Old-man and the Eagle

Ahote and his son, Ciqala, were out hunting and following a herd of buffalo for three long days. They had picked out the weakest of the bulls to kill and they planned to kill it later on that night when the herd stopped to rest. Nearing high-moon, Ahote led his son to a small hill just beyond where the buffalo were resting. Ahote signaled his son to shoot the buffalo with an arrow and as Ciqala drew his bow, Ahote saw an eagle land on a tree branch right above the herd of buffalo. Ahote told his son not to shoot and Ciqala obeyed. Ahote told his son that they would have to return to the village without a buffalo. They walked back to their village and stopped each night to rest. On the final night, Ciqala asked his father why he had told him not to shoot the buffalo when he saw the eagle. His father replied, “Because that was a message from Old-man.” Ciqala said, “But father, how do you know that was a message from Old-man?” “It is time I told you the story of Old-man and Eagle.” “One day, long ago, Old-man was making his trips delivering his messages, when he came to his final message place; Bear told him that he was much too old and slow to be delivering all of his messages to everyone each day. Old-man agreed and set out to find someone who was worthy of being his messenger. Old-man gathered six animals: Beaver, Chipmunk, Raccoon, Rabbit, Coyote, and Eagle. Old-man told the animals that he was getting too old and slow to deliver every message each day and he needed someone to be his messenger. The animals agreed with Old-man that he was too old and slow. Old-man then told them that they would have to have a race in