Bear Maiden
Bear Maiden was known for her beauty and her demure composure among the Holy People. She was the only sister of 12 divine brothers. During the first part of the story, she was known as Tingling Women because of the sounds the deer hooves, which adorned her dress, made when she moved. Many Holy People including the Sun Bearer sought marriage with this fair maiden. Many times, she rejected proposals of marriage because her admirers could not pass any of the tests she made them undertake as conditions for marriage. The Coyote heard about her beauty and about the impossible conditions and tests she expected her admirers to perform. Coyote took this as a challenge.
Coyote Marries the Maiden
Tingling Woman looked at the coyote with scorn and was not impressed with him. She tried to chase him away, but he was persistent with his proposal for marriage. He promised to be a good husband by doing chores such as bringing in wood and water. He often praised her for her fine qualities and beauty. Although the maiden was not interested in Coyote, she challenged him with her first condition, just to be rid of him. The first condition for becoming a husband to the maiden was to kill Giant. Furthermore, the contender had to bring back the giant’s quiver and scalp as proof. In truth, killing the giant was an impossible task. The Coyote sat there for a moment and eventually left and went home. Bear Maiden went about her business thinking that was the end of the Coyote.
Because he could not sleep, Coyote headed to the top of Continental Divide to visit Giant. Because the giant was huge and clumsy, he often walked very slowly. The coyote decided to use this physical attribute to trick the giant. Giant’s main staple for his diet was humans. Often he did not have trouble catching his food because the humans froze with freight when they saw his massive size. However, he was still intrigued by Coyote’s proposal. The Coyote promised Giant that he had the power to use herbal potions and magic that would help the giant move faster, and enhance his ability to catch more food. So Giant built a fire for a sweat lodge. In the meantime, Coyote mixed a potion, and located a fresh leg of a deer. When they went into the sweat lodge, the two beings drank the herbal potion. The potion made the giant nauseated and woozy. While under the influence, Coyote showed how he used magic to help him run fast. Coyote explained that he had to rid himself of his old legs by cutting them off, and then reattach them with magic. Because it was dark inside the sweat lodge, Coyote had Giant feel his legs before he made a cut. When he cut the meat and broke the bone of the deer apart, Coyote moaned and groaned pretending that he was in pain. He had Giant feel the broken bone and flesh to prove that he was not playing any games. He finally chanted, made spitting sounds, and pretended to reattach his legs. Coyote convinced Giant that is how he renews his legs to maintain his speed. The more the giant listened to Coyote, the more he wanted to be fast, so he agreed to have the coyote perform the ritual. The coyote cut off both of the giant’s legs, and told him to spit on them while he chanted. Coyote snickered and ran out of the sweat lodge yelling that there was no such magic that would grow bones back together in one day. When the giant lunged after Coyote, he clubbed him dead, and collected the scalp. Coyote was sure he would make an impression on the maiden when he walked in with the evidence.
The Maiden Kills the Coyote
However, when he returned to the maiden, she was not impressed with Coyote, and still looked at him with distain. She was not convinced the quiver and the scalp belonged to Giant. About that time, Badger appeared at the doorsteps of the maiden, and it occurred to coyote that he had also proposed marriage. Just to get rid of the two admirers, she proposed that both men hunt the following day. She promised that she would marry whichever of them brought her the largest bundle of meat. Coyote knew the Badger had short feet so he prayed for snow so he could have an advantage. The following day, there was a thick blanket of snow on the ground, and the Coyote thought he had the upper hand for this challenge. He was only successful in scaring away the rabbits back into their burrows. By midday, he only managed to dig up two hairless rabbits because he twisted and turned them too much trying to dig them out of their burrows with a stick. The Badger, on the other hand, was more experienced and more skilled at hunting. He dug up the rabbits from the burrows with ease. He soon accumulated a huge pile of rabbit meat to present to the maiden. When the Coyote saw this, he realized he was losing badly, so when Badger started digging for another rabbit, the coyote quickly closed up the entrance of the burrows with rocks and boulders. He then collected Badger’s pile of meat, claimed it for himself, and presented them to the maiden. He left behind his measly hairless damaged rabbits for Badger. Although Coyote brought back an impressive amount of meat, the maiden did not wish to declare him as the winner. The maiden insisted on waiting for Badger or for sunset to make a decision. Eventually Badger showed up with the two hairless rabbits, so the maiden said she could not make up her mind. Badger was frustrated at the lack of interest from the maiden, so he prepared the two measly rabbits for himself, and excused himself from pursuing her any further.
