Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name

Subject: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 01:56 PM

The Great Spirit held camp with all of the animals, and announced that in the morning he would give them all names. Coyote rushed home to his tepee and greeted Mole, his wife. "We must gather wood for a large fire tonight, wife! I will sit by the fire all night long and stay awake so that I may arrive first at the Great Spirit's Camp in the morning, and have my pick of the names."

Mole was wary of this scheme of her husband's, and said "but you are Coyote!" Coyote spat into the fire and said "Pah! That is no name for me! That is the name for a shiftless thief and fool, and I wish to be neither." Mole asked him what name he would choose. Coyote scratched his head, lit his pipe and put his feet nearer the fire. "You recall that I moved that large basket of berries from one side of the lodge to the other? Perhaps, because of my great strength, I should be called 'Bear'." Coyote placed a piece of pemmican in his mouth and chewed a while. "Yesterday, I was startled by a rattlesnake, and moved so quickly that I might be called 'Cougar'." Coyote pulled his blanket tighter about himself and yawned."Last week, I was chased off of a small cliff by Badger. Those who saw said that I flew quite well. Perhaps I will choose 'Eagle'." Coyote yawned again, and said "Wife, do not let me fall asleep. If I snore, poke me with a burning stick and wake me. I must not be late for my opportunity!"

But by and by Coyote fell asleep and snored, and Mole did nothing to wake him, for she feared that, were he to gain a grand name like 'Bear' or 'Eagle', he might grow too proud for her, and leave her. And so Coyote slept until the morning sun was high, and the heat in the lodge woke him. He leapt up, shouting "Wife! See how you have made me late!"

He rushed to the camp, but the animals were all gone, and the Great Spirit was taking down his lodge, saying "I am sorry, but all the names have been taken but one." Coyote asked "which? Bear....Fox...?" The Great Spirit smiled and said "only 'Coyote' is left. No one wanted it." Coyote howled and kicked dirt into the air and said "but I don't want it either!" The Great Spirit soothed Coyote, petting the fur on his head, and said "you take the name. It is a good name and it suits you. And if you take it, I will give you a gift- the ability to trick all of the other animals.And because of this, you will have many stories told of you by the people, so that your spirit will always have a place by their lodge-fires."

And so Coyote returned to his lodge, and told his wife what the Great Spirit had said.

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: MMario
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 02:11 PM

Always like to hear Coyote stories...

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 03:10 PM

I KNEW this one was going to have your name on it, LeeJ. BTW, ol' Coyote was in a Native American music room on Paltalk the other night. Neat room, great bunch of people and music, the admin's right mouse click just up and quit on her.

I said maybe Heyokah was about; then someone else said it was probably ol' Coyote, as he was always pouncing on mice and eating them!

Thanks, great story,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 03:40 PM

Interesting how the tricksters seem to capture the imagination in each folk tradition. The Hero Stories are entertaining, tragic, bloody...but the Trickster stories make us laugh. We like to see a character who succeeds admirably or fails miserably through some elaborate scheme. Coyote is one of my favorite characters because the object was only rarely to inform or educate...usually his antics are sheer entertainment, often with obscene overtones.

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: MMario
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 03:43 PM

I found, when I was studying the Norse mythos - that many of the stories dealing with Loki were much more interesting. (Some of the others exhibited mostly arrogance or stupidity. Loki at least had some functioning brain cells)

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 01:18 AM

This is a Coyote story from the Crow tribe...

Coyote's Member Keeps Talking

Coyote was out hunting for buffalo, combing the draws, looking everywhere. Finally he looked over into a little valley and saw some. He jumped down off his horse to urinate before he went after them.

"Hey, my member," he said, "you see the buffalo over there?" He shook his member at the buffalo.

"Yes."

"Well! You see the buffalo?" He shook his member that way again.

"Yes! I see them."

"Look at that big bull! You see it?"

"Yes!"

"That's a fat bull! Look at it!" Coyote was shaking his member at it.

