In olden days, when mostly animals roamed the Earth, a Porcupine set out to track some buffalo. He asked the buffalo chips, “How long have you been here on this trail?” He continued asking until one chip finally replied, “Only lately have I been here.” Encouraged by the answer, Porcupine followed the same path. The farther he went, the fresher the tracks became.
Eventually, he came to a river and spotted a herd of buffalo that had crossed to the other side. “What shall I do now?” Porcupine wondered as he sat down. He called out, “Carry me across!” One of the buffalo replied, “Do you mean me?” Porcupine called again, “No, I want a different buffalo.” He went on to reject each member of the herd, as one by one they asked, “Do you mean me?”
Finally, the last and best buffalo said, “I will carry you across the river.” As the buffalo crossed the river, he said, “Climb on my back.” Porcupine hesitated, saying, “No, I’m afraid I will fall off into the water.” The buffalo then suggested, “Then climb up and ride between my horns.” Again, Porcupine replied, “No, I’m sure I’ll slide off into the river.”
The buffalo offered various other ways to carry him, but Porcupine protested each time. Finally, the buffalo asked, “Perhaps you’d rather ride inside of me?” “Yes,” said Porcupine, and he allowed himself to be swallowed by the buffalo.
“Where are we now?” Porcupine asked. “In the middle of the river,” the buffalo answered. After a little while, Porcupine asked again. “We have nearly crossed,” said the buffalo. “Now we have emerged from the water; come out of me!” Porcupine replied, “No, not yet. Go a little farther.”
Eventually, the buffalo stopped and said, “We have gone far enough, so come out.” At that moment, Porcupine struck the buffalo’s heart with his heavy tail. The buffalo started to run but fell down and died right there—Porcupine had killed him. Others in the herd tried to hook Porcupine, but he hid under the buffalo’s ribs, safe from harm. Soon the herd grew tired and ran away.
Once the coast was clear, Porcupine emerged and exclaimed, “I wish I had something to butcher this nice big buffalo with!” Nearby, Coyote, who had been sleeping, woke up and came over. “Here is my knife for butchering,” Coyote said. Together, they approached the buffalo.
“Let him butcher who can jump over it,” said Coyote. Porcupine ran and jumped, but he only managed to get partway over the buffalo. Coyote, however, leapt entirely over it, not touching the dead animal, and began to butcher it.
After a while, he handed the paunch to Porcupine, saying, “Go wash it in the river, but don’t eat it yet.” Porcupine took it to the river, washed it, and then bit off a piece. Seeing what Porcupine had done, Coyote grew very angry. “I told you not to eat any of the paunch!” he shouted. In a fit of rage, Coyote picked up a club and killed Porcupine, placing him beside the buffalo before returning home.
When Coyote arrived, he told his family, “I have killed a buffalo and a porcupine. Let us go and carry them home.” However, before Porcupine had emerged from the buffalo, he had spoken magic words: “Let a red pine grow here fast.” Instantly, a tall red pine began to grow beneath the meat and Porcupine, lifting both high into the air. Miraculously, Porcupine came back to life.
When Coyote and his family reached the site, they were surprised to find that all the meat was gone. They began searching for it. “I wish they would look up,” Porcupine thought to himself. At that moment, the smallest child happened to glance upward. “Oh!” he exclaimed, and the entire family looked up to see Porcupine perched atop the meat in the tall red pine tree.
Coyote called out, “Throw down a piece of the neck; we are very hungry!” Porcupine replied, “Yes, but first place that youngest child a little farther away.” They complied and moved the child aside. “Now make a ring and all hold hands upward,” Porcupine instructed. The family joined hands and held them up.
Taking advantage of the moment, Porcupine threw down several pieces of buffalo meat, killing Coyote and those in the ring. Next, Porcupine tossed down the rest of the meat and climbed down from the tree. He took care of the young coyote, feeding him as much meat as he desired.
Porcupine then gathered all the meat he could carry and returned to his home. Thus, he and the young coyote became good friends, helping each other hunt buffalo together for a long, long time.
