434 ISLETA, NEW MEXICO [eth. ann. 47 



The war chief went and called the town chief and all the Fathers 

 (ka'an). The town chief and the medicine men began to ask the coyote 

 if he was a person. He just cried and nodded his head. "He is a 

 person," said the cacique. So he asked the head kaade to make a 

 ceremony for the coyote. The kaade called his helpers and told them 

 about it. So for four days they were fasting. The fourth night they 

 were going to have the ceremony. All the people came to see. They 

 had a ring made out of sticks. They were sitting behind the Mothers 

 (keide), and in front was the coyote. The cliief sprinkled the medicine 

 water on the coyote and asked the coyote if he was a person, and he 

 nodded his head. He showed him the ring and said, "When I roll 

 this, you jump through it." When he roUed it, saying one, two, three, 

 the coyote jumped through and on one side was the skin of a coyote 

 and on the other side a nice yoimg boy. And the people were saying 

 hau! hau! Thanks! Thanks! And the boy took some of the corn 

 meal and sprinkled it to the Mothers. Then the chief gave him a drink 

 of medicme water. Then the chief preached to the people how the 

 boy was a boy again and counseled them not to be so mean as to do 

 such a tiling to anyone of their own village. Then he said they could 

 go. But the boy and the Fathers stayed, and they asked him what had 

 happened. He told them the whole story. When he finished the 

 kaade said to him, "You pay liim back. Go to your home. (They 

 had made the ceremony at Shiaw'iba.) This man will know you are 

 home and right away he wiU come and shake hands with you and ask 

 where you have been." 



They fixed a little ring for him. He went to the house of his grand- 

 mother and she began to cry. "I thought you were dead. I asked 

 your friend and he said he did not know anything about you." His 

 friend came in, running. "Well, my friend, have you come back?" 

 "Yes, my friend. I was visiting in another village." His grand- 

 mother cooked for him. She had hardly anything to eat. "Well, 

 grandmother, I will go and get you a deer." He went to his friend's 

 house. He said, "I have come to ask you to go himting the day after 

 tomorrow." So they went out. \Mien they reached the momitain 

 they did as before, building the faliina and resting there that evening. 

 The boy said, "While we are restmg, let us play a game." As soon as 

 the friend saw the ring he asked for it. "Give me that ring." "No, 

 I would not give it for anything." He kept asking. "Well, I wiU roll 

 it and you jump through it." And he said one, two, three! And he 

 jumped through and tiu-ned to a rattlesnake. He loaded up the 

 burro. He sprinkled some meal and pollen on the snake, who drew it 

 in. He said, "If you are lucky, your sons will come roimd in the 

 mountains and if they remember you they will feed you this way. If 

 you are not lucky, you will have nothing and you will stay under the 

 rocks." When he got home his grandmother asked him where was 



