An Oregon Story

 

High in the Cascades there lives the clan of skookums (snow spirit) that gives rise to all the white water. At first only the skookums processed fire or the knowledge of how to make fire. Of all the animals the skookums only feared people.  Because of this skookums decided to keep fire away from the people. Seeing as if people ever got fire they would become too powerful, the skookums decided to keep people stupid.  With out fire people were the weakest and most pathetic of all the animals.

One day Coyote was visiting the people; he found them cold, wet and hungry and had no way of ending their misery.  They eat their meat raw, which made them sick, and they slept huddled together freezing and wet.

Coyote knew the people would not survive because of all the animals people had the least intelligence, and the knowledge of fire would change all that. Coyote told the people that he knew of a power that could make people strong and smart and that power was fire. The people said "dear Coyote could you get us fire to cook our food and keep us warm". Coyote said, "I will see what I can do".

The very next day was a bright and sunny day, so Coyote thought on such a nice day it would be fun to steal some fire. The climb to where the skookums live was long and difficult. When Coyote got to where the skookums lived Coyote discovered that three of the most aged, hideous, and most crinkly crones Coyote ever met protected their camp. In the center of the camp was where the fire was kept; all the skookums protected the fire with their very lives. Coyote could not come up with a plan on how the get past the two set of guards to steal the fire.

It so happened in Coyote's belly lived three huckleberries that were three sisters; he swallowed along time ago until he needed them. The huckleberry sisters were both wise and knowledgeable.  So Coyote defecated.

The huckleberry sisters refused to help Coyote because they knew that in his arrogance Coyote would claim all the credit and never telling any one that the huckleberries helped.

Coyote knew that huckleberries are deathly afraid of hail, and so Coyote used his magic to create a hailstorm.  "Stop" the huckleberries, cried "we will tell you what you want to know" and the sisters did. "Oh' said Coyote "I all ready knew that "and "of course that was always my plan".

Coyote the next day climbed again to where the skookums lived. He looked like a hungry mangy dog looking for scraps, the skookums fed him a let him sleep next to the fire. At dawn the skookums began getting ready for the morning.  Coyote awoke and the skookums fed him scraps while they ate. When Coyote was eating he grabbed a fiery flame and swallowed in away that no one noticed. Coyote slinked off with his prize. He almost made it except one of the crones noticed that a flame was missing from the fire and the dog was a bit too warm.  The crone cried, “the dog is not a dog but Coyote and Coyote is a thief and he has our fire”. The skookums were all chasing Coyote and he dove down the glacier to get a head of them.  The skookums were much to fast so as soon as Coyote reached the timberline he called upon his kinsman Cougar to help him.  Coyote coughed up the flame and Cougar swallowed it. The Cougar ran all the way to the tall timber. In the meantime the skookums were upon Coyote and forced him to regurgitate, and found no flame. Looking around they found Cougar tracks. The chase was on and they out ran the Cougar, but the Cougar had already passed the fire on to Fox who raced through the heavy undergrowth by the streambeds.  History of course repeats it self and skookums were soon upon the Fox. Fox passed the fire on to Squirrel and Squirrel ran through the branches of the dense forest jumping from one tree to another. Now skookums cannot climb and so they decide to catch Squirrel at the edge of the forest.  When Squirrel saw the skookums waiting for him she had no choice to spit up the fire to save her own life. The fire fell on the ground and was swallowed by wood.  Now that would have been the end of that because none of the animals and none of the skookums knew how to get fire out of wood. They all left for their home feeling defeated. Coyote remembered what the huckleberries told him.  Coyote picked the wood and went to where the people lived. Coyote told the people to collect dry moss and Coyote rubbed the to pieces of wood together and a spark ignited the dry moss and the burning moss was placed among dry leaves and small branches then people all knew how to make fire. Coyote of course never told the people about the help he received from either the huckleberries or the other animals.  Thus, coyote became both the wisest and the bravest of all the animals.