AMERICAN INDIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS

by Richard Erdoes

  After planting, he went off with the rest of the people to gather acorns, but when they returned to their fields, Coyote’s had nothing growing on it at all. He said angrily, “You people must have taken the hearts out of the corn seeds you gave to me.” “No, we didn’t do that,” they told him, “but you cooked the heart out of them before you planted.”

  Coyote asked for more seeds and planted them the right way this time. So his corn grew: the day after he planted, it was up about a foot and a half. He felt good.

  The people who had planted their corn at the beginning were harvesting now and tying it up into bundles. Coyote saw these and wanted some. People got mad at Coyote because he was always asking them for corn. “I just want some green ears to feed my children,” he would say. “As soon as my corn is ripe, I’ll pay you back.”

  The other people had all their corn in and stripped now, but their squashes were still growing in the field. Coyote stole their squash, and the people all came to his camp. They wanted to know if he was the one who was stealing their squash. Coyote pretended to get angry. “You’re always blaming me for stealing everything. There are lots of camps over there. Why do you have to choose mine to come to with your accusations?” But the people knew about Coyote’s thieving ways.

  “From now on, don’t make your farm near us. Move away and live someplace else!” they said.

  “All right. There are several of you that I was going to repay with corn, but I won’t do it now that you’ve treated me this way,” he said. So Coyote’s family lived poorly, and they never bothered to cook anything before they ate it.

  —Based on Grenville Goodwin’s version of 1939.

  [KALAPUYA]

  Coyote was out hunting and he found a dead deer. One of the deer’s rib bones looked just like a big dentalia shell, and Coyote picked it up and took it with him. He went up to see the frog people. The frog people had all the water. When anyone wanted any water to drink or cook with or to wash, they had to go and get it from the frog people.

  Coyote came up. “Hey, frog people, I have a big dentalia shell. I want a big drink of water—I want to drink for a long time.”

  “Give us that shell,” said the frog people, “and you can drink all you want.”

  Coyote gave them the shell and began drinking. The water was behind a large dam where Coyote drank.

  “I’m going to keep my head down for a long time,” said Coyote, “because I’m really thirsty. Don’t worry about me.”

  “Okay, we won’t worry,” said the frog people.

  Coyote began drinking. He drank for a long time. Finally one of the frog people said, “Hey, Coyote, you sure are drinking a lot of water there. What are you doing that for?”

  Coyote brought his head up out of the water. “I’m thirsty.”

  “Oh.”

  After a while one of the frog people said, “Coyote, you sure are drinking a lot. Maybe you better give us another shell.”

  “Just let me finish this drink,” said Coyote, putting his head back under water.

  The frog people wondered how a person could drink so much water. They didn’t like this. They thought Coyote might be doing something.

  Coyote was digging out under the dam all the time he had his head under water. When he was finished, he stood up and said, “That was a good drink. That was just what I needed.”

  Then the dam collapsed, and the water went out into the valley and made the creeks and rivers and waterfalls.

  The frog people were very angry. “You have taken all the water, Coyote!”

  “It’s not right that one people have all the water. Now it is where everyone can have it.”

  Coyote did that. Now anyone can go down to the river and get a drink of water or some water to cook with, or just swim around.

  —Told by Barry Lopez in 1977.

  HOW THE PEOPLE GOT

  ARROWHEADS

  [SHASTA]

  In the days when the first people lived, they used to go hunting with arrows that had pine-bark points. They did not know where to get obsidian, or they would have used it, for obsidian made a sharp, deadly point which always killed the animals that were shot.

  Ground Squirrel was the only one who knew that Obsidian Old Man lived on Medicine Lake, and one day he set out to steal some obsidian. Taking a basket filled with roots, he went into Obsidian Old Man’s house and offered him some. Obsidian-Old-Man ate the roots and liked them so much that he sent Ground Squirrel out to get more. While Ground Squirrel was digging for them, Grizzly Bear came along.

