Question

Read the story and write a short summary.

Answer 1

This is a human creation story told by native American peoples. In the story the Bald Eagle creates the first human. He creates the body of the male first and allows the male person to grow without giving it a spirit. He creates the male from clay and allows him to grow on the earth to a normal size while he is sleeping.
He realizes that he will need to create a female person so that they can procreate. He does this by laying a feather beside the male and allows it to become a female person on its own. The man, who was sleeping during the creation of the woman, did not know that this was happening, so when he woke he was surprised to see the woman there. He believed that he was alone and was confused by her presence there.
Since their job was to procreate and populate the earth with people, the Eagle wants to know if they have had intercourse, and, since they have not, he sends the coyote to procreate with her. In Native American mythology, the coyote often has the body of a male person, so it makes sense that this character would be chosen to "tame" the woman. After he has had intercourse with her the first time, he dies and is brought back to life by the Eagle. He has intercourse with her again and doesn't die, so the Eagle gives the message to the man that they are to live together and procreate.