See the Essays section for a profile of Caleb Carter (born 1888).
The coyote, once upon a time, made himself a dwelling place out of tall bunch grass. It was in late fall, and the wind would always blow it apart. This made the coyote very angry, so one day he devised a snare in which to trap the offender. As he was fixing up the snare he thought to himself, “I will fix him!”
The next morning he set out to see if he had caught the wind. Upon arriving he beheld a man with big ears and of great stature. “Well,” he said, “so you are the person that has been tearing my wigwam up, eh?” With that he pulled his ears right and left, kicked him on the nose, and slapped him till he had him begging for mercy.
The coyote then made him promise that he would never blow such cold, stormy winds again. But the coyote doubted his word, and again he had him begging. When the coyote would get tired, he rested. All this time the wind was making all kinds of promises, so at last the coyote let him go with the understanding that he would kill him on his next offense. So to this day the winds on the west side of the Rockies are warm and known as the “Chinook winds.”23
Having been brought up by my grandmother, whom I always regarded as my mother until I attained the age of nine or ten years, I used to listen with great interest to some of the legends she related to me. Here is one which tells how some of the wild animals received their present forms and characteristics:
Long before the human race came to dwell upon this world, there existed a race of beings now known as bears, wolves, etc. They all spoke the same language, and therefore they understood each other. The time had come when all had to assume their present state, so a great feast was prepared. At this feast each had to select his own name, a name by which he would be identified by the human beings, also to choose what his chief prey would be and in what parts of the country he would be found.
The coyote was always regarded as an announcer and chief. He was the wisest of the race and had power even surpassing the best of the magicians. After everything was ready, the coyote announced in a loud voice that all animals should be seated, and after a brief speech the feast commenced. At this feast their fates were decided. The sucker having no spoon, mistook a stick with fire on the end for a common piece of wood and burnt his lips, so that to this day he is obliged to suck his food. The shiner, another fish, was crowded almost out of the feast and he became flat, as he is to this day. Still another fish, another form of sucker, used a flint for a spoon and cut his lips.
After the feast all were gathered together. The eagle said his dwelling place would be among the mountains and deer and other wild game his prey. His feathers would supply the warrior’s warbonnet and his name would be Eagle. Bears came in turn. They, too, announced their names and the habits by which they were to be identified. During all this the coyote was jealous, because someone mentioned the very name he wished to choose. So it happened that the names, appearance, and habits of all the animals were changed.
While various ones were announcing their names, the coyote’s curiosity was aroused by a feathered being, whom he admired very much. Every now and then he would breathe a sigh of relief and stretch out his huge wings and fold them again, and sit back at ease. He, the coyote, wondered what this fellow would choose as a mode of living. After every one except this feathered being and the coyote had gotten through, the coyote arose and told the people that his occupation would be to look for mice as prey, also for various shrubs, berries, and perhaps some eggs and young animals, and his name would be changed from that of “Spielie” to the one by which he is known at home to this day.
When everybody was about ready to go and take up his abode, this much admired feathered being got up, and said, “After listening to all that each one has had to say, I have decided that my name, hereafter, shall be Buzzard, and I shall look for nothing but the rotten carcasses of various game that my brothers, the eagles and the condors, shall have left.” The coyote jumped up and said, “Here, I have been looking you over and admiring your physical development; you don’t mean to say that you are not going to exercise the same!” With that he slapped him right and left, so that to this day we see the buzzard soaring around and around above a dead horse or cow.
After this, all departed for their various quarters. The coyote stayed at home while his friends, the foxes, wolves, bears, cougars, and deer, all made for the woods among the mountains. All the fish abandoned their human characteristics and dived into the streams. The mountain goat and the big horn made for the cliffs among the lofty mountains. The lobster was puzzled as to his future location and forgot to leave his limbs behind as he dived into the water.
This is why the Indians believe that by fasting they can obtain wisdom through these animals from the “mysterious unknown.” They claim they do or rather did understand these various animals even so far as to hold conversation with them; but modern Indians regard that belief as ridiculous, because they never had the experience of the power attained through animals.24