Text 6: Creation of animals (VP-080309-03)
a long long time ago
in what is called the time of stories
before the humans were walking around in this place
only coyote along with other animals was there
the creator created everything that is here for us
he who was living in the sky
haya:ł diywhe'eh do:-na:wa:-ne'in k'ikine' diywho' łung-xw-'unt'e q'ut 'unt'e-ne'in. "ting niwinwho'n" ch'ondehsne'
and then there wasn't anything walking about, nothing made a sound. There was a lot of variety of trees and greenery. "It looks really good," (the creator) thought.
and then he thought "I wish there was something ...
... running around, like deer, I wish bear was running around"
so then he created the animals
haya:ł ch'iningyay ch'ixoniłte:n 'a'de:ne' "nin do'n yima:nek'iwungxoya:n hay-de:di miningxat'e:n' sile'n-te 'aht'ing-xw-'unt'e"
and then (the creator's helper) came, the creator brought him, and he (the creator) told him, "as for you, old man from across the sea, you will become the boss of everything here"
"and then you're going to do for me what I tell you."
and so "okay" he said
and then where a big mountain was standing there, he [the creator] poked a hole with his finger
and then (the creator) told his helper, "right here there's going to be all kinds of animals coming out."
"and (when they come out), you're going to name them"
"you're going to cut their umbilical cord one by one, (consecutively as the emerge)"
and then "okay" he said
he (the creator's helper) picked up white quartz blades
and he put them down there ...
where the hole comes out, and then he said, "come on out!"
at once a bear came walking out
he cut the umbilical cord
"go walk around someplace" he told him, sa:ts' (bear) will be your name.
and so then he (the bear) walked off into the bushes
after a while a deer came out, and then he also cut his umbilical cord
and then all the animals kept coming out, like the squirrel
every kind of animal came out
and then he cut off all of their umbilical cords
he kept on telling them, "this is what your name will be" then "your name will be tse:-q'i-ya:ng'ay (squirrel)"
then, "you will be named na:q'itah-k'iLaxun (jack rabbit)"
and then that way that's what their name became, then they went off (into the woods)
in the bushes all of a sudden there was a lot of life
they became wild animals
they used to talk like we talk now
and then at the very tail end, he said "come on out here!"
then it peeked out
he (the last animal) realized the quartz blade is sitting there with blood all over it
"I'm scared" he thought, I'm not going out there." He ducked back in
and then again he told him, "come on out here!"
no, he didn't come out
he peeked out, he poked his face out there, he ducked back in
so he kept doing that, about five times he did that
he reached in after him. he pulled him out by his face
he squeezed his face so it became sharp, he did it so bad that his eyes disappeared
he twisted his poor old arms until his hands were way up high (near his shoulders)
he cut his umbilical cord and then
he slammed him back in the the place where the hole is
"your name will be na:k'idmo:t' (mole), and you will only go around under the ground," he said (the creator's helper)
and then after that they went around all these animals, and then coyote
him and his grandma lived there, and then
all of them they all spoke to one another
and even mountain lion, they all built houses
haya:ł ła:n nasya', diywho' hay ch'ixolchwe sile'n hay mich'ing-ding. haya:ł xowa:-yung-xiwidilik me:lah
there were a lot of them going around, so that's why they all became fairy tales. and then some of them had stories told about them
some of them even have songs, all of those wild animals running around in the hills
and then that one
the gopher he also had a song
"ya:xiniy ya:xinupse:, ya:xiniy, ya:sinupse" they always say, they always sing
as for coyote, he goes around everywhere, he always does a lot of things
and so then, the creator's helper told them what to do (how to work in order to live)
and so then they lived together that way, and then he watched after everything, he became the boss
and then in the middle of time, there were a lot of stories taking place
hay wa:yung-xowitlik. haya:ł ła:n-xw 'a:'un'te diywho' mikyowe'-tah wa:yung-xowitlik haya:ł ła:n ne'in
there were many stories told about them (the animals) But then there's a lot of animals, like grizzly bear, that have stories about them. There were a lot of them.
some of (the stories) I don't remember. Coyote ...
... stories about him, all the things that they say he did
also the creator's helper, there were hundreds of stories about him, as he went around
he thought, (creator's helper)
"I have no wife" and then
all those wild animals running around, they have young ones
they have a mate. then as for him, he couldn't find a woman; there's none going around.
and then in vain he's going around everywhere
and then after a while he said "as for right now, all ...
... the humans are coming, their smoke is blowing along, here you can smell it"
he realized they're coming from the north [uphill], a lot of people are going along
and then they said, "you've got to make room for the people are going to be around here"
"you will be become wild, some of you will become food"
as for some of you, you will just be roaming around. A variety of small animals will be running around in the woods
and then after a while
they said, "now the time has come, you're all going to acquire a tail" and then,
he made a lot of tails, the creator's helper
and then he said, "you will go in here", and then
"all of you together are going to stay overnight in the sweathouse"
"and then when morning comes, in the morning you will all wake up"
"and then you will pick up your tails"
"you'll all run off (into the woods) somewhere" and then,
"you will become wild"
"you will move out of the way for the people that are coming"
and so then early in the morning they started waking up consecutively. [the night before,] Coyote thought, he looked over (all the tails)
"oh," he thought, "that one over there is beautiful!"
somebody's tail is sitting up there; oh, it's wolf's tail.
"it's really nice, that's the one," he thought
he went outside and made sharp (sticks) and placed them under his own eyelids
and then he went to bed with his sticks poking up under his eyelids
in the middle of the night, I guess he was sound asleep, and the sticks poked through his eyes--his eyelids.
while he was still asleep, it seemed like there was something shining in (through the cracks in the wall), it [the sun] came up and shone in
he looked around and opened his eyes, nobody was there. only one tail sitting there; it was ugly
not very much fur on it
haya:ł hay ya'winta:n xoke' sile'n. hay mich'in-ding ch'ina:n xontehl-taw xoke' jahdah-ding do:-niwho:n
and then he picked it up, it became his tail, and for that reason, his tail isn't very pretty
and then he also became a wild animal, and after that, (the humans) were coming along ...
a lot of humans were walking about
and that's the reason they are here, they (the animals) were here in from the time before
that's the old creator's helper, him also, he turned bad
as for him, (because he went bad), he is incarcerated out in the middle of the sea. one day ...
after a while maybe
one day everything's going to change back, everything will become good again
then all the people that have died ...
... they're all going to wake up, when he returns, we are waiting for him
that's the end of this story