"Yes, I see it! I see it, I see it, I see it!" said his member. He yelled like that and wouldn't stop. Coyote put his hand over his member, but it kept yelling out "I see it!" Coyote began punching his member and trying to choke it, but it went on yelling like that. Finally his member said "I won't quit until you sleep with your mother-in-law."

So Coyote went back to the village. All the time his member kept saying "I see it! I see it!"

He stood outside his lodge until his wife heard his member and came out and asked what was wrong. "I see it! I see it!" said his member.

"I saw some buffalo and was glad and kept asking my member if he saw them until he said he did. Now he won't stop! He said I would have to sleep with your mother before he would stop. Go ask your mother what she thinks of that."

Coyote's wife went and told her mother, who came over in a hurry. "Well my son-in-law is having a hard time here," said his mother-in-law. "Come right inside." Coyote went inside with her. She sang a song and seized his member and cured him.

Barry Lopez/Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping with his Daughter

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 02:15 AM

I can just see Spaw talking to Joe Smackers that way and JS answering back! Good one, LeeJ.

My source didn't note which tribe this one was from, but I thought it was pretty funny...see what you think:

The Meeting (Dog's Tails)

A long time ago, all the dogs decided to have a meeting. They invited leaders of dogs from all over the world, but not the coyote.

"We don't want him here." they said. "He is not of our kind, he is the coyote."

But Coyote heard of the meeting. It was to be at a great tipi. So on the night of the meeting, Coyote sat outside of the tipi in the trees watching the dogs from everywhere going to the meeting.

Now when dogs go to a meeting, they take off their tails and leave them outside, setting them in a place where they can find them after the meeting.

Once all the dogs were in the tipi, Coyote crept closer, his steps covered by the playing of the drums inside. There Coyote sat, listening to the drums and the dogs talking. After a while coyote could not take it any longer. He had to do something.

First he found the dogs' tails, then he tossed them around until they were all mixed up. Then he ran around the tipi yelling, "Mad bear! Mad bear!"

Dogs and bears did not get along, and dogs were very afraid of the bear. In a panic, the dogs ran from the tipi, tripping over each other. When they got outside, they could not find their tails, so they grabbed the first tail they could find, and ran off into the woods.

And still to this day when dogs meet, they check to see who's tail they have.

Copyright © 2000 by TJ Powell. All rights reserved.

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: MMario
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 08:06 AM

so that's why! Wondered about that. Makes a lot more sense then the scientific explanation...

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 12:58 PM

Coyote is probably the deity I come closest to believing in...

Coyote is always waiting, and Coyote is always hungry.

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: GUEST,Blind Desert Pete
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 04:00 PM

Out here in Colorado there is a hunt club (the louts on horses not the other kind) that chase coyotl in lieu of foxes. the coyote always wins. If the dogs are able to catch coyote (seldom) they are killed in the fight. I am told that the trickster enjoys this game and comes out to play when he hears the horns.

Subject: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 05:42 PM

I kind of hate to see the "BS" designation on this thread, LeeJ - this kind of folklore goes hand-in-hand with folk music, and certainly is not the idle chit-chat that "BS" is supposed to designate.
I think I should remove the "BS" designation from the thread - what's your pleasure?

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Bert
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 05:45 PM

Go for it Joe.

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 06:02 PM

Sure, Joe.

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 07:26 PM

One of the things I like about Old Man Coyote's stories, is that there is a real sense of physical expression about them: You can imagine the storyteller illuminated by the flames of the campfire, acting out Coyote's hijinks for the listeners. Another thing I like is the confusion regarding Coyote's status as man or animal. He often plays both parts in the stories, often disguised as an ordinary man until those who are tricked begin to suspect that it is, in fact, Coyote. I imagine that the people of the tribe would sometimes laugh at the actions of their friends, when being devious, foolish, or bragging, because those actions were very "Coyote-like."

This is a Cheyenne Coyote Story ...

