Birds

Birds, called u’uwhig in the tale, are perched in a cottonwood above I’itoi when the Hohokimal butterflies return to the children. Their brief appearance gives the story its answering voice: jealous of the butterflies’ beauty, they laugh and sing when the butterflies cannot sing, making the contrast between brilliance and song part of the tale’s explanation of what the butterflies are.

Identity and Setting

The birds are presented as a group resting in the cottonwood tree above I’itoi, rather than as individually distinguished characters. Their name, u’uwhig, is supplied alongside the English designation, and their place in the scene is defined by their position as listeners and observers while the children and butterflies gather below.

Jealousy and the Butterflies

The birds’ response begins with envy. When the Hohokimal butterflies first emerge from I’itoi’s bag, the birds are jealous because the butterflies are so beautiful. The tale makes this reaction consequential only after the children sing: their song celebrates the butterflies running and hiding in the air, while I’itoi listens for a reply from the butterflies and hears none.

The silence prompts the birds to laugh, sing, and laugh again. Their voices set them against the butterflies, whose beauty remains bright but who have no song. The story attributes that absence not to the birds but to I’itoi’s sleep: he fell asleep while making the butterflies, and the children fell asleep too, leaving the butterflies without a song.

Role in the Tale

The birds turn an observation into a communal comic moment. After they laugh, I’itoi and the children laugh as well; the explanation of the butterflies’ voicelessness is thus delivered through a scene of shared amusement rather than solemn instruction. The birds’ initial jealousy also sharpens the tale’s central contrast: beauty draws attention, but it does not guarantee a voice. Their short appearance gives the butterflies’ distinctive nature a social setting, as other creatures notice, react to, and sing where the butterflies cannot.