  “Sit down,” Grizzly Bear said. “Let me sit in your lap. Feed me those roots by the handful.”

  Ground Squirrel was very much afraid of huge Grizzly Bear, so he did as he was told. Grizzly Bear gobbled the roots and got up. “Obsidian Old Man’s mother cleaned roots for someone,” he said as he went away.

  Ground Squirrel returned to Obsidian Old Man, but there were only a few roots left to give him. Ground Squirrel told him what Grizzly Bear had done and what he had said as he departed. Obsidian Old Man was extremely angry at the insult to his dead mother.

  “Tomorrow we will both go to find roots,” he said.

  So early next morning they set off. Obsidian Old Man hid near the place where Ground Squirrel started digging. Soon Ground Squirrel’s basket was filled, and then along came Grizzly Bear.

  “You dug all these for me!” he said. “Sit down!”

  Ground Squirrel sat down, as he had the day before, and fed Grizzly Bear roots by the handful. But just then Grizzly Bear saw Obsidian Old Man draw near, and the bear got up to fight. At each blow, a great slice of the grizzly’s flesh was cut off by the sharp obsidian. Grizzly Bear kept fighting till he was all cut to pieces, and then he fell dead. So Ground Squirrel and Obsidian Old Man went home and ate the roots and were happy. Early next morning, Obsidian Old Man was awakened by Ground Squirrel’s groaning.

  “I am sick. I am bruised because that great fellow sat upon me. Really, I am sick,” he was groaning.

  Obsidian Old Man was sorry for Ground Squirrel. “I’ll go and get wood,” he said to himself. “But I’ll watch him, for he may be fooling me. These people are very clever.”

  So he went for wood, and on the way he thought, “I had better go back and look.”

  When he crept back softly and peeped in, he saw Ground Squirrel lying there, groaning.

  “He is really sick,” Obsidian Old Man said to himself, and went off in earnest—this time for wood.

  But Ground Squirrel was very clever; he had been fooling all the time. As soon as Obsidian Old Man was far away, he got up. Taking all the obsidian points and tying them up in a bundle, he ran off.

  As soon as Obsidian Old Man returned, he missed Ground Squirrel. He dropped the wood, ran after him, and almost caught him, but Ground Squirrel ran into a hole in the ground. As he went, he kicked the earth into the eyes of the old man, who was digging fast, trying to catch him.

  After a while Obsidian Old Man gave up and left. Ground Squirrel came out the other end of the hole, crossed the lake, and went home.

  He emptied the bundle of points on the ground and distributed them to everyone. All day long the people worked, tying them onto arrows. They threw away all the old bark points, and when they went hunting they used the new arrow points and killed a great many deer.

  —Based on a tale recorded by E. W. Gifford in 1930.

  IKTOME AND THE

  IGNORANT GIRL

  [BRULE SIOUX]

  A pretty winchinchala had never been with a man yet, and Iktome was eager to sleep with her. He dressed himself up like a woman and went looking for the girl. He found her about to cross a stream. “Hou mashke, how are you, friend,” he said. “Let’s wade across together.” They lifted their robes and stepped into the water.

  “You have very hairy legs,” said the girl to Iktome.

  “That’s because I am older. When women get older, some are like this.”

  The water got deeper and they lifted th
eir robes higher. “You have a very hairy backside,” said the winchinchala to Iktome. “Yes, some of us are like that,” answered Iktome.

  The water got still deeper and they lifted their robes up very high. “What’s that strange thing dangling between your legs?” asked the girl, who had never seen a naked man.

  “Ah,” complained Iktome, “it’s a kind of growth, like a large wart.”

  “It’s very large for a wart.”

  “Yes. Oh my! An evil magician wished it on me. It’s cumbersome; it’s heavy; it hurts; it gets in the way. How I wish to be rid of it!”

  “My elder sister,” said the girl, “I pity you. We could cut this thing off.”

