Coyote and Eagle go to the Land of the Dead

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This legend originates from the Wishram people in southwestern Washington state. The Wishram were known as Smohalla or dream-people due to their deep insights into the medicine-way through their curing societies.

Coyote's wife and two children had died, and Eagle suffered the same misfortune with his wife and two kids.

"I want to see them again more than anything in the world," wept Coyote.

"Prepare your moccasins and make ready, Coyote," responded Eagle. "I'll take you to the spirit world."

So they headed west to the edge of the world (in four days) where many waters are ? the ocean. They peered across and saw houses on the other side.

"Come and bring us a boat!" Coyote called across.

"Never mind," eagle interrupted. "They can't possibly hear you."

Eagle cut himself an elderberry stalk and made a flute. He put the end of the flute into the water and began to play. Spirit people got up and walked out of their homes, climbed into a canoe and started to paddle across towards them.

"You must do everything I tell you to do," Eagle told coyote. Coyote nodded his head.

"Close your eyes, and don't look at these spirit people approaching in the canoe," commanded Eagle.

A little later, Eagle reminded Coyote again: "Don't open them up until I say so," Eagle helped guide Coyote into the canoe and the spirit people paddled them back to the Land of the Dead.

"Can I open my eyes now," please Coyote, after what felt like a long while.

"No, keep them closed!" responded Eagle. The spirit people climbed out of the canoe and left. After some time had elapsed Eagle helped Coyote out of the canoe.

"You can open your eyes now," said Eagle. Coyote looked around at all the empty houses. There were no people or creatures anywhere. It was still as death. Cold drafts like ghosts made Coyote's fur stand-up on his back.

"I feel chilled and" Coyote began, but Eagle interrupted him.

"Just keep on walking," Eagle said.

At the top of the hill they climbed down into an underground house, a large cave room or Kiva. As they entered they saw old Nikshis'mchash, or Frog-woman, facing the opposite wall and across the room, lying on the floor, was the Moon.

"What is she going do to?" Coyote whispered.

"Watch Frog-woman and see what she does when the sun goes down," Eagle whispered back. "In the spirit world things are the opposite, or at least very different."

Just before the sun was setting, they heard a voice calling from outside.

"Get up! Get up! Hurry! The sun is going down and it will soon be night," Hundreds of animal-people began to enter.

Coyote looked them over carefully the exuberantly yelled: "There are you two daughters and your wife, Eagle."

Eagle ran up to them excited then looked back at Coyote: "Coyote, your wife and kids are right behind them!"

Frog-woman called out: "Are you all in?" Then she jumped up four times, from a squatting position, and landed in a small pit beside the moon. She picked up the Moon and opened her mouth, then put it in, and closed her mouth. It was pitch black. The animal-spirit-people wandered about jostling and crowded, unable to see. At daylight, a voice outside said: "Frog-woman, all get through," Nikshiia'mchash took the moon out of her mouth and laid it back on the floor. Then the people filed out.

Coyote and Eagle went outside too.

"Could you do that?" Eagle asked Coyote.

"Sure, I can do exactly as Frog-woman did," he said.

With Eagle's directions, Coyote made a box of boards, as large as could be carried, with tree leaves and blades of grass placed in it. "Now let's kill her," said Coyote.

"That's not a good ideas," Eagle said. "It would create bad medicine." Eagle thought for a moment. "Better yet, let's call Buzzard."

Buzzard came down and carried frog-woman off to an unknown land, but they made her take off her clothes first.

Coyote put on her dress, and he looked just like Nikshia'mchash. Eagle told Coyote to practice and do exactly as Frog-woman had done, and he did, excet he fumbled the Moon and dropped it on his paw! Eagle helped Coyote stretch his mouth as wide as it would go. As coyote put the Moon in his mouth, Eagle had to help him keep his mouth shut.

"When the creatures come in here, I'll hold the Moon in my mouth without any help!" Coyote said. So coyote took the exact spot where Frog-woman used to site ? by the wall ?and put the Moon across the room on the floor near the pit.

At sunset t, the voice of a chief outside the cave room yelled: "All in! All in!" Some of the animal-spirit-people looked over and said, "Oh, Frog-woman looks sick.

To get prepared, Coyote jumped a few times. Some of the spirit-creatures thought the way she was jumping was peculiar and odd.

"Are you sure that's Frog-woman?" one said.

"It must be her, but she looks terrible!" said another.

Coyote then jumped once, twice, three times, howling all the while, and on the fourth leap he stumbled and fell into the small pit on his face. Quickly, Coyote picked up the Moon and shoved it into his mouth. He nearly chocked on the Moon, but he managed to hold it inside all night, with just a little crescent silver beaming out the corner of his mouth.

At sunrise, the voice of a chief outside called: "All out! All get through."

The dead began to file out. They all walked into the box, and Eagle threw a large deerskin cover over the top of it and tied it. It sounded like a great swarm of insects inside.

"Lets make ready to head back with the box," screeched Eagle.

Coyote removed the dress and laid it down beside the Moon. Eagle picked up the Moon and threw it up into the sky ? where it remained.

The two of them ran with the box and climbed into the canoe, and paddled to the east. Then they climbed out of the canoe with the box. Eagle carried the box from that moment on.

That night, as they went to sleep, Coyote heard many voices, but did not know where they were coming from. He woke up Eagle, saying: "There are many people coming."

Eagle told him not to orry, that things will be all right.

The next night, Coyote heard the voices again, and looking about, discovered that the talking was coming from the box Eagle had been carrying. He placed his ear against the deer skin, and after a while, distinguished the voice of his wife. And of his children singing his favorite song. Coyote laughed, and with a smile broke into a subdued howl, so as not to wake Eagle. He said nothing to Eagle about the fun he experienced the night before as they woke up.

"Let me carry the box now," Coyote yelled up to Eagle on their last day of traveling.

"No," replied Eagle.

"I'm strong," coaxed Coyote. "Please let me carry it."

"You're a chief," Eagle said. "Suppose we come to a village and the people see you carrying the box. How will it look to them?"

Eagle kept his hold on the box, but Coyote continued begging and pestering himuntil he gave in.

As Coyote carried the box, each time he heard his wife's voice he would laugh. He purposely began to fall behind Eagle. When Eagle was out of sight behind a hill, Coyote put the box behind a large boulder. He knew about Eagle's sharp eyes!

"I hope coyote doesn't do anything foolish," Eagle was up ahead thinking.

Slowly, Coyote opened up the deer skin to see his wife and children. He was thrown backwards. The dead-spirit-people rushed up into the air with such power that they knocked Coyote up against a tree. The spirit-people disappeared in the west.

"Oh, no!" said Eagle, as he watched the cloud of dead spirits rise up. He rushed back towards Coyote, scolding him. Eagle found one crippled man left there, unable to rise, so he threw him into the air, and the dead man floated away swiftly.

"You see what you've done with your curiosity and haste," scowled Eagle. "If we had brought these dead all the way back, people would not die forever, but only for a season, like these plants, whose leaves we have brought. Hereafter trees and grasses will die only in the winter, but in the spring will begreen again. So it would have been with the people."

"Let's go back and catch them again," proposed Coyote, but Eagle objected.

"They will go to a different place," he said. "Only the Creator knows. We'd never find them. They will be with the Moon up in the sky."

And so it is that today, we see them as stars forming the roadway in the sky-heaven.

Tom McCormack is in his ninth year sharing legends and presenting teacher-student workshops on Aboriginal education and curriculum. Recently, his audiotape Tales from Western Tribes won a 1996 Parent's Choice Award with honors. His new tape Legends From Western Tribes-Revisited is soon to be released.