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Coyote and Raven

Long ago when the earth was young, First Man and First Woman lived in a dark cavern in the underworld. It was very damp and gloomy. First Man and First Woman were not only uncomfortable; they were frightened as well by the sounds of the ghosts and sorcerers who also lived in that dark world.

First Man and First Woman believed the earth was a turtle swimming around the sun. They had heard stories that on the turtle’s shell existed a very different world. Badgers and moles who dug holes through the shell had brought word that the surface was bathed in light.

First Man and First Woman dreamed of breaking through the turtle shell. They yearned to live in a world of light, but they did not know how to pursue their dream.

One day when First Woman was out looking for tubers to eat, she found a hole that Badger had dug to the surface of the earth. It was a large hole, and First Woman thought Badger had hidden some food there.

“Maybe I can find Badger’s potatoes and have them for my soup,” she said.

Poking her head through the hole, First Woman saw a brilliant light that almost blinded her. For a moment, she was frightened, thinking one of the evil sorcerers had bewitched her and taken her sight away. She blinked and realized she was seeing the outside world. She saw a green forest, a river, and many animals.

“Ah, the badgers and the moles have told the truth,” she said. “There is a bright world on the turtle’s shell, and it’s much nicer than our dark home in the cave.”

Just then, Badger returned home. Seeing First Woman looking out through his hole, he quickly covered it, sprinkling dirt in her eyes.

First Woman threw a stick at Badger, then hurried off home to tell her husband what she had seen.

“First Man,” she said, “I looked through Badger’s hole to the surface of the earth. The world above is full of light, not dark and gloom like this one. It is covered with trees, a flowing river, and blue sky. Why don’t we go live there?”

“It has always been our desire to live on the surface of the earth, on the turtle shell,” First Man said. “But how can we get there?”

“We can’t use Badger’s hole, for he has covered it up. Maybe we can climb up the side of the cave,” she said.

“I tried it once,” First Man said, “but it is too steep.”

“Well, let us shout for help. Maybe one of the animals I saw on the upper world will help us.”

First Man agreed. He knew his wife was usually right about such things.

In those times, all the animals were brothers and sisters. They shared the earth and lived in peace with one another. Each animal had its own nature and lived according to it.

Coyote and Raven were tricksters who were always getting in trouble. The pranks they pulled were the cause of Skunk smelling bad, of Rattlesnake losing his legs and having to slither along the ground, and of Deer stealing Rabbit’s antlers.

The same day that First Man and First Woman decided to call for help, Coyote and Raven were walking near the cave that led to the underworld. As they paused to drink from a spring near the entrance, they were surprised to hear voices coming from the cave.

“Please help get us out of here,” the voice pleaded.

“Who are you?” Coyote called back.

“Man and Woman,” came the reply. “We want to come and live in your world. If you help us, we will reward you.”

For Coyote and Raven, a reward usually meant a good feast, as they were always hungry.

“What will you give us?” Raven asked.

“I’ll give you some tasty potato soup I just made,” answered First Woman.

“I’ve never tasted potato soup,” the starving Coyote said. “Let’s go find Owl and see if he can help.”

They ran to Owl, one of the wisest creatures in the forest.

“We heard the voices of Man and Woman, who live beneath the earth,” Coyote told Owl. “They want to come and live with us on the shell of the turtle.”

“And Woman promised us a bowl of soup,” Raven added, holding his growling stomach. “We want to help them.”

“You must be prepared for many changes if Man and Woman come to live here,” said Owl.

“They will be like brother and sister to us,” Coyote said, ignoring the warning. “Tell us what to do.”

“Very well. Climb on my wings, and I’ll take you there. But hold tight. There are many dangers when one travels to the underworld.”

So Coyote climbed on one wing and Raven climbed on the other wing, and Owl flew down to the large cavern where they had heard the voices.

On the way down, the heart of the earth pounded so loudly, they had to fill their ears with wax.

They came to a river of fire erupting with molten lava. Raven poked holes in the turtle’s shell to let some of the lava escape so they could cross. Those holes in the earth are now called volcanoes.

Soon they came to that dark place where First Man and First Woman lived. They were pale as ghosts because they had never been in sunlight.

“Help us break through the turtle shell,” First Man said.

Coyote said, “First feed us some of that delicious soup you promised us.”

First Woman apologized. “I’m sorry, but you took so long in coming that we ate it all.”

Raven and Coyote grew angry. They were about to return to the surface of the earth alone.

But First Man suggested another reward. “We can give you something of greater value than potato soup.”

“What?” the sly Coyote asked.

“In the future, we will honor you by telling stories about you,” First Man said. “Around our campfires we will tell our children how you helped us. Even the hundredth generation will know how you brought us to earth.”

