Coyote Story

coyote image downloaded royalty free from fotosearch

Coyote Tricks Big Bad Owl To Get Arrows, Bets Them In a Race With Kesh (rattlesnake)

Coyote was bored. Walking around, nothing to do, nobody to talk to, bored, bored, bored. He decided to go and see if he could find something to do that would be interesting and fun. At last he came upon Red Squirrel and he said "Hey cousin! I'm bored and looking for something fun to do. Got any ideas?" Squirrel said "I'm busy gathering up nuts, winter time is coming and I have to have a lot of food stored. I don't have time to do anything with you Coyote."

That made Coyote mad. He right away said "If that's how you feel, I think I'll go find Chipmunk and see what she's doing. She doesn't like you either." Red Squirrel said "You're just trying to start your usual stuff Coyote. I know that Chipmunk is my close clan cousin. She likes me fine. If you're so very bored that you absolutely have find something to do, and, of course you don't want to help me, that's too much like work, I heard from Western Wind that Big Bad Owl had some new arrows, why don't you go bother him. He's mean like you, you should get along great."

Coyote thought about that for a while, then he remembered that his cousin Monster Slayer had been hunting Big Bad Owl. The Big Bad Owl had been going to the camp which the first humans had set up in the mountains. He would sneak in, flying very silently at night, and would carry off a human every night. He'd fly away with them, kill them, and eat them. Even that wasn't enough to keep him happy anymore, he had started taking them only a little way away from the humans and torturing them all through the night. The humans were very scared of the owl, and they had no way to protect themselves from him.

Coyote went first to find Monster Slayer's twin brother Cornstalk because he was the type to stay at home. He figured if he could find Cornstalk first, that would give him ideas on where to find Monster Slayer.

Cornstalk was at his home, just like he usually was. Coyote told him about the arrows he had been told that Big Bad Owl had. He said "I want to find out from my cousins the best way I can help." Cornstalk told Coyote "I don't think you want to help much at all. I think you're just bored and looking for some things to stir up. No matter to me, if you can help my brother, even by accident, I guess that's a good thing. Who knows? You might accidentally do something that turns out good for a change."

Coyote said "You just might be the most boring god there is in this whole new world. No wonder you don't have any friends, except for me and your brother. You better tell me right away where Monster Slayer is before I fall asleep and miss out on all the fun."

Coyote went to where Cornstalk told him to go. It took him a long time to find Monster Slayer who was off in the Painted Desert tracking ManKiller Eagle. He told Monster Slayer all about the arrows that Red Squirrel said that Big Bad Owl had. He said to him, "Those arrows would help you bring down this ManKiller Eagle, and then, because I got them away from Big Bad Owl, he'll be a lot easier for you to fight when that time comes."

Monster Slayer told him all about where Big Bad Owl was staying, what he was doing to the humans, and then he gave Coyote the biggest tip of all when he said "Big Bad Owl is smart enough, but he thinks that he's really, really smart. That's his biggest weakness. He not only thinks that he's the smartest one around, he thinks that everybody else in the world is stupid. If you were to go up to him, and act stupid, he wouldn't see through that. Then, you should be able to outsmart him quick and get those arrows. But, please cousin, promise me that as soon as you get them you'll bring them right here to me. Tell the humans that as soon as I get ManKiller Eagle taken care of I'll come to deal with Big Bad Owl."

Coyote went straight to where the humans were. He figured that since that was where Big Bad Owl was doing his hunting it would be the perfect place to find him. He got together with Snakes' Brother and Wise Question Asker who were serving the humans as War Chief and Peace Chief. He asked them to call a council of the people together so that he could tell them about his plan to take the arrows away from Big Bad Owl and then go to help Monster Slayer beat ManKiller Eagle right away so that the humans could be done with Big Bad Owl for good.

That night, right after the sun went down, according to the plan, all the people got together and built up a huge bonfire. All of them started to dance and sing songs. Those songs brought the giant snakes that had been brothers to Snakes' Brother down to join them. All during the singing and dancing Coyote was in the middle of things, making a complete ass of himself. He would do things like shout "Hey! Look at Me!" and then do something absolutely stupid like dance through the fire. That would make his fur catch fire and he'd hop and jump all around like an idiot shouting "Help me! Help me!" so that the people would throw water at him to put out the fire. As soon as they did that, Coyote would act all mad shouting "You know I hate water. You're just doing that to bother me. Now I need to go find some dirt to wash myself off with."

Coyote was off away from where all the people were gathered, washing himself with some dirt he found. Then he spied a big puddle of mud and said really loud to himself "Mud! Wonderful, clean mud. I should go roll around in that. It will make me beautiful."

While he was rolling around in the mud he began to sing a song to himself:

I like to wash myself in mud
Mud is good for me
Mud will dry and get all hard
Then it's just like being inside
A house or something
While I'm outside, but I'm not
I'm inside my own mud house
I'm very clever, very clever
The humans call me stupid
They are stupid, not me
The humans call me stupid
Stupid, stupid humans

Coyote figured if he acted stupid enough, and made enough noise that Big Bad Owl would find him. He was right. He was rolling around in the mud singing his mud song when he looked up and saw Big Bad Owl.

This was a long, long ago time, Monster Slayer was just only part of the way done with his task of ridding the world of dangerous monsters. Big Bad Owl was one of the very worst of them. Huge, bigger than two men put together, but will an owl's keen eyesight, even in the darkest night, an owl's beak, hooked and sharp, but this beak was as big as a piñon cone, big owl feet with big hooked talons. Just like owls today when he flew in the night sky there wasn't a sound made by his wings. When Coyote looked up from his mud bath to see Big Bad Owl standing there looking at him he was scared right into the middle of his bones.

Big Bad Owl said "Coyote, I've heard about you, you and your stupid cousins, always trying to make things better for those puny humans. Everybody said that you were smart. You look stupid to me though. Maybe I should just kill you right here and right now."

Coyote said "I'm not afraid of you. Anytime I want I can change myself into Scary Warrior Coyote. That's pretty scary too. Hey, I saw a peach tree down by the pond. Want to go with me and get some peaches?"

Big Bad Owl loved peaches so he went with Coyote to where there was a peach tree. Coyote told him "See this. Stupid humans would try to climb that big tree, but because they're stupid they can't see that the tree puts the peaches right onto the surface of the water. Watch."

