Native American Literature King 's A Coyote 's Coyote

Native American traditional stories, folktales, are stories passed down from generation to generation by story telling and performance. Native Americans emphasized the importance of living in harmony with the naturual world. They had complex religious beliefs, sophisticated poltical systems, and strong morals. Some of the stories are creation myths, tales of heroes, and tricksters. Trickster tales are stories that have animals or human characters who engage in deceit, violence, or magic. Often trickster tales are said to explain why the world is the way it is. "Coyote and the Buffalo" and "Fox and Coyote and Whale" are two trickster tales, retold by Mourning Dove, explaining how Coyote's action created changes in

“Coyote and the Buffalo’’ and “Fox and Coyote and the Whale’’ are folk tales told by Okanogan storytellers. They are myths passed down verbally from generation to generation explaining why the world is the way it is. Trickster tales are folk tales that includes an animal or a human character as a protagonist which represent the dual nature of humans. It teaches many lessons. The character has magical powers. Coyote is featured in both of these trickster tales showing similar and different contradicting qualities showing different characteristics like being greedy, disrespecting the dead, family structure, etc.

The coyote in King's story is female though, since Cherokee believe the mischevious trickster, or embodiment of evil, to be female.

Trickster tales have been an important part of the Native American culture for hundreds of years. Trickster tales are an oral storytelling tradition and are continuously passed down from generation to generation of Native American Indians. American Indians enjoy listening and telling trickster tales because it is a fun and interesting way to tell a story with a valuable lesson. In many tales, the trickster has a name associated with an animal, and a majority of listeners assume they are animals; however, in some tales, characteristics may appear more human-like. Trickster tales allow Native American cultures to use their imagination and thoroughly understand the moral lessons presented in the tales, and therefore may help with one’s

In the story “Coyote Finishes His Work” the importance of farming, hunting, and nature is expressed which are all aspects of Native American culture. Coyote teaches the people various life lessons including how to hunt, gather, make shelter, what to wear, and how to dance. The belief in Mother Nature is mentioned which showed that they strongly believed in devoting some parts of their life to her and they had cultural ties to nature. Old Man states that “All people will live together. Earthmother will go back to her first shape and live as a mother among her children. Then things will be made right.” This symbolizes that a higher being will return and create a more desirable living condition for all.

Be either characterized as malicious or a tribute to the Native American Heritage. Numerous Social

While the dog puts its heart and soul into every step it takes, pounding the earth, the coyote “glides” in a “calm, soft-footed trot”. “Glide” implies effortless and graceful movement, perfectly antithetical to the dog’s “furious” gate. Unlike Twain’s prior list of adverse and disturbing traits of the coyote, his description of the coyote’s beautiful gate hints at an intricacy in the predominantly disgusted attitude: awe. Twain did not just acknowledge the existence of the coyote’s incredible speed, he embellished it with imagery and hyperbole, just as he did with the coyote’s hideous countenance. This fervor shows Twain has a strong sense of amazement toward the coyote. Twain described the coyote’s escape from the dog dramatically as a “sudden splitting of a long crack though the atmosphere”, exactly like a gunshot. Clearly the coyote did not break the sound barrier, but Twain’s exaggerated portrayal of the scene proves he was left absolutely flabbergasted. His attitude toward the coyote, thereafter, was that of

As I mentioned above, everything began with Christopher Columbus discovering America in 1492. History is non-fiction, and perhaps the most concrete example of this non-fiction is the story of the beginning of the Indians. Native American mythology contains may different types of character including heroes, tricksters, and more. These characters can have both good and bad qualities, and fall into many categories. For example, creator gods usually restore order, but in some stories can be destructive. Tricksters can even be considered the hero in some stories. (Myths Encyclopedia, 2007). Indian stories are born from experiences and beliefs. Ross also states that “Native American societies are based on the concept of interdependence. Interdependence

When it comes to the topic of Native Americans and tradition most will agree that Sherman Alexie is not the typical Indian writer and that he has in effect isolated himself. Jess Row in his article “Without Reservation”, depicts Sherman Alexie as a storyteller that uses non developing dark humor which in turn portrays his theme among each short story in Blasphemy. I agree with Row’s argument that Alexie maintains a sense of humor throughout his writings but that it develops prematurely. I also believe that he does this purposefully, in doing this, his message is clearly defined to the reader and is always a shock at the end. After reading this article I have come to the conclusion that Sherman Alexie entails his dark humor and storytelling style to purposefully misinterpret Indians to demonstrate his cruel and genuine message.

Like a coin dropped between the cushions of a couch, traditional oral storytelling is a custom fading away in current American culture. For Native Americans, however, the practice of oral storytelling is still a tradition that carries culture and rich history over the course of generations. Three examples of traditional oral stories, “How Men and Women Got Together”, “Coyote’s Rabbit Chase”, and “Corn Mother”, demonstrate key differences in perspectives and values among diverse native tribes in America.

In “The Spirit Chief names the animals” and “Coyote decides to get married” coyote is seen in a higher position in society. In “Spirit Chief” coyote is at first low in power, but gets a better position, while in “Coyote gets married” he starts off in a position of high power. In “Spirit Chief” coyote is hated for what he does, because he mocks others. In the other story, though, he is loved and honored. In both stories, he changes society in a way.

Native Americans have been used as symbols for sports teams for many years such as the Chiefs, Redskins, or Braves. In recent years, this form of symbolism has been labelled as politically incorrect and culturally insensitive for Native Americans. Although there are many negative effects from humor of Native American culture, humor can be used in a positive light. With light being shed on many of the political issues raised by Native Americans and the mistreatment of ancestors by the government, light sensed humor of the subjects can ease much of the tension for the communities. These jokes often take form in witty comments, presented as sarcasm to a true

Now applying this theory to the short story “I am Bigfoot,” we need to focus less on the absurdity of the situation, and more on what the text is trying to present to us. ‘I am Bigfoot’ written by Ron Carson, is a story where Bigfoot formally addresses himself to the public eye. Ignoring Carson’s previous work “Bigfoot Stole My Wife” we experience Bigfoot in a different way. The Bigfoot that we knew is a universal mythical figure that everyone has either heard of, and some have “claimed to see.” This Bigfoot is universally depicted as animalistic, as a posed to the poised figure that is presented to us in the text.

Native American literatures embrace the memories of creation stories, the tragic wisdom of native ceremonies, trickster narratives, and the outcome of chance and other occurrences in the most diverse cultures in the world. These distinctive literatures, eminent in both oral performances and in the imagination of written narratives, cannot be discovered in reductive social science translations or altogether understood in the historical constructions of culture in one common name. (Vizenor 1)

When in the cave above the jagged mountainside where Kino, Juana and Coyotito were in hiding, the trackers were also taking a break. Kino began to maneuver his way through the rocky ridge, when Coyotito ever so faintly whimpered. “It sounded like the cry of a human baby” stated the first of the trackers after hearing Coyotito. Another corrected that it sounded like a coyote. They heard Coyotito but mistakened his cries for a coyote’s, and those names are very similar. It is ironic that the tracker stated that because it is the opposite of the expected. “If it is coyote, this will stop it”. The trackers proceeded to shoot, unknowingly that this “coyote” was actually a juvenile with his entire life ahead of him. They shot Coyotito from the ground up into the cave.