  “No, no, my younger sister. There’s only one way to get rid of it, because the evil growth was put there by a sorcerer.”

  “What might this be, the way to get rid of it?”

  “Ah, mashke, the only thing to do is to stick it in there, between your legs.”

  “Is that so? Well, I guess, women should help each other.”

  “Yes, pilamaye, thanks, you are very kind. Let’s get out of this water and go over there where the grass is soft.”

  Spider Man made the girl lie down on the grass, got on top of her, and entered her. “Oh my,” said the girl, “it sure is big. It hurts a little.”

  “Think how it must hurt me!” said Iktome, breathing hard.

  “It hurts a little less now,” said the girl. Iktome finished and got off the girl. The winchinchala looked and said: “Indeed, it already seems to be smaller.”

  “Yes, but not small enough yet,” answered Spider Man. “This is hard work. Let me catch my breath, then we must try again.” After a while he got on top of the girl once more.

  “It really isn’t so bad at all,” said the ignorant winchinchala, “but it seems to have gotten bigger. It is indeed a powerful magic.”

  Iktome did not answer her. He was busy. He finished. He rolled off. “There’s little improvement,” said the girl.

  “We must be patient and persevere,” answered Iktome. So after a while they went at it again.

  “Does it hurt very much, mashke?” the girl asked Iktome.

  “Oh my, yes, but I am strong and brave,” answered Iktome, “I can bear it.”

  “I can bear it too,” said the girl.

  “It really isn’t altogether unpleasant,” said the girl after they did it a fourth time, “but I must tell you, elder sister, I don’t believe you will ever get rid of this strange thing.”

  “I have my doubts too,” answered Spider Man.

  “Well,” said the ignorant winchinchala, “one could get used to it.”

  “Yes, mashke,” answered Iktome, “one must make the best of it, but let’s try once more to be sure.”

  —Told in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and recorded by Richard Erdoes.

  [WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE]

  Even long ago, when our tribe and animals and birds lived together near white people, Coyote was always in trouble. He would visit among the camps, staying in one for a while and then moving on, and when he stayed at Bear’s camp, he used to go over at night to a white man’s fields and steal the ears off the wheat.

  When the white man who owned the farm found out what Coyote was up to, he trailed him long enough to locate his path into the field. Then he called all the white men to a council, and they made a figure of pitch just like a man and placed it in Coyote’s path.

  That night when Coyote went back to steal wheat again, he saw the pitch man standing there. Thinking it was a real person, he said, “Gray eyes—” he always talked like a Chiricahua Apache—“Get to one side and let me by. I just want a little wheat. Get over, I tell you.” The pitch man stayed where he was. “If you don’t move,” Coyote said, “you’ll get my fist in your face. Wherever I go on this earth, if I hit a man with my fist, it kills him.” The pitch man never stirred. “All right, then I’m going to hit you.” Coyote struck out, but his fist stuck fast in the pitch, clear to his elbow.

  “What’s the matter?” Coyote cried. “Why have you caught my hand? Turn loose or you’ll get my other fist. If I hit a man with that one, it knocks all his wits out!” Then Coyote punched with his other fist, and this arm got stuck in the pitch also. Now he was standing on his two hind legs.

  “I’m going to kick you if you keep holding me, and it’ll knock you over.” Coyote delivered a powerful kick, and his leg went into the pitch and stuck. “This other leg is worse still, and you’re going to get it!” he said. He kicked, and his leg stuck into the pitch.

  Now Coyote’s legs were fast in the pitch; only his tail was free. “If I whip you with my tail, it will cut you in two. So turn me loose!” But the pitch man just stood there. Coyote lashed the pitch with his tail and got it stuck also. Only his head was free, and he was still talking with it. “Why do you hold me this way? I’ll bite you in the neck and kill you, so you’d better turn me loose.” When the pitch did nothing, Coyote bit it and got his mouth stuck, and there he was.