Coyote spent a long time trying to get the reflection of the peaches off the surface of that water. He was so clumsy and stupid about it that Big Bad Owl started to laugh and laugh. Finally Big Bad Owl just went over to the tree and gave it a great big smack, that made a whole bunch of peaches fall down. Big Bad Owl and Coyote sat for a while eating peaches. Finally Coyote said "Hey, you know, peaches are pretty good, but everytime I eat them it makes me hungry for meat. My stupid and boring cousin Cornstalk says that you've been eating humans. Are they any good?"

Big Bad Owl said that they were very good and that he would go right now and get his bow and an arrow and get himself a human to eat right away. Coyote said "You know, there are two of us here. One human would only be enough for you. You should bring all of your arrows. I can carry them for you, that way you can get a whole bunch of humans and I can show you how to smoke their meat and make it last a long time. If you kill off this bunch of them I can show you where there are other groups of them trying to get started in this world."

Big Bad Owl thought for a moment that this might be one of Coyote's many tricks. Then he remembered how stupid Coyote had been acting so he said "Alright, that sounds like a good idea. Wait right here."

He went away and came right back with his bow and a full quiver of arrows. Coyote couldn't help himself, he had to ask "What is it that makes these arrows so special?"

Big Bad Owl told him "I had a witch put a spell on them for me. All I have to do is to draw the bow and as soon as I have the shot right the arrows jump right out of the bow. They are also poisoned with a magic plant poison so even if the shot is only a little scratch, what ever I shoot with the arrow is going to die. "

Coyote said "Wow, you are just about the smartest person I've ever talked with. I wouldn't have ever thought of anything that clever. Do you want me to carry that bow too? Is that bow magic?"

Big Bad Owl told him "Everybody thinks that you're the smart one of the gods but I can see that you are stupider even than those stupid humans. You might as well be good for something. Here. Take these and carry them for me, you might as well be good for something here."

As soon as Big Bad Owl had given the bow and arrows to Coyote that trickster took off. He lit out of there so fast that there was a great big cloud of dust which blinded and choked Big Bad Owl. Coyote went right to where the humans were staying and told them "Big Bad Owl is right behind me. It's going to be alright though. I stole his bow and arrows and I will protect all of you."

The humans all got their own weapons and they stood with Coyote. First they built up a great big fire to make lots of light. They built it up against an overhanging cliff. That way Big Bad Owl wouldn't be able to silently fly up on them from behind, and with the light from the fire they would be able to see him coming. Pretty soon Big Bad Owl made his first try for them. Coyote did just like Big Bad Owl had told him to do and pulled back the bow. When the bow shot itself though Coyote jumped every time and his shots went far off the mark. It didn't matter much because there were so many arrows up in the air that Big Bad Owl ran away figuring that he would wait a while and catch the humans when they were not waiting for him.

Coyote was very proud of himself. So proud of himself that he decided he would put off taking the bow and arrows to Monster Slayer. He wanted to practice with them himself so that he could use them to hunt and go to war. Wise Question Asker came to Coyote and reminded him that he had promised Monster Slayer those arrows for his fight with ManKiller Eagle. Coyote told Wise Question Asker that he was an ungrateful puny human. After all, hadn't Coyote just saved all the humans from Big Bad Owl?

Days passed while Coyote played with his new toys. Finally Cornstalk came into the camp and said "Coyote, my cousin, weren't those arrows promised to my brother Monster Slayer? He up waiting for you to bring them to him so that he can fight ManKiller Eagle."

Coyote said "Your brother isn't as boring as you are cousin, but that doesn't make him a lot of fun. This bow and these magic arrows are a lot of fun. Watch this." Coyote shot one of the magic arrows right through a big leafy tree, out the other side and right through a pine cone. Then he said to Cornstalk "You couldn't make that shot in a million years. Neither could your brother. I only have to practice a little longer and I'll be able to take over the monster killing duties. Then nobody will care about that stupid brother of yours and he might just go away and leave us all alone."

Snakes' Brother came up about then, he had one of the Grandfather Snakes that used to be his human brother with him. He said to Coyote "If you won't give those arrows to Monster Slayer like you promised maybe you'd like to make a bet for them with my brother here. He says that he can beat you in any kind of race you'd like to have."

Coyote said "What is your stupid snake brother willing to bet me? It had better be good."

Snakes' Brother said "My brothers will give you the antidote to that poison that's in those arrows. The way it is right now, if you killed food with them the poison would kill you too. First though, you have to win the race."

Coyote said "Any kind of race I pick?" Snakes' Brother said "Your choice on the race."

Coyote thought for a little while and said "You people are just about the stupidest things I have ever seen. I don't know why the other gods are so fixed on helping you survive in this world. If you want to race, we'll race. You put up the poison antidote and I'll put up the arrows, I'll even put up the bow along with them because you stupid mudheads don't even have a chance. Along with the bow and the arrows, I'll put up some of that fine tobacco I get from Cornstalk. That's how sure I am that I'm going to win. Do we have a bet?"

Snakes' Brother said "We have a bet Coyote."

Coyote said "Then we are going to have a Tricky Race! You are so stupid, I am the Trickster God and you've just bet me on a Tricky Race. This is going to be a lot of fun. I need one day to line up all my tricks for this race. We'll meet right here this time tomorrow and race. Bring the things that you promised to bet. I'm going to need them right away."

Coyote went and rounded up his spotted horse Cho'osh, his cousins Bobcat and Cougar and he set tricks and traps just about every inch of the race course. He had Bobcat positioned by a hollow log with two big boulders, that way, when Kesh went through the log Bobcat could shut him up tight. He had Cougar positioned at a narrow pass between two boulders, Cougar had a big pile of sharp obsidian chunks that he was going to throw down on top of Kesh and cut him all to ribbons. He had Cho'osh ready with a whole herd of other horses, if Kesh crawled by them they were just going to stomp the shit out of him.

Coyote was ready. He went to where the race was going to start early so that he could be there when the others came. That way he could tease them and laugh at them and call them stupid mudheads.

Pretty soon Wise Question Asker, Snakes' Brother, Cornstalk, and all four of the Grandfather Snakes came to the place where the race was to start. Coyote was horrible to them all. He was loud, vain and very insulting. Grandfather Snake didn't let any of the things Coyote said bother him at all. Finally Coyote said "When you were changed into a snake did they take all your brains away? It was Monster Slayer that did that to you, I'm surprised you want to help that arrogant son of a bitch at all."

Grandfather Snake said "I was changed into this form because I disobeyed the voice of vision. I did wrong and I took the consequences. I did that like a man. I promised to help my brother and his people in all the ways that I could. Stop talking. Let's race."

