IZHAPE' SE'MMAI

(Coyote Discusses God)

translated by D. Gould
"Suden ne gupa biaichi',

deasen debizhi tsaa-desumbaaduhka'ande.

mai Izhape'

newi newe'naipe gahti de'ahwaide.

"Semme'gahdaa'ga "

su'den gai oyoon damme wa'ite.

"Wihyu use damme wa'nde

sidei gwi'yaanee ba'andu de'iya'ihkandu'i . . ."

(Bennen gwi'yaanee ba'andu
de'eya'ihkandu'i
mai nanimeehkande.
Udei gwasedu’i mai
desumbaikahkande).

 "He's bigger than me

and a whole lot smarter,"

Coyote remarked

speaking of God.

Only thing is

he isn't around much

and its gotta be someone

"lookin' out for the chickens. . ."

IZHAPE' SE'MMAI was taken from:

"The Natural History of Old Man Coyote" by William Bright in Recovering the Word: Essays on Native American Literature, ed. Brian Swann and Arnold Krupat
1987, University of California Press.

with special thanks to Leanne Hinton.