Coyote and the origin of Death

A Caddo Legend

In the beginning of this world, there was no such thing as death.
Everybody continued to live until there were so many people that
the Earth had no room for any more.
The chiefs held a council to determine what to do. One man rose
and said he thought it would be a good plan to have the people die
and be gone for a little while, and then return.
As soon as he sat down, Coyote jumped up and said he thought people
ought to die forever. He pointed out that this little world is not
large enough to hold all of the people, and that if the people who
died came back to life, there would not be food enough for all.
All the other men objected. They said that they did not want their
friends and relatives to die and be gone forever, for then they
would grieve and worry and there would be no happiness in the world.
Everyone except Coyote decided to have people die and be gone for
a little while, and then come back to life again. The medicine men
built a large grass house facing the East. When they had completed
it, they called the men of the tribe together and told them that
people who died would be restored to life in the medicine house.
The chief medicine man explained that they would sing a song calling
the spirit of the dead to the grass house. When the spirit came,
they would restore it to life.
All the people were glad, because they were anxious for the dead
to come and live with them again. When the first man died, the medicine
men assembled in the grass house and sang.
In about ten days a whirlwind blew from the West and circled about
the grass house. Coyote saw it, and as the whirlwind was about to
enter the house, he closed the door. The spirit of the whirlwind,
finding the door closed, whirled on by.
In this way Coyote made death eternal, and from that time on, people
grieved over their dead and were unhappy.

Now whenever anyone meets a whirlwind or hears the wind whistle,
he says: "Someone is wandering about." Ever since Coyote
closed the door, the spirits of the dead have wandered over the
Earth trying to find some place to go, until at last they discovered
the road to the spirit land.
Coyote ran away and never came back, for when he saw what he had
done, he was afraid. Ever after that, he has run from one place
to another, always looking back first over one shoulder and then
over the other to see if anyone is pursuing him. And ever since
then he has been starving, for no one will give him anything to
eat.

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Algon and the Sky Girl

An Algonquin Legend

Algon was a great hunter who found a strange circle cut in the
prairie grass. Hiding in the bushes nearby, he watched to see what
might have caused it. Finally, a great willow basket descended from
the sky bearing twelve beautiful maidens.
The maidens got out of the basket and began singing celestial songs
and doing circle dances. All of the girls were beautiful, but the
most beautiful of all was the youngest, with whom Algon was immediately
smitten.
He ran toward the circle in the hope of stealing her away, but
just as he arrived, the girls were alarmed and left in the basket,
which flew high into the sky. This happened again three more times,
but Algon's resolve only grew. Then he devised a strategy.
He placed a hollow tree trunk near the circle. Inside the tree
trunk lived a family of mice. He took some charms out of his
medicine bag  and transformed himself into a mouse.
When the girls in the basket next arrived, he and the other mice ran among the girls.
The girls stomped on the mice killing all of them but Algon, who
then resumed his human form and carried off his beloved.

He took her to his village and in time she fell in love with him.
They had a son and the three lived very happily for a time. But
as the years passed, the sky- girl grew very homesick. She spent
the entire day gazing up at the sky, thinking of her sisters and
parents. This homesickness continued until she could no longer bear
it. So she built a magic willow basket, placed her son and some
gifts for her people in it, climbed in, and headed for the sky.
She remained there for years.
In her absence, Algon pined for his wife and son. Every day he
went to sit in the magic circle, in the hope that they would return.
He was now growing old.
Meanwhile, in the far-off sky-country, his son was growing into
manhood. The lad asked questions about his father, which made the
sky-girl miss Algon. She and her son spoke to her father, the chief
of the sky-people. He told them to go back to the Earth, but ordered
them to return with Algon and the identifying feature of each of
the Earth animals.

Then the sky-girl and the son returned to Earth. Algon was overjoyed
to see them and was eager to gather the gifts the sky-chief wanted.
From the bear, he took a claw; from the eagle, hawk, and falcon,
a feather; from the raccoon, its teeth; and from the deer, its horns
and hide. He placed all of these gifts in a special medicine bag,
and ascended with his wife and son to the sky- country in their
willow basket. His father-in-law divided the tokens among his people,
offering tokens to Algon and the sky-girl; and they chose the falcon
feather. The chief said that they should always be free to travel
between the sky-country and the Earth, and so Algon and his wife
became falcons. Their descendants still fly high and swoop down
over the forests and prairies.

