# In the Reign of Coyote/The Robin and the Salmon Berry

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THE ROBIN AND THE SALMON BERRY
EVIDENTLY Klayukat expected the children the next morning, for he had a basket of hazelnuts cracked for them. "You eat these," he said, "and while I stitch, I will tell you the story we spoke of."
"But first, Klayukat, what is a salmon berry?" asked Antonio. "Has it anything to do with a salmon?"
"Nothing to do with a salmon except its color. It is salmon colored when it is ripe. It is a berry that is something like your blackberry, only it is not black, and it does not grow on a vine. It grows on a bush."
"Oh!"
The children began crunching the nuts, and Klayukat began his tale.
Robin and Salmon Berry were sisters. They lived in different parts of the same house. Robin ​had five children, and they were all girls. Salmon Berry had five children, and they were all boys.
Every day Robin and Salmon Berry went picking berries together. One evening, as they walked toward home, Salmon Berry noticed that Robin's berries were all unripe, for Robin had eaten the ripe ones as she found them. Her own basket was filled with luscious berries. Robin looked at Salmon Berry and said, "What would you think if I should eat you?"
Salmon Berry replied, "Don't do that. My children would be poor without me."
That night Salmon Berry told her children: "That monster said she would like to eat me. If she really should eat me, don't stay here any longer, else she will eat you also. If she tries to deceive you, do not believe her."
One night Robin came home alone. "Your mother lost her way," she said to the Salmon Berry children.
"Behold, she has killed her," thought the eldest son of Salmon Berry.
He stayed awake all night for fear that Robin would eat him and his brothers while they were sleeping.
In the morning Robin said: "I will search for your mother. She must be lost in the woods."
​When she was out of sight, Salmon Berry's eldest son made a fire. He said to Robin's children: "Let 's play a game. Let 's steam each other. You steam us first, and then we will steam you. When we cry, 'Now we are done,' you must let us out of the hole."
"All right," said the children of Robin.
They heated stones and put them in the hole. Then Salmon Berry's children went into the hole. Robin's children piled dirt up over them. After a while the eldest son called out, "Now we are done," and Robin's children uncovered them and let them out.
They heated stones again and put them into the hole. Robin's children went in. The children of Salmon Berry covered them up with dirt and piled heavy sticks on top of them. Soon Robin's children called, "We are done"; but the children of Salmon Berry would not let them out. Robin's children cried a little while and then were silent. They were dead. All five were dead.
The children of Salmon Berry took them out of the hole. They put one near a pond of water and twisted its mouth so that it looked as if it were laughing. They put another in the water of the pond. This was the youngest robin child. Still another they put on the roof where it seemed to ​be looking for its mother. The fourth they stood upright near the door of the house, while they placed the fifth on the sand so that it looked as if it were playing with shells. Then they dug a hole. They left their dog at the mouth of the hole and they escaped through it.
Robin came home at night. She thought to herself, "Now I will eat the eldest son."
She noticed something floating on the water, but did not stop to examine it. She went straight to the house, and said to the child sitting upright near the door, "Where is your youngest sister?" The child did not answer. She pushed her, and her finger went right into her flesh.
She saw the child on the roof. "Where is your youngest sister?" she called. The child did not answer. She pulled at its arm, and the arm came out.
She went to the child playing in the sand. "Where is your youngest sister?" but the child did not answer. She put her hand on its head, and the head rolled off.
She saw the child sitting near the pond with its mouth twisted as if it were laughing. "You cruel thing!" she cried, "I cannot find your youngest sister, and you are laughing." She pulled the child's hair, and it came out.
​When she saw the youngest child floating on the water, she went in to pull it out, and it came to pieces. Then she wailed, "Oh, Salmon Berry's son has killed my children."
She went to the house and looked around for her nephews. Then she noticed the dog. "Which way did your masters go?" she asked him.
"Wu!" answered the dog, pointing with his mouth in one direction.
Robin ran that way and tried to smell the tracks of the children of Salmon Berry. She could find no trace of them. She returned to the dog. "You are deceiving me," she accused him. "Tell me which way your masters have gone."
"Wu!" answered the dog, and pointed his mouth in another direction. Robin ran where he had pointed, but she could find no trace of the children of Salmon Berry. She came back to the dog and scolded him again. Five times did the dog turn her from the right track. Then she discovered the hole.
She ran down it and found the tracks of the children. She followed them, calling as she ran, "O children! I have found your mother."
