the elk, chased him, and killed him. They butchered him the way they had been told.

While they had been chasing him, White Crow had flown over Elk and said, "I wonder how I overlooked you. I should have told you they were hunting and to hide. I am to blame. But you can run fast and save yourself."

After the hunters left: White Crow found the skeleton. He lit on its antlers and thought to himself, "I know this is not an elk, I know what Coyote did before. This is just Coyote, who has disguised himself again. I will test him and find out." So White Crow stood on Elk’s head and began to strike at Elk’s nose with his sharp beak saying, "I know you are Coyote! I know you are Coyote!" He kept on striking. He stopped just as Coyote was about to cry out. "Well, I will try another place." He moved back to the hind leg, to the kneecap. He struck with his beak. "I know you are Coyote! I know you are Coyote!" Again, Coyote was just about to yell when White Crow stopped.

"Well, you must be an elk, but I do not see how I overlooked you." White Crow than decided he would pick out the scraps of meat left on the ribs. When he stuck his head in between them, Coyote closed his ribs and held White Crow in a vise. Then he got up and turned himself into a man. "Now, I have got you!"

White Crow said, "Coyote, please turn me loose. I will not do anything bad again. I will be good to you all. Please, turn me loose!"

The people were watching from a distance and when they saw that Coyote had White Crow, they began to shout.

Coyote said, "Now I have caught you and I am going to take you to camp and let the people do as they please with you." He took him to the camp and the people said, "This is the one who has caused us a lot of misery and starved us. Now that we have him, what shall we do with him?"

Spider Old Woman said, "Let me have him. I want to see the one who has caused us to starve." As she held White Crow, she was entangling him with her web but no one knew this. As she was doing it, White Crow got out of her hands and flew up into the air. He circled the camp, laughing. "This time I will have no compassion on you. This time I am really going to starve you!"

Coyote turned to Spider Old Woman and said, "I am going to tell the people to kill you for letting White Crow get away." Spider Old Woman said, "That White Crow doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I will get him." She began dragging in White Crow as though she was pulling on a rope. White Crow said. "Hey, I was only joking. I will be good. Have compassion on me." But Spider Old Woman went on pulling him in until she got him in her hands. She gave him to Coyote. "Do whatever you want with him," she said.

Coyote ordered the men to go and get firewood. They built a big fire and put White Crow in it until he was burned all black. Then Coyote said, "I am going to make it so you can never do anything your own way. All your life you are going to be a bird flying about looking for scraps. You are going to be frightened by everything."

Now, this is the way with Crow. (Kiowa)

A special thank you to my friend John for sharing these wonderful stories.

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