Long
ago all the buffalo were owned by just two people. As the story
is told, these two people were an old woman and a young boy.
They were cousins. They kept the buffalo in a large pen way
back in the mountains. There, the buffalo stayed.
One day Coyote was visiting in
this land. The people were busy complaining. "That old
woman will not give up anything," he heard them
say. "She will not share the buffalo with the people."
So Coyote called a council. At the council, the people would
decide what to do.
There had to be a way to set the buffalo free. Finally, Coyote
thought of a way to fool the old woman. When it was his turn
to speak, he told the people his plan.
"We will send a small animal
to the spring where the old woman gets her water. When the boy
comes to get the water, he will see the animal and want it for
a pet, " Coyote explained. "The boy will take his
new pet home, but the old woman will tell the boy that he can't
keep it. Then he will begin to cry and weep. This will make
the old woman feel sorry fcr him. In the end, she will let the
boy keep his pet."
The people listened as Coyote
continued with his story. "When the old woman and the boy
go to sleep, the animal will sneak over to the pen and let the
buffalo go."
The people thought Coyote's plan
was the best they had heard. They asked one of the animals to
help them fool the old woman and the boy. The animal did just
as Coyote had suggested. It went to the place where the boy
got water. But, in the end, the plan failed. The old woman wouldn't
let the boy keep the animal for a pet, so it came back to the
people.
Next the people sent a Kill-dee.
When the boy went for water, he found the Kill-dee and took
it home. |
| "Look
here!" he said to his cousin. "Here is my new pet."
|
| The
old woman replied, "Oh, that animal is good for nothing.
You can't keep it. Take it back to where you found it." The
boy argued with his cousin, but finally he did what he was told. |
| The
people were very upset. Then Coyote called another council.
"Well, the old woman got the better of these two animals,"
Coyote told them. "But we will not give up!" |
So
the people sent a third animal. The animal went to the spring
like the others had done and waited for the boy to fetch the water.
When the boy arrived, he was happy to see the little animal. He
picked it up and right away felt a great liking for it. "What
a nice pet you will
make," the boy said. And when he hau1ed the water home,
he took the animal with him.
The old woman saw him coming. "How
foolish you are," the woman said, when she saw the animal
tucked under his arm. "That animal is a good for nothing.
All the animals in the world are schemers. Take it back where
you found it. "
The boy c1utched his pet tighter
and ran away crying, "No, this animal is too small to live
alone. I must take care of it or it will die. It is my pet now."
Far down the mountain, the people
waited as they had twice before. They wondered what would happen
to the animal this time. When the animal had not returned by nightfall,
Coyote went among the people saying, "Well, this plan may
work out yet. The old woman must have let the boy keep the animal
for a pet. Don't be impatient. The buffalo will soon be free.
"
At the old woman's camp, the animal
was waiting for just the right moment to carry out the last part
of Coyote's plan. After the old woman and boy had fallen fast
asleep, the animal slipped over to the pen that held the buffalo.
Then it began to howl. The buffalo began to snort and stamp their
feet. Now the animal howled even louder.
By this time, the buffalo were terrified
by the strange noise. They ran towards the gate and broke it down.
The buffalo were escaping!
The old woman, hearing the great
clatter, woke up. She called to the boy, waking him up, too. "Where
is my pet?" cried the boy. He looked but could not find it.
The old woman said, "There, I told you so. Now you see that
the animal is bad. It has let our buffalo go and
taken our food from us."
The old woman tried, but she could not
hold the buffalo back. They pushed their way out of the pen and
raced down the mountainside. At daybreak, the people saw
the buffalo grazing. That is how the buffalo came to live
on thls earth. Coyote was a great schemer, and this is how he
helped the Indian people. |
| This legend was adapted
from Harry St. Clair, Journal of American Folklore, xxii,
280, Number 17. |
Questions
to Answer and Discuss Together |
- 1. NAME THE PEOPLE WHO ORIGINALLY
OWNED THE BUFFALO.
- 2. WHO VISITED THEIR LAND?
- 3. WHAT I S THE NAME OF THE MEETING
COYOTE CALLED?
- 4. COYOTE SET UP WHAT TO FOOL
THE OLD WOMAN?
- 5. DID COYOTE'S PLAN WORK? EXPLAIN.
- 6. NAME THE ANIMAL THE BOY BROUGHT
HOME.
- 7. DID THE LITTLE BOY BRING HOME
A NEW LITTLE PET? EXPLAIN.
- 8. WHAT DID THE OLD WOMAN DO AND
SAY ABOUT THE LITTLE ANIMAL?
- 9. WHAT DID THE ANIMAL DO?
- 10. WHAT DID THE OLD WOMAN TRY TO DO WITH
THE BUFFALO TO KEEP THEM BACK?
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