IT WAS THE BEGINNING of winter. Coyote was going along through the mountains and it began snowing. It snowed hard and the snow got deeper and deeper. Finally Coyote couldn’t go any farther. Snow was packed on his feet and he was getting cold. There was a big hollow pine tree close by and Coyote crawled inside it. It was warm in there, just the sort of place to wait out the storm. Coyote said to the pine, “Close up! Close up!” and the pine tree closed up around Coyote.
“I will wait in here till the snow settles. Then I will make myself some snowshoes and go on.”
But he fell asleep and stayed in there all winter. When he woke up he was hungry. He told the tree, “Open up! Open up!”
The tree didn’t open up.
“Open up!” said Coyote. He said this four times but nothing happened. Then he began kicking the tree and abusing it but the tree wouldn’t open up.
After a while Coyote heard some people walking by outside.
“Hey, you people going by. I am Coyote. I have given you everything you have. Open this tree up for me.” But they didn’t pay any attention.
Coyote kept yelling out that whoever was around should get him out of that tree. Finally Downy Woodpecker landed on the tree and began opening up a hole. All that echoing in the tree from Downy Woodpecker’s tapping drove Coyote crazy. “Stop that noise, whoever is doing that. You are giving me a headache.”
Downy Woodpecker had made only a small hole. He looked inside and saw Coyote covering up his ears and rolling around moaning in the bottom of the tree. He flew away.
Coyote put his eye to the hole and tried to see if there was anyone coming by who could help him. He looked all around but couldn’t see anyone. He thought someone might be hiding close by. “Hey!” he called. “As soon as I get out of here I am going hunting. I am going to make myself a good meal, plenty of good fat meat to eat. Whoever lets me out of here can eat with me.” But no one came around.
After a while Yellowhammer came along and began tapping on the tree. He looked into the hole Downy Woodpecker had made and saw the noise was driving Coyote crazy. “Stop making that noise!” yelled Coyote. Yellowhammer kept on tapping. He made another hole bigger than the one Downy Woodpecker had made. Coyote yelled out that his head was aching. Yellowhammer flew away.
Coyote looked out the new hole but he couldn’t see anyone. “If anyone is out there, listen. Open this tree up. I will give lots of blankets and warrior’s medicine to the person who cuts this tree down.” But no one came.
After a while Flicker came along and landed on the tree. He looked inside and saw Coyote, mumbling to himself and kicking the tree. Flicker began tapping. The noise was so bad, echoing in that tree, that Coyote tried to bury his head to get away from it. “Stop making that noise!” yelled Coyote. “I am trying to get out of this tree. You are giving me a headache.” Flicker made a hole in the tree bigger than the one Yellowhammer had made and flew away.
Coyote looked out the hole.
“Whoever is out there, open up this tree! I am Coyote. I do not belong in here.” But there was no one around.
Finally Coyote decided he would have to cut himself up into pieces and pass them out through the hole Flicker had made. He cut off his tail and threw it out. Then he cut off his legs and threw them out. He pulled out his intestines and threw them out. Then he cut off his arms and threw them out.
Just then Crow came along and began pecking at his intestines. Coyote looked out the hole Flicker had made to see who it was. “Crow, stop that! Those are my intestines.” But Crow didn’t stop pecking. Coyote yelled at him and called him many bad names, but Crow paid no attention. “These are very good. Coyote,” he said. “I don’t know why you’re throwing something like this away.”
Coyote got angry and threw his head out, but before he could do anything. Crow pecked his eyes out. “Why are you throwing these things away, Coyote?” asked Crow. “I have heard you are a great person, very wise, but I don’t understand this. This looks like something a crazy person would do.”
Crow flew away.
“You are the crazy person,” yelled Coyote after him. “I have told you not to fool with these things. Only a crazy person who didn’t care about his life would treat a powerful person like me this way.”
Coyote put wild rose hips in the place where his eyes had been and then called out “Come together!” and all the pieces of his body came together.
He was hungry and set out to look for some food. He came across a field that had been burned and was still smoking. There were grasshoppers that had been burned in the fire lying all over. Coyote ate them up as fast as he could but they just fell out his anus because he had no intestines.
Squirrel came along. “Coyote, your anus is spilling.”
Coyote looked at Squirrel. “What does a person who eats raw sunflower seeds know?” Coyote went on eating.
“Your anus is spilling over, you better take a look back there,” said Squirrel.
Coyote turned around and saw what was happening. He took some pitch and stuck it in his anus to keep his food from falling out and then went back to eating. Coyote had to move around carefully to keep from getting burned in that field. He began lifting up logs that were still burning, looking for any mice that might have been caught. He was sending sparks all over when he did this.
After a while Squirrel said “Coyote! Your anus is spilling a lot of smoke!” Just then Coyote felt the heat in his buttocks and turned around to see the pitch had caught on fire. He ran and tried to leap in a creek but he got tangled up in blackberry vines on the bank and burned up.
Where Coyote’s food fell out tobacco started to grow.