The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce — John Shaqi
The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its CommerceLyman, William Denison
History
The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce
Lyman, William Denison
Columbia River; Columbia River -- Description and travel; Columbia River -- History
Coyote now called into counsel Kotskots, the fox. Providing him with five
knives, Kotskots advised Coyote to force an entrance into the interior of
the monster. Entering in, Coyote found people in all stages of emaciation,
evidently having had their life gradually sucked out of them. It was also
so cold and dark in the interior that they were chilled into almost a
condition of insensibility. Looking about him, Coyote began to see great
chunks of fat and pitch in the vitals of the monster, and accordingly he
rubbed sticks together and started a fire, which being fed with the fat
and pitch, soon grew into a cheerful glow. Now, armed with his knives, he
ascended the vast interior until he reached the heart. He had already
directed Kotskots to rouse up and gather together all the emaciated
stowaways and provide that when the monster was cut open they should see
how to rush out into the sunlight. Great as was the monster Kamiah, he
could not stop the persistent hacking away at his heart which Coyote now
entered upon. When the fifth knife was nearly gone, the heart dropped down
and Kamiah collapsed into a lifeless mass. The people under the guidance
of Kotskots, burst out into the sunshine and scattered themselves abroad.
It must be remembered that these were animal people, not human. Coyote
called upon them to wait until he should have shown them a last wonder,
for, cutting the monster in pieces, he now began to fashion from the
pieces a new race of beings to be called men. The portion which he cut
from the head he flung northward, and of this was fashioned the Flathead
tribe. The feet he cast eastward, making them the Blackfeet. So he
continued, making new tribes here and there. But at the last Kotskots
interposed an objection. "You have made no people," he said, "for the
valley of the Lapwai, which is the most beautiful of all." Realising the
force of the suggestion, Coyote mixed the blood of the monster with water
and sprinkled it in a rain over the entire valley of the Clearwater. From
these drops of blood and water, the Nez Perce tribe was formed. The heart
of the monster is still to be seen by all travellers in that country,
being a heart-shaped hill in the valley of Kamiah.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account