COYOTE TURNS INTO A BUFFALO. 449 
128. COYOTE TURNS INTO A BUFFALO.’ 
Coyote, starving, met a Buffalo bull grazing. Coyote watched the 
Buffalo eat grass and said: ‘‘Grandfather, how you eat!’ The Buffalo 
did not notice Coyote. After a while Coyote began to run around in 
front of the Buffalo bull. The Buffalo bull stopped eating, looked at 
Coyote, and said: ‘‘ My grandson, why do yourun around and bother me?” 
Coyote said: ‘‘Grandfather, you have grass to eat all over this country, 
and here I am starving because I can find nothing to eat.” The Buffalo 
said: ‘‘My grandson, what you say is true, but I know you and I can not 
help you. Youaretricky. I might do something for you, but you would 
do something which was wrong and you would be killed.”” But Coyote 
said: ‘‘No, my grandfather. I do not think that if you take pity on me 
I shall do anything wrong.’”’ The Buffalo then looked up and said: ‘‘If 
you are in earnest and want to be like me, go and hunt a buffalo wallow.”’ 
The Coyote went and found a buffalo wallow, then he came back and told 
the Buffalo bull that he had found a buffalo wallow. They went along 
together and the Buffalo bull ran towards Coyote, and when the Buffalo 
bull made a motion to hook, Coyote jumped to one side and the Buffalo 
went by. Then the Buffalo said: ‘‘I see that what I said is true. You 
are not in earnest. You jump to one side. I can not do anything for 
you.” Three times the Buffalo ran towards Coyote and every time 
Coyote jumped aside. The Buffalo became angry and was going away, 
but Coyote begged hard for him to take pity on him once more. Coyote 
made up his mind that he would rather be killed than starve to death, 
and so he stood in the buffalo wallow. The Buffalo ran towards him 
and tried to hook him, but when his horns touched Coyote he turned 
into a Buffalo, and there the two Buffalo fought with locked horns, push- 
ing one another about. Then the Buffalo said: ‘‘My grandchild, there 
you are. Now you can eat all of this good grass that you see over this 
land. Stay with me for several days, and learn our powers. Graze upon 
high hills so that you can see a long distance, and when you see people 
coming always run. In the night follow the ravines, and when you have 
come to a bunch of grass and weeds sit down in the center of the weeds. 
In the morning go again upon the high hills and graze.” 
Coyote-Buffalo remained with the Buffalo. After a while the Buffalo 
told Coyote-Buffalo to go on and do as he had told him. He told him 
that whenever he sat down to always have his nose towards the wind, so 
1Told by White-Horse, Pitahauirat. The story is told to the children so that 
they might learn, that whatever power they should receive from animals they must 
keep it to themselves and not try to give it to some one else; that if they did their 
power would go from them and they would be as poor as ever. 