Coyote got down on all fours, he was coiled up ready to leap out into the lead right away when, all of a sudden, so fast you couldn't see it with your eyes, Grandfather Snake bit him. Snik! Snik! Snik! Snik! Four times, once on each of Coyote's paws. Coyote rolled over onto his back and howled with pain. "Oowwwww! That's no fair. You bit me! My feet are all swollen up and they hurt so bad! I can't even crawl on them! Ooooooooooowwwwwww! You have to help me! If you don't help me I'm going to die!"

Grandfather Snake said "If I help you and cure these bites will that make me the winner?"

Coyote said "Anything! Ooooowwwww! This hurts! Just help me."

Grandfather Snake said "Tell everybody here that I'm the winner of the Tricky Race and I'll help you."

Coyote said "You win! You beat me! I give! OOOOOOOWWWWWWWW! You have to help me!"

Coyote gave up the bow and the arrows. Cornstalk handed them over to Coyote's horse and said "Take these to my brother as fast as you can. I'll give you Coyote's tobacco in return for that favor." Cho'osh took off like a shot. He ran so fast he was a spotted blur.

Grandfather Snake and Cornstalk then went to work healing Coyote of his bites. They gave him plant medicines to make the swelling go down, they used the juice from some cactus fruits to ease the pain of them. When they were finished Cornstalk started to laugh out loud, long and hearty. Coyote said "What's so funny stupid?"

Cornstalk said "I just realized that my Cousin Coyote has many tricks. Snake only has one. One. Beautiful. Trick."

Coyote had to laugh at himself with that one.

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I've just done a very Indian, very Apache thing here. Often, when our elders want to make a point or tell us something important, they will launch into one of the long Coyote stories or some other legend from a long time ago. It will take us some thinking to figure out what the message is. That's one of the things our elders want us to do though. They want us to stop and think things through.

Tonight is the first of the Presidential debates. John McCain has been trying to change and morph himself so that he can fit into all the different pigeon holes that he thinks people want him to be so that he can become President. He's been trying all kinds of tricks too.

Obama hasn't done that. If Obama sticks to his one, beautiful, trick tonight, we'll all be just fine.

There's more...

Coyote Story

Coyote Image downloaded from fotosearch.com

Coyote Turns Himself Blue, Marries His Own Daughter, Becomes Ga'an, Steals Fire By Accident

A very long time ago, Bluebirds used to be white. Bluebird went to Yo'sn (God of the Mountains) and asked to be made into a different color. Yo'sn taught Bluebird a song, and gave him the instructions saying "Sing your song in the morning, then, just as the sun rises, dive into the lake and swim underneath the water from east to west. Next day sing your song and swim from south to north, then the next day swim from west to east, and lastly, swim from north to south. By the end of the last swim you will be as blue as the sky, as blue as deep water."

Coyote overheard all of this because he was up in the mountains practicing being sneaky. He watched Bluebird turning into the beautiful blue color and decided "I would be a pretty coyote if I were to be turned blue." So he did exactly as Bluebird had done and became just as pretty a shade of blue.

Coyote went all over showing off. He kept making up new names for himself, after all, something that bright blue and beautiful couldn't be named just plain old Coyote, that wouldn't do at all. He told people that his name was going to be "Sky Blue Beauty" or "Wonderful Blue Coat." He was very proud of his new color. He didn't notice anything at all that was happening to anybody else. One morning he was shown two children who had died during a very cold night, because this happened so long ago that none of the people in the world had any fire to keep them warm. Coyote didn't care about that a bit. He just said "Blue Coyotes are too beautiful to be bothered." He thought to himself "I should go visit my family and show them how beautiful I am." So he did.

Coyote's wife was not impressed in the slightest. She kept thinking up all the reasons that being a bright shade of blue would make life harder for everybody else. She said things that made Coyote angry and sad. Things like "How is somebody that bright a blue color going to be able to hunt? " or "Next you'll be telling me that bright blue colored coyotes are too beautiful to work at farming squash or corn."

Coyote was only a hit with his favorite daughter. She followed him everywhere, smiling and laughing. She would call out to her friends and say "See my father? See that beautiful blue?"

Coyote decided that he would trick everybody in the world and since his wife didn't appreciate him anymore, he would marry his own daughter.

The first thing he did was to take an old and rotten piece of liver and sew it up next to where his own liver would have been. He then came staggering into his lodge, moaning and groaning and making a big show of how badly he was hurt. He told his wife "Wife my dear, I've been hurt very bad." She asked "Who did this?" Coyote said "It really doesn't matter does it? I'm done for. I'm going to die."

He told his wife "I'm going to go and climb up into that tree over there. Don't climb up after me, just go and sweep under the tree every day. When the worms fall down on the ground underneath the tree you will know I am dead and gone."

Coyote's wife said she would do all those things for him. Coyote then said "Our daughter Dahti'ye (hummingbird), after I am dead and gone, you should have her marry the stranger who comes to our lodge bringing four fresh killed deer, one for each direction."

Coyote didn't die at all. Instead he stuck the rotten meat up in the branches of the tree where nobody could see it, then he went off and hid himself away. Each day Coyote's wife came and swept underneath the branches of the tree just as she had promised. One day, the meat was so very rotten that the worms had begun to fall upon the ground.

Now, even though Coyote was vain, a liar, a braggart, and always playing one trick or another, or working on yet another scheme to avoid his share of the work while getting more than his share of the food, Coyote's wife began to weep. She gathered all her children together and told them that their father was dead. That they would all have to go on as best that they could.

Coyote's children all did just that. They doubled their efforts at helping their mother. The older ones took good care of the younger ones, the boys all worked extra hard, doing chores and hunting for food. The girls all worked at their own tasks. Dahti'ye even began to hunt herself. She would go out with a sling, and a bow and bring in small game at first. But as she got stronger and smarter about hunting she began to bring in deer and antelope too.

One day, just like Coyote had told his wife would happen, a stranger came walking up to the lodge. He was hauling four fresh killed deer behind him. He called and said to Coyote's wife "See these deer? I want the family of the great Coyote to have them so that they will not be hungy. There is one deer for each direction. It makes a circle doesn't it?"

That wasn't a stranger at all, it was Coyote. He had gone out into the woods and smeared himself all over with pitch, then he rolled in the dirt so that he was not looking like he was a beautiful blue anymore. When he felt good and disguised he went to his own home, he was going to marry his own daughter.