The children of Salmon Berry heard her and ran faster. The youngest grew tired, and the others took turns in carrying him. After a while they came to the skins of two elk bucks. The eldest ​son found two kettles and boiled the skins in one and the antlers in another, and he said to each: "When Robin reaches you, you must boil violently. Don't cool off too quickly, for she will be hungry and will forget to pursue us while she waits to eat." Then the children ran on.
Robin came to the kettles. They were both boiling violently. She began to scold the kettle of skins. "I will take revenge on your grandmother, your mother, and all your relatives." The skins could not stand this. They stopped boiling. They cooled off. Robin ate, and ate, and ate, until she finished all that was in the kettle of skins.
Then she looked at the kettle of antlers and began to scold it. "I will take revenge on your father, your uncle, your mother, and all your relatives." The antlers could not stand this. They stopped boiling and cooled off. Robin ate, and ate, and ate, until she had eaten all that was in the kettle of antlers. Then she went on as quickly as she could.
Meanwhile the children of Salmon Berry had reached the creek. They saw Old Crane near the water and asked him to take them across.
"Don't be afraid, children," he answered. "Go to my house and eat there. Fish has been boiled for you." They went to Old Crane's house and ate and rested.
​Robin came to the creek. She called, "Younger Brother, take me across." She called this many times. Then Old Crane came over slowly. He stretched his legs out and bridged the water. He said to Robin, "Don't be afraid, or you might fall in."
Robin started to walk across on his leg. When she was halfway over, she became frightened, for the leg there was narrow. Old Crane began to shake his leg, and he shook it so hard that Robin fell into the water. As she was floating downstream, she heard Old Crane calling after her: "Robin shall be your name, Robin shall be your name. But no more shall you eat people."
The current first swept Robin against jagged rocks, which cut her breast, and then it landed her upon a sandy beach. There she lay still and seemed to be dead. The crow came and pecked at the hole in her breast. The blood flowed out, and Robin stirred a little. "Stop eating me, Old Crow," she murmured, "I am alive." The crow flew away. Robin lay still awhile.
When the blood had stopped flowing and had caked itself over her breast, she arose and started homeward through the woods. On her way she passed a willow and said to it, "O Willow, is my painting becoming?"
​The willow sighed, "Oh, how bad looks the blood on her breast!"
"Oh, you bad thing!" answered Robin. "When your wood burns, it will crackle and give out little heat."
Then she came to an alder and asked, "O Alder, is my painting becoming?"
The alder bowed quietly. "It is becoming, the blood of your breast."
"Ah, little sister," laughed Robin; "when people want color, they will get red dye from your bark. When you are dry, you will burn with a steady heat."
She next came to a cottonwood. "O Cottonwood, is my painting becoming?"
"Oh, how bad looks the blood of her breast!" murmured the cottonwood.
"Oh, you horrid thing! You shall have breaks in your side, and you will not burn well when you are dry."
Then she passed to the maple and asked, "O Maple, is my painting becoming?"
"Oh, how becoming is the blood of her breast!" nodded the maple.
"Ah, you are true, dear sister. Your bark shall be used for baskets, and people shall find them of great use."
​When she came to the vine maple, she asked as before, "Is my painting becoming?"
"Oh, how becoming is the blood of her breast!" replied the vine maple.
"You answer well, and your wood shall be used for dishes and spoons, and for all things to make a house comfortable."
Then she passed to the cedar and asked, "O Cedar, is my painting becoming?"
"Oh, how becoming is the blood of her breast!" answered the cedar.
"You speak well, my younger brother. When people make canoes of you, they will be able to exchange them for slaves. They shall use you for houses and sell these for values."
Then she went to the fir and asked, "O Fir, is my painting becoming?"
"Oh, how becoming is the blood of her breast!" sighed the fir.
"You are wise, O Fir. When conjurers chant their songs, your wood shall be burned in their sacred fires. Your breath shall ever be sought after by people. You will always be a healer of woes."
Thus Robin passed through the forest, giving to each tree the uses that it has to-day.
​"And did that horrid robin give every tree its use—every single tree?" inquired Juañita.
"Every tree that has a use got it from Robin that day."
"And was the hazel tree told to raise these nuts?" and Antonio held up the few that were left in the basket.
"It was told that day."
"Well, they 're good nuts, but I wish that old Robin had n't told them to grow," said Juañita, as she stood up and shook her skirt in disdain.
"You may have more nuts some other day. Now go to the house before that Tecla comes calling for you."