  In the morning the farmer put a chain around Coyote’s neck, took him out of the pitch, and led him to the house. “This is the one who has been stealing from me,” he said to his family. The white people held a meeting to discuss what they should do with Coyote. They decided to put him into a pot of boiling water and scald him, so they set the water on to heat and tied Coyote up at the side of the house.

  Pretty soon Coyote saw Gray Fox coming along, loafing around the farmer’s yard, looking for something to steal from the white man. Coyote called him over. “My cousin,” he said, “there are lots of things cooking for me in that pot,” though of course the pot was only heating water to scald him in. “There are potatoes, coffee, bread, and all kinds of food for me. It’ll soon be done, and the white people are going to bring them to me. You and I can eat them together, but you must help me first. Can you put this chain around your neck while I go and urinate behind that bush?” Fox agreed and, taking the chain off Coyote, put it on his own neck. As soon as Coyote was out of sight behind the bush, he ran off.

  After a while the water was good and hot, and the white men came out to Gray Fox. “He seems so little! What happened? He must have shrunk, I guess,” they said. They lifted him up and threw him into the pot. Now the hot water boiled his hair right off, leaving Gray Fox bright red and hairless. They took off the chain and threw him under a tree, where he lay motionless until evening. When it got dark and cold, he woke up and started off.

  After a while Gray Fox came to Bear’s camp and asked, “Where is Coyote?” Bear replied that Coyote always went for his water to some springs above Bear’s camp at midnight. So Gray Fox ran off to the springs and hid himself.

  Now at midnight Coyote came as usual to the spring, but when he put his head to the water to drink, Gray Fox jumped him. “Now I’m going to kill you and eat you,” the fox said. The moon was shining from the sky down into the water, and Coyote, pointing to its reflection, replied, “Don’t talk like that, when we can both eat this delicious ‘ash bread’ down there. All we have to do is drink all the water, and we can take the bread out and have a feast.”

  They both started to lap up the water, but soon Coyote was merely pretending to drink. Gray Fox drank lots, and when he was full, he got cold. Then Coyote said, “My cousin, some white people left a camp over here, and I’m going to look for some old rags or quilts to wrap you up in. Wait for me.” So Coyote started off, and as soon as he was out of sight, he ran away.

  —Based on Grenville Goodwin’s version of 1939.

  ALWAYS-LIVING-AT-THE-COAST

  [KWAKIUTL]

  Reported here is another dangerous amorous encounter similar to that in “Teeth in the Wrong Places.”

  Coyote was paddling his canoe down the coast when some people called out to him from the beach.

  “Coyote, where are you going?”

  “I am going to marry the daughter of Always-Living-at-the-Coast.”

  “Only a crazy person would do something like t
hat.”

  That made Coyote angry, and he paddled to the shore. He turned all the people into birds, and then he turned the flock of birds into deer.

  “You will be the deer that men need,” he said and departed.

  Soon he passed some other people who were standing on the beach.

  “Coyote, where are you headed?”

  He told them.

  “You should watch out, then. The bones of those who have tried to marry this woman are piled up high.”

  Coyote appreciated their concern. He came ashore and put mussels and salmon in the water, which is why you still go to this place for those things today.

  A while later some other people called out to him, asking him where he was going. He told them.

  The chief then said, “Be careful, Coyote. All my young men have gone there to marry this woman, and none of them have come back.”

  Coyote came ashore and filled the waters along this beach with mussels, and gave the people roasted salmon to eat.

  At a place called Copper Bottom, Coyote put ashore again and walked through the woods to a village, where he saw an old woman steaming clover roots.

  The woman was blind, but right away she smelled him.

  “Coyote! What are you doing here?” she asked.

  He reached over and took a handful of clover roots to eat.

  “What’s this? Who’s taking my clover roots?”

  “Can’t you see?”

  The woman explained that she was blind. Coyote then took some pine gum and chewed it and then spit it into the woman’s eyes.