“What else?” Raven asked.

“You will be known as the best tricksters in the animal world. All your adventures will be told by our people.”

Coyote and Raven liked the idea. Already they were known in the upper world for their pranks, but Man and Woman were promising them honor: Their exploits would live forever in the memory of the people.

“We want to help these two,” they said to Owl.

“I can’t carry them on my back,” Owl said. “They are too heavy.”

“What can we do?”

“Let us go back to the surface and make a plan,” Owl said.

They returned to the surface, narrowly escaping the river of lava and the pounding of the earth’s heart.

“I won’t go that route again,” Raven said. The exploding lava had nearly singed his feathers, which in those days were brightly colored.

“Nor I,” Coyote agreed, taking the wax out of his ears. “I can barely hear. Let Man and Woman stay in the underworld.”

“We gave our word to help them,” Owl reminded them. “I have an idea.”

“What?” the two tricksters asked.

Owl turned to Raven. “With your beak, peck at the turtle shell and make a large hole.”

So Raven pecked and pecked, making a hole.

“Now, Coyote, stick your tail into the opening, and Man and Woman will grab it. When you feel their tug, pull very hard.”

In those days, Coyote had a tail as long as a giraffe’s neck. The shiny, fluffy fur was the envy of all the fur-bearing animals.

So Coyote stuck his shining tail down the hole, and soon he felt a tug. Man and Woman had grabbed his tail.

“The heart of the earth makes a pounding noise,” Man and Woman cried in terror.

“Put wax in your ears!” Coyote shouted.

They did as they were told, and that is why even today men and women have wax in their ears.

Coyote pulled and pulled, and Man and Woman came through the opening to the surface of the earth.

Unfortunately, the evil sorcerers who lived in the dark underworld also grabbed Coyote’s tail, and they, too, came to live on the earth. They dressed themselves in the skins of animals to escape detection.

On the surface, Man and Woman at first were blinded by the sunlight. Slowly, they got used to the bright light, and they looked around and admired the beauty of the earth.

“We thank you for helping us,” they said to Coyote and Raven. “We will honor you by telling our children how you helped us come to this world.”

That night, Man and Woman slept on earth for the first time. They covered themselves with leaves and were warm, but they couldn’t sleep soundly. The following morning, they were in a bad mood.

“Why do we feel so grumpy?” First Woman asked.

“I had no dreams last night,” replied First Man.

“That’s it! We left our dreams in the underworld! Without our dreams, we will never be happy. We will have no visions of the future. Let’s go to Coyote and Raven to see if they can help.”

They went to the two tricksters and explained the problem.

“We love this earth,” First Woman said, “but in our hurry to grab your tail, we left our dreams in the underworld. Can you retrieve them for us?”

Coyote and Raven were busy eating a watermelon.

“It is too dangerous to go back only for dreams,” Coyote said. “Learn to live without dreaming.”

And so Man and Woman went off to create many tribes on the face of the earth. All gave thanks to the sun for bringing them sight and life, and all told the story of how Coyote and Raven helped First Man and First Woman come to the world.

As the tribes increased, they learned to live in harmony with nature, but still they felt something missing. First Man and First Woman had passed on their stories but not their dreams. Without these dreams, there were no visions of the future.

Coyote and Raven continued to help Man and Woman. They taught them to hunt and fish and gather grains and nuts. They taught them to respect their home, the earth. They taught them that from the smallest to the greatest, every living thing was part of creation.

Even when the two tricksters got into trouble, there was a lesson to be learned from their antics. First Man and First Woman often laughed and told stories about Coyote and Raven, realizing that in each story there was a valuable lesson.

The evil sorcerers who had sneaked up from the underworld grew jealous. By having stories told about their exploits, Coyote and Raven had become powerful. As long as Coyote and Raven existed, the sorcerers couldn’t control the many tribes.

“Let us plot the downfall of Raven and Coyote,” the leader of the sorcerers said. “Then we will have our way with the people.”

“Coyote and Raven get into a lot of trouble,” another sorcerer answered, “but the people admire them because of the lessons they teach. They are too powerful.”

“We must have that power,” the leader said. “And so we must creep into the hearts of the people and turn them against one another.”

The sorcerers set out to spread envy and jealousy, and soon the tribes no longer trusted one another. Arguments and squabbles erupted everywhere.

“The tribes are fighting with one another,” Coyote said to Raven.

“Let them,” he answered. “When they go off to make war, they leave their food unguarded. Then I eat like a king.”

“Yes, but when they are fighting, they no longer tell stories of our exploits. If the people no longer tell stories about us, we lose our power.”

“You’re right,” Raven said. “They promised to remember us in the stories. Now they no longer have time. We must stop the fighting and squabbling—for our own good.”