Coyote and his Eyes

Once Coyote was going along, looking for something to eat, when he saw a man remove his eyes from his head and throw them up into a big cottonwood tree. The man shouted "Come back eyes!" and the eyes dropped back down and the man put them back in the sockets. Coyote was amazed by this and asked the man if he could teach him to do it. "Then I will be able to see the buffalo and deer even when they are far off."

The man taught Coyote the trick, saying "there is only one catch- you must not do this more than four times in one day." Coyote said he would follow this rule. When the man had left, Coyote took out his eyes and threw them high into the cottonwood. His eyes looked all around, seeing bison on the plain, and the river where his people were camped. Soon a crowd of people from his camp gathered, watching Coyote. "See how powerful I am? My magic is strong! I can watch everyone now! Be careful!" said Coyote.

Coyote was so proud that he forgot about the rule. When he threw his eyes up for the fifth time, they became stuck on a high branch. "Eyes come down! Eyes come down!" he kept saying, but his eyes remained stuck. It was a hot day and soon his eyes began to swell up, and flies were attracted to them. Coyote was frantic, calling to his eyes to come down, while everyone laughed saying " it is only Coyote after all!"

Then Grizzly Bear came by, and Coyote called to him saying "Brother! Help me!" He explained his problem to the bear, who loaned him one of his eyes. The Bear's eye was huge and bugged out of Coyote's eye socket like this. Then Coyote saw Mouse walking by, and he said "Brother! Help me!" and Mouse also loaned Coyote an eye, but this eye was tiny, and rolled way back in the socket and Coyote had to look up in the air to keep it from rolling out on the ground. Everyone had a good laugh at Coyote about this, and that was how he went around for a long time.

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 07:59 PM

Woops, pooched-up the html on that post. Just the title should've been bold. Can you fix it Joe?

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 08:16 PM

Got it, LeeJ. That is a variation of the the one Art Thieme tells on his CD The Older I Get The Better I Was, called Why White Men Cannot See Clearly, with a white man instead of Coyote getting the mixed up eyes. Art does a wonderful job of it coupled with his singing the Cherokee Queen.

Great stories!

Subject: RE: BS: How Coyote Got his Name
From: GUEST,CMorwood
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 10:57 PM

I used to be a Coyote, but I'm alright NOOOOOOOOOOOW.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 01:26 AM

The coyotes were howling here last night - must be this thread...

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 01:34 AM

Naw, Joe, they're just trying to drown you out...or, join in!**BG**

luvyakat

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Metchosin
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 02:09 AM

I've really been enjoying the coyote stories, so I hope this one isn't too completely out of left field, because I realize my brain does that a lot as I read threads. The story about coyote's member reminded me of the following true story from an interview with a Catholic priest and author, who has recently written a book about his years spent in the Canadian north (damn his name escapes me) on the CBC radio in Canada this morning.

A group of health care workers from Calgary arrived up North to study the health problems and learn something of traditional medicines used by the people of the Dene nation.

The Dene women were being queried about there native practices and problems when a question about birth control arose.

"What form of bith control did you use to use?" asked one of the members of the health care team.

The women all looked at each other and seemed confused.

"Surely," said one of the workers, "your mothers passed on some information of birth control."

"No," said the women, "Our mothers never said anything."

"Well how about your grandmothers, did they ever mention birth control?"

The women again looked at each other and said, "No, our grandmothers never said anything."

Then one Dene woman said, "Oh, birth control, yes, we used to have a method of birth control."

Immediately all the health care workers grabbed their pens and notepads, "What was it then?" they asked.

"Oh, it was a very good method of birth control", the woman said.

"Yes, yes and it was?" the workers asked, pens poised.

"Oh," said the woman, "We used to send the men out hunting."

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Metchosin
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 03:16 AM

Found it, the story was recounted by Rene Fumoleau.

Father Rene Fumoleau has been an active participant, a sympathetic witness and a chronicler through photographs and stories, of the life and geography of Canada's North for half a century. In his retirement, he wants to make sure that his work will be available to all, by continuing to write, publish and catalogue his immense collection of photos.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 10:32 AM

I love it, Mets!!!

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: hesperis
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 06:30 PM

Hee, hee!

