This story tells how Coyote made the different people, including the
Nez Perce, and how certain animals came to look as they do today. Without
Coyote's cleverness in outwitting the monster, the people and animals
today would still be imprisoned in the Monster's belly.

Once upon a time, Coyote was tearing down the waterfall at Celilo and
building a fish ladder, so that salmon could go upstream for the people
to catch. He was very busy at this, when someone shouted to him, "Why
are you doing that? All the people are gone now because the Monster has
eaten them."

"Well," said Coyote to himself, "then I'll stop doing this because I
was doing it for the people, and they are gone. Now I'll go along, too."

From there he went upstream, by way of the Salmon River country. As he
was walking along, he stepped on the leg of Meadowlark and broke it.
Meadowlark got mad and shouted, "Lima, lima, lima! What chance do you
have of finding people, walking along like this?"

Coyote said, "My Aunt! Please tell me what is happening, and I will
make for you a new leg from the wood of a chokecherry tree."

So the Meadowlark told him, "Already all the people have been swallowed
by the Monster."

Coyote replied, "Well, that is where I, too, am going." Then he fixed
Meadowlark's leg with a chokecherry branch. From there, he traveled on.
Along the way he took a good bath, saying to himself, "I will make
myself tasty to the Monster." Then he dressed himself all up, saying, "This
is so he won't vomit me up." Coyote tied himself with rawhide rope to
three great mountains, Tuhm-lo-yeets-mekhs (Pilot Knob),
Se-sak-khey-mekhs (Seven Devil's Mountain), and Ta-ya-mekhs (Cottonwood Butte). After
the people came, these same mountains were used by young men and women
as special places to seek the wey-a-kin, or spirit who helped guide
them through life.

From there, Coyote went along the mountains and over the ridges.
Suddenly, he saw a great head. He quickly hid himself in the grass and gazed
at it. Never before in his life had he seen anything like it. The head
was huge, and sweating off somewhere i n the distance was its big body.
Then Coyote shouted to him, "Oh Monster, let us inhale each other!" The
big eyes of the monster looked all around for Coyote, but did not find
him, because Coyote's body was painted with clay and was the same color
as the grass. Then Coyote shouted again, "Oh Monster, let us inhale
each other!" Coyote shook the grass back and forth where he sat.

Suddenly the Monster saw the swaying grass and said, "Oh you Coyote,
you inhale first. You swallow me first." So Coyote tried. Powerfully and
noisily he drew in his breath, but the great Monster only swayed and
shook.

Then Coyote said, "Now you inhale me. You have already swallowed all
the people, so you should swallow me too, so I won't be lonely." The
Monster did not know that Coyote had a pack strapped to his back with five
flintstone knives, a flint fire-making set, and some pure pitch in it.

Now the Monster inhaled like a mighty wind. He carried Coyote right
towards him, but as Coyote Went, he left along the way great keh-mes
(Camas bulbs) and great serviceberry fields, saying, "Here the people will
find them and will be glad, for only a short time away is the coming of
the La-te-tel-wit (Human Beings)." Coyote almost got caught on one of
the ropes, but he cut it with his knife. Thus he dashed right into the
monster's mouth.

Coyote looked around and walked down the throat of the Monster. Along
the way he saw bones scattered about, and he thought to himself, "I can
see that many people have been dying." As he went along he saw some
boys and he said to them, "Where is the Monster's heart? Come, show me."
As they were heading that way, Grizzly Bear rushed out at them, roaring.
Coyote said, "So! You make yourself scary only to me," and he kicked
Bear on the nose. Thus, the bear today has only a short nose.

As they went on, Rattlesnake rattled at them in fury. "So, only towards
me you are vicious. We are nothing but dung to you." Then he stomped on
Rattlesnake's head, and flattened it out. It is still that way.

Coyote then met Brown Bear who said, "I see the Monster has kept you
for last. Hah! I'd like to see you try to save your people!"

But then, all along the way, people began to greet Coyote and talk to
him. His close friend, Fox, greeted him from the side and said, "The
Monster is so dangerous. What are you going to do to him ?"

Coyote told him, "You and the boys go find some wood or anything that
will burn."

