Coyote Tales of the Southwest[1]
Collected by Katharine Berry Judson, Charles Fletcher Lummis
Annotations by Ian McLaughlin/JB
Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C. [2]
THE COYOTE AND THE BEAR
Once upon a time Ko-íd-deh (the Bear) and Too-wháy-deh (the Coyote), [3] chanced to meet at a certain spot, and sat down to talk. After a while the Bear said:
“Friend Coyote, do you see what good land this is here? What do you say if we farm it together, sharing our labor and the crop?”
The Coyote thought well of it, and said so; and after talking, they agreed to plant potatoes in partnership.
“Now,” said the Bear, “I think of a good way to divide the crop. I will take all that grows below the ground, and you take all that grows above it. Then each can take away his share when he is ready, and there will be no trouble to measure.”
The Coyote agreed, and when the time came they plowed the place with a sharp stick and planted their potatoes. All summer they worked together in the field, hoeing down the weeds with stone hoes and letting in water now and then from the irrigating-ditch. When harvest-time came, the Coyote went and cut off all the potato-tops at the ground and carried them home, and afterward the Bear scratched out the potatoes from the ground with his big claws and took them to his house. When the Coyote saw this his eyes were opened and he said:
“But this is not fair. You have those round things, which are good to eat, but what I took home we cannot eat at all, neither my wife nor I.”
“But, friend Coyote,” answered the Bear, gravely, “did we not make an agreement? Then we must stick to it like men.”
The Coyote could not answer, and went home; but he was not satisfied.
The next spring, as they met one day, the Bear said:
“Come, friend Coyote, I think we ought to plant this good land again, and this time let us plant it in corn. But last year you were dissatisfied with your share, so this year we will change. You take what is below the ground for your share, and I will take only what grows above.”
This seemed very fair to the Coyote, and he agreed. They plowed and planted and tended the corn; and when it came harvest-time the Bear gathered all the stalks and ears and carried tehm home. When the Coyote came to dig his share, he found nothing but roots like threads, which were good for nothing. He was very much dissatisfied; but the Bear reminded him of their agreement, and he could say nothing.
That winter the Coyote was walking one day by the river (the Rio Grande), when he saw the Bear sitting on the ice and eating a fish. The Coyote was very fond of fish, and coming up, he said:
“Friend Bear, where did you get such a fat fish?”
“Oh, I broke a hole in the ice,” said the Bear, “and fished for them. There are many here.” And he went on eating, without offering any to the Coyote.
“Won’t you show me how, friend?” ansked the Coyote, fainting with hunger at the smell of the fish.
“Oh, yes,” said the Bear. “It is very easy.” And he broke a hole in the ice with his paw. “Now, friend Coyote, sit down and let your tail hang in the water, and very soon you will feel a nibble. But you must not pull it till I tell you.”
So the Coyote sat down with his tail in the cold water. Soon the ice began to form around it, and he called:
“Friend Bear, I feel a bite! Let me pull him out.”
“No, no! Not yet!” cried the Bear, “wait till he gets a good hold, and then you will not lose him.”
So the Coyote waited. In a few minutes the hole was frozen solid, and his tail was fast.
“Now, friend Coyote,” called the Bear, “I think you have him. Pull!”
The Coyote pulled with all his might, but could not lift his tail from the ice, and there he was—a prisoner. While he pulled and howled, the Bear shouted with laughter, and rolled on the ice and ha-ha’d thill his sides were sore. There he took his fish and went home, stopping every little to laugh at the thought of the Coyote.
There on the ice the Coyote had to stay until a thaw liberated him, and when he got home he was very wet and cold and half starved. And from that day to this he has never forgiven the Bear, and will not even speak to him when they meet, and the Bear says, politely, “Good morning, friend Too-wháy-deh.”
Is that so?” cry the boys.
“That is so,” says Felipe. “But now it is time to go home. Tóo-kwai!”
The story-telling is over for to-night. Grandmother Reyes is unrolling the mattresses upon the floor; and with pleasant “good-nights” we scatter for our homes here and there in the quaint adobe village.
Original editor’s footnote: The Coyote, you must know, is very stupid about some things; and in almost all Pueblo fairy stories is the victim of one joke or another. The bear, on the other hand, is one of the wisest of animals.
THE THEFT OF FIRE (Sia, New Mexico) [4]
A long, long time ago, the people became tired of feeding on grass, like deer and wild animals, and they talked together how fire might be found. The Ti-amoni said, “Coyote is the best man to steal fire from the world below,” so he sent for Coyote.
