Anansi is the West African trickster and his stories came to North America with the West African slaves.

As in the Raven Steals Sun myth alluded to above, trickster stories often attribute some aspect of contemporary reality to something the trickster did long long ago. Many natural stone pillars (hoo-doos) in western North America have a name which translates as "Coyote's Penis" because Coyote had a ribald adventure on the spot.

"Our" trickster, of course, is the devil, and the many European folk songs and tales dealing with a match of wits between Old Scratch and whomever (a tailor, a peasant, a soldier, a child) must have a pedigree stretching back to Cro-Magnon times or the olden days, which ever came first. False Knight Upon The Road is one example. In scripture, Satan behaves as a trickster when he tempts Eve, when he afflicts Job, and when he tempts Jesus.