Coyote knew that this was a violation of Sacred Law. That there are laws which apply to all humans and go beyond custom. To lie with a daughter or sister, to be with anyone you call family is a violation of Sacred Law. Coyote didn't care anymore. He thought that because he could make himself turn blue, and because he was so clever at figuring out ways to get around all the other laws that things like Sacred Law did not apply to him.

He brought his gifts of freshly killed deer. He had his daughter's relatives who thought he was dead build a new lodge. He made other gifts and took his own daughter's hand in marriage.

That night in their lodge when Dahti'ye went to touch her husband, her hand came away dirty. She recoiled from that. She told her husband to go and to wash himself before he came to her bed. Coyote thought real fast and told her "I come from people very far away, our customs say that we never wash our bodies. It would anger our gods."

Dahti'ye told him that he was living with her people now, that he needed to learn their customs, which include washing themselves when they are filthy. Coyote promised to try and learn. He asked for a kiss and was told to go wash himself first. Coyote got very angry and stomped outside to go sleep in the moonlight.

Dahti'ye waited until he was fast asleep and brought out a basin of water and some yucca root to begin washing her husband. She wanted to be a good wife. She carefully washed one foot clean, and she saw the bright blue fur and skin that was underneath the pitch and the dirt.

She ran fast to bring her mother and show her what had happened. She told her mother "Look! Look there at the blue fur and skin there. I have married my own father! What can I do for this?"

Coyote's wife hit him hard with a stone, right on top of his head. She didn't kill him though, she went and got the chief of the people and they decided that they should call upon Monster Slayer. Monster Slayer came right away. The people told him "Coyote has turned into a monster. He doesn't follow the right ways. You should take him back to the other gods and deal with him."

That's what Monster Slayer did. He brought Coyote to Yo'sn, who was up in his mountains with Monster Slayer's mother Spider Woman, and his brother Cornstalk. They had heard what Coyote had tried to do.

Spider Woman was very angry. She told Yo'sn "Coyote has gone beyond the laws of gods and men. It is time to kill him and put his soul in a bottle like the souls of the other monsters."

Cornstalk said "Coyote is a little crazy. Most of the time that is something that turns out good for everybody. He only wanted to break the Sacred Law, but he was caught before anything unredeemable could happen."

Monster Slayer said "Coyote is my cousin. If my cousin is a monster what would that make me?"

Yo'sn was thinking very deeply about all that he had heard and seen. Yo'sn's sister the Moon swung very low in the sky and began to sing a beautiful song. In her song she said "Coyote is a lot of trouble. He is also a lot of use for us. We have all used Coyote when it served our purpose. He can find purpose again. He has indeed broken Sacred Law and there must be payment made or balance can never be counted upon in our world. Without that balance we would all be lost, gods and human beings alike. Coyote, the breaker of Sacred Law, must die. His soul should become Ga'an (ghost). Let him wander as Ga'an and see the way that the things of the Sacred all work together and depend one upon the other. Don't put away his soul forever. He has gone far away from us, but he can come back if he is shown the beautiful way."

Coyote came awake about then. He sniveled and begged for another chance. He promised that he would be good and beautiful from now on. Yo'sn told him to be quiet for once. Yo'sn explained to Coyote what Moon had proposed. He said that his sister was very wise and that Coyote should be grateful to her for saving his miserable life, again.

Monster Slayer went ahead and killed Coyote. He didn't bottle up his soul like the souls of Big Bad Owl, or Cannibal Elk, or the Grizzley Bear Monster. Coyote's soul became Ga'an. He began to wander the earth looking at things and trying to learn.

He remembered the people who were dying and freezing at night in the cold and he went up to where Spider Woman was weaving time at her loom and asked her "Is there anything I can do to help the people who are dying from the cold?"

Spider Woman thought for a long time. Finally she said "I have heard that there are beings who dance with fire, they are very far away to the north. They have mountains that they tend which spit out fire and make the earth shake. You can go there and see if they might give you some fire. Don't think that just because you do one good thing everything will be alright again. You broke Sacred Law nephew. Once that has happened, everything changes. This is as it should be. You will need to understand a lot more before you are allowed to live again."

Coyote said "You never liked me much did you auntie?"

Spider Woman said "You are silly. You talk too much. You lie when the truth would do just fine, and it's not because of anything to a purpose or anything but that you are a liar. You cheat when you gamble. You get married every place you stay for more than a month. You drink too much and you do stupid things. I think, deep inside you though, you have a goodness. You are my sister's boy. You're right, there are times when I don't like you at all. Then, I think of my beautiful and kind sister. Even when I don't like you I love you."

Coyote went to where the Fire Spirits were living. He hung around them for a while and watched what they were doing. He asked them if there was a way that he could take fire to the humans. They told him that fire was their own special creation, that it was something they tended which would keep the earth's body alive. They told him that it was something they would never give to humans. It was too powerful for puny creatures like humans.

Coyote just bided his time. He waited until the Fire Spirits weren't looking and he went to go and steal their fire. Since he was Ga'an though, he didn't have a body. Worst of all, even without a body, the fire still burned him.

He went back to Spider Woman and told her what he had seen. She asked him "Well, nephew, have you made a plan?" Coyote said "I can't think of anything I can do. I don't have a body and I can't steal anything from them."

Spider Woman had her own plan. She told Coyote to go back to the Fire Spirits and try to learn more things. She went behind him to watch a see if Coyote would do what she thought he would do.

Coyote did. He was Ga'an but he was Ma'atose Ga'an. Even when he tried really hard he couldn't be anything but what he was. He tried at first to be nice to the Fire Spirits. He told them about the suffering that was taking place because the humans had no fire. The Spirits told him that this was not their concern. They only cared about their fire. Coyote began to call them names. He pointed out all the times and all the places where the Spirits lost control of their fire. He told them of whole forests that would burn when they played their fire arrow games and how when that happened everything was destroyed until the Cloud Spirits could gather and put out the fires. He told them about the times when their fire mountain would blow up and ruin the whole region around them. How when that happened it took earth generations to heal itself. He kept at them. The Fire Spirits got madder and madder at him. They told him to go away and leave them alone. Coyote said "I am Ga'an, I go where I want and I do what I want. I think that I will spend a long time up here. Haunting stupid, silly Fire Spirits."

The Fire Spirits started taking big sticks out of their fire. Whenever Coyote said something mean they would throw them at him. Because he was Ga'an, the fire went right through him.

