Reading Notes: California and the Old Southwest (Part A)

Coyote Creation Stories:

A. Creation and Longevity:

Coyote began the creation of the earth of Eagle completed it
Coyote scratched up the earth with his paws from nothing
Eagle complained there were no mountains to perch on so Eagle created ridges, his feathers fell and turned into trees, bushes, and plants
Together they created man
They fought over whether or not he should live forever but Coyote said if they want to die they should let them die
Coyote brought fire to the world

B. Old Mole and Coyote

Old mole burrowed underneath somewhere and threw up the earth
Great Man created people
Coyote brought fire to the people
Sun had 9 brothers but coyote killed the brothers to save the world from burning
The moon also had nine brothers but the coyote killed them so the people were saved from freezing at night
When it rains, some Indian who is sick in heaven is weeping
When he died the Indians wept so much a flood came upon them and drowned everyone but one couple

C. Legend of the Flood

There was a great flood that destroyed all the people in the world
Only one coyote was saved
He created a bundle of tail feathers from owls, hawks, eagles, and buzzards
He planted a feather everywhere a tepee stood and the feather sprouted into trees and turned into men and women

Creation of the World:

The spirit of the Earth Doctor drifted like a fluffy bit of cotton
He decided to make himself an abiding place so he tried to set a creosote bush but it fell until the fourth time when it remained standing
He took dust and flattened into a cake and sang and danced upon it
Then he created some black insects which made black gum and he used this to make the earth cake even larger
He made a round sky to cover the earth cake
He made mountains, water, tree, grass, and weeds but it was all inky blackness
Threw a ball to the west and to the east and it took turns rising and falling each day
Saw when the sun and moon were not in the sky it was all inky darkness so he sang a sone and threw the magi into the sky to make stars
Took his sticks and placed asked at the end, thus creating the Milky Way

Spider’s Creation:

In the begging, there was only a spider named Sussistinnako
He drew a line of meal from north to south and crossed it with another line running east to west
He placed parcels down and sang and waited until people and animals and insects showed up
Set (mother of all Indians) created mountains
Spider decided the people into clans (Bear, Eagle, and others)
Spider created weather (cloud people, lightening people, thunder people)
He divided the earth into three parts (earth, middle plain, upper plain)
They made light so the people could see
The two mothers created the star people

The Great Fire/The Origin of Light:

A man who loved two women that did not love him back set the world on fire
Coyote put it out but only managed to save two boys
He made a sweat house and put the two boys in it and the next day the sticks he placed in the sweat-house had all turned to men and women
Hawk and Coyote made a ball out of tule reeds and Hawk flew into the sky and sent it flying around the world
Hawk did the same with another bundle but this one was damp and did not burn as well so that is why the moon is not as bright as the sun

Creation of Man:

After Coyote made the world he thought about creating mankind
Lion, Grizzly Bear, Buc, and other animals all expressed how they wished for Man to be
Every animal tried to make man according to their own ideas
They are fell asleep after working for so long except coyote and he stayed up to ruin everyone else’s models
By morning he had destroyed the others and gave life to his model long before the other could finish theirs

Old Man Above and the Grizzlies:

Old man told Little Daughter to climb up the smoke hole and tell the wind to be quiet but to only stick out her arm
Little daughter stuck out her arm and her head and the wind caught her hair and blew her down the mountain
Wind blew her all the way to the land of the grizzlies
The grizzlies warmed her up by the fore and gave her food
She soon married the son of Grizzly
Mother grizzly sent a son to Old Man Above to tell him that Little Daughter was alive
Old Man rushed to the Land of the grizzlies and took Little daughter away
He told the grizzlies that they would never walk on two legs again and must look downward and this is why grizzlies walk on four legs unless they are fighting

The Creation of Man-Kind and the Flood:

Earth Doctor called upon the sun and the moon to come out of the wreck of the world and the sky so they did
He created another race of men and animals
Elder brother created a magic baby and the screams of the baby shook the earth
A young man saved the baby from the rising flood waters
South Doctor called his people and warned them of the coming flood
All his people turned to stone and they stand there to this day

The Course of the Sun:

The spider told the sun to go from north to south but the sun returned and told the spider he did not like it
The spider told the sun to go from west to east but the sun returned and told spider he did not like it
The spider told the sun to go from east to west and each day he will stop at the center to eat his breakfast then he stops again for lunch and then later for dinner
The sun never misses his stops
Each night the sun passes the house of the spider and answers his questions before he passes along to his house in the east

The Theft of Fire:

Coyote called a council of animals to plan how to steal the fire from two old hags to give to the Indians
He approached the old hags while an Indian hid and he asked them if he could warm up by the fire
He pretended to be sleeping but kept one eye open and watching
The next day he returned to the council and told them of his night
They decided to steal the fire and the next day coyote returned and took a fire brand in his teeth and ran
He passed it off to Squirrel who curled it over his back and that is why he has two black lines to this day

Coyote/Tortillas/Mesquite Beans:

Coyote was afraid of the rising river so he climbed into a tree
He saw a woman and told her to give him her tortillas or else he would harm her
She told him that he must come down to get them but he was too afraid and the woman laughed at him
She convinced him the water was shallow so he jumped and ended up drowning

Story Source: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Mythology & Folklore