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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.
Fire Race
Karuk Lore
Neither the word "free" nor any corresponding term occurs in the root language [of the Sioux], in the primal concept; there was never anything for the Indian to free himself from. His spirit was not seeking truth but holding on to truth. And his was the mind nourished by choice. Whatever he needed to know was sooner or later revealed to him. And that which he desired to know - the best way to achieve his maximum spiritual potential - was the only mystery he chose to investigate. -- Ruth Beebe Hill
The coyote's tail is used in threat displays. It becomes bushy and is held horizontally when the Coyote displays aggression.
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