The following day, Coyote was back so Tingling Woman presented him with the next condition. She stated that she would marry him only if she killed him four times and he came back to life each time. Before Coyote accepted the challenge, he asked to be excused to think it over. Again, the maiden thought she had finally got rid of the coyote. However, Coyote had other plans. While he was pretending to think, he used evil magic to remove his heart and lungs, and hid them in a burrow. When he came back to the Hogan, Coyote provoked the maiden to kill him. She was frustrated with him so she grabbed him by the back of the neck, dragged him to a cliff, and clubbed him to death without any sympathy or remorse, and returned to her home. After some time passed, the Coyote showed up at her Hogan and announced, “That was one!” The second time, she dragged him to a higher cliff, clubbed him, and cut him into pieces, and scattered him on the ground. Not too long afterwards, the Coyote showed up at the Maiden’s house again. She was completely irritated by this time. This time she dragged him out to a steeper cliff, clubbed him, cut him into small pieces, and scattered him in different directions before she headed home. The Coyote returned within seconds of closing the door. The fourth time, she dragged him to the cliff, clubbed him, cut him into pieces, and ground his flesh into the earth, then scattered him in all directions. He was at her door before she could close it. The maiden was overwhelmed by this time, but she did not show it. So when the coyote declared he was the winner, he wanted to get married right away. The Maiden still despised the coyote and didn’t want to get married to him. So she explained that it was customary for Coyote to ask for permission from her brothers before the union.
However, the brothers had not returned from their hunting trip by night fall. Coyote was not going to wait for the brothers so he vowed on spending the night. He insisted that a maiden should not be alone on a cold winter night. He promised to behave himself so he set up his bedding by the doorway. However, that night was an especially cold winter night, so he ended sitting by the fire and burning all the fuel. When the fire died out, he started to shiver when the cold air took over the Hogan. He was desperate so he proposed to the maiden to allow him to sleep by her feet with a little blanket covering his body. Every few minutes he inched closer to the maiden. Eventually, he seduced the maiden into becoming his wife. The following morning, she cooked for him, and he helped with chores around the house. She had a lot of meat in storage, but soon she used up all her savings to keep her husband satisfied. She was constantly distracted by her husband, that she soon started neglecting her chores and duties. When she heard her brothers returning home, she became frightened. Instead of introducing her husband, she hid him behind bundles of goods.
Brothers Return
When the brothers returned, they were baffled by the state of the house. The house was not kept like that before; there was no fire for warmth, and food was not prepared to welcome the brothers’ return home. The eldest brother ordered the brothers to start a fire, but once the heat from the fire started warming up the house, they noticed a stench of coyote urine in the air. The brothers believed that the smell of coyote urine came from the firewood, so the eldest brother gave command to extinguish the fire and build a new fire with wood chopped from the lower branches of a tree. When the heat from the new fire warmed up the house, the odor returned. Again, the eldest brother insisted on building a new fire. This time, he demanded that the firewood needed to be chopped from higher up the tree. However, the stench of coyote urine continued to permeate the house with the new fire. On the fourth attempt, the eldest brother became frustrated and started swearing and cursing the coyote. He demanded that the brothers needed to chop off the highest branches, where he was certain the coyote did not spray his urine. When the Coyote heard the eldest brother, he was offended so he jumped out from where he was hidden and revealed that he was now their in-law. The brothers felt ashamed and embarrassed by the new development. However, there was nothing the brothers could do about it. The sister prepared a small meal, and everyone ate in silence while the coyote urine continued to permeate in the air. Out of respect for the newlyweds, the brothers left the house and built another shelter to live in. The brothers were still suspicious of Coyote’s intent and antics, so they assigned the youngest brother to spy on his sister and the Coyote. He observed many things that Coyote was teaching Tingling Woman.
Brothers Take Coyote on a Hunting Trip
Several days later, the brothers had to go out for another hunting trip. When Coyote heard the news, he insisted on going on this excursion with the brothers. The brothers did not want the coyote to go with them, and tried to convince him that his place was now by their sister’s side to perform a husband’s duties, such as bringing in firewood and water. Now that Coyote was the sister’s husband, they no longer had to worry about her when they left her behind. The coyote could not be dissuaded from going with the brothers, and he contended that he would be helpful in chasing the rams towards the hunters. The brothers had to take him.
In the first attempt, the coyote chased a couple of rams towards the hunters and enabled their first kill. It was a custom for the trophy to go to the hunter who made the kill. So when one of the brothers killed the rams, he claimed the horns of the rams as his trophy. The fatty marrows of the horns were considered a delicacy. However, the coyote disputed the claim. He argued that the claim belonged to him because he chased the rams towards them in the first place. The eldest brothers reasoned that the claim went to the hunter who made the kill, not the tracker. The brother also insulted the Coyote by insisting that he should behave like a man and honor the custom. Instead of disputing with them anymore, the Coyote cast a spell on the horns by turning them completely into bone.