Coyote Dick (It'll open in a new window.)

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 06:44 PM

LMAO, hesp! And, I couldn't stand the book! Thanks for the link! That is an image that will stay with me for quite a while...lol

kat

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 08:27 PM

Poignant is a word that doesn't often apply to stories of Coyote, but this is one exception.

Coyote Visits the Land of the Dead

Coyote and his wife were traveling, and they stayed at a very nice village. Coyote's wife became ill, though, and nothing that Coyote could do helped. He was himself immortal, but Mole became more and more ill until she at last died. Coyote was lonely for her and refused to leave his lodge. Finally, a shadowed figure entered his tepee and spoke to him, saying "I know that you suffer because your wife is dead, and I am sorry for you. If you come with me to the Land of the Dead I will send her home with you, but you must promise to do everything I tell you."

"Of course I will!" said Coyote.

They left right away. Coyote followed the misty figure through the night, and as the sun came up he found the figure harder and harder to see. "Where are you?" said Coyote, and he heard the voice saying " see where my moccasins mark the ground and follow." They went on across a vast plain until nightfall came and he could again see the figure. The figure stopped by a small stream and said "Brother, do you see this herd of Ponies? Are they not beautiful?" and Coyote could not see them, but replied "yes, indeed they are beautiful." They walked further and the figure said "do you see the long lodge ahead? Your wife is there." Coyote saw no lodge, but he answered "yes, I see it." They walked to a place by a large boulder and the spirit bent over and seemed to be moving something with his hand. "Here" he said "lift the flap and enter the lodge." Coyote pretended to do this, and he and the spirit sat down. To Coyote, it seemed that he was sitting in the middle of the empty prairie. The day passed, and Coyote said "I see nothing, Brother." The spirit replied "in the Land of Death everything is reversed. Our day is your night, our night your day. When the sunset comes, you will see."

And true enough, as the sun set, Coyote could make out a large lodge around them with many people seated there. His wife sat at the end by the opening. He rose to embrace her, but the spirit said "you cannot go to her yet." Coyote also saw many friends who had long ago died, and they greeted him warmly, and he shared the fire with them, laughing and telling stories.

At last, the spirit said "it is time for you to go". Coyote said "but I like it here. I would like to stay longer." The spirit told him that the time was up. "You must leave today. Your way lies west across the prairie. You will then cross five mountains. Every day, your wife will become easier for you to see. After you cross the last mountain, she will be alive again, but until then do not touch her. You must do as I say."

"Of course" Coyote said. He and Mole left and crossed the prairie. From time to time he would look back at her. At first she was a shadow, but as they went along she became more solid in form. They made camp at each of the mountains. At the fourth camp, Coyote looked across at his wife and she seemed as real as she had been before she traveled to the Land of the Dead. He was overcome by a feeling of happiness and went to embrace her. "No husband! Don't!" she cried out. But it was too late. As he touched her she vanished. Coyote sat by the fire weeping for some time, but then he thought of a plan.

Coyote retraced his steps across the mountains and the prairie until he came to the place by the little creek. "Brother" he said, "do you see this herd of ponies? Aren't they beautiful?"He went on further, the stopped, saying " do you see the long lodge up ahead? Mole is there." He went to the place by the rock, pretended to lift the flap and enter, saying "here. Lift this flap and enter the lodge." He sat down and waited for the night to come. Coyote strained his eyes to make the lodge and the people appear, but nothing happened. He sat in the dark and shivered all night long until he finally fell to sleep.

In the morning, the meadowlarks began singing and Coyote awakened. He began the long journey home.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Art Thieme
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 10:20 PM

If we think of all of the antics of the last 8 years as coyote = Bill Clinton then we can see clearer the humor and the trickster aspects of it. It's the only way any of it might make sense at all. Even the last election-----Coyote's karma, lurking and ever present, has far-reaching effects that go on ad infinitum. ;-)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Rex
Date: 23 Feb 01 - 11:46 AM

Thanks EJ, my kids and I love these stories. I'll pass them along to the young'uns. Well, maybe I'll let them find the second one on their own.

