Post by Okwes on Apr 9, 2008 16:04:39 GMT -5
Fox and Coyote and Whale - Okanogan
Fox had a beautiful wife. He was very much in love with her, but she had
stopped caring for him. Fox was a great hunter, and every day he brought
home food and fine skins for his wife to make into robes and clothing. He
did not know that, while he was away hunting, his wife would sit beside the
Swah-netk'-qhu and sing love songs to the water. Painting her face with
bright colors, she would pour out her love thoughts in song.
Coyote came to visit his twin brother, and he soon noticed the strange
actions of his sister-in-law. He spoke to Fox. Why-ay'-looh," he said, "I
think your wife is in love with somebody else." But Fox could not believe
she loved anyone but him. He was blinded by his love for her. Then, one sun,
he and Coyote returned from a hunt and she was not in the lodge. So Fox
started to look for her. He walked down toward the river and there he saw
his wife. She was sitting on the river bank, singing a love song. She did
not see Fox. He watched her.
As Fox watched, the water began to rise. Slowly it rose, higher and higher,
and soon, out in the middle of the river, appeared a big monster of the
fish-kind. The monster was En-hah-et'-qhu, the Spirit of the Water--Whale.
It swam to the shore. As it touched dry land, it changed into a tall
handsome man with long braided hair. This monster-man made love to the wife
of Fox.
Sad at heart, Fox turned away. He went to his lodge. He said nothing, but he
wondered how he could win back his wife's love. He worried about her as the
suns passed. She grew pale and thin. Nothing that Fox could do pleased her.
Her thoughts always were with the man who was not a man but a monster. One
day when Fox and Coyote came home from hunting, she was gone, and the fire
in the lodge was cold. Fox called and called. He got no answer. His heart
was heavy.
A few suns later Fox looked up the river and saw an odd-shaped canoe coming.
It was only half of a canoe. Two Water Maidens were standing in it, rocking
it from side to side. They were singing:
We come for food,
Food for the Chief's stolen wife.
The water-food does not suit her. That is why we come! We come!
As the Water Maidens approached, Fox and Coyote hid in the tepee. The
maidens beached the half-canoe and entered the lodge. They began to pick up
dried meat to take to the stolen wife. Coyote and Fox sprang from their
hiding places and caught the maidens, and Fox asked about his wife--where
she was and how to get to her. The maidens were silent. Then the brothers
threatened to kill them unless they answered, and the maidens said:
"To find the person who stole her, you must go over the Big Falls and under
the water. His lodge is under the falls, under the water--a dangerous trip
for Land People. Every trail is watched. Even if you get there, the mighty
Whale chief will kill you. He is bad."
The Water Maidens had told all they knew, so Fox broke their necks. He and
Coyote dressed in the maidens' robes and started down the river in the
half-canoe. Standing on the sides of the strange craft, they rocked it as
they had seen the maidens do, and rode it down the river and over the
roaring falls. "Let me do all the talking," Fox warned Coyote. "I know
better what to say." Down through the pouring, flashing waters they shot
with the half-canoe. The thunder of the falls hurt their ears. And then,
suddenly, they were landing at a great encampment of Mater People, a strange
kind of people to them. All of the people were strange except
Gou-kouh-whay'-na--Mouse. She was there. She knew them and they knew her.
Fox jumped ashore. Coyote, following, tripped and touched the water, and
Mouse, the Sly One, laughed.
"Ha-ha!" said Mouse, "Coyote nearly fell into the water."
"Do not speak," Fox whispered to Mouse. "Say nothing. I will pay you well."
But some of the Water People had heard. "What, Gou-kouh-whay'-na, did you
say?" they inquired.
"Nothing," Mouse answered. "Nothing of importance. I was just joking."
"Yes, you did say something," said a Water Person. "You said that Coyote
nearly fell into the water. You cannot fool me."
Mouse insisted that she had not said that, and the other Water People
believed her. They knew she was a fickle person and giddy, and they did not
think much of her because she went everywhere to steal. She went everywhere,
and that s why she understood all the different languages.
Carrying packs of dried meat and berries they had brought with them, Coyote
and Fox made their way to the lodge of Whale, the chief. He and the stolen
wife sat side by side in the lodge. The wife was glad to get the meat and
berries, her kind of food.
Fox and Coyote kept their robes over their faces until everyone else was
asleep. Then, when everything was quiet, Fox slipped up to Whale and cut off
the monster's head with a flint knife. At the same time Coyote picked up the
stolen wife and ran for the broken canoe. The noise they made awoke the
camp, and the people rushed out of their lodges to see Coyote carrying off
Fox's wife and Fox close behind, carrying the head of their chief. The
people chased them, but the three got into the broken canoe, and Fox quickly
put Coyote and the woman into his shoo'-mesh pipe. Then Fox pushed the
half-canoe into the water and it shot up to the river's surface below the
falls. There Fox landed. He took Coyote and his twice-stolen wife out of the
medicine-pipe, and the head of the Whale Monster he threw toward the setting
sun.
"In the Big Salt Water (ocean) shall Whale Monster stay," said Fox. "No
longer shall he live in the smaller waters, in the rivers, where he can make
love to the wives of men, where he can lure wives from their husbands."
As Fox and his wife and brother walked up the bank to their tepee, the
headless body of Whale Monster turned over and over in the depths of the
river, making the Big Falls of the Swah-netk'-qhu more fearful and
thunderous, the way they are today, spilling with such force over the great
rocks.
The wife of Fox became contented and happy again, glad to be back in her
husband's lodge. But since that day Whale Monster was vanquished the Land
People and the Water People have not loved each other. Fox made it so.
