Napi is the Blackfeet inflection of the trickster archetype. Extremely human, Napi stories unfold as morality plays on greed, lust, envy, deceit, gluttony and so on. The song revisits one of my Grandma’s stories about Napi and his reckoning with the timeless notion of karma.

Just below the big rock that today we call Flat Top
Napi spied on gophers covering each other up
With ash and hot coal from the fire
They’d trade places two by two.
What a goofy, goober, gopher thing to do.

Napi strolled on over asking, “Can I play?”
Gophers rolled on over saying, “Yes, you may!”
Napi chose to be the first to shovel on the coal
No more need to be said. Supper was his goal.

Except for one expecting mother, Napi tricked the gophers
Into being the entrée at his wilderness café.
As he placed those crispy critters on a rack to cool,
Bobcat made a plan to hold school.

Bobcat pleaded, “Oh, oh, my leg is buggered up.
I cannot run, I cannot hunt. This cat’s out of luck.”
Would you be so kind as to share a meal?
Old Man spouted, “I’ll sing before I deal.

I cherish what I’ve got. It’s fair that I got a lot.
Trust far as the eye can see, those you do not know.
Treat a mother with respect and a future is what you’ll get.
Take a lesson from me. I’m a gopher roaster.”

Napi said, “We’ll run a race to see who eats my food.
First to finish, wins the lot. That's my only rule!”
Bobcat said, “Old Man, I can hardly walk.”
Then, confidently, Napi sprinted off.

Napi, in a heartless beat, ran out of sight.
Bobcat limped four steps then said, “Here’s the finish line.”
When Old Man finally made it back to claim his prize,
Bobcat’s carnivore singers sang this song to his surprise.

“We cherish what we’ve got. We share if we’ve got a lot.
Trust far as the eye can see, those you do not know.
Treat a brother with respect and a future is what you’ll get.”
Take a lesson from long ago, when Napi Roasted Gophers.

Learn to cherish what you’ve got and share if you’ve got a lot.
Trust far as the eye can see (and feet can reach), those you do not know.
Treat a mother with respect and a future is what you’ll get.
Take a lesson from long ago, when Napi Roasted Gophers...

And whatever you do, DON'T EAT
Napi’s Roasted Gophers!!