This was what Spider Woman was waiting for. She took out a special coat she had woven and threw it over Coyote. It settled over him and made it just like he had a body again. Coyote didn't notice anything, he just kept heckling the Fire Spirits who kept getting madder and madder. The next time they threw their burning sticks at him he caught fire all over.

Coyote saw that he was on fire, but he also saw that only Spider Woman's coat was burning. It was hot, but it wasn't going to hurt his Ga'an soul. He began to run away.

All the way to the mountains where the humans lived Coyote ran. He saw Squirrel and he shook out some sparks onto Squirrel's back He told her to take that fire to the people of the Canyons. It burned Squirrel badly to do so, but she did. Once she had given it to the people she put the fire out with her tail, and to this day Squirrel's tails all curl up like they did when she beat out the last of the fires.

Just before he got to the mountains Coyote saw Chipmunk. He shook off three coals of fire and told Chipmunk to take them to the Hopi people of the mesas. Chipmunk did that. When he got to the mesas he rolled around in some grass to shake off the coals. It made three stripes down his back that you can see on every Chipmunk still today.

Coyote was still burning when he got to the people. He tried to light fires for them directly from his coat, but the fires wouldn't catch.

Finally he understood. He took off the coat that Spider Woman had made and give it to the people. He was Ga'an again, but the people now had fire. He told them that he would go back to the Fire Spirits and he would learn how to make fire from nothing. He told the people to keep their fires burning until he got back to teach them how to make them.

As soon as fire was in their lives, the way people lived got a lot better. The Canyon people began to build cities where they would live and trade and be protected from their enemies. The Hopi began to build their pueblos on the mesas.

Coyote had more time to spend as Ga'an. He had a lot to learn. He never gave up and he never quit trying to learn and be better.

He tried to be good. He tried to do everything right and do his walk in beauty. He was still Coyote though. Through and through, he was always Coyote. When Spider Woman and Yo'sn finally gave him back a body, they made sure it wasn't blue.

Blue Coyote had caused way too much trouble.

There's more...

Coyote Story

Coyote Photo Downloaded from Wild Nature Images

Coyote Is A False Shaman

One fine day in early summer Coyote was playing games with his cousins Bobcat and Puma. Mostly they were playing "Shoot the Arrow Through the Moving Hoop" and Ma'atose was losing badly. He was losing so much in fact that he was getting low on smoking tobacco. He had lost so much silver that Puma, who was a very good shot was joking about using some of the silver he had won off Coyote to make arrowheads. Coyote kept trying to cheat, and Bobcat kept catching him. Finally, Coyote pretended to make a mistake throwing the hoop and broke it apart. Puma was very mad about this and was about to kick Coyote's sorry ass good for a while.

Lucky for Ma'atose he was saved by three visitors. Cornstalk and MonsterSlayer the twin sons of Spider Woman were coming up the hillside with Kokopelli the trader and flute player.

Monster Slayer spoke first and said "Coyote we need your special gifts right now. The Men of the People are being very stupid. They have decided to go make war on the farmers of the Papago. I'm very mad because they are taking weapons I gave them to help them hunt and are using them to make war. This isn't right or good."

Cornstalk said "To make things worse they are going to attack well before the crops are ready to eat. They'll only make trouble for everybody and ruin the whole harvest. The Papago are growing special beans and squash together this time. They're doing that because I have shown them special favor. If the Apache ruin this crop it might be years before other people learn how to do this system of planting and a lot of people from all the nations will starve to death without any good reason."

Kokopelli said "Their women tried to talk them out of this stupid thing. So did I. I told them that they should take this time of year to hunt the forest right above the Papago fields. It's full of deer, elk, and rabbits who are gathering to try and eat free off the Papago's hard work. If they go to war right now, they risk making the Apache Gods, the Hopi Gods, the Dineh Gods and the Papago Gods very angry. They need to learn that there might be times for war, but that it's always bad for trade and other business."

Coyote knew he would help out, but he pretended to think for a long time. Finally he said "If I help you what will you give me?"

Kokopelli said "I will teach your daughters to play the flute."
Cornstalk said "I will give you enough tobacco to last another year."
Monster Slayer said "I will give you a bow strong enough to bring down a buffalo bull."

Coyote didn't say anything, he just waited to see if they would try to give him anything else. They didn't offer to give up anything more so he just said "Alright, I'll do this. But you need to get my cousins Bobcat and Puma to help me out."

Once all the different deals were made with all the different people Coyote, Bobcat, and Puma all went off together. Coyote was riding his talking horse Cho'osh (gonorrhea), because he needed a horse with him that could be in on the plan. Bobcat and Puma rode other horses who didn't have any magic about them. They just kept up is all.

When they got to the hills just above where the Apache were camped Coyote told Bobcat, Puma, and Cho'osh what his plan was and what each of them should do to make it work. They all agreed that it was a very good plan. Puma had a question though.

He asked Coyote "Your horse is the smartest, fastest, and toughest horse I've ever seen. Why did you name him after a sex disease?"

Coyote said "Because he runs so rough it makes my dick hurt."

Bobcat and Puma began to get their part of the scheme ready while Coyote and Cho'osh rode down into the Apache camp.

When he got to the camp Coyote told the War Chief to gather all of his men together. Then he had one of the camp boys take Cho'osh over to where the other horses were kept. Once all the men were gathered together Coyote stood up in front of them. He had changed into some very strange clothes. He had gotten a bunch of different branches and stuck them into his turban, he had feathers from a bunch of different birds fastened all over his arms. He had painted his face in many bright colors. He looked very stange, and sort of scary. He used a high and trembling voice to speak to the men, it sounded like he was talking from a far away distance. He said:

"You men of the White Mountains are about to do something very, very foolish. You are not understanding the Law of the Opposites! You are about to make a war raid because you think that you are being smart. That is stupid."

One of the men said "Our women told us not to go on this raid. They are the stupid heads."

Coyote yelled real loud "Silence human dummy being! I have come to you on orders of the Gods themselves! (this part was the only true thing Coyote was planning to say all night, sometimes to make a good enough lie to fool people you have to put a tiny, little, bitty, touch of truth into the soup) They have sent me to show you the proper ceremony and dances to be done before you go to war. If you go to war without them you might all be killed and your raid will not be successful."

Then, Coyote started to sing his war song. It wasn't the best song he had ever done because he was making it all up right there.

