American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends) (5 page)

Sadly the people started home without the moon. “Let us make a new moon,” they said. “And let us place it in the sky.”

“Who will be the new moon?” someone asked.

The people discussed and discussed the matter. Finally they decided that Yellow Fox should be the new moon, and Yellow Fox agreed. They put him in the sky, where he was to shine by day as well as by night. But he made the days so hot that they took him down.

Then they asked Coyote, “Do you think that you would be a good moon?”

“Yes, of course,” he replied. “I would like to be the moon, for then I can see everything.”

So they placed Coyote in the sky. He did not make the days too hot, but he did see everything. And whenever he saw anything wrong being done, he called out loudly the name of the person and the wrong thing he was doing. The people who wished to do things in secret demanded that Coyote be taken from the sky.

Two young men from the tribe—nicely dressed young men—were desired by four Frogs. The Frogs wanted the two young fellows as their husbands but did not know how to get them. One Frog made a plan. She made everything in the forest wet, so that the young men could only find one dry place in which to sit. That was inside the cedar-bark lodge of Frogs. Instantly one Frog jumped on the face of one of the men and stuck there so fast that he could not remove her. The other Frogs blinded the other young man in one eye.

When the people tried to help the young men, they could do nothing. The blinded one said, “I think I should be the sun. I am ashamed to go about as a man with only one eye.”

“I will be the moon,” the other man said. “I do not want to go among people with this Frog on my face.”

So the people placed the two up in the sky, to be the sun and the moon. The spots we see on the moon are the Frog still sticking to the young man’s face. The sun, as we all know, has only one eye.

{
Miwok
}

At one time, quite a while ago, the animals were like people. Falcon said to Coyote: “You have great magic powers. Why don’t you make some human beings?”

“It is too much work,” said Coyote.

“No matter,” said Falcon. “You must do it, because you can do it.”

“Well, all right,” said Coyote.

Coyote laid down and played dead. Then many crows and buzzards came. They pecked at Coyote’s backside. They made a big hole in Coyote’s left buttock. They worked their way inside. Then Coyote quickly closed the hole, trapping the scavengers. He went back to his home. He opened the hole in the buttock. He told Falcon to pick the crows and buzzards out. Then he told Falcon to pluck them.

“Now,” said Coyote, “we will stick their feathers into various places in all the four directions.”

Coyote and Falcon went to work. On every hill they planted one crow and one buzzard feather. The crow feathers became just people. The buzzard feathers became chiefs. As Coyote planted the feathers he gave every site a name, and the next day there were human beings living in all those places.

Coyote said to Falcon: “These new human beings look exactly like us. So now we must assume a different shape. We must become animals. It is your fault. You forced me into making those humans. So now you shall have wings and a beak, and I shall have a tail and fur all over. I shall be Coyote and creep around hunting. You will fly about. You can be the chief if you want.”

At once all the original people were transformed into animals and birds. Coyote named them all. “Now I’m tired,” he said. “I will rest.”

At the beginning of time Old Man Coyote was cold. He was almost frozen to death. This was because in those days of old there was no summer. Old Man Coyote was shivering. His tail was frozen stiff, with icicles hanging from it. Then he heard Raven cackling on a branch above him: “Old Man Coyote, I know how you can get warm. I will lead you to the huge tipi of an Old Woman who has many children. This woman is very powerful. She has something that is called ‘Summer.’ It could make you warm. It could make the whole country around here warm.”

“How can I get it?” Old Man Coyote asked.

“You must take five animals with you,” said Raven. “A He-Wolf, a Bull Moose, an Elk, a Stag, and a Buck Antelope. When we get to the tipi in which this powerful Old Woman lives, and her many children live, the He-Wolf must bark. Then all of the Old Woman’s children will come out of the tipi to see what is going on. Wolf must show himself. Then Old Woman’s children will try to catch him, skin him, cook him, and eat him. So Wolf must run away and entice them to follow him. This is the moment for you to act, because you are very smart.”

“What must I do?” asked Old Man Coyote.

“While Old Woman’s children are pursuing Wolf, you must creep into Old Woman’s tipi.”

“What do I do when I am inside?”

“I have a powerful herb to give you,” said Raven. “This you must smear on Old Woman’s lips. You will see two bags in the back of the tipi. One is white and the other is black. You must steal the black one; it contains summer. Under no circumstances take the white one. It contains winter. You do not want it. Grab the bag and run!”