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The Spirit Bride

An Algonquin Legend

There was once a young warrior whose bride died on the eve of their
wedding. Although he had distinguished himself by his bravery and
goodness, the death left the young man inconsolable.
He was unable to eat or sleep. Instead of hunting with the others,
he just spent time at the grave of his bride, staring into the air.
However, one day he happened to overhear some elders speaking about
the path to the spirit world. He listened intently and memorized
the directions to the most minute detail. He had heard that the
spirit world was far to the south. He immediately set out on his
journey. After two weeks, he still saw no change in the landscape
to indicate that the spirit world was near.
Then he emerged from the forest and saw the most beautiful plain
he had ever seen. In the distance was a small hut where an ancient
wise man lived. He asked the wise man for directions.
The old man knew exactly who the warrior was and whom he sought.
He told the lad that the bride had passed by only a day before.
In order to follow her, the warrior would have to leave his body
behind and press on in his spirit. The spirit world itself is an
island in a large lake that can be reached only by canoes waiting
on this shore. However, the old man warned him not to speak to his
bride until they were both safely on the island of the spirits.
Soon the old man recited some magic chants and the warrior felt
his spirit leave his body. Now a spirit, he walked along the shore
and saw a birch bark canoe. Not a stone's throw away was his bride,
entering her own canoe. As he made his way across the water and
looked at her, he saw that she duplicated his every stroke. Why
didn't they travel together? One can only enter the spirit world
alone and be judged only on one's individual merits.
Midway through the journey, a tempest arose. It was more terrible
than any he had ever seen. Some of the spirits in canoes were swept
away by the storm-these were those who had been evil in life. Since
both the warrior and his bride were good, they made it through the
tempest without incident and soon the water was as smooth as glass
beneath a cloudless sky.
The island of the blessed was a beautiful place where it was always
late spring, with blooming flowers and cloudless skies, never too
warm or too cold. He met his bride on the shore and took her hand.
They had not walked ten steps together when a soft sweet voice spoke
to them-it was the Master of Life.
The Master told them that the young warrior must return as he came;
it wasn't his time yet. He was to carefully trace his steps back
to his body, put it on, and return home. He did this and became
a great chief, happy in the assurance that he would see his bride
once again.

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Honeyed words can't sweeten Evil

An Algonquin Legend

Big Blue Heron was standing in the marsh looking at his reflection
in the water. He raised his black-crested head to listen.

Two little White Weasels had come along to the river. They were
mother and son. When they saw Blue Heron, they stopped to look.
'What a beautiful big bird-person!' said the son.
'He is called Blue Heron. He carries his head high!'
'Yes, Mother, he is tall as a tree. Were I so tall, I could carry
you across this swift river.'

Blue Heron was pleased to hear himself so praised. He liked to
hear other say that he was big.
He bent down low and spoke to the two. 'I will help you go across.
Come down to where you see that old tree lying in the stream. I
will lie down in the water at the end and put my bill deep into
the bank on the other side. You two run across the tree. Then use
my body as a bridge and you will get to the other side.'

They all went to the old tree lying in the water. Blue Heron lay
down in the water at the end and stuck his bill deep into the bank
on the other side. Mother and son White Weasel ran lightly and quickly
across the log, over Blue Heron, and were safe and dry on the other
side. They thanked Blue Heron and said they would tell all the persons
in the woods how fine Blue Heron was. Then they went on their way.
Old Wolf had been standing on the riverbank watching how the weasels
had gotten across.
'What a fine way it would be for me to cross the river. I am old
and my bones ache.'

When Blue Heron came back to the marsh, Wolf said to him, 'Now
I know why you Blue Herons are in the marsh - so you can be a bridge
for persons to cross the river. I want to go across, but I am old
and my bones hurt. Lie down in the water for me so I can cross.'

Blue Heron was angry. He didn't like being called a bridge. Old
Wolf saw he had spoken foolish words and decided to use honeyed
words.
'You are big and strong, Blue Heron, and that is why your body is
such a fine bridge. You could carry me across like a feather.'
Blue Heron smiled at Wolf and said, 'Old Wolf, get on my back and
I'll carry you across.
Wolf grinned from ear to ear thinking how easily he had tricked
Blue Heron.
He jumped on the bird's back and Heron went into the rushing river.
When he got to the middle, he stopped.

'Friend Wolf,' said Blue Heron, 'you made a mistake. I am not strong
enough to carry you across. For that you need two herons. I can
carry you only halfway. Now you must get another heron to carry
you the rest of the way.'
He gave his body a strong twist and Wolf fell into the water.

'You wait here, Wolf, for another heron to come and carry you to
the other side.' Then he flew into the marsh.
The water ran swiftly. No heron came, so where did Wolf go ? To
the bottom of the river...
Since that day, no wolf has ever trusted a heron.

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