Coyote

The character of Coyote throughout Native American literature is one of low stature combined with a cunning mind and accented with a slightly twisted moral compass. Coyote makes an appearance in myths from nearly every Native American tribe and even though the basis of each is similar the details vary just a slight degree which in some cases bends the audience’s view of Coyote. In some stories such as the Karok tribe fables Coyote can use his cunning tricks to help those in need, and in others such as one from the Winnebago tribe he uses his tricks merely for self-preservation, but the most common are those in which Coyote makes an appearance as an evil and malicious character that seeks to kill and use his prowess for wrongful gain.

I cannot speculate on which is "correct" because the truth is they are all correct, and all incorrect.

In my mind I see Coyote not as definition of good or bad but simply of a little piece of humanity that manifests itself in the minds of the people. It’s almost as if there were a tiny Coyote in every human’s mind that sometimes interjects and gives the “Coyote” solution to problems and situations. I can only speculate as to why the Native Americans passed these tales along from generation to generation but I believe their motives were the same as those fables told to the young to teach lessons and help prepare them for situations in which such knowledge become useful and necessary in something as small as making a good moral decision or something as large as saving their life. Although these motives could be discussed and argued about for ages that is not the topic of discussion at this time. I mean to merely inform of such uses of the trickster identity or Coyote as he is known in many pieces of verbal and nonverbal folk tales.

Although Coyote is the most widely known “trickster” throughout Native American folk tales there are actually quite a few other animals used to represent an ill-bringer or “trickster”. For example Coyote appears in tales mostly from California, Southwest, Plateau, and Plains tribes, whereas Raven and occasionally Blue Jay are depicted as the sneaky or tricky being in the tales from the Northwest Coastal tribes. In many cases these creatures are personified and almost made to represent people given animal’s names. In several tales or fabled tricksters, such as the tale of Nanabozho, this perceived trickster actually plays a musical instrument to fool his prey. I believe that this style of portrayal gives the reader a feeling of fear and realism in the terms that it in a way transcends the idea of being outsmarted by a wily animal and gives a feeling of being manipulated by a creature far more clever than one’s self.

 

"trickster tale." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 07 Oct. 2011. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/605010/trickster-tale.

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