A Pueblo story, retold by Shane

Once there was a beautiful black crow who had a nest on the side of a rocky hillside. She was proud of her nest filled with eggs. She sat waiting for her eggs to hatch. The crow sat and sat but nothing happened. She sat some more but still nothing happened. The crow got tired and flew away leaving her eggs unguarded.

After a while a hawk flew by and swooped over the nest filled with eggs. The hawk swooped again trying to spot the mother bird. On her third attempt to spot the mother bird the hawk said to herself, "The mother of these eggs no longer cares for these poor little eggs. I shall sit on them until the mother returns."

The hawk sat on the eggs but nobody came. For days she took care of the eggs by keeping them warm and safe until one day they began to hatch. As the little crows pushed their way out of their shells they chirped and called for their mother, but the crow did not come.

The hawk told the little crows that she would look after them. She went looking for food and she protected them everyday. The baby crows grew bigger and bigger. Their black feathers became glossy and strong. One day the irresponsible Crow was flying over the nest that she had abandoned when she saw a Hawk taking care of her baby crows. Crow screeched as she swooped down to her nest, "How dare you, Hawk!" Surprised, Hawk replied, "What's wrong?" "I want my babies back. They are mine!" said Crow.

Hawk was upset and thought silently about what had just happened. Then Hawk calmly tried to make a point to Crow that yes, she had laid the eggs but she also had abandoned them when they needed her most. Hawk explained that she was the one that took care of them and was not going to give them up.