So Coyote and Raven called for a gathering of the tribes at the foot of Taos Mountain. The tribes came from all over to attend the powwow. From the eastern plains they came; from the west near the ocean they came. From as far north as Alaska they came, and from Mexico to the south they came.

When they were gathered, Coyote and Raven spoke. “You must stop your fighting and arguing. You must live in peace and harmony. Always remember to tell your stories to your children. If there is no storytelling, then your children will not learn the ways of your ancestors. Soon they will have no memory of the past, and they will lose their way.”

“Coyote and Raven are right,” the elders said. “We must never stop telling the children our stories. This is the only way they have to learn our history, traditions, and religion.”

The people agreed to put aside their differences, and for a while there was peace.

The sorcerers grew angry. “That meddlesome Coyote and Raven have thwarted our plan. The people are living in peace, and they entertain and teach their children by telling them stories. Coyote and Raven have power again, and the people hate us because of our evil ways.”

“We must turn Coyote and Raven against each other,” their leader said. “If the people see them fighting, they, too, will fall back to arguing and bickering. People who don’t love their neighbors are easy prey. Soon we will control their hearts.”

So the sorcerers devised a contest. They sent many fleet-footed deer to call Coyote and Raven and the tribes to another gathering near Taos Mountain. When all were assembled, the leader of the sorcerers spoke.

“We must have a contest to decide who is the best trickster, Coyote or Raven.”

The people loved contests, so all waited eagerly. Nobody recognized the sorcerers dressed in the skins of animals.

“Tell me what I have to do and I’ll do it,” Coyote said. He considered himself to be king of the tricksters.

“You are to return to the center of the earth to retrieve the dreams of First Man and First Woman. You know that in their haste to climb your tail, they left their dreams behind.”

“This is a good idea,” said First Man. “We would honor the trickster who brings our dreams back.”

Owl hooted a warning. “Be careful, Coyote and Raven. This is a trick to turn you against each other.”

Coyote and Raven didn’t pay attention to Owl. Each wanted to be king of the tricksters.

“I’m a better trickster than Coyote,” Raven bragged. “Let me go first.”

Without waiting, he flew down the hole he had pecked long ago. He heard the pounding of the earth’s heart, and he flew over the molten lava. When he came to the former home of First Man and First Woman, he saw their dreams lying very orderly on the ground.

He gathered up all the dreams he could carry in his beak and started back, but as he crossed the river of lava, there was a loud explosion. Burning boulders and streams of fire filled the cavern.

Raven squawked in fear as the hot lava singed his feathers. The dreams fell from his beak, and he quickly gathered some up. He picked them up in such a hurry, the dreams became all jumbled. That’s why dreams today often appear as mixed-up images.

He flew to the surface as fast as he could, leaving many dreams behind.

“Here are your dreams,” Raven said when he arrived on the surface, giving those dreams he had brought to First Man.

“But these are all mixed up,” First Man said. “They don’t make sense. How are we to know what is truly in our hearts?”

“He made a mess, all right,” Coyote said. “And look at him. His feathers got burned!”

It was true: Raven’s once-bright rainbow feathers were black as coal.

“I warned you,” Owl said, but everyone was so busy laughing at Raven, no one heard him.

“I am the better trickster,” Coyote said. “I will bring back the dreams that Raven left behind.”

He wrapped his beautiful long tail around a tree and climbed down the hole. He picked up the remaining dreams and carefully made his way around the hot lava. When the sorcerers saw he was about to succeed, they cut his tail, and Coyote fell back down the hole. Bruised and battered, he quickly gathered as many dreams as he could, but they, too, were jumbled.

He scrambled to the surface and gave the dreams to the people. Some laughed when they saw Coyote’s short, scraggy tail.

“You have made a mess of things,” First Man said. “We were supposed to give a dream to each tribe, so they might have true visions. But now the dreams are confusing.”

Nevertheless, Man and Woman, who were grandfather and grandmother by now, gave a dream to each tribe.

“Each of you must find your dream and follow it,” they told the tribes. “Your dream will be a vision to guide your life.”

The tribes were thankful, but they soon learned that to have true vision didn’t come easily. It took a great deal of understanding and knowledge.

The people chased Coyote and Raven away. Never again would the two live in human houses.

Unfortunately, Coyote and Raven didn’t learn their lesson. Each one still thinks he is the king of the tricksters. To this day, they go on arguing and pulling tricks on each other. And the sorcerers remain on earth, constantly plotting how to turn people against one another.

First Man and First Woman did keep their promise. Even today, when families gather in a warm kitchen in the winter, many stories are told about Coyote and Raven.

The tribes retain the stories of their ancestors. As long as the stories are told, the people know their history, and dreams and visions help guide each person on the good path their ancestors taught.