"I am singing my war song
Because I am about to go to war
My enemies will be afraid of me
Because I am a scary guy

I am scary because I am sneaky
I am scary because I am clever
I am scary because
I don't listen to nobody
Not no how
Not no way

I am Scary Warrior Coyote
Be afraid of me
Because I'm scary and stuff"

Coyote began to whoop and shout through his song again while he was dancing around. Some of the men noticed that everytime he went through the song the words were coming out a little different. A few of them began to wonder about this new ceremony they were supposed to learn. How would they be able to do it over again if the words were always different?

One of the men spoke up again and said "You keep changing the words to the song. How are we supposed to learn it well enough to sing the ceremony?"

Coyote gave him his angriest, scariest scowl and in a growling deep voice said "Do you doubt me? I will show you my power now!" He took an eagle bone whistle from under his turban and blew on it one time very loud.

That was the signal for Bobcat to go. Bobcat and Puma had been lighting big signal fires up in the hills above the camp. They had shielded them with blankets so that they couldn't be seen. When Coyote blew his whistle Bobcat took down the blanket that hid the northern fire. He ran off licketysplit to the next fire. Coyote then blew twice on the whistle which was the signal for Puma to do the same thing with the southern signal fire. Coyote blew his whistle three times and Bobcat showed them the fire he had built in the west. Coyote blew four times and Puma exposed the signal fire in the east.

Coyote looked out over the men and said "I can start these fires with the breath from my whistle. You don't want me to get angry and set the whole forest on fire do you?"

The men all told the one who had asked the question to pipe down and quit making trouble. Coyote told them they should send that man home because he was obviously a coward and a troublemaker who would spoil their whole war with his smart alecky questions and his silly peace dreams. The man being sent home started to head off for where the horses were kept and Coyote hollered at him "Horses are only for great and brave warriors. Cowards need to walk home alone."

Even though the man felt embarrassed to be sent home like this and shamed in front of everybody, deep down inside him he was truly glad. He had thought from the beginning that this was all a bad idea that was going to cause a whole bunch of trouble. Instead of arguing or trying to talk sense to the men who were all worked up for war he just put his head down and started to walk home.

Coyote then began to teach the men a dance for war. Just like the song he was making it all up right there. He was having a grand old time with it. He'd make the men hop on one leg for a while, then he'd make them hop on the other leg. He'd make them jump up high in the air and then lay down real quick and roll around in the dirt.

When he saw that Bobcat and Puma were there for the next part of the plan he shouted at the men. "Look! There are my cousins Puma and Bobcat! They have come to help you make war with their powerful magic! Take off all your clothes and give them to Cousin Bobcat. He will do his secret spell on them and when you get them right back they will be able to turn away arrows and clubs and stones. Take off your moccasins and give them to Cousin Puma, he will do his secret spell and when you get them right back they will be magicked up so that you will be able to run fast all day long without getting tired. Bring your war clubs and long spears up to me and I will charm them with my secret magic spell so that when I give them right back to you everything you hit with them will die right then and there. I almost feel sorry for those stupid bean farmer Papago. This won't be a fight at all. It will be a kiiiiiiiiiillllllllllliiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggggg tiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmeeeeee!"

Coyote was working himself up into a lather. He was spitting all over the place when he talked. Now he just started to howl "Kiilllinnngg Timmmmmeeee! Killlinnnggg Timmmmmee!"

The men started taking off all their clothes and all their moccasins just like Coyote told them to do. They were starting to howl just like Coyote while they did this. They all brought all their heavy weapons up and made a great big pile of them up in the front of the dancing circle.

Bobcat and Puma took all the clothes and all the moccasins off to where Cho'osh was with the men's horses. Cho'osh had gotten all the horses ready to travel. The horses were glad to be leaving because men who are all worked up to go to war mostly ride too hard and too fast to have any good times on the trail or even stop to let horses eat and drink enough to be happy. Puma and Bobcat got them all loaded up with what the men had given them. Then they went through the men's camp and took down all their shelters, all their food and all their spare clothes. The only things they left them were their light bows and arrows and their skinning knives.

They had just finished when they heard Coyote's next signal. They took all the horses with them to where Coyote was.

Coyote had been having the men smoke biiwol ishgliini (marijuana) leaves and singing just now made up songs in very loud voices. The men didn't even wonder why all their horses were with Bobcat and Puma when they came riding up. Coyote told them that he had to take their weapons off to do his secret magic spell in private and that all the men should keep smoking and dancing and singing for a little bit longer until he came right back.

The men said "Anything you say Scary Warrior Coyote! We'll do just like we're told so that we can be Scary Warrior Men."

Bobcat, Puma, and Coyote loaded all the men's weapons up on their horses and they took off like a flash. Coyote had to stuff his hand all the way down his throat to keep from laughing out loud and ruining everything. Even so, he was shaking so hard that Cho'osh had to jump like a kangaroo rat to stay underneath him and not let him fall right off.

They were about half of the way back to the main Apache village when they came upon the man that Coyote had told the others to send home as a coward. Coyote told the man that he didn't really think that he was a coward at all, quite the opposite in fact. He gave the man the name of "Wise Question Asker" and told him that he should be the chief of the people from now on.

When they got to the Apache village all the women and elders came out to meet them. Coyote, Bobcat, and Puma gave the women all the men's heavy weapons and the grandmothers took them away to a kiva. The grandmothers set a guard up on the kiva and vowed that if the men ever wanted to go to war again they would have to get their weapons from the grandmothers by convincing them that there wasn't any alternative to fighting. Wise Question Asker said this was a good thing and it is still the custom among the Apache to this very day. The women threw a big feast and singing dance for the three almost like a god animals, Coyote, Bobcat, and Puma. Everybody had a great time and the honored guests were taken off into lodges one right after another. By the time the feast and dancing was over each of them had been with every one of the Apache women at least one time.

At about dawn the next morning when the people and their guests were waking up from the long party they found Cornstalk and Kokopelli there in the camp. Cornstalk told the women that most of them were going to have babies from being with Coyote, Bobcat and Puma. The babies that were born from this would all be much smarter than before. Some of them would have golden eyes just like Puma, some would have green eyes like Bobcat, some of them would be clever happy babies, just like Coyote.

Kokopelli told the women that because Coyote had stolen all the men's clothes and all their supplies they were having to do nothing but hunt like wolves so that they could make new clothes and have enough to eat. He told them that the Papago had seen the forest outside their lands being full of Apaches busy hunting and that the Papago were very happy to have them there because the Apache were keeping the animals that would try to eat the crops hunted down. There was going to be a very big harvest with plenty of food to go around. Kokopelli said that he was going to go to the men now and show them how to trade with the Papago for other things that they might need.

