How the Stars Came to Be

This is the summary of the Navaho story of the sky.

A very long time ago, before there were galaxies and planets, there were no stars in the sky, The nights were very dark, and the animals could not see., so the animals asked Great Spirit for help.

The animals gathered in their meeting place and told Great Spirit about their problem. Great Spirit nodded and told the animals "Watch." He then picked up a bright stone from the river and placed it in the sky, and it transformed into a star. "This is the North Star" Great Spirit explained "You can use it to find your way home when you are lost"

Then Great Spirit told the wisest animals to go collect stones for themselves and place them in the sky in form of themselves. The animals did this but they began to get tired.

They returned to Great Spirit and asked for more help. "Go to Coyote" Great Spirit said "He will help you." And they did. 

Now Coyote thought he was the wisest and most clever of all the animals, and he did not want to spend time helping the other animals. Even so, he also did not want to offend Great Spirit. So coyote told the animals to leave their stones in his cave, and he would finish the rest of it for them. After the animals had left his cave, Coyote began to think of what a magnificent portrait of himself he would plaster into the sky, "It will be much better than all the others," he said to himself.

But, then, Coyote was reminded that he must finish the animals work before it became dark. He had spent so much time thinking of his own stars that it was almost sunset. 

Hurriedly, he snatched up the bag of stones and flung them up high into the air. Because of Coyote's foolishness, not all constellations appear finished. But, coyote was punished for his mistake, for in his haste, he could not make his own constellation, and that is why Coyote howls at Great Spirit in his home in the sky.2