Kareya was the god who created the world in the very beginning. First he made the fishes in the ocean; next he made the animals on land; last he made man. All the animals were given the same amount of power.
Kareya went to man and said, "Make as many bows and arrows as there are animals. I will call them all together. You will give the longest bow to the animal who should have the most power and the shortest to the one who should have the least."
Man made all of the bows and arrows. Kareya then announced to all of the animals, "Tomorrow man will come to you and give the longest bow to the animal who should have the most power. The rest of the bows will be given down the line."
The animals gathered that evening and went to sleep waiting for man to come in the morning.
Coyote wanted to have the most power so he decided he would stay awake all night and be the first to meet man in the morning. He soon began to get tired and tried several ways to keep himself awake. He finally made so much noise in his efforts to stay awake that he woke some of the other animals so he had to stop. Late in the night Coyote became so tired he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. He took two little sticks and sharpened them at the ends to prop his eyelids open so he could sleep and still watch. The sharp sticks pierced his eyelids and instead of keeping them open, they pinned them shut. Coyote lay in a deep sleep when the rest of the animals got up.
Man distributed the bows to the animals but still had the shortest bow left. 'Who have I missed?' he cried.
The animals looked around and soon spied Coyote fast asleep. They laughed and danced around him. Finally they led him to man for his eyes were still pinned shut. Man pulled the sticks out of Coyote's eyes and gave him the shortest bow. The animals all laughed and teased Coyote so much man took pity on him who would be the weakest of them all.
Man prayed to Kareya about Coyote. Kareya responded to man's prayer by giving Coyote more cunning than any other animal.