~“ 
BOAS] KUTENAI TALES om 
He transforms himself into a plank ' and drifts down the river. He lands at a fish 
trap. Two girls find him and carry him to the tent. When they put fish on the plank, 
it eats the fish. They recognize that he is Coyote, and throw him into the water. 
He sees two girls picking berries, and transforms himself into an infant, which they 
carry home. The girls stay at home, watching the child. Coyote sees that when one 
of the girls stretches her hand backward, salmon fall down; and that when the other 
one stretches out her hands, a fawn falls down. When the berries are all eaten, they 
deliberate whether they may leave the child alone and tell him to put out the fire. 
Since he is able to do so, they go out. When the girls are gone, he discovers the 
salmon and fawns behind the tent. He digs a ditch to the river. On the following 
day he completes the ditch and drives the salmon into the river. He throws the 
fawn into the fire and leaves it. He sets fire to the house. When the girls come 
back, they find the salmon gone. They think that the bones in the fireplace are 
those of the child. Finally they recognize that they have been fooled by Coyote, and 
ask him to leave some food. Heshakes his blanket, and a few of the salmon turn back. 
He meets Wolverene, who is fishing. Wolverene’s sister announces his arrival; 
and Wolverene says that the visitor is Coyote, and asks her not to look at him. For 
this reason Coyote does not give them salmon. He meets Sparrow, who is fishing. 
When his arrival is announced, Sparrow accepts him, and his daughter marries him. 
Therefore he leaves salmon there. On the following morning he tells the salmon to 
go into the fish trap, first one, then two, then three, and finally many. Coyote leaves 
his wife, and closes the passage between Columbia Lakes and Kootenai River. 
27. ORIGIN OF THE SEASONS ? (No. 61).—Coyote goes to Squirrel to ask for food. 
She has no more, and tells him that spring is still faraway. He tells her what to do. 
Squirrel cries, and says there will be no food until spring. The seasons are kept in 
another town; and after twelve months of winter, the owners untie the bag containing 
spring, summer, and fall. The people start to steal the summer season. They go to 
a town in the sky, and Lynx is sent ahead to enter the tent. The people are placed 
outside at intervals, the strongest one farthest away from the tent. The Lynx boy 
goes into the tent, and two old women tell him where the springtime is hanging. He 
heats some gum by the fire; and when it is melted, he sticks it on the mouths of the 
old women. Then he takes down the bag containing the spring. The women can 
not speak, but finally the people discover that the bag containing the spring is being 
1 For the second part see: 
Coeur d’Aléne (Teit MAFLS 11:121). 
Flathead (Wilson, Trans. Ethn. Soc. of London, 1866, 4:313). 
Hupa (Goddard UCal 1:124). 
Lillooet (Teit JAF L'25:303). 
Nez Percé (Spinden JAFL 21:15; Mayer-Farrand MAFLS 11:139). 
Okanagon (Hill-Tout JAI 41:146; Teit MAFLS 11:67, 70). 
Sanpoil (Gould MAFLS 11:101). 
Seshelt (Hill-Tout JAI 34:43). 
Shoshoni (Lowie PaAM 2:275, 278). 
Shuswap (Teit JE 2:629, 741). 
Thompson (Teit MAFLS 6:27, 28; 11:7; JE 8:205, 301; Hill-Tout BAAS 1899:559; FL 10:207; Boas, 
Sagen 18). 
Wishram (Sapir PAES 2:3). 
Also Caddo (Dorsey CI 41:61, 108). 
2 Assiniboin (Lowie PaAM 4:101). 
Chippewayan ( Petitot 373; amuch-distorted version, Lofthouse, Transactions Canadian Institute 10:43). 
Crow (Simms FM 2:283). 
Gros Ventre (Kroeber PaAM 1:65). 
Ojibwa (Carson JAF L 30:492; Jones PAES 7, pt. 2, 469). 
Shoshoni (Lowie-St. Clair JAF L 22:279). 
Shuswap (Teit JE 2:624; see also 671). 
Slavey (Bell JAFL 14:26). 
Thompson (Teit MAFLS 11:3). 
Yana (Sapir UCal 9:211). 
See also Chilcotin (Farrand JE 2:25). 
3 Kaska (Teit JAF L 30:443). 
Shoshoni (Lowie PaAM 2:245). 
Thompson (Teit MAF LS 6:33, 11:2). 
173 
175 
Lehi 
179 
181 
