Oregon Voices: Coyote Frees the Salmon

Abstract

OREGON VOICES Coyote Frees the Salmon recorded by W.E. Myers Fishing on theColumbia River was a sacred endeavor for thousands ofyears, caught up in the sacred stories of all theRiver People. Below is a well-known storyabout how Coyote once, inmythic times,foiled a dastardly plot to hoard all the salmon. The story exists in several versions in severalNative languages; the version here is based on one recorded by Edward Curtis s assistant, WE. Myers, atWishram in about 1909. ? JaroldRamsey AS HEWENT ON HE HEARD thatabovehim two women had all the salmon penned up. Coming near to the place, he saw the two women in their canoe catching driftwood. Wishing to get in to their place, he formed himself into a piece of alder, slipped into thewater, and floated down. As he passed close to the canoe, the younger woman cried, "See that nice piece of alder!" But the other did not wish to secure it. "Here are smaller ones," she said; "let that one go." After passing out of sight,Coyote floated ashore and returned to the point from which he had started. Having studied the matter for a while, he became a piece of cedar, thinking that perhaps they would take that kind ofwood, which they could use inmaking their drying racks.Again he drifted close to the boat, and theyounger sister called atten tion to the cedar log, but the elder did not seem towish it.The next time he formed himself into a piece of oak, but this, too, the elder woman rejected. A long firpole was Coyote's next disguise, but even this,which would have been so useful to lay from eaves to eaves and hang dried fish on, did not appeal to the elder sister, and was allowed to float by. Coyote's ingenuity was almost exhausted, and for a long time he sat on the bank meditating before he transformed himself into a little baby, strapped to a board. He source: Edward Curtis, The North American Indian, vol. 8, pp. 107-109. ? 2007 Oregon Historical Society Myers, Coyote Frees the Salmon 543 floated down the river toward thewomen, crying lustily. Water began to lap into his mouth, and it seemed to him that he must soon choke, when the younger woman cried excitedly: "Here is a baby! Some one has tipped over and lost it.Quick, letus get it!"The elder said, "No, sister,we do not need a baby," and began to paddle away; but the other seized her own paddle and endeavored to force the canoe toward the drowning infant. They paddled with all theirmight, and thewater fairlyboiled with the rapid strokes, but, both being of the same strength, neither could make headway, and all the while the baby was drifting nearer to them.At last itcame close to the stern, and theyounger woman reached out and took it into the canoe. "It is a boy! " she cried. "Now ifwe rear itwe will have someone to help us." So itwas agreed that they take the child and care for it. When they reached home they untied the child and removed it from itswrappings. The younger said to herself: "What are we going to feed this baby? Iwill give it a piece of dried lamprey to suck." She did so, and the baby eagerly took the lamprey,which was soon eaten. She laced itup on its board, cut off another piece, and when thiswas about half eaten the baby fell asleep. "Now the baby is sleeping, we can go and getmore wood," she said. The elder woman was uneasy since the coming of the infant. She took no interest in it,and did not wish to help care for it.The twowent out and began to catch driftwood. When Coyote found it quiet in the house, he opened his eyes. Quickly he unlaced his cover, crept slylyout, and saw the women on the river. Inside he found a great abundance of dried lampreys and other fish, and he hurriedly roasted a quantity on sticks, ate them, and hid the sticks. Then he laced himself to the board, put the half-eaten piece of lamprey inhismouth, and closed his eyes. The...