by Alan Nafzger & Lilly Tabbytite (Comanche)
Coyote was on his way between two villages when he came across a bad-medicine woman. He grabbed his hair and pulled it down, making it very long and attractive.
"How do you get your hair to be this long and look so fine?" The bad-medicine woman asked him when they met.
It's not difficult. I look for a bowed tree, then climb up, tie my hair to a limb, and jump down. "
After Coyote left, the old woman went in search of a twisted tree. She discovered one and climbed up, tying her hair in the branches. She then jumped. Her hair was stuck in the tree.
She regained consciousness just in time to see a buzzard circling her head in the tree. She rushed up there to retrieve it. "Coyote!" she yelled. "You deceiver. You have cheated me severely. This is the final time. "
She rubbed some spittle on her scalp and reapplied her scalp.
A few days later, Coyote saw the woman with the bad medicine coming toward him, so he painted himself with different colors.
"My friend, how did you get those nice stripes all over your body?" the old woman asked when they met. I'd like something similar to this. "How do you manage it?"
"Oh, it's so simple. First, you dig a hole in the ground as deep as you can. Then start a fire inside. When the coals are hot, distribute them evenly. Wrap yourself in freshly peeled bark and roll around on those hot coals. That is how you get these stripes. "
The elderly lady went outside and began gathering dry branches for the fire. She dug the trench and spread out a good bed of hot coals. She then wrapped herself in freshly peeled bark and sat on the fire. She rolled over a few times but couldn't get out of the hole.
She was completely burned. When she removed the bark, it ripped off patches of her skin. She was covered in blisters. A coyote could be heard laughing. "Coyote!" she exclaimed. "You deceiver. You've done it once more. However, this is the last time.
Coyote came along a little later and saw the old woman again. He rearranged himself so she wouldn't recognize him. He replaced his eyes with plum stones, among other things.
Bad-medicine A woman couldn't stop herself when she saw these stones. "How did you get such beautiful eyes, my friend?"
It's quite simple. I simply replaced my eyes.
Oh, they're lovely. "I must have these eyes."
Coyote promised to do it for her. He extracted her eyes and inserted the plum stones.
"There. You look great now. " Take a look over there. "
The elderly lady shook her head.
"Did you notice the woods over there?"
"Oh yes! I see them far more clearly than I did as a young woman. "
However, she was unable to see anything. She walked into a tree and tripped. Coyote burst out laughing. She was aware of this but said nothing. She just got some mud-sticking birds to go find her eyes and replace them. Bad-medicine "Woman" was the name.