Coyote Helps Decorate the Night
In this Hopi story about the origins of the night sky, the animals were decorating the darkness. Various animals placed stars and patterns in the sky, but Coyote, growing impatient with the slow, careful work, grabbed a handful of stars and threw them carelessly across the sky. This explains why some stars are scattered randomly while others form orderly patterns. Another version tells that Coyote was given the task of placing the stars but became distracted or deliberately did a poor job, resulting in the Milky Way and the chaotic scattering of stars. The story warns against impatience and th