The Race to Koso Hot Springs (Saline Valley, California. Shoshoni)

THE RACE TO KOSO HOT SPRINGS

(Saline Valley, California. Shoshoni)

All the animals were down south somewhere (pitiwana). All of them--Crow, Badger, Lizard, Coyote, the birds--were racing against Sun. Frog was in the lead, and reached Koso Hot Springs before Sun. When he got there, he waited for the other animals to arrive.

When all the animals had arrived, they built a large house for all the people. They all went into the house and left Coyote to throw

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[paragraph continues] Sun in the fire. Before Coyote did this, he looked carefully to see where the house was. Then he threw Sun into the fire and all became dark. This is why the springs are hot now.

Coyote set out for the house in the darkness, but could not find it. He searched all over for it. He wandered around for a year. He was very thin by this time.

The people in the house began to talk about Coyote. They said he was the smartest of them all; they wanted him. They began to look for him, and found him close by. It was springtime. Coyote was very thin. The people brought him into the house and gave him a corner in which to rest.

The people wanted Sun back. They asked each other how they could get Sun again. Mallard Duck said, "Quack, quack, quack," and every animal made his noise, trying to bring Sun back. When Mallard quacked, a little light, like dawn, began to show. They asked Coyote to make his noise; when he did so it went dark again. Duck quacked again, and it began to get light. The third time Duck quacked, Sun came out. The people saw that it was springtime; everything was green. They went out of the house.

Sun was close to the earth. They killed him, took his gall out, and threw it high in the sky.