“Coyote Pedagogy is a term sometimes used to describe King’s writing strategies (Margery Fee and Jane Flick). Discuss your understanding of the role of Coyote in the novel.”
The first place to start in understanding Coyote’s role in Thomas King’s novel Green Grass, Running Water, is understanding the connection between pedagogy and the Indigenous “trickster” figure.
The term “pedagogy” is generally defined as the act of teaching, whether that be in an academic or a philosophical manner (Oxford).
The term “trickster” is an all encompassing word describing various figures within various Indigenous mythologies, that embody a specific set of characteristics. In particular, tricksters are
“credited with protecting (and in some cases, creating) human life. As their name suggests however, tricksters are also associated with rule-breaking. They are curious pranksters who frequently cross and challenge boundaries, as well as ignore social harmony and order.”
– The Canadian Encyclopedia
Through the Coyote’s trickster traits, his role in King’s story is that of a sort of philosophical teacher attempting to guide the reader in examining stories from different, sometimes foreign perspectives.
In particular, Coyote stands as an Indigenous representative and voice. Throughout the novel, King utilizes both Indigenous oral storytelling practices as well as more Western literary traditions, blending them together to tell one, or perhaps many, stories. Symbols and metaphorical references also accompany each storytelling tradition into the greater creation story King establishes in his novel. Due to this, there are many instances where Judeo-Christian and Indigenous beliefs interact within the same space – within the same creation story.
A particular instance of this is Coyote’s frequent referencing of commonly understood Western religious symbols. For example, Alberta’s sudden pregnancy follows a storm established by Coyote’s singing and dancing, referencing a Cherokee story of Star Woman becoming pregnant from the wind. However, as the “four Indians” begin to chastise him for what he did, he says “But I was helpful too…That woman who wanted a baby. Now, that was helpful” (King, loc 4795). Similarly, when Thought Woman says no, Coyote asks if she really means yes. In trickster nature, he assumes that the rules do not apply to him, that he may ignore social harmony and order and do whatever he pleases. Within these passages, Coyote claims responsibility for the impregnation of Alberta, but King also hints at Coyote’s involvement with the Virgin Mary. By ignoring these social borders, Coyote turns a central story in the Christian religion into a story from an Aboriginal framework, also allowing the reader to cross the same boundaries from the framework they understand into a Coyote framework (Fee & Flick).
Additionally, within the novel, GOD and Coyote often appear together within one creation story. GOD is representative of the Western perspective while Coyote is representative of the Indigenous perspective, and thus the two creation stories are intermixed. This serves to allow the reader the opportunity to challenge their own cultural boundaries and cross into a world where perhaps there isn’t just GOD, but GOD and Coyote.
All in all, King includes Coyote as a central figure within the creation story to aid the reader in crossing the border between the known and unknown or the understood and misunderstood; between being an insider and being an outsider.
– More than just a trickster: The many faces of the coyote
References
Fee, Margery, and Jane Flick. “Coyote Pedagogy”. Canadian Literature 131 -139. (1999). Web. http://canlit.ca/canlitmedia/canlit.ca/pdfs/articles/canlit161-162-Coyote(FeeFlick).pdf. Accessed 8 Mar. 2019.
King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Collins, 1993. Amazon. Web. 8 Mar. 2019.
“Pedagogy”. Oxford English Dictionary. Web. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pedagogy. Accessed 8 Mar. 2019.
Ravenheart, Jules. “More the just a trickster: the many faces of the coyote”. Fractal Enlightenment. Web. https://fractalenlightenment.com/40732/culture/just-trickster-many-faces-coyote. Accessed 8 Mar. 2019.
Robinson, Amanda. “Trickster”. The Canadian Encyclopedia. 5 April 2019. Web. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/trickster. Accessed 8 Mar. 2019.
Hello Cassie,
I enjoyed reading your blog and the examples that you chose to include, notably the compare and contrast between GOD and Coyote. I am interested to know – what do you think the Indigenous Coyote can teach us in Western culture? In addition can you think that of any symbols that we have in Western culture that represent similar characteristics to the Coyote?
Thank you for an enjoyable read!
Alex
Hi Alex, thank you for your question! I think Coyote can teach us many things about how we view the world, which was why King included him in the novel. Coyote’s role in the novel is to challenge us to see the world from different perspectives and worldviews, which I believe is incredibly important in the Western world, where can often become trapped in the world view we are most accustomed to. As for the second part of your question, I am not entirely sure what symbols in Western culture might act similarly to Coyote. If we consider “Western culture” to be based off Christianity (as it tends to be) then I would assume that there would be some Christian Character that might have similar characteristics to Indigenous tricksters. One of Coyote’s characteristics, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia, is that he is often credited as creating and protecting man. That particular characteristic might be very similar to how God is viewed in Western cultures (from what I know). However, the second portion of Coyote’s characteristics says that he challenges borders and boundaries and ignores social harmony and order. That sounds similar to the role that Satan may take in the Bible.
If anyone else has any ideas about trickster characters in Western culture, I’d love to hear them too!