Rex

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 23 Feb 01 - 01:21 PM

Rex, that's a good plan!

Coyote is a rather complex character. He is powerful, can do magic, and has the ability to change himself into almost anything. He is a great bragger, and his inflated ego often gets the best of him. His lusty constitution is a staple of many of the stories. But he also has a role as Creator and Teacher of Man...stories tell of his building the earth, rivers, and mountains, and of how he hung the stars and sun.

The following is a Coyote Story that shows him in the mode of Teacher. It also explains a phenomenon quite familiar to the American Indians.

Coyote Brings Fire to the People

It was winter, and Coyote came to a big camp where all of the animals were huddled together in a lodge. "Brothers!" said Coyote, "what is wrong?"

"It is cold and we have no fire to warm us! You must bring us this gift or we will freeze!" Now, in those days, no one had fire except the Skookums who lived on a great snow-covered mountain. The Skookums guarded the fire carefully, for fear that the animal people would steal it and become as powerful as the Skookums. Coyote thought of how he might steal the fire, but he couldn't come up with a plan. Walking along, he saw Chipmunk breaking some nuts on a rock. "Good morning Brother!" said Coyote, "you are a very good planner, and I need you to tell me how I can steal fire from the Skookums."

Chipmunk laughed and said "I could tell you how to do it, but you would only claim that was your plan all along, so I won't." But Coyote leapt at Chipmunk, catching him beneath his paws. At last, Chipmunk told Coyote how to do it. "Ah," said Coyote, "that was my plan all along."

Coyote went to the mountain with the other animals. He hid them in the forest while Coyote crept up on the lodge of the Skookums. He crouched behind some bushes and watched them. There were three Skookums women guarding the fire; while two ate and slept in the tepee, the other would sit by the fire. After several hours, the guard would get up stiffly and hobble over to the lodge and call "the fire is safe and it is my sister' turn to watch." Then another sister would emerge to guard the fire. Coyote kept an eye out until the second sister started toward the lodge, then he ran to the fire and plucked out a hot coal. He ran down the mountain, but the three Skookums saw him and came after him. They were old and gnarled, but they could run like panthers.

Coyote ran as fast as his legs would take him, but he fell down rolling in the snow several times and the Skookums were catching up to him. He felt their hot breath on his fur. Just as Coyote reached the trees, Mountain Lion was there, and Coyote gave him the hot coal. Lion ran as fast as he could until he began to tire, and then he gave the coal to Squirrel. Squirrel carried the coal from branch to branch where the Skookums couldn't reach him, but the old women said to each other "when he reaches the edge of the trees, we shall have him!"

But when Squirrel got to the last tree, he threw the coal to Antelope, who was the fastest of the animals. The Skookums didn't give up. They chased Antelope to a broad stream, and said "we have you now!", but Antelope gave the coal to Frog, who took it in his mouth and swam quickly across the river. One of the Skookums was a great leaper, though, and she vaulted the creek and grabbed Frog. Frog then spat out the coal on Wood, who swallowed it. The Skookums couldn't find a way to get the fire out of Wood, so at last they went home.

The next day, Coyote called all of the animals together to show them how to get fire out of the wood. He rubbed two sticks together for a while, until small sparks emerged, and then the fire came alive. The people have brought fire from Wood in this way ever since, all because of Coyote.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: GUEST,BigDaddy
Date: 24 Feb 01 - 02:46 AM

I've mentioned this site before, but have to mention it again: For all of you interested in this thread, you simply must visit Terri Windling's site at www.endicott-studio.com Check out her article titled, "Wile E. Coyote and Other Sly Trickster Tales." Also the poem, "Coyote and the White Folks," by Bill Lewis.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Feb 01 - 03:36 AM

Haha, I like that poem, Big Daddy! I've bookmarked the site so that I can go back and read her article. Thanks.

More great stories, LeeJ...I've always loved Coyote and his stories.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 24 Feb 01 - 12:46 PM

BigDaddy, thanks for the link to the Wile E Coyote article. Excellent!