One of the women told Cornstalk that the way things had worked out was exactly what she and the other women had tried to tell the men should be done. Cornstalk talked with Wise Question Asker for a long time and when they were finished they named the woman Blue Cornstalk Woman and made her the Peace Chief of the Apache.

Coyote was getting good and bored with all this. He told everybody that he was going to go off into the Dragoon mountains and see if the Chiricauhua had any stuff to gamble with.

As he rode off on Cho'osh the people heard him laughing out loud while he sang

"I am singing my war song
Because I am about to go to war
My enemies will be afraid of me
Because I am a scary guy

I am scary because I am sneaky
I am scary because I am clever
I am scary because
I don't listen to nobody
Not no how
Not no way

I am Scary Warrior Coyote
Be afraid of me
Because I'm scary and stuff"

The passes all the way down to Chiricauhua lands rang with Coyote's song and his laughter. It was a good summer, full of prosperity and big, feasting parties with people from every nation.

There's more...

Coyote Story

"Dancing Coyote" downloaded from fotosearch

Coyote Steals the Sun's Tobacco, Learns To Plant It, Gets Married, Gives Tobacco as a Wedding Gift

One day, Ma'atose was bored. Nothing seemed to interest him. Finally he decided to go and visit his cross-cousin Sun. He thought that this would be a fine idea. Sun always had good tobacco and Slim Coyote felt that a smoke might help him to think better.

On the way to his cousin's house he decided to stop in and see if his friends among the Chiricauhua had any tizwit (homemade whiskey from cactus) or something else to take as a gift. The Chiricauhua did have plenty of tizwit, so much in fact, that Coyote stayed for nearly a week. Then, right in the middle of a good drunk, he got all jumpy and nervous. He went to see an Hatta'alli (medicine singer and herb doctor) about it and was told that when he felt like that he should settle down someplace quiet with a good pipe and calm down.

Coyote threw some tizwit, some shell beads, a few good stones of turquoise into a bag and headed off to go visit Sun. He was riding his spotted horse Cho'osh (gonorrhea) and the ride helped him to clear his head.

He got to Sun's house way up in the high mountains and knocked on the door. Sun's wife answered and said that Sun wasn't home, but would his cross-cousin like to come in and wait for him?

Coyote went in and admired the beautiful house of Sun. Then he saw that Sun had left a great big bag of tobacco hanging on the wall next to some pipes. He told Sun's wife that he had been told by a doctor that he should take a smoke now and then to help calm his thoughts. Since they were cousins and all he figured Sun wouldn't mind if he waited for him with a smoke or two. Then, when Sun came home, Coyote would be all calmed down and they could share some tizwit. While he was rummaging through his bag to get the tizwit out, he made sure that he spilled out a couple of the turquoise stones.

Sun's wife saw the turquoise and was mighty impressed. She admired Coyote right out of them both. As soon as she had left the room to go put the gemstones away Coyote took Sun's tobacco bag and emptied most of it into his own pouch. Then he filled a little pipe with Sun's tobacco and began to smoke. While he smoked he tried to figure out the rest of his plan.

When Sun's wife returned Coyote was just finishing up that first pipe. He noticed that this was the finest tobacco he had ever smoked and complimented Sun's wife on her fine hospitality. Sun's wife said that this was some special tobacco that Spider Woman's son Cornstalk had brought to Sun to thank him for the last good growing season.

Coyote settled in and thought some more. Then, he brought out a full skin of tizwit and laid it on the table. He said "Since my cousin isn't here it wouldn't be right for us to get drunk together, I'll just leave this here to say thank you. I really want to have a pipe and a drink at the same time. So I'll just go now." Sun's wife was so impressed by Coyote's generous gifts that she didn't even notice that he had slipped Sun's little pipe into his own bag. She said goodbye at the door and gave him a little traveling food for good measure.

When Sun got home he sniffed the air and smelled the tobacco smoke. He went over to where he kept the bag of tobacco and saw that most of it was gone. He went to his wife and said "Wife dear, who has come to visit and left our house just now?" Sun's wife said "It was your nice cousin Ma'atose. See what he left me?" She was holding up the two turquoise stones. Then she said "He also left you a nice skin of tizwit, but he had to leave, because he was too polite to ask me to drink with him."

Sun was very mad, but he saw that his wife had been tricked so he just told her "I will go find my cousin and I will thank him for his visit. I might even bring him back to have dinner with us, if that's alright with you." Sun's wife said "I told him he was welcome to come visit any time."

Sun went and got his best tracking horse, Southern Black Wind Horse, and set out after Coyote. Cho'osh was a very fast horse who was also very light footed and didn't leave behind many tracks. That didn't bother Sun a bit though. He knew something about the tobacco that Coyote had stolen. Everywhere Coyote smoked the scent lingered behind. Also, everytime Coyote filled another pipe, a little bit of the tobacco spilled, as soon as the tobacco hit the ground it began to grow and flower. Southern Black Wind Horse followed his nose, and Sun followed his eyes. They were gaining on Coyote easily.

Cho'osh sensed that they were being followed and suggested to Coyote that they maybe take a rest at Cornstalk's place. Coyote thought that this was a very good idea.

They found Cornstalk getting seeds ready for the next spring. He noticed that Coyote had some of the special tobacco that he had given to Sun and told him that this was how Sun was able to follow him so easily. Coyote gave the pouch with Sun's tobacco over to Cornstalk along with some white shell beads that he knew Cornstalk's mother loved the best. Cornstalk was very impressed by this generous action and got another bag of the same tobacco and gave that to Coyote. He told him about the way it would grow everywhere some of it fell and that he had been planning to take that bag to the White Mountains to give to those people there. Coyote said "I will take that tobacco to the mountain people for you. Just please, try and calm my cousin down so that his anger doesn't burn me up to a crisp."

Coyote took off pretty quick. Just like he had promised, Cornstalk was able to calm Sun down. He reminded Sun about the turquoise and tizwit that Coyote had left for him and suggested that if Sun had been there at home, he would have given the tobacco and pipe to Coyote anyway. Sun thought about that for a while and began to cool off a bit. Then he said "I'll just go back home now. But, if you see our trickster of a cousin you tell him that he should ask before taking things from people. Even when he leaves things behind. It's just not polite."

Cornstalk said that he had sent Coyote on an errand to the humans for now, but the next time that he saw him he'd tell him that he owed his cousin Sun an apology and some favors. Cornstalk knew Coyote didn't mind owing people favors.

