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Boas]
Kutenai Tales
201

Golden Eagle went out, | took a feather of his body, and threw it up. ǁ There was a tree. Where he threw it, (the feather) became an 210 eagle. | He always used to make eagles, and therefore his name was | Golden Eagle. He spoke, and said: "Here on the tree | a golden eagle is sitting. Let all the children, youths, | big men, and old men, shoot at it! Whoever kills it shall ǁ marry my daughter, the one who 215 remains." Then they all | took their bows. The people of that town went out. | It was a big town. There were many boys, youths, | men, and old men, and all shot at it. Golden Eagle said: | "Every one shall have one shot." Then they all shot. ǁ Coyote shot once. He 220 shot, shot. Then | they laughed at him. They all shot, but no one | hit it. Tree Chief knew that they were shooting | at the golden eagle. He was not told about it because he was small. They thought | he would not be able to do it. He just discovered through his manitou power what was happening. ǁ He made a small bow and 225 a small arrow. He started. He went there. | He arrived, and all the people were outside. | They saw the boy coming, shooting away while he was coming along. | Then just from the edge where they were he shot. | Only a few saw the boy. Coyote was still shooting, ǁ shooting. Coyote just shot again. When | the child shot, they knew 230 that he had hit | the golden eagle. It fell down. Coyote saw it fall down. | He ran after it. When it reached the ground, he took hold of it. He | saw that it was not his arrow. Then he took out his arrow and exchanged it (for Tree Chief's arrow). ǁ He began to run. 235 He had (the bird) on his arrow. He said: | "Father-in-law, father-in-law!" He shouted. He said to his father-in-law: | "I killed the golden eagle." One man said to Coyote: | "Try to be sensible. Whatever may have happened, this is not it. | Look at it! It is a prairie chicken you are carrying. There, that ǁ boy has it on his arrow. 240 He shot it." Coyote looked at what he was carrying. | It was a prairie chicken. Then they all laughed at what Coyote had done. | He thought he would take Eagle's other | daughter, because he had fooled Golden Eagle before. He thought he | ought to marry both his daughters. Then all went into ǁ the tent. They said: "The 245 boy | is too small to have a wife." But Golden Eagle thought: | "Even if the boy is small, I'll take him to be | the husband of my daughter." |

At night, when the people slept, Tree Chief's ǁ grandmother came. 250 She carried the golden eagle. | His grandmother said to him: "Who killed it?" He said: "I did." | She said to him: "What did you kill it with?" He said to her: "With | my bow here." His bow was