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 08 May 02 - 12:10 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 May 02 - 01:24 PM

There was a tale I read in a Lit class some years ago, about Coyote getting pretty beat up by someone... and He couldn't make the "heal song" cause his face was busted up...

So he had to teach his asshole how to sing it!

LOL!!!!

How's THAT for Music Related??

;-)

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 May 02 - 02:02 PM

Must read book: "The Voice of the Coyote," by J. Frank Dobie, 1949, Little, Brown & Co., 386 pp. (several reprints and paperback). Not only a true picture of the Coyote, but some good stories about Don Coyote. Here is one of the shortest.

THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT

(A cuento from Chihuahua, Tarahumara Indians)

One time a Coyote came up to a pool of water and acted as if he were thirsty. He was not. he wanted to catch a Frog. A Frog on the other side of the pool saw him and said, "Seõor Coyote, I will bet you that I can outrun you in a race."
"What will you bet, Seõor Frog?"
"I will bet three Flies," the Frog said.
"Very well," said the Coyote.
"Tomorrow at this hour you be here, and we will race down the draw to that stump." The Frog pointed to a stump about 90 yards away.
The Coyote went off, and the Frog went to two of his friends and explained his idea. He himself would start the race- and be left behind. One of them must get under a rock about midway of the course, and the other under a root of the stump. When the Coyote got to the rock, the first friend must jump out just ahead of him and say, "Well, I'm still running." Then he must jump back under the rock. Just as the Coyote got to the stump, the other frog must jump out and say, "Well, I've beat you." The frogs agreed.
The next day the Coyote was back at the pool to run the race. He and the frog got set. The Frog counted, "Three," and they both jumped, but the Frog soon got back into his grassy hiding place by the edge of the water. The Coyote went racing forward. Just as he was reaching the midway rock, the Frog waiting there jumped ahead and said, "Well, I'm still running." The Coyote spurred himself and ran harder, and that Frog got back into his hiding place. Just as the Coyote was about to reach the stump, the Frog there jumped out and called, "Well, I've beat you."
"I don't see how you did it, the Coyote cried, as He wheeled and looked back to the pool. The only Frog in sight was the one at the stump.
The Coyote had to pay three Flies.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 May 02 - 03:37 PM

I "tilded" the wrong letter, Señor Coyote. My appologies.
Another must Coyote book (supposedly for children, but really a satire about the invasion of Indian lands by those European foreigners). The caricatured illustrations are excellent, especially one of the evil-looking french arriving with the priest in a pope-like mitre.
"A COYOTE COLUMBUS STORY" by Thomas King and illustrated by William Kent Monkman. A Groundwood Book (Douglas & McIntyre), Toronto, Canada.
These two paragraphs will give you the feel of the story.

"Say, says Christopher Columbus. I'll bet this is India. And he looks at the human beings. I'll bet these are Indians. And he looks at his friends. I'll bet we can sell these Indians.
Yes, says his friends, that's a good idea. We could sell Indians. And they stop trying to catch those beavers and moose and turtles.
Whew! says those beavers and moose and turtles, that was close. And they run and hide before Columbus and his friends change their minds.
Wait a minute, says the human beings, that's not a good idea. That is a bad idea, full of bad manners.
When Coyote hears this bad idea, She starts to laugh. Who would buy human beings, she says, and she laughs some more. She laughs so hard she has to hold her nose on her face with both her hands."

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 May 02 - 07:57 PM

FATHER COYOTE

At twilight time, when the lamps are lit,
Father Coyote comes to sit
At the chaparral's edge on the mountain side-
Comes to listen and to deride
The rancher's hound and the rancher's son,
The passer-by and everyone.
And we pause at milking-time to hear
His reckless carolling, shrill and clear-
His terse and swift and valorous troll,
Ribald, rollicking, scornful, droll.