Coyote and Cho'osh got to where the White Mountain people were staying and he invited himself to stay with them for a while. The White Mountain people liked Coyote a lot, even though he was tricky, and a liar, they knew that mostly his heart was a complete circle that began and ended with love. Sometimes he just had to be tricked himself into doing something nice for a change.

Coyote was sitting with the people smoking his pipe and sharing the tobacco that Cornstalk had given him. He showed the people how to make it grow in the mountains and the people were very grateful. They held a council and decided that they should do something nice for Coyote to thank him. They went to Coyote and told him that for this fine gift of tobacco they would let Coyote choose a wife from among their single women.

Coyote was already married two or three times, but not once in the White Mountains, so he thought that this would be a very good idea. The single women came and danced and sang for Coyote. They were all wearing beautiful white skin dresses with long fringes that swayed while they danced. There was one girl that Coyote just couldn't stop looking at. He told the council "I think that's the one I should marry."

The council thought together for a bit, they knew something that Coyote didn't know. In the White Mountains there are people called iishkiln iit'teen (boys who live as girls). They just are happier when they are allowed to pretend that they are women, and since it makes them happy, the White Mountain people pretend along with them. It makes things easier for us all that way. That way, everybody's happy.

They decided since they had promised Coyote could choose his wife they had better just go through with it and let things happen the way they would happen.

It turned out that Coyote was very tired from his long chase by the Sun and after some kissing and some cuddling he fell right to sleep. He didn't know that he had married a boy until the next morning. He was very angry. He went to the council and told them that he felt like he had been tricked. The council explained the way our people lived to Coyote and said that there were many such people living that way. There were also men, who lived like men but enjoyed the attention and company of other men who were among them. There were some women who loved other women. Just different ways of loving that seemed to work out just fine when people mind their own business and don't try to control other people's spirits.

Then one of the elders asked Coyote "Why did you choose Dló Itsogè? (oriole)" Coyote said "Because she was the prettiest."

The elder said "We think so too." Then he asked "Why else did you choose her?"

Coyote said "Because she was a very graceful dancer and was dressed so fine I figured she would make me some nice clothes."

The elder said "We think so too."

The elder then asked "Were there any other reasons that made you pick her?"

Coyote said "She sang a very beautiful song, I thought she was singing just for me."

The elder said "We thought the very same thought."

Coyote decided that Dló Itsogè would make a perfect White Mountain wife. After all, it wasn't like he was going against the way the people there lived. He figured he could just be a White Mountain person when he was with them, and be anything else he wanted to be other places.

Sometimes he would get a little confused about those things though. He would start to worry about himself for loving his White Mountain wife and wonder if that made him funny or something.

When that happened he'd always go down to the river and throw rocks at the water spirits. That always made him feel lots better.

There's more...

Coyote Story

Coyote Tells a Story With Three Morals

One winter, Coyote was staying with the White Mountain People. He had spent most of the fall at the soldier fort after getting drunk again and being put to work by the belangaana*. Because of that he didn't have any food or anything important put aside. He liked the White Mountain People and pretended that was the only reason he was there. The People let him pretend because Coyote was always good for a laugh and was generous with his things when he had them.

One night everybody was telling stories. The children were all still awake so most of the stories had to do with things to learn. Coyote sometimes talked like a Chiricauhua, very boasting and all proud of himself. He said "I can tell a very good teaching story. This story has three lessons so you need to listen very close."

Everybody leaned in to listen, one of the children put a whole plate of dried yucca fruits down and another child brought him a big steaming mug of jerky tea.

When I was locked up at the fort I saw something in the barn. It was one little thing that taught me three lessons.

One morning in the beginning of the Great Big Moon (october) it got really cold all of a sudden. The day before had been warm and like summer, then, right away it was cold. There was a sparrow that had been hanging around the soldier fort too. Right there in the rafters of the barn. He would fly all over and take little fallen seeds and bits of grain from when the soldiers were taking care of their horses. He would sing his sparrow songs and the soldiers seemed to really like that. They would leave little piles of seeds and grain out where the sparrow could get to them and be safe from the barn cats.

I don't know if that bird figured that he didn't need to go south with all the other sparrows or why he stayed behind so late. All I know is what I saw.

That very cold morning when the soldiers and me went out to the barn we found our little sparrow friend nearly frozen on the ground just outside the barn. I scooped him up to take him inside but the sergeant yelled at me.

He said "Put that stupid bird down, we have a lot of work to do."

I carried the bird until we were just inside the barn and the sergeant yelled at me again. He had a horse by a rope and he told me that this wasn't sergeant work, it was prisoner work and I better get over there and do it right now. Just then the horse took a big old dump. I saw the pile of horseshit steaming in the cold morning air and I had me an idea. I put that little bird into the steaming warm shit and covered him up good. Then I went about my morning work.

While I was doing the chores I kept an eye on the horseshit pile and sure enough, just like I planned it, the little bird began to revive. He stuck his head out of the shitpile first. Then, little by little, he climbed all the way out. He was shaking some of the sticky, wet shit off his feathers so he could fly back up into the rafters when he saw me walking by.

He shouted at me, "Hey Cousin! Thanks for saving my life! I'm going to sing a new song all about what a great cousin you are."

He began to sing right there on the big old pile of shit. It was a pretty good song too. It's nice to hear songs that are about you being good. They don't make enough songs like that about me so it's really special when I hear one. I was just about to start learning it by singing along with him when a barn cat heard the singing. He pounced right on that little bird and ate him in one bite.

The cat said "Thanks for catching my breakfast for me cousin. I hope the soldiers let you go home real soon."

Everybody who was listening to the story just looked at Coyote. Nobody said anything because he was a guest and all, but most of the people thought that the story was mostly stupid and had a very bad ending.

Finally one of the Medicine Singers said "Ma'atose** my Cousin, you said that this story taught you three lessons. What did you learn from this?"

Coyote started to giggle because he was very impressed with his own cleverness and said:

Easy and obvious lessons. I'm surprised you wise people didn't see them right off.

First: The person who puts you in the shit is not always your enemy.

Second: The person who takes you out of the shit is not always your friend.

Third: If you wake up and find yourself in a pile of shit, Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut. It ain't nothing to sing about.

Everybody laughed and laughed. When they were done laughing Coyote said "Remember it was me that stole the Sun's tobacco and gave it to you. I'm all out and I want a smoke."

* iindii = human beings who are Apache.
iindaa = human beings who are not Apache.
belangaana = white people who are mean and greedy.

**Ma'atose = Coyote the trickster, he talks like people talk.

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