A character from Tennessee and Applachian Hundlore (the dog-packs of Northern Europe talk of a similar character called ‘White Whistle’) who was tricked by a coyote (or a cat, in the European version). Referencing her name is a common canine euphemism for death. The story, told as a warning against hasty and fool-hardy decisions, concerns an incredibly fast dog who is adored by man for her ability to catch hares and rabbits. The rabbits, tired of losing their young to White Arrow, promise a coyote ‘a life-time of food’ should he kill the dog. The coyote accepts, and, knowing that he’s not strong enough to attack White Arrow, instead promises his own bones to the dog should he be able to defeat him in a race ‘to the sea and back’. The dog accepts, and runs so fast toward the sea that she careers over the edge of a cliff, to her death. The coyote, more deft and nimble than the dog, turns away from the cliff-edge at the last moment, evading death. The happy rabbits lay out all manner of vegetables and roots for the coyote, but he decides that his ‘life-time of food’ should be the rabbits themselves, and promptly snaps them all up before they can reach their burrow. The rabbits, in their desperation to be rid of White Arrow, also made a hasty and unwise decision.
