A long time ago, only the three Yellow Jacket sisters had fire. Even
though other animals froze, the fire was kept from them. Wise Old
Coyote,
however, devises a plan to steal the fire, and enlists the other
animals
to help. Coyote diverts the yellow jackets, seizes a burning stick, and
runs away. As the yellow jackets chase him, he hands it off to Eagle,
who
hands it to Mountain Lion. Several hand-offs later, Frog hides a hot
coal
in his mouth on a river bottom, and the yellow jackets give up. When
Frog
spits the coal out, Willow Tree swallows it, and Coyote shows the
animals
how to extract it: by rubbing two sticks together over dry moss. Now
that
the animals have fire, each night they gather in a circle while the
elders tell stories. An meaningful tale which stresses the importance
of
the natural world and our need to live cooperatively with it.