Old Man Coyote did as he was told. He crept into the tipi. Old Woman was sitting there, making moccasins. Old Man Coyote quickly smeared some of the powerful medicine across Old Woman’s mouth. It made her voiceless, so that she could not call her children. Old Man Coyote saw the two bags. He grabbed the black one. Old Woman’s children saw him, running as fast as he could. They stopped pursuing Wolf and tore after Old Man Coyote. When Old Man Coyote got tired he passed the bag on to Bull Moose, who was waiting for him at some distance. Bull Moose was lumbering along with his precious burden, Old Woman’s children hard on his heels, trying to get the stolen bag. They almost caught Bull Moose, but he was able, just in time, to pass on the bag to Elk, who was waiting for him along the way. So Old Woman’s children went after Elk. Just when Elk was on the point of exhaustion, there was Stag, waiting to carry the bag farther. Stag was very fast and Old Woman’s children were panting, trying to keep up. When Stag, finally, was about done in, he managed to pass the bag on to Buck Antelope, who was the fastest of them all. Old Woman’s children were left far behind. They gave up. Buck Antelope arrived at Old Man Coyote’s village. Raven was already there. They waited for their friends to come, for He-Wolf, Bull Moose, Elk, Stag, and Buck Antelope. Old Man Coyote was the last to arrive. He was given the honor to open the bag. As he opened it, summer jumped out.

At once there was warmth. Flowers bloomed, green grass was shooting up. Leaves appeared upon the naked tree branches. The earth rejoiced.

Then Old Woman’s children appeared before Old Man Coyote’s tipi. “You evil thief,” they said. “You have stolen our mother’s bag, you and your evil friends. You have robbed us. You have stolen Summer. Give it back!”

“I will not,” said Old Man Coyote. “I like it too much!”

“Then we will make war upon you,” said Old Woman’s children.

“We shall fight to the death!”

Old Man Coyote did not want to have a war on his hands. He was a peaceful fellow. He thought that fighting to the death was a very bad idea. He said: “Oh, Old Woman’s children, there is nothing to be gained by killing each other. Let us agree on this: You shall have summer for half a year, and then we will have winter for the other half.”

“That is fair,” said Old Woman’s children, and they all agreed to do it this way.

{
Yakima
}

In the days of the animal people, Coyote was sad because people died and went away to the lands of the spirits. All around him was the sound of mourning. He wondered and wondered how he could bring the dead back to the land of the living.

Coyote’s sister had died. Some of his friends had died. Eagle’s wife had died and Eagle was mourning for her. To comfort him, Coyote said, “The dead shall not remain in the land of the dead forever. They are like the leaves that fall, brown and dead in the autumn. They shall come back again. When the grass grows and the birds sing, when the leaf buds open and the flowers bloom, the dead come back again.”

But Eagle did not want to wait until spring. He thought that the dead should be brought back without delay. So Coyote and Eagle started out together to the land of the dead, Eagle flying along over Coyote‘s, head. After several days they came to a big body of water, on the other shore of which were a great many houses.

“Bring a boat and take us across the water!” shouted Coyote. But there was no answer—no sound and no movement.

“There is no one there,” said Eagle. “We have come all the way for nothing.”

“They are asleep,” explained Coyote. “They sleep during the day and come out at night. We will wait here until dark.”

After sunset, Coyote began to sing. In a short time four spirit men came out of the houses, got into a boat, and started toward Coyote and Eagle. Coyote kept on singing and soon the spirits joined him, keeping time with their paddles. But the boat moved without them. It skimmed over the water by itself.

When the spirits reached the shore, Eagle and Coyote stepped into the boat and started back with them. As they drew near the island of the dead, the sound of drums and of dancing met them across the water.

“Do not go into the house,” warned the spirits as they were landing. “Do not look at the things around you. Keep your eyes closed, for this is a sacred place.”

“But we are hungry and cold. Do let us go in,” begged Eagle and Coyote.

So they were allowed to go into a large lodge made of tule mats, where the spirits were dancing and singing to the beating of the drums. An old woman brought to them some seal oil in a basket bottle. Dipping a feather into it, she fed them from the oil until their hunger was gone.

Then Eagle and Coyote looked around. Inside the lodge everything was beautiful, and there were many spirits. They were dressed in ceremonial robes, beautifully decorated with shells and with elk teeth. Their faces were painted, and they wore feathers in their hair. The moon, hanging from above, filled the big lodge with light. Near the moon stood Frog, who has watched over it since he jumped into it long ago. He saw to it that the moon shone brightly on the crowd of dancers and singers.