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Horace Axtell continues telling of the Coyote and Monster, and the creation of the various peoples, including the Nimíipuu. Part 2 Item Info

He went over there where the monsters body was and he hollered inside. He hollered at the people, “You can come out now.” So one by one they started coming out. That is when he decided he was going to name the different animals and life that was inside. He gave them different names according to the sounds they made and the way they looked. When he gave the rattlesnake a name, they called him wéexpus. The rattlesnake got mad so coyote stepped on his head like that. That is why the rattlesnake has a flat head. After he had done that he made another plan. This time he thought well I got this body of the monster so I am going to make human beings, different tribes. So he cut the monster’s body into different pieces and starts throwing them in different directions. That is when he decided to throw a piece of meat that way and he said, “That way is going to be the Shoshones. Then he threw another chunk this other way, “That is going to be the ShoBan people.” All different tribes he threw like that, different ways. The Crows, the Sioux, the Yakima, quite a few different listed there, over in Umatilla, people up in Usk. They call them qem’eespelu. He made all these different tribes from the monster’s body. After that these people that came to life became people. They came over here and they told the monster with tears in their eyes, “Thank you for making us people from the monster’s body but we have one concern. You didn’t make any people from right here where you killed the monster.” That is when the coyote made his last decision. The only thing that was left there was the monster’s heart. So he walked over and picked up the heart and squeezed it like that and then drained it and blood run out on the ground. That is when he said, “Here there is going to be the Nez Perce people, the Nimiipuu they call them. They are going to be beautiful people, they are going to be proud people, and they are going to have a kind and loving heart. They’ll take care of this land.” So he got finished and then he said, “I made all these people and all these living things, these animals out of this monsters body because this is where the monster used to roam all over this land.” This is the story about the heart of the monster.

Title:
Horace Axtell continues telling of the Coyote and Monster, and the creation of the various peoples, including the Nimíipuu. Part 2
Date Created:
2002-03
Description:
Horace Axtell continues telling of the Coyote and Monster, and the creation of the various peoples, including the Nimíipuu. Part 2. (Interviewed by Josiah Pinkham March 2002)
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Horace Axtell continues telling of the Coyote and Monster, and the creation of the various peoples, including the Nimíipuu. Part 2", Nimíipuu L3, Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning (CDIL)
Reference Link:
https://cdil.lib.uidaho.edu/nimiipuu-l3/items/nimiipuu-l3-188.html
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