Coyote Placing the Stars

We were nearing the end of our time in 9 Mile Canyon, but had one more important stop to make.  This rock art panel is called "Coyote Placing the Stars".   It depicts a creation story that is common to most native tribes in the SW United States.  The panel was high up on a ledge and hard to see, but was clearly marked by a sign on the road.  

The story goes like this, depending on what tribe is telling it.  Grandmother Spider Woman, or 1st Man, or the Black God, or several medicine men were carefully placing the stars in the sky.  This was a time consuming task as they wanted to get all of the constellations placed correctly.  

Along comes Coyote, who is universally known as a trickster.  As he watched the action, he became impatient, as it was taking so very long.  So he grabbed the rest of the stars and threw them into the sky creating a very random and disorganized pattern.  Depending on the tradition, the stars were either on a blanket, in a basket, or in a bag as he can be seen holding in the photo above.  

Here is the center of the panel with Coyote.

On the left side are lots of stars.

More to the right of Coyote.

Here is the whole panel from below.

Such a lovely story!