Coyote helps create Man

Artist unknown

Navajo

In the beginning Great Grandfather Spirit had just finished creating  Earth and all the animals, and he felt pleased with his creationsthe Earth and all the animals, and he felt pleased with his creations.  After some time the animals fighting each other over which of them  be the leader of all the other animalswill be the leader of all the other animals.
was not into fighting asked Grandfather Spirit to make a  and a to rule over all the animals of the Earth. and a to rule over all the animals of the Earth. Grandfather Spirit loved the idea and went to work on the man and woman right . Grandfather Spirit was having a hard time coming up with . Grandfather Spirit was having a hard time coming up with an  to make man and woman in. came to him to see how to make man and woman in. came to him to see how the  were coming. When he saw having were coming. When he saw having trouble  man and woman, Coyote with all his magic turned himself man and woman, Coyote with all his magic turned himself into  man. When the creator saw this, he thanked Coyote and went . When the creator saw this, he thanked Coyote and went to  the man in the showed himwork the man in the image Coyote showed him.

Once he created man out of the Earth he then blew life into man  came to life. Grandfather Spirit told the he will man came to life. Grandfather Spirit told the he will make  a mate. Grandfather Spirit started making an image that a mate. Grandfather Spirit started making an image that looked  like the man. Coyote and said" no, no, no, Grandfatherexactly like the man. Coyote and said" no, no, no, Grandfather Man won't find a woman who looks like this . Here is . Here is how  woman should look like." then Coyote again transformed woman should look like." then Coyote again transformed himself  of a woman. Grandfather Spirit studied this of a woman. Grandfather Spirit studied this image  went to work on creating woman out of the Earth. done the  looked just like the image of the woman that Coyote showed  Creator.

Grandfather blew life into the woman and man and creator  this was good. The Creator told Man and Woman that they are  the new leaders of the land and to treat the Earth and all who  on because they all come from Mother Earth.  Grandfather Spirit thanked Coyote for his help and to show his thanks  gave Coyote the more magical powers than any other animal.

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WHY CROWS FEATHER ARE BLACK

“The Rainbow Crow was beautiful to hear and to see, back in the days when it never got cold, back in the Ancient Days before appeared in the World.

When the Snow Spirit, all the people, and animals were freezing and a messenger was selected to go up to, The Creator Who Creates By Thinking What Will Be. The messenger was to ask The Creator to think of the World as being warm again so that they would not all freeze to death.

Rainbow Crow was chosen to go and he flew upward for three days. He got the Creator’s attention by singing beautifully, but even though he begged the Creator to make it warm again, the Creator said He could not, because He had thought of Cold and He could not it. But He did think of Fire, a thing that could warm the when it was cold. And so He poked a stick into the Sun until it was burning, and gave it to Rainbow Crow to carry back to earth for the creatures. The Creator told Rainbow Crow to hurry before it burned all up.

Rainbow Crow dove down and flew as fast as he could go. The burning stick charred all of his beautiful feathers until they were black and since he was carrying the stick in his beak, he breathed the smoke and heat until his voice was hoarse.

And so the Rainbow Crow was black and had an unpleasant cawing voice forever after, but all the creatures honored him, for he had brought Tindeh, fire, for everyone to use.

The Crow is to this day, still honored by hunters and animals, who never kill it for food and, if you look closely at the Crow’s black feathers you can still see many colors gleaming in the black.” 

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Native American Legends

Turtle gets a Shell

An Anishnabe (Anishinabe) Legend

It was one of those days when Nanaboozhoo was in a strange mood.
He had just awakened from a deep sleep that was disturbed by the
noisy quarreling and scolding of the blue jays. He was a bit cranky;
his sleep was disturbed and besides that, he was hungry. His first
thought was to go down to the village and find something to eat.
Entering the village, he came across some men cooking fish. They
had their camp located close to the water and Nanaboozhoo spied
many fish cooking over a fire. Now, being very hungry, he asked
for something to eat. The men were happy to give him some but cautioned
him that is was hot. Not heeding their warning, he quickly grabbed
the fish and burned his hand. He ran to the lake to cool it off
in the water. Still unsteady from his deep sleep, he tripped on
a stone and fell on Mi-she-kae (turtle) who was sunning on the beach.
At that time, Mishekae was not as we know her today. She had no
shell and was comprised of soft skin and bone.
Turtle complained loudly to Nanaboozhoo to watch where he was going.
Now, Nanaboozhoo felt ashamed of his clumsiness and apologized to
Mishekae. He wondered, "what can I do to make it up to her?"
He wanted to do something to help his friend. "I'll have to
sit and think it over," he thought, as he followed the path
back to his wigwam.
Sometime later, he returned to the beach and called for Mishekae.
Turtle poked her head through the soft beach mud. Nanaboozhoo picked
up two large shells from the shore and placed one on top of the
other. He scooped up Mishekae and put her right in the middle, between
the shells.
Nanaboozhoo took a deep breath and began. "You will never
be injured like that again." he said slowly. "Whenever
danger threatens," he continued, "you can pull your legs
and head into the shell for protection"
Nanaboozhoo sat beside his friend on the beach and told Mishekae
his thoughts. "The shell itself is round like Mother Earth.
It was a round hump which resembles her hills and mountains. It
is divided into segments, like martyrizes that are a part of her;
each different and yet connected by her."
Mishekae seemed very pleased with and listened intently. "You
have four legs, each representing the points of direction North,
South, East and West." he said. "When the legs are all
drawn in, all directions are lost. Your tail will show the many
lands where the Anishnabek has been and your head will point in
the direction to follow. "You will have advantages over the
Anishnabek," he went on. "You will be able to live in
the water as well as on land and you will be in your own house at
all times."

Mishekae approved of her new self and thanked Nanaboozhoo for his
wisdom. Moving now in a thick shell, she pushed herself along the
shore and disappeared into the water.
So, ever since that accident long ago, Turtle has been special
to the Anishnabek. To this day, she continues to grace Mother Earth,
still proudly wearing those two shells.

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