The variety of service-berries called snikiepu'psa1 is said by some to be so called because Coyote was fond of eating them. He thought they were the best kind, whereas they are about the worst kind of berries.
(23) COYOTE AND THE ROLLING BOWLDER.2
(From Upper Uta'mqt and Nicola Valley.)Coyote was travelling somewhere in the Upper Uta'mqt country, and came to a side-hill where there were bowlders at the foot of a cliff. Below, the side-hill was smooth. A bowlder lived here, that killed people by rolling on them. Coyote did not know which one it was, and questioned his excrements. They told him. The bowlder was a long distance above him. When he was below it, he heard a noise, and saw it coming. He stuck his double-headed arrow-flaker into the ground with one end pointing uphill. When the bowdler hit the point, it broke into fragments. At this place there is a patch of sharp fragments of white rock. He said, "Henceforth bowlders shall not kill people by rolling downhill. People shall be able to get out of their way."
Coyote had been carried by a flood a long way downstream, and came to a low country which was full of brush. He drifted ashore exhausted, and concealed himself under a fallen log. All around he saw much fallen timber and low brush, and many Rabbits in the bushes. He was very hungry, and much desired to catch some Rabbits. They saw him and approached him. They called one another, and a large number came. Coyote pretended to be dead. Soon they recognized him, and said, "Oh, it is Coyote! He is dead!" Then they were very glad, and began to dance. That night they sang and danced, passing close by Coyote. They made fun of him and rejoiced at his death. Suddenly he opened his eyes, jumped up, and clubbed a number of them.
(25) THE SISTERS WHO MARRIED COYOTE AND LYNX.4
(From Spences Bridge.)When Coyote made cold weather, and ran ahead with his house on his back to intercept the two sisters, they saw the lodge with smoke issuing from it, and said, "Some one lives there; we will go and warm ourselves." Coyote gave them fat to eat on a bark platter. The elder sister thought it did not look exactly like fat, and advised the younger sister not to eat it; but the latter, who was very hungry tasted it. The elder sister threw some of the fat into the fire, and saw that it cracked and did not burn like real fat: therefore she refused to eat it. After receiving instructions from Coyote as to the direction of their grandmother, Mountain-Sheep, they departed. When they had gone a short distance, Coyote called after them, "If the child is a boy, save it! If it is a girl, hang it up on a tree and leave it!" The elder sister thought this was a strange thing to say, and at once concluded that her younger sister was pregnant, because she had eaten the fat. She said to her, "Let us jump four times!" They jumped four times, and then the younger sister gave birth to a boy. The fat that she had eaten was Coyote's dried semen. Again Coyote put down his house ahead of them, and produced cold weather. The sisters went in to warm themselves. Coyote made himself look like another man, but the older sister recognized him. When Coyote offered them fat, she threw both dish and fat into the fire and reviled Coyote. The younger sister and her baby remained with Coyote; while the elder sister went on, carrying her basket and root-digger.
When the girl came near to where her grandmother lived, she heard the sound of some one adzing, and soon she saw her grandmother splitting wood. She sat down on the end of the log at which her grandmother was working. When the old woman noticed that the log tipped up, she looked up and recognized her grand-daughter. She hid her in her home, and did not allow any of the young men to see her. After it while, however, the people learned that Mountain Sheep's grand-daughter was hidden in her house. The young men wanted to marry her. The old woman told the men that the winner of a race should have her. The men were much elated at the prospect, and made great preparations for the race, which was to be run over a rough piece of country. They did not know that the girl's grand-mother was going to run too. When the runners had all started, the old woman overtook them. She won the race with ease, and kept the girl. Mountain-Sheep can beat any animal in running in a broken country. The young men were angry, because the old woman had deceived them, and Lynx made up his mind to possess the girl. (Here follows the incident of the Lynx spitting on the girl.)
1 Means "Little-Coyote berry."
2 A rather special form of the widely spread rolling-rock or rolling-head story.
3 The narrator said he did not remember all the details of this story. He thought that according to one version Coyote seized the Rabbits one at a time as they passed the log, and choked them. According to another version, Coyote transformed himself into a log; and when the Rabbits were dancing and singing, he rolled over them, killing a great many.
4 This is a continuatiun of the story told in MAFLS 6 : 36.-See BBAE 59 : 287.
TOP