Extract from "Father Coyote," George Sterling, 1914, Beyond the Breakers and Other Poems, Pub. A. M. Robertson, San Francisco. Also in J. Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DOGS' MEETING
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 May 02 - 06:34 AM

katlaughing: the tale you tell of the coyote excluded from the meeting is told in UK about dogs, as a 'Rugby song'

The Doggies held a meeting
They came from near and far.
Some came by motor cycle,
And some by motor car.

Each doggy passed the entrance,
Each doggy signed the book.
And each un-shipped his arse-hole
And hung it on a hook.

One dog was not invited.
It sorely raised his ire.
He ran into the meeting place,
And loudly bellowed "Fire!"

It through them in confusion,
And, without a second look,
Each grabbed the nearest arse-hole,
From off the nearest hook.

And that's the reason why sir,
When walking in the street,
The very reason why sir,
When doggies chance to meet.
And that's the reason why sir,
On land, or sea, or foam,
Each will sniff the other's arse-hole,
To see if it's his own.


Nigel

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 May 02 - 07:03 AM

verse 4 for "through" read "Threw"
For "arse-hole" read "ass-hole" throughout (if American!)

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 May 02 - 01:06 PM

Coyote information and a too brief bit of coyote music: Coyote
Coyote from Aztec word coyotl.
Read "The Cry" by Peter Blue. The Cry

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 May 02 - 03:53 PM

There is also a story I like, about how First Woman, I think, was carefully arranging the stars in the heavens, and had the ones she hadn't placed yet sorted on her blanket. Coyote came by and grabbed the blanket and ran, spewing a trail of stars across the skies, and that is how the Milky Way was formed.

Don't you just love Just So Stories?

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Art Thieme
Date: 10 May 02 - 12:43 PM

PLEASE folks, go to the old Folk Alliance vs. the N.A.A.C.P. thread for the great song I posted there by the late AL GRIERSON called OLD COYOTE.

It really is a brilliant piece of writing.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 May 02 - 12:52 PM

Indians coyote stories: Coyote
Stories and other information. This may have been posted before- if so, I appologize.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 10 May 02 - 12:56 PM

Art, here's your link...Folk Alliance vs NAACP

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 May 02 - 12:57 PM

Oh, well- It was: http://www.indians.org/welker/coyote.htm

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 May 02 - 01:22 PM

Odd! The Coyote website I posted is visible in IE but not Netscape. Try again in IE: Indian coyote tales

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 May 02 - 01:43 PM

Excellent image of "Old Coyote." Old Coyote
Would look nice on the desktop.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Art Thieme
Date: 10 May 02 - 07:34 PM

Lonesome EJ,

Thanks so much for that link to Mr. Grierson's song.

Art

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 02:16 AM

I have decided to add this Coyote Story to the thread, even though it is not, like the others, a native american folk tale, but is instead an original story I wrote.

Coyote and the Bear


The camp was covered in snow, the tepees hurriedly set up in a ring in the small clearing surrounded by cliffs. The people were cold and had eaten nothing but some pemmican for two days. This night, Joseph had said that they could build some small banked fires up hard against the cliff, because he thought that the fresh snow might have covered their paths. Red-tailed Hawk and Shadow had brought in some rabbits, and the people feasted. It seemed they might actually escape to the North Country, maybe tomorrow or the next day. The children stayed up late by the warmth of the fires, and Raccoon Woman sang some funny songs for them about animal spirits that were stealing little things from the lodges.

Joseph came up to the fire, and his woman brought a basket of dried berries that she shared with the laughing children. "Joseph!" cried out his nephew Bear Paw. "Tell us a story!" At first Joseph just laughed and lit his hatchet/pipe, saying "I have no more stories. You've gotten all of them out of me." Bear Paw came and sat next to his Uncle, the Chief. "Then tell us an old story, Uncle! Tell the one about Coyote and the Bear!" Joseph smiled and looked at the boy, seeing Bear's Father in his face, his Father who had fallen by the side of the trail like so many others on their way to this place. At last Joseph stood up. "All this happened in the old time, before there were any human beings."

