The identity of Coyote throughout Indigenous storytelling has become complex due to the fact some stories, Coyote is perceived as a trickster who will manipulate other characters for their benefit. For example, in Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King, the reader learns throughout the novel Coyote’s intentions of carrying the fun-loving reputation but consciously knows that he is a polarizing figure that can become unpredictable at any moment. Although Coyote does not demonstrate an intention of manipulating other characters in this particular story, based on my previous knowledge of Coyote’s identity in other stories brought the belief to my head that Coyote is a powerful character and can cause mass chaos.

From my past experiences of reading King’s stories that incorporate Coyote like The Truth About Stories, Coyote is an opportunist that will take advantage of any scenario for their own benefit, in which they are successful due to their ability to cause destruction. For example, King tells a story about Coyote constantly taking feathers from the group Ducks with the masked intention of “protecting them” but wants them to benefit himself. In this story, King uses Coyote as a metaphor for the universal colonialist, and the Ducks are a metaphor for the Indigenous communities. As a result, the theme throughout this story is Coyote’s will to take advantage of the Ducks resort to “‘ Indian things.’ Feathers if you will. Indian land, Indian rights, Indian Resources, Indian claims” (King, 167).

However, when studying Coyote’s character in Green Grass, Running Water King does seem to carry over some similarities to Coyote’s identity in The Truth About Stories but seems to be more impudent while continuing to inflict chaos and harm. However, Coyote’s identity continues to embody the standard colonialist because they believe that the white man is racially superior to a First Nations individual. For example, when Coyote is discussing with the narrator if the name Hawkeye for Old Woman is ideal, the narrator comments, “it sounds like a name for a white person who wants to be an Indian,” in which Coyote responds, “who would want to be Indian?… Not me” (King, 166). For this reason, the reader cannot rule out that Coyote’s identity still embodies the colonial belief of having racial superiority in this novel.

 At the end of the story, the reader begins to see the chaos Coyote can bring into the world through the actions they commit in which they are impudent to the harm they caused. When Coyote uses the phrase “hee-hee” throughout the novel, it seems that is Coyote’s way of orally sharing with the reader their cheekiness. For example, when Coyote causes the earthquake from their dancing and singing, Coyote knows the damage they are inflicting; however, Coyote seems to share a moment of enjoyment when he states, “earthquake, earthquake! Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee” (King, 169). After Hawkeye explains to Coyote the damage inflicted by them in previous stories that they still need to clean up, Coyote simply replies with the same laughing statement, “hee-hee” (King, 176). Thus, it seems that Coyote either does not show remorse for their actions or utterly oblivious to the damage that they inflicted.

Works Cited:

King, Thomas. HapersCollins e-Books. HapersCollins, 1993.

King, Thomas. The Truth about Stories a Native Narrative ; 2003 Massey Lecture. CBC Audio, 2003.

Lukacs, Martin. “Canadian Government Pushing First Nations to Give up Land Rights for Oil and Gas Profits | Martin Lukacs.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Mar. 2015, www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2015/mar/03/documents-harper-pushing-first-nations-to-shelve-rights-buy-into-resource-rush.

“OCNews.” Coyote, the Trickster | Okanagan College, www.okanagan.bc.ca/story/coyote-the-trickster.