Coyote Creates Spokane Falls

Watch and listen to Coeur d'Alene tribal elder Lawrence Aripa tell the story:

Read along as Lawrence Aripa tells the story:

Coyote Creates Spokane Falls

So the coyote was always by himself and he was always wandering around And this one day he was along the Spokane River. And he was jumping Around and all of a sudden he saw a camp that had smoke coming out of it, this big camp. And there were people laughing and singing. And so he was across the river, and he looked over and saw a group of women who were cleaning fish, and preparing to smoke it and dry it. And there were others washing clothes. And these were the ones that were singing, these were the ones having fun. And he looked at them and he was just going to leave and he looks and there is one girl that stands out.

Oooohh boy! She's beautiful. Gosh, I want that girl.

He thought, what could I do, how could I get her? So he starts thinking about it, and then they all go back to camp. So he thought, well the only thing to do is to go to her father. So he goes into the camp and the Indians look at him, "Hey look, there's a coyote! What's he doing?" So he asks about the girl and who her father is. And he found out that the father was the chief of the Coeur d'Alene people. So he goes up to the chief and he said,

I saw your daughter at the river today and I want to marry her.

The chief looked down at him and says,

What did you say?

He says,

I want to marry your daughter.

And the chief started to laugh. He says,

You can't do that, you're a coyote and she's human. You can't marry her.

He (coyote) says,

But she's beautiful and I want her.

And the chief said,

NO! You can't! Anyway, when I do let my daughter go you will have to bring me things and you will have to be a great warrior. You will have to Prove yourself in battle and help others. You don't do that. NO!

So the coyote leaves and then he thought, Kalispells are good friends of the Coeur d'Alene people. So he goes up there, to the Kalispells, and he tells the chief the same thing,

I want to marry that girl and I want you to help me get her.

And the Kalispell chief started to laugh, and again he was chased out of camp. And he was ashamed. But…he was still determined. So he went to the Spokane Tribe and the same thing happened. They laughed at him, threw rocks at him and sticks, then chased him out of the camp. Then he went to the Colvilles and the same thing happened. And so he finally came back to the Coeur d'Alenes and then he used his magic powers and he moved big rocks and dirt and he put it into the river. And he saw the salmon coming up but they couldn't go over the dam that he made…like a dam. So he stopped the water from coming down and then the water finally filled up and came over anyway.

And then he went over to the chief and he says,

I am going to leave that the way it is, no more salmon coming up Until you change your mind. And when you change your mind you Let me know and I will come and get the girl.

And the chief says,

NO way! It is impossible, you can't have my daughter, you can't marry a human.

But the coyote was determined. And the young man who was more or less courting her, the one that had been going out in battles and proving himself as a warrior, getting horses and deer skins and other things to use to give to the parentshe intended to get the girl as his wife. The coyote left and the young man followed him. And they left the camp and neither one was ever heard of again. So nobody knows what happened.

But the falls, the falls remain and to this day no more salmon comes up to The Coeur d'Alene people because coyote couldn't marry the young girl.