Texts of the North American Indian

Writings of E.S. Curtis
Excerpts from "The North American Indian" Set #254, Vol. 8

COYOTE AND SALMON

Chinook Salmon, who had four wives: Mouse, Goldfinch, Dove, and Cricket, was a great hunter, and spent much of his time in the pursuit of game. Dove had one child, but there were no other children. Coyote was living with this family, but it was his habit to spend his time roaming about the country. One day he failed to return. "Where is old man?" asked Salmon, but nobody knew. A little later, however, he came in. "Where have you been, grandfather?" asked Salmon. "Grandson," he replied, "my people used to trap eagles, and I have been looking for eagles. I saw two young ones in a nest." "Where did you see two eagles? We will go there to-morrow and get them," said Salmon. "It is not far from here," Coyote assured him.

The next morning they started out toward the mouth of the river, and came to a high bluff, where they saw a nest in a tree which stood on the edge of a rock. They looked at it a while, and saw two eagles open their wings, which made Salmon very anxious to get those fine feathers. He told Coyote to remain below while he climbed the tree. "Before you go," counseled Coyote, "take off your fine clothing, beads, and shells, and leave then here." "Why?" asked the other. "that is the way the old people used to get eagles," explained Coyote. So Salmon took off his finery and began to climb. Now Coyote started to make medicine that the tree might grow higher. Salmon heard him muttering words, and called down, "What are you saying?" "I say, you are getting close now," cried Coyote; "keep your eyes on the birds or they will fly away!" Salmon continued to climb, but the tree kept growing. At last, however, he reached the nest, only to find it empty. He looked down, and found himself so far above the ground that it made him dizzy; and more than that, he saw Coyote, dressed in the clothing and ornaments he had left below, travelling homeward.

Coyote went back to their house, and took for his wives the two for whom Salmon had never seemed to care -- Mouse and Goldfinch. He told them that the eagles had flown away, and that Salmon had gone to live with some friends and did not intend to come back to his wives, for he was tired of them.

The next morning Coyote said that they would move their camp, and, though Dove and Cricket did not trust him, they decided to go along. They followed, and in the evening made a camp apart from the other three, for they would not be wives of Coyote. The next day the journey was continued, and it began to rain. This was the tears of Salmon, who in the meantime had climbed down the tree, but could not descend the face of the rock until he caused a stream of water, his tears, to flow over the cliff. He found his home deserted, but he followed the trail of his wives.

Dove was carrying her baby, walking beside Cricket. Five days Salmon had been following, and now he came up behind the two women, who were weeping. When they saw their husband, they were overjoyed, and quickly gave him clothing. The three then followed the others, and after a while Coyote caught sight of Salmon. Immediately he began to cry, and to take off Salmon's clothing and ornaments, which he begged Salmon to take back, but the other refused them, saying: "You may keep them. You have spoiled them. You told me a lie and made me feel sad. If you had told me you wanted these two women, you could have had them."

The six stopped and built two houses. The next morning Salmon went hunting and later in the day returned with deer meat, some of which he gave to Coyote. "I have left a great deal of meat in the mountains," he said. "To-morrow we can get it, and you may have it." So the next morning both started out for the mountains. They crossed a dry creek-bed at the foot of the mountains, and it began to rain. They went a little farther and saw a great quantity of deer meat hanging in the trees. "Coyote," said Salmon, "you take all you can. Take it all; I do not need any." So Coyote loaded up with all he could possibly carry. Salmon said he would go on up the hill and kill another deer before returning, and Coyote started back alone. When he came to the first creek, he found a good deal of water running down, but he managed to cross. The second creek was deeper, the third still deeper, and the fourth nearly too deep to ford. It was still raining, and in the middle of the last watercourse he fell, the head-strap dropped down about his neck, and the load of meat pulled his head under water. He lost consciousness, and his body floated down the stream, finally lodging on some branches. He regained his senses, and looking up and seeing the surface of the rushing water, thought it was clouds blown by the wind. He got up, but fell again, and once more was carried down by the current. At length he came to the Columbia river, and after a while his body caught on a stump. Here he again recovered consciousness, but, try as he would, he could discover no land. He made use of his medicine-power, and said, "After a while there will be land here," and soon there was a small island. He sat there, and after he was rested he made a hut. There he was compelled to remain.

One day he saw Swans flying overhead. The birds thought it strange that there should be an island where they had never seen one before, and flew lower to examine it. They saw a person sitting there. Their chief said, "If we find that this man is alone, we can go down and look at him." Then he continued: "If we find he is alone, we can take him home and our youngest sister can have him for a husband." They flew very low, saw that there was a single person there, and alighted. The eldest asked, "Are you alone?" "Yes," said Coyote. "Can we take you away with us?" Swan continued. "We have a sister, and you can marry her." "All right, all right! Take me along!" said Coyote eagerly. The two largest put their wings together, and Coyote sat on them, holding to their necks, and thus was borne away. They told him to shut his eyes, and not to open them until they got home. They flew far across the water to their home, and there Coyote married the Swan woman.

These Swans hunted deer and carried them home on their wings across the water. Coyote proved a good husband and an industrious provider of wood in the absence of the brothers. They felt very happy, for their sister had a husband, and there was always plenty of wood when they returned tired from the hunt. After a while Coyote wearied of gathering wood, and desired to hunt deer, and they agreed to take him. So the next morning they carried him across the water, where he found a land full of game of every kind. The next day he was again taken to the hunt. Thrice the swans carried him across the water, and each time Coyote observed that they made a certain sound when they flew. "That is the way they are able to fly." The fourth time they carried him, he tried and succeeded in making the right sound. They were near land, and the Swans thought that now their brother must be able to fly, since he had the voice of a Swan; so they opened their wings, when down Coyote tumbled into the water. He drifted down the river until he caught hold of some roots and crawled ashore. Once more he was a wanderer.

EDWARD S. CURTIS