Clark, Ella E. “Northwest Indian Coyote Tales.” Northwest Review, Vol. 6, Num. 3, Summer 1963 pp. 21 – 36. https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/1299904322?accountid=14656&pq-origsite=summon&imgSeq=1. Accessed April 7, 2021.
A decent source for tales about Coyote and his adventures is Ella E. Clark’s “Northwest Indian Coyote Tales.” Clark, during her lifetime, actively sought out storytellers in order to record traditional oral stories, such as the ones told in “Northwest Indian Coyote Tales,” in order to make them more accessible to the general public. The written form of these Coyote tales is prefaced by Clark, who explains the various roles Coyote takes on, such as the “trickster, tribal progenitor, shape-shifter, culture hero, Creator” (Clark 21) or a combination of these. The first three tales come from the Flathead of Salish Indian tribe and were recounted by Pierre Pichette. These three tales are very specific to the region and make mention of notable landmarks and regions that hold meaning to those familiar with the region. In the first tale, Coyote is depicted as an authoritative figure that even the mighty Chief Grizzly Bear is weary of. This tale also combines Coyote’s trickster ways with being a hero, as through his tricks, Coyote kills the frightening Grizzly Bear chieftain, allowing the tribe to choose a new chief – Golden Eagle – one who is much more agreeable than the previous one. The second tale seems to do away with the trickster antics of Coyote, who is instead a prophesying, authoritative figure who garners respect from those who would listen. The final Flathead Indian tale on Coyote again has him as a prophet of times to come. However, in this instance, Coyote seems to be the one who is tricked by Rabbit who has given him too much power over the animals through teaching him and his sons a song. This power song leads to the deaths of four of Coyote’s children, who perform the song in order to bring animals to the forest for them to hunt. Coyote, however, will not be outdone, as he has another four of his children protect him while he himself performs the spirit song, summoning the animals of the forest, allowing him to take his revenge. The final Coyote tale is told by Lake Indian, Jerome Quill, and is perhaps a more familiar version of Coyote to those taking ENGL 372. This version of Coyote is boastful, and susceptible to the tricks of Magpie and Turtle. Readers are also introduced to Fox, an important character alongside Coyote, who has the ability to resurrect him by jumping over him three times (Clark 23 & 33).
Elliot, Michael A. “Coyote Comes to the Norton : Indigenous Oral Narrative and American Literary History.” American Literature, Vol. 75, Num. 4, December 2003, pp. 723 – 749. DOI: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/51005. Accessed April 5, 2021.
Michael Elliot, dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences, analyzes the mythological trickster, Coyote, from North American Indigenous storytelling in his article titled “Coyote Comes to the Norton: Indigenous Oral Narrative and American Literary History.” As the title of Elliot’s article explains, the article itself is focused on the addition of Native American storytelling, in particular the story of “Coyote – Hist Myth” (Elliot 723), that was added into the fifth addition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature. The article further explains how while the addition of Indigenous stories to the Norton is an important step, the stories themselves lack the original orality nuances, and therefore, the message and moral of the stories may be lost on those not fluent in Native American Literature studies. Newer translations of “Coyote – His Myth,” as the first rendition of the text is found in Franz Boas Chinook Texts, have attempted to rearrange the text in order to mimic what they think the original storyteller told the story, such rewrites cannot be made canonical as the translators were never able to hear the story told as it should. Other issues that arise in the case of “Coyote – His Myth” is the fact that there is a lot of repetition in the story itself. Elliot explains that while the repetitive nature of the text may appear “dull to some readers” (Elliot 737), by removing or summarizing this feature, the text itself loses a function of the story itself. While Coyote is one well known mythological trickster, he is by far from the last, as many Native American tribes have these “transformative and . . . comic character[s]” (Elliot 724). It is through the humor and comedic value of these trickster characters “produce simultaneous laughter, practical instruction, and perhaps even moral education” (Elliot 734).
Lawson, Angelica. “Coyote’s Way: Missy Whiteman’s Indigenous New Media” Studies in American Indian Literatures , Vol. 29, No. 1, Digital Indigenous Studies: Gender, Genre, and New Media. Spring 2017
Angelica Lawson at the time of publication was an assistant professor at the University of Colorado in the Departments of Film and Ethnic Studies. In her paper, Lawson unpacks how new media allows for better self-representation and complete control of artistic productions for Indigenous creators. Lawson focuses her topics on her own personal experiences as well as looking into Missy Whiteman, an Indigenous Director, Writer, and Producer. Throughout the essay Lawson focuses on Whiteman’s contributions to “Indigenous media sovereignty” and the importance of addressing Native media representation.
