Coyote and Owl, Mescalero Apache Text :: :: University of Virginia Library

Coyote and Owl, Mescalero Apache Text

excerpted from Chiricahua Apache Texts, with Ethnological Notes

2. Coyote and Owl as told by Charles Smith

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Then that which he had named, prepared that way, lay scattered about.

(2.19)
'Ákoo'a 'áíí ch'óͅóͅzhíní, k'át'éyá, yaaheesndilná'a.
Nágo'a Shóͅóͅdé 'ee'nyáͅná'a.
'Ákoo, kíí'a, gahí, kát'éyá, sitíͅná'a.
Bee'ch'iniiłghałná'a.

Then that which he had named, prepared that way, lay scattered about.
And Coyote began to eat.
Then, for [Owl], a rabbit, already prepared, lay there.
He began to eat it[4].

[_]

Ethnological Note 4
The conspicuous part which food and feeding play in these tales is a faithful reflection of the seriousness of the food-quest for these roving, hunting and gathering Apache.