Coyote was lazy. He would never hunt, or fish, or find berries growing. He would only spend his time thinking up ways to trick other animals out of their food. When Brown Bear was fishing, Coyote would sneak up behind and wait until bear had hooked a fat salmon on his claw, then he would snatch it and run to a hole on the ground that was too small for Brown Bear to get in.

Once Coyote found a dead fish on the bank and he wrapped a long reed around it's body. Then he got a bunch of black rocks he had found and sat on the bank beside them, waiting for Heron. Heron was a great fisherman, but not as smart as Coyote. When Heron saw him, he said "Good morning, Coyote. Why are you fooling around with those rocks?" And Coyote said, "You say I'm fooling around, but you are wrong. I am fishing." Heron laughed at this, but he was curious. "How can you fish with those rocks?" Coyote said "it's easy. These are magic rocks. I just stack them up, put a reed in the water, and wait for a salmon to grab on to it. Watch!" and that crafty Coyote stacked up the rocks, danced around them like this... and pulled out the reed with the fish on it. Heron was amazed, and said "where did you find these rocks?" Coyote smiled and said "oh there are no more. I was given them by a rock spirit." He sat and ate his fish, which did not taste good, and he rolled it in the mud so that Heron wouldn't smell it. Heron said "I have a basket of dried salmon I would give to you for your rocks." Coyote said "give me two baskets and the rocks are yours." Heron did this, and Coyote sat on a warm rock eating dried fish while he watched Heron stacking the rocks and pulling out every reed he could find from the stream. Coyote began to laugh at this, rolling around on the rock and grabbing his full belly. He called out "Heron! You are more stupid even than Bear! At least he knows when I have stolen fish from him!" Coyote did not know that Brown Bear had seen all of this.

Soon the wind became cold from the North, and the stream was locked in ice. Snow fell across the forest, as Coyote sat in his hole eating the last of the dried fish. "Winter is coming and I am afraid of freezing or starving," he said to himself. Then he had an idea. Brown Bear slept in a cozy den all winter, and in the spring he was strong and rested. Coyote went to see Bear. "Oh Great Hunter, "said the sneaky Coyote, "take me into your den for the Winter and I will teach you the magic of fishing with rocks." The Bear took Coyote to his den and said "you must do everything I say or you will freeze. First, cover yourself with dung." Coyote did this." Now put these thorns and bristles in your tail. "Coyote did this. "Now stick your nose in this fire and breath in the heat so that you will have fire inside all Winter." Coyote did this and his muzzle suddenly burst into flames! He ran from Bear's cave going yelp-yelp-yelp! until he found some snow to stick his face into. When Coyote looked around, he saw Bear, Heron, and all the other animals laughing at him.

And Coyote spent that cold Winter scrounging for food on his own, while the other animals slept in warm dens. And he still does. And sometimes if you are quite quiet, you might hear him crying in the dark about his burnt nose.

Joseph sat alone by the fire as the people went off to their lodges. He knew the soldiers were just a short way behind them now, and in the early morning he would go to the top of the ridge where he could see them, and they would see him. This would be the end of the long path they had taken from the Camas Prairie, and there would be no more fighting. Maybe in the morning they might start the long journey home.

Subject: RE: Folklore: How Coyote Got his Name
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 06:17 PM

Now, this is not about traditional NDN coyote stories, but it's a book recommendation. An enthusiastic book recommendation!

The book (actually the first book of I think three) is called God's Dog. It was written by a Unitarian minister in the Southwest somewhere.

Each story features Coyote and the minister himself, in a hilarious situation building on the raffish, disrespectable character but also the offbeat wisdom of Coyote, and frankly, usually the minister comes off second-best. He meets Coyote at the doughnut shop, say, where Coyote cadges a doughnut or three from him, or he sees Coyote hitchhiking across the desert and gives him a ride, and they talk about the world, about humans, about death, about God. Coyote is resentful that people don't recognize or remember that he is a god. Hilarious, but oftentimes very enlightening.

Each of these stories was originally written as a sermon, but believe you me, they are unsermonlike! Here's a site that can tell you more.




The new volume is Get a God.