Skunny-Wundy and the Stone Coat

Submitted By John Kahionhes Fadden

This is a Seneca story gathered by Arthur C. Parker and has since been retold by others. The story is about an average fellow with an impressive imagination and exaggerated opinion of himself. He belonged to the Seneca Nation of many generations ago. His name, according to Parker, was Skunny-Wundy. The Mohawk version would be Ska-ne-wha-di, "The other side of the rapids."

There were unusual beings that walked the earth back then, and one of them was called Stone Coats, or Flint Coats, or Stone Giants. They were big and had huge appetites, and humans were on the menu. One day, one of these beings approached the village where Skunny-Wundy lived. Skunny-Wundy's boastful personality put him in the position of having to protect the people of the village. A runner told the people that the Stone Coat was near the river, and Skunny-Wundy was dispatched to meet and destroy him.

Skunny-Wundy could not defeat this huge power being, but he put his mind to work. As he approached the river he could hear a loud booming sound, and when he got there he saw the big Stone Coat. He had ripped up a tree and was pounding it on the ground in challenge. He saw Skunny-Wundy and began to wade across the river. His head went beneath the water, and while out of sight, Skunny-Wundy ran up the river to a shallow where he could cross.

The monster walked out of the water to where Skunny-Wundy had been and shouted a challenge. The response came from behind him on the other side of the river. Not being too smart the Stone Coat was convinced that he had simply turned around while under water and came up on the original side. The Stone Man found the hatchet that Skunny-Wundy had dropped while on that side. He touched it to his tongue, and then he struck a large boulder with it, and the boulder split in two. Saliva from the monster had that effect due to magical power.

"Come over here and give me back my hatchet," Skunny-Wundy shouted. "I'll cut your head off with it."

The Stone Coat felt fear, for he had seen what the hatchet did to the boulder. He promised that he would leave and not go to the village ever again. Skunny-Wundy pretended to ponder the idea, then he accepted it with the promise that if the Stone Coat ever came near his village he would be destroyed by Skunny-Wundy and his magical hatchet.