As a group, we, Canadian Geese, decided that we wanted to partner with On Stolen Land because their research dealt with orality and storytelling, much like how ours dealt with different versions and interpretations of Coyote mythology. The multitude of Coyote stories represent a variety of interesting points:
- Lessons and morals to be taught and learned
- Taking back control of Indigenous cultural narrative
- Representation of voice and experiences
Through our research on Coyote, we found that the role of the Trickster is very malleable; he is able to change his role without losing the overall elements that make him a Trickster. For instance, even when Coyote plays a more serious role within a story, he still makes use of small tricks in order to teach lessons. Other times, Coyote is at the brunt of the trick, but additional elements, such as his partner the Fox who is able to bring him back to life, highlight him as an important character despite being made a fool.
In our research, it was shown that Coyote stories often have elements that other cultures deem unnecessary (e.g. repetitive story). Oftentimes in translating or interpreting Coyote stories, these elements are removed, which disrupts the integrity of the original story itself (Elliot 737). In the case of “Coyote — His Myth,” the repeating aspects of the story was where the lesson or moral of the story resided. Connor, from On Stolen Land, points out how “[t]here [is] a difficult tension . . . between preserving stories and making them accessible” (Connor Page) that goes on when Indigenous stories are translated into English. In part, this is because as outsiders of the culture, we may not fully understand how elements in the story are where the lesson is to be learned. For example, Mia Nikoo points out that “the repetition in the oral . . . Coyote tale . . . call[s] for a great deal of reflection” (Mia Nikoo). This is actually fairly close to why “Coyote — His Myth” has the repetitive story; each recurrence of the same interaction reminds the audience of the previous one. It is in this way that each lesson Coyote learns is piled on top of each other, allowing the audience to learn the lesson slowly over time.
By viewing Coyotes tales through the oral structure they are traditionally meant to be consumed, it is possible to examine the multitude of personalities that Ella E. Clark points to in their research. Clarks focus on the different presentations of Coyote from a trickster to a prophesying, authoritative figure to a hero. The tales Clark presents reflect Coyote’s personality. The distinct and individualistic voices of each tale are furthered upon oral presentation. The research presented by Clark plays into the research done by Jackson B.Miller. Who focused on the performative aspects of Coyote’s tales and the different elements and voices that are presented in each tale. These variables are presented through the influence of cultural identity, which in turn affects the story. The ability to view the tales as they are meant furthers the understanding and individuality of each story. Being able to examine the language, pronunciation and emphasis that is used to tell Coyote’s tale by different tribes and storytellers, it is possible to see how tribal language affects Coyote’s tale. A point that Kalina Newmark and Nacole Walker focus on throughout their research, a self-described “sociolinguistic attention towards a globalized view of prosody and ethnic identity” (On Stolen Land.)
The repetition and retellings of each story of Coyote allow for the characters to be translated into a new medium of storytelling. The research presented by Angelica Lawson shows indigenous creators taking back their cultural narrative. By explaining the importance of Indigenous artists and creators exploring the complexities of colonization and heritage through modern storytelling. Lawson calls on to the identity and individuality that Coyote represents. Coyotes many personalities and representation allow for the individuals presenting the story to reclaim their heritage and identity. It is this ability to rediscover cultural identity that allows for modern artists and creators to take elements first presented through Coyote in new stories. Stories such as Eden Robinson’s book series, Son of a Trickster and CBC’s interpretation of the stories as presented in the titled series Trickster. Which displays a full cast of talented Indigenous Canadian actors who portray the characters of the book, as both series and shows are recommended by Cayla Banman, who point to the importance of the series as they allow for modern Indigenous storytellers to reclaim their cultural identity. Our ability to consume Coyote’s tales in the manner the storytellers wish for allows for the presentation of Coyote to be authentic and true to the artist’s vision. Coyote’s ability to translate from story to story as a means of both growth and individuality. Coyote provides space for constant new definition and understanding.
