Many, many moon ago, before those of us here walked upon the earth, Coyote walked upon the earth.  Coyote was so consumed with curiosity about the world that he could hardly sleep.  Hour after hour, night after night, he lay awake upon his blanket wondering what the rest of the world was like.

          “How far is it to cross the great water?  Would it take only a sun or two, or would a moon be needed to reach the other side?”  “Do other Coyotes live in other lands and walk in other ways?”  Night after night, Coyote wondered these and many other things and was restless upon his blanket.

           One day, Coyote could bear it no longer.  “I must cross the great water,” he said to himself.  Coyote knew that he could not swim so far, and so he decided to make a canoe in which to cross.  He went to the hills and searched the forest for just the right canoe.  He got wet in the river many times before he found a canoe that would take him across the great water.

           At last, he found a log that was just what he needed.  It had no holes in its wood, and so did not leak or sink.  It was not too long, and so he could steer it.  It was not too tight, and so did not make his back and legs hurt.  The fire that comes from the sky had touched the log he found, and it had hollowed out an area that Coyote could get into.

           “This is my canoe for my journey,” said Coyote.  “When the sun is not yet high in the sky, I will go.”  So, Coyote packed a skin full of mesquite beans and cactus fruit and laid upon his blanket to await the sun’s coming.

           When the sun was not yet high in the sky, Coyote took his skin of food and his blanket and got into his canoe.  “I will call you Endeavor,” said Coyote to the log, “because you will take me on a great journey.”