About this time, Coyote had arrived at the heart of the Monster. He cut
off slabs of fat from the great heart and threw them to the people.
"It's too bad you are hungry. Here, eat this." Coyote now started a fire
with his flint, and smoke drifted up through the Monster's eyes, nose,
ears, and anus.

The Monster said, "Oh you Coyote! That's why I didn't trust you. Let me
cast you out."

Coyote said, "If you do, people will later say, 'He who was cast out is
giving salmon to the people.'" "Well, then, go out through the nose,"
the Monster said. "But then they will say the same thing." "Well, then,
go out through the ears," the Monster said.

"If I do," answered Coyote, "they will say, 'There is old ear-wax,
giving food to the people."

"Hn, hn, hn, Oh you Coyote! This is why I didn't trust you. Then, go
out through the anus."

And Coyote replied, "Then people will say, 'Old faeces is giving food
to the people."

The fire was now burning near the Monster's heart, and he began to feel
the pain. Coyote began cutting away on the heart, but then broke one of
his stone knives. Right away he took another knife and kept cutting,
but soon that one broke, too. Coyote t hen said to the people, "Now
gather up all the bones around here and carry them to the eyes, ears, month,
and anus of the Monster. Pile them up, and when he falls dead, kick
them out the openings." With the third knife he began cutting away at the
heart. The third knife broke, and then the fourth, leaving only one
more. He told the people, "All right, get yourselves ready because as soon
as he falls dead, each one of you must go out through the opening that
is closest to you. Take the old women and old men close to the openings
so that they may get out easily."

Now the heart hung by only a small piece of muscle and Coyote was
cutting away on it, using his last stone knife. The Monster's heart was
still barely hanging when Coyote's last knife broke. Coyote then threw
himself on the heart, just barely tearing it loose with his hands. Then the
Monster died and opened up all the openings of his body. The people
kicked the bones out and then went out themselves. Coyote went out, too.

The Monster fell dead and the anus began closing, but Muskrat was still
inside. Just as the anus closed he squeezed out, barely getting his
body out, but his tail was caught. He pulled and pulled and all the hair
got pulled right off it. Coyote scolded him, "Now what were you doing?
You probably thought of something to do at the last minute. You're
always behind in everything."

Then Coyote told the people, "Gather up all the bones and arrange them
well." They did this. Then Coyote said, "Now we are going to cut up the
Monster." Coyote smeared blood on his hands and sprinkled this blood on
the bones. Suddenly there came to life again all those who had died
while inside the Monster. Everyone carved up the great Monster and Coyote
began dealing out parts of the body to different areas of the country
all over the land, towards the sunrise, towards the sunset, towards the
north, and towards the south. Where each part landed, he named a tribe
and described what their appearance would be. The Cayuse were formed
and became small and hot tempered. The Flatheads got a flat headed
appearance. The Blackfeet became tall, slender, and war-like. The Coeur
d'Alene and their neighbors to the north became skillful gamblers. The
Yakima became short and stocky and were good fishermen.

He used up the entire body of the Monster in this way. Then Fox came up
to Coyote and said, "What is the meaning of this, Coyote? You have used
up the body of the Monster and given it to far away lands, but have
given yourself nothing for this area."

"Well," snorted Coyote, "Why didn't you tell me this before? I was so
busy that I didn't think of it." Then he turned to the people and said,
"Bring me some water with which to wash my hands." He washed his hands
and made the water bloody. Then with t his bloody water, he threw drops
over the land around him and said, "You may be little people, but you
will be powerful. You will be little because I did not give you enough
of the Monster's body, but you will be very brave and intelligent and
will work hard. In only a short time, the La-te-tel-wit (Human Beings)
are coming. And you will be known as the Nu-me-poo (later referred to as
Nez Perce), or Tsoop-nit-pa-lu (People Crossing over into the Divide).
Thus, the Nu-me-poo Nation was born. Today, the heart and liver of the
Monster are to be found in the beautiful Kamiah Valley in Idaho, the
home of the Nez Perce tribe. Thus, the beginning of the La-te-tel-wit
(Human Beings) was at hand.