In continuing to create dialogue in partnership with On Stolen Land, and even within our own group, there were many instances that pointed back to the important role that the storyteller plays in shaping their tale. For many Indigenous storytellers there are aspects of the “personal” interwoven into their stories that we outside of the culture simply do not understand. Gretchen Stolte elaborates on this concept further in her article, “Heart of the Monster: Knowledge between Land, Story and Monster” stating that, “[f]or First Nations peoples, no matter how Indigenous knowledge is defined, their conceptions and experiences of it are intricately and intimately linked to ‘identity and way of life’” (Stolte). For Stolte, her discovering of Nez Perce story of “‘iciyéeya and ‘icwéewlcix (Coyote and the Monster)’” (Stolte) and the story’s connection to the land, acted as a “pilgrimage” (Stolte) for Stolte. The journey that Stolte was on, caused her to realize that “what I was doing was what many Nez Perce families have done and continue to do. The story of the Heart of the Monster is a living one. Although I might be decades late for this pilgrimage, I have a sense of completing a journey that was mapped out for me, as it is for all Nimi’ipuu” (Stolte). As seen in our dialogue, and in our research, cultural and ancestral stories, such as those about Coyote, have a transcending or “living” quality.
In acknowledging that the story of Coyote is a “living” story, it is then no surprise that contemporary Indigenous creators have been using their ancestral stories as a way to “reclaim” and “redefine” on their own terms Indigenous narratives throughout various forms of media. In their comment, Leo Yamanaka-Leclerc brings up a very interesting point about the “rez accent”. In their research, Yamanaka-Leclerc discusses how in Kevin Loring’s play, “Thanks for Giving”, there is a “complex confrontation with language and identity, in examining how different generations of Indigenous folks and communities negotiate their identities in strikingly distinct rhetorical and linguistic fashions” (Yamanaka-Leclerc). Throughout our own research we have come across similar themes of language and identity in Indigenous media. In her essay regarding Missy Whiteman’s work in “new media,” Angelica Lawson discusses one of Whiteman’s short videos. In the video, Lawson explains that two “urban natives” (14) speak the traditional language of the Ojibwe as they move through their daily lives in the city. Lawson explains that this video is, “an example of both “cultural” and “visual sovereignty,” it performs the work of decolonizing media images of American Indians” (14). The importance of Indigenous creators being able to tell their experiences and stories is significant. As further discussed in our dialogue, Cayla Banman, recalls her own experience with “Indigenous produced and directed” content on the broadcast channels of CBC and NFB. The changing landscape for Indigenous creators to tell their stories through the means, and with the intentionality that they choose, not ones predicated through colonial voices, continues the dialogue that we have merely scratched the surface of.
Through our study of the many iterations of Coyote’s story, as well as the changing landscape of “new media” for Indigenous creators, there is an acknowledgement of the reclamation of Idigenous creators, and the understanding that these ancestral and cultural narratives are not stagnant, but “living stories” and represent the personal connection of the storyteller to their culture.
Our Home and Native Land by Canadian artist Jennifer Adomeit (2006).
Works Cited
Banman, Cayla. Comment on “Annotated Bibliography”. Canadian Geese, April 11th, 2021. https://blogs.ubc.ca/canadiangeese/2021/04/08/annotated-bibliography-2/#comments.
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.
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.
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
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
Newmark, Kalina, et al. “‘The rez accent knows no borders’: Native American ethnic identity expressed through English prosody.” Language in Society, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 633-664. Cambridge Core, https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/core/journals/language-in-society/article/rez-accent-knows-no-borders-native-american-ethnic-identity-expressed-through-english-prosody/1A3FBC45CB232606A9102380E44905B8.
Nikoo, Mia. Comment on “Annotated Bibliography.” Canadian Geese, April 11th, 2021, https://blogs.ubc.ca/canadiangeese/2021/04/08/annotated-bibliography-2/#comments.
Page, Connor. Comment on “Annotated Bibliography.” On Stolen Land, April 13th, 2021, https://onstolenland372.wordpress.com/annotated-bibliography/.
Stolte, Gretchen. “Heart of the Monster: Knowledge between Land, Story and Monsters.” Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 44, no. 2, 04/02/2020
Yamanaka-Leclerc, Leo. Comment on “Annotated Bibliography”. On Stolen Land, April 12th 2021. https://onstolenland372.wordpress.com/annotated-bibliography/.