October, 1903. Traditions of the Crows — Simms. 285 



4. — Old Man Coyote and the Bears. 



One day Old Man Coyote came upon some Bears playing burying 

 each other, and when they got a certain amount of dirt upon one, this 

 one would whistle and they would pull him out. And Old Man Coyote 

 said, "Try me.'' So they buried him and he whistled and they pulled 

 him out. Then the Bears said, "We will try it, and you pull us out." 

 So Old Man Coyote made a big pit and a place for a fire, gathered 

 some rocks, carried some water, and after putting the bears in the pit, 

 he covered them up and built a big fire in which he placed the rocks. 

 The Bears whistled, but Old Man Coyote told them to stay in there. 

 He poured water on the heated rocks, cooked the bears and ate them. 



5. — Old Man Coyote and the Buffalo. 



Once when Old Man Coyote saw some buffalo, he wanted to eat 

 them and tried to think of a scheme to do this. 



He approached the buffalo and said to them : "You buffalo are 

 the most awkward of all animals, — your heads are heavy, your hairy 

 legs are chopped off short and your bellies stick out like a big pot." 

 The buffalo said to him, "We were made this way." 



Old Man Coyote said to them : "I'll tell you what let's do — we will 

 run a race" — and all went to a level place with a steep cut bank at one 

 end. Old Man Coyote said to himself, "I will go and put my robe over 

 the edge of the bank," and turning to the buffalo, he said, "Just as we 

 get to the place where my robe is we will all shut our eyes and see how 

 far we can go with our eyes closed." The race was started, and just 

 before getting to the robe, all of the buffalo shut their eyes and jumped 

 over the steep cut bank and were killed ; and Old Man Coyote feasted 

 off of the dead buffalo. 



6. — Old Man Coyote and the Four Men, Fat, Grease and Berries. 



Once upon a time Coyote met four men walking and every part of 

 their bodies was made of fat, grease and all kinds of berries, fruits, 

 etc. Before the four men saw him, he transformed his body into that 

 of a poor dog, and he got in front of them, when they came nearer, 

 so they would have pity on him, and they patted his head while he 

 licked them to get the grease of which they were made. They passed 

 and went on their way and Old Man Coyote went over the hill and got 

 in front of them again. This time he had transformed himself into a 

 larger dog than the previous one, and he licked them again and occa- 



