1
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
mother and the little lizard went hack
to hiB grandmother feeling very badly
and told her all the bear had Raid and
begged her to hit him with a rock and
kill him. She refused, for she loved her
grandson more than anything else in the
world, but he insisted so Bhe was finally
persuaded to do as he wished.
Shefmoumed for him very deeply and
one day as she was pitting by the fire
lamenting for her dead relatives the
little lizard appeared singing the song
she had. taught him. It seemed that he
had a charmed life as he had been killed
many time and eaeh.'time he would
come back to life. ,
His grandmother left. off Jamentmji
and was overjoyed to have him hack
with her again.
The fact that he had been dead did
nt make him , forget that he must
avenge his family for the wrongs the
bears had done them. i .
So one night he went up to the bears'
bouse while they were asleep and cut off
the old'bear's foot, threw his moccasin
in the fire and singed the hairs around
his leg so he would think that his foot
was burned off.
The little lizard then carried) the , foot
home and the next day his grandmother
cooked it for their dinner.
The Coyote came down to have din
ner with them and he knew that it was
the bear's foot that they had been eating '
so when it came time for him to go home
he put ashes on his mouth so the bears
could not see the grease and ask him
what he had eaten.
The next day when the old bear woke
up and found his foot gone he was in
diBtresB.
He sent his brothers for the little liz
ard to ask him if he cut off his foot.
The little lizard admitted that he did
as he knew if the bears did kill him for
it he would come back to life.
When the bears asked what they
should do with him he never said any
thing and after a while they let him go.
In a few days the old bear died and
the brothers asked the Coyote what they
should do with his body.
The Coyote told them to put his body
outside and pile brush on it bo that no
one would know anything about it.
The bears did as he told them and
then they all left their old home, each
going to a different mountain to live.
The Coyote was then left without a
ln.rue, so he went to live with the lizards.
One night these four bears all had the
same dream.
They drennud the Coyote and the two
lizards were carrying their brother home
to dry his flesh fur food. .
Each bear looked from the top of his
mountain down where their brother laid
and saw the Coyote and little lizard car
rying away the last load of their broth
er's meat.
This made them very angry so they
came down from the mountains like a
terrible wind after the two thieves.
The Coyote thought it was just the
wind, but the little lizard knew it was
the bears..
He told the Coyote to hurry and go
home as the bears were coming and, he
ran and left the little lizard far behind.
The bears were just about to overtake
the little lizard and capture him when
he disappeared under a rock.
The bears then started for the lizard's
house which was built of rock with just
Continued on page 6.