When Coyote came, the Ti-amoni said, “The people wish for fire. We are tired of feeding on grass. You must go to the world below and bring the fire.”
Coyote said, “It is well, father. I will go.”
So Coyote slipped stealthily to the house of Sussistinnako [5]. It was the middle of the night. Snake, who guarded the first door, was asleep, and he slipped quickly and quietly by. Cougar, who guarded the second door, was asleep, and Coyote slipped by. Bear, who guarded the third door, was also sleeping. At the fourth door, Coyote found the guardian of the fire asleep. Slipping through into the room of Sussistinnako, he found him also sleeping.
Coyote quickly lighted the cedar brand which was attached to his tail and hurried out. Spider awoke, just enough to know some one was leaving the room. “Who is there?” he cried. Then he called “Some one has been here.” But before he could waken the sleeping Bear and Cougar and Snake, Coyote had almost reached the upper world.
COYOTE AND THE FAWNS (Sia, New Mexico)
Another day when he was traveling around, Coyote met a deer with two fawns. The fawns were beautifully spotted, and he said to the deer, “How did you paint your children? They are so beautiful!”
Deer replied, “I painted them with fire from the cedar.”
“And how did you do the work?” asked Coyote.
“I put my children into a cave and built a fire of cedar in front of it. Every time a spark flew from the fire it struck my children, making a beautiful spot.”
“Oh,” said Coyote, “I will do the same thing. Then I will make my children beautiful.”
He hurried to his house and put his children in a cave. Then he built a fire of cedar in front of it and stood off to watch the fire. But the children cried because the fire was very hot. Coyote kept calling to them not to cry because they would be beautiful like the deer. After a time the crying ceased and Coyote was pleased. But when the fire died down, he found they were burned to death. Coyote expected to find them beautiful, but instead they were dead.
Then he was enraged with the deer and ran away to hunt her, but he could not find her anywhere. He was much distressed to think the deer had fooled him so easily.
JUDSON, KATHARINE BERRY., ED. “The Theft of fire,” in MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF california and the old southwest, 83-84. A. C. MCCLURG & CO., 1912.
JUDSON, KATHARINE BERRY., ED. “Coyote and the fawns,” IN MYTHS AND LEGENDS, 162-163.
LUMMIS, CHARLES FLETCHER. “The Coyote and the bear,” in THE MAN WHO MARRIED THE MOON AND OTHER PUEBLO INDIAN FOLK-STORIES, 30-33. THE CENTURY CO., 1894.
[1] The Coyote is a core character in the southwestern tribal mythologies. His stories are usually used to teach children how—or how not—to act. His stories should only be told in winter.
[3] These names are from the Tée-wahn language, spoken at several Pueblos, most notably the Isleta Pueblo. (Lummis)
[4] The modern spelling is Zia. The Zia sun symbol is used—without the pueblo’s permission—on the state flag of New Mexico. Judson includes the tribal origins of each tale with the title.
[5] Sussistinnako is the first of all living creatures, the Great Spider, and the grandparent of all humanity in Zia mythology.
Contexts
Trickster tales like these permeate world cultures: from the Biblical Jacob; to China’s Sun Wukong; to Loki from Norse Mythology; to Indra the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain deity; to the African Ananse; the trickster archetype is a core of folklore. Trickster characters typically display several of the following six traits (according to Hynes and Doty; see resource below): fundamental ambiguity, deceitfulness, the ability to shape-shift or disguise, frequent desire to invert situations, imitation of or acting as messengers for gods, and being sacred and lewd do-it-yourself types.
Resources for Further Study
- “The Sacred Hoop: A Contemporary Perspective on Native American Literature” from The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions by Paula Gunn Allen is a great essay on how to read Native Literature as a non-Native.
- The Man Who Married the Moon by Charles Lummis (also published under the title Pueblo Indian Folk-Stories) is an excellent resource on the stories and culture of the Tée-wahn pueblos of New Mexico.
- Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest is one of Katherine Berry Judson’s several early 20th-century collections of Native American folk tales.
- Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms by William J. Hynes and William G. Doty is a global look at trickster stories.
Contemporary Connections
- Navajo Coyote Tales, collected by William Morgan, and Coyote Walks on Two Legs, by Gerald Hausman attribute versions of “Coyote and the Fawns” to the Diné (Navajo).
[2] From the gallery label: “This carving seems to portray a Hopi tale about Coyote and Turtle…While the carver of this sculpture is unknown, the imagery resembles illustrations done by Fred Kabotie (1900-86), a Hopi from the second Mesa, for Taytay’s Tales, published in 1922.