The brothers were aware of his mischief, but they knew they could not kill their in-law, so they opted to send him home with the meat from the two rams. Using magic, the brothers bundled up the meat into small packages. They instructed the Coyote to take it directly home, and told him he could not put down the package for any reason. When the Coyote reassured them that he understood the directions, they sent him on his way. Before long, he decides to take a break and put down the package. When he did that, some of the magic wore off and the bundle expanded and became heavier. With some effort, he still managed to pick up the package and continued on his way home. After a short time, he felt like he needed another break. Again, the package expanded and became heavier. This time, the Coyote had a hard time picking up the package, so he crawled around a bit, but he still managed to continue on his journey. A short time later, the package became unbearable so he took another break. This time, he could not pick up the package anymore, so he took out some of the meat and left it on the branches of a tree. He still could not pick up the package and walk with it, but he managed to crawl with it. After a short distance, he felt he needed another break, so he put the package down and caused it to completely come undone. Instead of attempting to bundle it back up, he just decorated a tree with the remainder of the meat.
People Kill Coyote
Instead of going directly home, he spied some holy people playing a game at the bottom of a canyon. He started antagonizing and mocking the holy people from the top of the cliff. He managed to insult the people and alienated himself by bragging about succeeding in marrying the most beautiful maiden ever, and how everyone was ugly compared to her. The holy people were tired of the coyote’s arrogant and conceited attitude, so they decided to kill him. The Spider people set up four traps with their webs, and signaled the other holy people that they were ready with the trap. As soon as the signal was given, the holy people chased Coyote towards the trap. The coyote ran through the first trap with ease, and continued to boast. The people had no chance of catching up with him. While the holy people continued to chase him, he continued to taunt the holy people about how he was successful and they were failures. The second trap was stronger than the first web and was a little harder to get through, but he still managed to get through before the people caught up with him. However, the people made progress because Coyote struggled with the stronger web. The third web was yet sturdier so it was harder for Coyote to get through, but he still managed to get away from the people. However, this time, the people almost caught him. The Coyote could not escape the last trap, and the people overtook him. The people finally killed off the coyote. This time, he did not manage to have time to hide his heart and lungs, so he could not come back to life.
Maiden Seeks Revenge for Husband
Meanwhile, the hunting party came home without Coyote. The maiden asked after her husband, but the brothers didn’t know where he was. They tried to tell the maiden that they sent him home with a bundle of meat, and should be home, but the sister did not believe her brothers. So she went out and started tracking her husband. She tracked him to where he left the meat. From there, she tracked him to where the holy people killed him.
When she came home, she started preparing herself to go after the holy people. She called on the power of darkness to help her turn into a bear. Before she turned herself into a bear, she hid her heart and lungs in a burrow, just the way Coyote had taught her. Then she went after the holy people to exact revenge. She spent the whole day slaying the holy people who killed her husband. She went out four days in a row to kill as many of them as she could. No matter how many times she was struck by arrows, she did not die. Each time she came home, she spent the night treating and healing her wounds. In the meantime, the holy people retreated to the caves in the cliffs on the canyon walls to escape the Bear Maiden. She still managed to kill the holy people who moved to soft sandstone cliffs by digging a burrow in the sandstones. The holy people who retreated into caves in dense cliffs survived.
In the meantime, the brothers knew they would be next, so they prepared to leave. The brothers decided to scatter into four cardinal directions, except for the youngest brother. The other brothers dug a hole under the fire pit, and hid the youngest brother in the hole. They covered up the hole with a slab of rock and left.
When the bear maiden returned, she realized the brothers had left and started tracking them. She tracked three brothers to the east and killed them. She tracked the others who fled in the different directions, and killed them as well. The only one that was left was the youngest brother. She tracked him, but could not find him anywhere. She tracked and tracked, but could not track him in any particular direction. She finally realized that he must be nearby, so she started digging around, and alas found him hidden in the hole under the fire pit.
Youngest Brother Kills Sister
The Bear Maiden tried to coax the little brother out of the hole in the ground and offered her hand, but he jumped out with his own strength. The Bear Maiden tried to maneuver her brother around so she could kill him from behind. She was talking sweetly and offering to comb his hair to remove the lice as a way to make him turn away from her. The brother agreed to have his sister groom her, but he made sure he sat away from the light so he could see her shadow. Each time the Bear Maiden tried to turn into the bear, the little brother would turn around and ask what she was doing. This went on for a while, until the little brother made a mad dash for his bow and arrow. Once he did that, he continued out the door and ran for the burrow where he had witnessed his sister hiding her heart and lungs. He shot an arrow through her heart and lungs and killed her in her tracks.
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