The Great
Race
From: American Indian Myths and Legends
Edited by Richerd Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz.
New York: Pantheon, 1984, page 390-392
When the Great Mystery
created the earth and all living things upon it, the people
and animals lived in peace. None, neither people nor
animals, ate flesh. Now it happened in the course of many
seasons that the buffalo began to think that they were the
most powerful beings in the world. They came to believe that
this gave them the right to kill and eat other animals, and
people as well. Then the people said: "This isn't fair; we
humans and the buffalo were created equal. But if it happens
that one or the other must be the most powerful, then it
should be us!"
The buffalo said, "Let's get this settled. We should have
a contest to see whether you eat us or we eat you. How about
a race?"
The people said: "But in a race, you have an unfair
advantage; two legs can't compete with four. Suppose we let
the birds race for us. They have wings, you have four legs,
that makes it more even."
The buffalo said: "Agreed. We'll choose our fastest
runner, and you choose some birds to race for you."
Then some of the other animals said: "We should have a
chance to race, too."
"That's right, it's only fair," said the buffalo and the
people. So, all living things went to a place at the egde of
the Black Hills called Buffalo Gap. There they lined up for
the race.
As their contestant, the buffalo had chosen Running Slim
Buffalo Woman, a young cow who was the fastest of all
animals and who had never been beaten in a footrace.
To race for then the human beings had chosen four birds:
a hummingbird, a meadowlark, a hawk, and a magpie.
In those early days of the world, the birds and animals
had no color. Now for the race they all painted themselves
carefully, each creature according to its own medicine, its
own vision. For example, the skunk painted a white stripe on
its back, the black tailed deer painted its tail black, the
antelope took some red-brown earth and, mixing it with
water, painted its whole hide. As all creatures painted
themselves for this great race, so they have looked ever
since.
Then the signal to race was given, and the crowd of
runners started toward a hill which was the halfway point.
Running Slim took off in a flash, with the buffalo cheering
her on. For a while Hummingbird flew along with her, but
soon he fell back exhausted and Meadowlark took over. Still,
Running Slim kept far ahead, leading the great mass of
racers with their thundering hooves. Though they had already
covered a great distance, Running Slim was fresh.
By the time Running Slim reached the halfway point, she
and the lark were far ahead of the field. At the hill the
umpires were shouting: "Now turn and race back to the
starting point, to Buffalo Gap!"
The lark heard this and thought: "I can't make it that
far." He dropped out of the race, but already Hawk was
coming on strongly.
Now Hawk, acknowledged to be the fastest of the birds,
suddenly shot ahead of Running Slim. The people shouted for
joy -- but not for long. Hawk's endurance did not match his
swiftness, and the sudden spurt exhausted him.
Again Running Slim came on, thundering ahead. With her
deep chest, powerful legs, and great lungs, it seemed that
she could keep up the pace forever. Then far in the rear a
little black and white dot could be seen, coming up, flying
hard. This was Magpie, a slow bird but strong-hearted and
persevering. The buffalo herd paid no attention to Magpie;
they were cheering their runner while the people watched
silently.
Some of the racers were running so hard now that blood
spurted from their mouths and nostrils. It colored the earth
beneathwhich has ever remained red along the trail where the
race was run.
At last Buffalo Gap came into sight. Powerful and
confident as she was, Running Slim herself was beginning to
slow down, though it was hardly noticeable. Even she was not
aware of it, but ran along feeling sure that she would win.
Then very slowly, imperceptibly, Magpie began to gain on
her.
Buffalo Gap was closer now, though still a good way off,
thought Slim Running. She could feel herself tiring. The
buffalo were grunting and stomping, trying to encourage her.
Magpie was still behind, but coming along steadily.
Now Buffalo Gap was near. Running Slim Buffalo Woman was
really tired, but she gathered all her strength for the last
spurt, thundering along, her heart close to bursting. By
then, however, Magpie had come up even with her.
Both the buffalo and the people were cheering their
racers on, calling out to them, yelling and stomping. So the
two were speeding up, putting the very last of their
strength into it -- Running Slim Buffalo Woman and Magpie.
Thus they neared the sticks, painted red, planted in the
earth, which marked the finishing line. It was not until
they were a hand-bredth away from those sticks, at the last
moment, that Magpie finally shot ahead. The people gave a
great shout of happiness, and both racers fell exhausted.
So the humans had won and the buffalo had lost. And ever
since the people have respected the magpie, never hunting it
or eating it. So the people became more powerful than the
buffalo and all the other animals, and from that time on,
people have hunted the
buffalo for their food.
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