Lawson’s paper points towards how Indigenous creators are taking back control of their cultural narratives to tell their stories. Many sections of this text will aid in our research understanding of how and why folk narratives like Coyote have continued to grow and change to represent cultural importance in Indigenous narratives. So many Indigenous artists and creators are reclaiming their cultural narratives to explore the complexities of colonization and their heritage through modern storytelling. Recently, a new Table Top Role Playing game has emerged to present a world where colonization never happened in America. Connor Alexander, creator of Coyote & Crow, created this game to create a space for Indigenous peoples to explore their stories without the entanglement of colonization. I believe that through our continued research on Coyote and its use throughout varying narratives we will continue to see this trend of reclamation amongst Indigenous storytellers and their stories.
Miller,Jackson B. “Coyote’s Tale on the Old Oregon Trail: Challenging Cultural Memory through Narrative at the Tama ́stslikt Cultural Institute”(2005) Journal of Text and Performance Quarterly, Vol.25, No.3, August,19, 2006
Jackson B. Miller is the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Communication Arts and a Professor of Communication Arts at the Linfield University, McMinnville, Oregon, United States. With a primary focus in Performance Theory and Methodology, Communication and Cultural Identity, Nonverbal Communication and Oral History. Miller focus the article around the narrative presentation of storytelling in Indigenous mythology, by closely examining the representation Coyote.
Miller points to the role played by Coyote to represent the voice and experiences of the entire Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribe in his existence. Formulating a dialogue between the visitors and the storytellers, through Coyote as a trickster. Miller focuses on this depiction of Coyote as it allows for him to cross a series of boundaries in the hopes of preserving the stories as well as depicting a voice both for and about the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribes. Miller takes a look at the performative aspects of Coyote, and the Theatre of the storytelling, in the differing tales.
Ridington, Robin “Coyote’s Cannon: Sharing Stories with Thomas King” Journal of American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 3, Summer, 1998
Robin Ridington is an Anthropologist, with a focus on Indigenous cosmology, tribal history, and the Anthropology of the arts, poetics and narration. He is a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia, with the department of Anthropology. In his 1998 article, Ridington focuses on the difference between Indigenous theorization and non-Indigenous theorization done by scholars, with an emphasis on the contrasting presentation of dialogue versus monologue.
Ridington, focuses on Thomas King’s novel, Green Grass, Running Water as it presents North American literature, literary theory, history, and popular culture through the images and genres of Indigenous oral traditions. By examining the conversations being had between non-indigenous texts alongside King’s Green Grass, Running Water. As well as the flexibility of Coyote as the character can take on many names and roles to serve the morals of the story.
Stolte, Gretchen. “Heart of the Monster: Knowledge between Land, Story and Monsters.” Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 44, no. 2, 04/02/2020
Dr. Gretchen Stolte is a Foundation Research Fellow at the Anthropology and Sociology Department at the University of Western Australia and the Berndt Museum. Her area of study primarily focuses on the material culture of Indigenous peoples, both in North American and Australia. In her paper Stolte stresses the importance of the individual experience of knowledge when it comes to Indigenous narratives and stories.
Stolte focuses on the Nez Perce creation story of “Coyote and the Monster of Kamiah”. Throughout the paper, Stolte relays the connections of this story to the land, the language as well as the ties between ancestral stories and modern understanding.
The paper showcases not only another alternative retelling of Coyote and their connection to the Creation myth, but also provides important points as to why we have experienced so many iterations of these stories.
“Coyote, the Trickster | Okanagan College.” Okannagan College, www.okanagan.bc.ca/story/coyote-the-trickster. Accessed 11 Apr. 2021.
King, Thomas. “Green Grass, Running Water.” CBC, 21 Feb. 2017, www.cbc.ca/books/green-grass-running-water-1.3992352.
Ravenheart, Jules. “More than Just a Trickster: The Many Faces of the Coyote.” Fractal Enlightenment, 18 Jan. 2018, fractalenlightenment.com/40732/culture/just-trickster-many-faces-coyote.
“A Quarterly of Criticism and Review.” Canadian Literature, canlit.ca/tricksters-on-stage-contemporary-first-nations-theater-and-drama-in-canada. Accessed 11 Apr. 2021.