Have you heard the tales of the Native American trickster, Coyote? Sometimes Coyote is a helper and sometimes he is not, but he is always interesting. This is a tale of Coyote and how the stars got into the sky.
A long time ago, when the world was young, there were no stars in the sky. The sky above was like a thick, blue blanket — the only light was the moon. A mystical man who could make things from fire thought it would be a very good idea to place shining balls of fire into the sky to make pictures. The pictures in the sky would help people tell each other stories.
The man who could make things from fire spread a great big blanket out upon the ground. He wiggled his fingers and stars rained down onto the blanket on the ground.
The man who could make things from fire stood over his stars on the ground and thought for a very long time about the pictures he would make in the sky. He picked out a star, thought about the perfect place to put it, and then placed it into the sky. He picked out another star, thought about the perfect place to put it, and then placed it into the sky. Over and over, he picked out a single star and placed it.
Coyote saw the man who could make things from fire at work, and wondered what was going on. Coyote asked if he could help, and the man who could make things from fire said yes.
The man who could make things from fire showed Coyote how to pick out a star, think about the perfect place to put it, and then place it into the sky.
It didn’t take very much time for Coyote to get very bored with putting stars into the sky one by one. Think about how many stars there are in the sky — how long would it take to put them each up one-by-one?
Coyote gathered up the four corners of the blanket that held the stars. With a mighty SNAP he flung the blanket and stars high up into the sky. Where the stars touched the sky, the stars stuck.
This is why some of the stars in the sky make pictures and some do not. The ones that make pictures are the stars that were very carefully put in place by the man who could make things from fire. The ones that do not are the stars that Coyote flung into the sky because he was impatient.
Read more animal folktales and legends.