Taken from Coyote Tales by Humishuma, Colville-Okanogan for Mourning Dove
[Christine Quintasket], 1933
Fox had a beautiful wife. He was very much in love with her, but she had
stopped caring for him. Fox was a great hunter, and every day he brought
home food and fine skins for his wife to make into robes and clothing. He
did not know that, while he was away hunting, his wife would sit beside the
Swah-netk'-qhu and sing love songs to the water. Painting her face with
bright colors, she would pour out her love thoughts in song.
Coyote came to visit his twin brother, and he soon noticed the strange
actions of his sister-in-law. He spoke to Fox. Why-ay'-looh," he said, "I
think your wife is in love with somebody else." But Fox could not believe
she loved anyone but him. He was blinded by his love for her. Then, one sun,
he and Coyote returned from a hunt and she was not in the lodge. So Fox
started to look for her. He walked down toward the river and there he saw
his wife. She was sitting on the river bank, singing a love song. She did
not see Fox. He watched her.
As Fox watched, the water began to rise. Slowly it rose, higher and higher,
and soon, out in the middle of the river, appeared a big monster of the
fish-kind. The monster was En-hah-et'-qhu, the Spirit of the Water--Whale.
It swam to the shore. As it touched dry land, it changed into a tall
handsome man with long braided hair. This monster-man made love to the wife
of Fox.
Sad at heart, Fox turned away. He went to his lodge. He said nothing, but he
wondered how he could win back his wife's love. He worried about her as the
suns passed. She grew pale and thin. Nothing that Fox could do pleased her.
Her thoughts always were with the man who was not a man but a monster. One
day when Fox and Coyote came home from hunting, she was gone, and the fire
in the lodge was cold. Fox called and called. He got no answer. His heart
was heavy.
A few suns later Fox looked up the river and saw an odd-shaped canoe coming.
It was only half of a canoe. Two Water Maidens were standing in it, rocking
it from side to side. They were singing:
We come for food,
Food for the Chief's stolen wife.
The water-food does not suit her. That is why we come! We come!
As the Water Maidens approached, Fox and Coyote hid in the tepee. The
maidens beached the half-canoe and entered the lodge. They began to pick up
dried meat to take to the stolen wife. Coyote and Fox sprang from their
hiding places and caught the maidens, and Fox asked about his wife--where
she was and how to get to her. The maidens were silent. Then the brothers
threatened to kill them unless they answered, and the maidens said:
"To find the person who stole her, you must go over the Big Falls and under
the water. His lodge is under the falls, under the water--a dangerous trip
for Land People. Every trail is watched. Even if you get there, the mighty
Whale chief will kill you. He is bad."
The Water Maidens had told all they knew, so Fox broke their necks. He and
Coyote dressed in the maidens' robes and started down the river in the
half-canoe. Standing on the sides of the strange craft, they rocked it as
they had seen the maidens do, and rode it down the river and over the
roaring falls. "Let me do all the talking," Fox warned Coyote. "I know
better what to say." Down through the pouring, flashing waters they shot
with the half-canoe. The thunder of the falls hurt their ears. And then,
suddenly, they were landing at a great encampment of Mater People, a strange
kind of people to them. All of the people were strange except
Gou-kouh-whay'-na--Mouse. She was there. She knew them and they knew her.
Fox jumped ashore. Coyote, following, tripped and touched the water, and
Mouse, the Sly One, laughed.
"Ha-ha!" said Mouse, "Coyote nearly fell into the water."
"Do not speak," Fox whispered to Mouse. "Say nothing. I will pay you well."
But some of the Water People had heard. "What, Gou-kouh-whay'-na, did you
say?" they inquired.
"Nothing," Mouse answered. "Nothing of importance. I was just joking."
"Yes, you did say something," said a Water Person. "You said that Coyote
nearly fell into the water. You cannot fool me."
Mouse insisted that she had not said that, and the other Water People
believed her. They knew she was a fickle person and giddy, and they did not
think much of her because she went everywhere to steal. She went everywhere,
and that s why she understood all the different languages.
Carrying packs of dried meat and berries they had brought with them, Coyote
and Fox made their way to the lodge of Whale, the chief. He and the stolen
wife sat side by side in the lodge. The wife was glad to get the meat and
berries, her kind of food.
Fox and Coyote kept their robes over their faces until everyone else was
asleep. Then, when everything was quiet, Fox slipped up to Whale and cut off
the monster's head with a flint knife. At the same time Coyote picked up the
stolen wife and ran for the broken canoe. The noise they made awoke the
camp, and the people rushed out of their lodges to see Coyote carrying off
Fox's wife and Fox close behind, carrying the head of their chief. The
people chased them, but the three got into the broken canoe, and Fox quickly
put Coyote and the woman into his shoo'-mesh pipe. Then Fox pushed the
half-canoe into the water and it shot up to the river's surface below the
falls. There Fox landed. He took Coyote and his twice-stolen wife out of the
medicine-pipe, and the head of the Whale Monster he threw toward the setting
sun.
"In the Big Salt Water (ocean) shall Whale Monster stay," said Fox. "No
longer shall he live in the smaller waters, in the rivers, where he can make
love to the wives of men, where he can lure wives from their husbands."
As Fox and his wife and brother walked up the bank to their tepee, the
headless body of Whale Monster turned over and over in the depths of the
river, making the Big Falls of the Swah-netk'-qhu more fearful and
thunderous, the way they are today, spilling with such force over the great
rocks.
The wife of Fox became contented and happy again, glad to be back in her
husband's lodge. But since that day Whale Monster was vanquished the Land
People and the Water People have not loved each other. Fox made it so.
Taken from Coyote Tales by Humishuma, Colville-Okanogan for Mourning Dove
[Christine Quintasket], 1933
