A Coyote Reader

by William Bright

Wily, raunchy, and heroic. A trickster, lecher, and supreme survivor. Such is the magical Coyote, that mythic Native American figure whose various roles are recounted here in a wonderful selection of poetry and stories.

Anthropological linguist William Bright brings together diverse portraits of Coyote from American Indian texts and modern American writing. Because Native American myths have been recited and transmitted orally, Bright addresses the special problem of converting them into written stories. His familiarity with the native languages gives his retranslations a liveliness that conveys their original vitality.

The collection also includes poetic translations and original works by important contemporary writers Leslie Silko, Gary Snyder, Wendy Rose, Peter Blue Cloud, and Simon Ortiz, along with the voice of an earlier American author―Mark Twain.

We see how the figure of Coyote serves both to entertain and to instruct and, by his similarities to the actual biological coyote, provides a link between culture and nature. At the same time, since he embodies distinctive characteristics of Homo sapiens , Coyote also reflects many aspects of human nature.

Bright places each tale in relation to the larger Native American context and shows Coyote's affinities with classic mythological figures and popular cultural images such as Bugs Bunny. Filled with humor and at times disturbing, Coyote's tales mirror the human condition across time and cultures.

Genres: Mythology, Poetry

228 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1992

About the author

William Oliver Bright was an American linguist and toponymist who specialized in Native American and South Asian languages and descriptive linguistics.

Reviews

[Brad McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the European mythic traditions, the Native American myths were part of an oral tradition. In fact, it wasn’t until we colonizers wanted to preserve the displaced and destroyed cultures’ traditions that they were written down at all. I’m not sure if this is a good thing. Writing them down demanded a translation. Something is always lost in translation. I believe that’s doubly so for a translation from a spoken language tradition to a written language one.

Mr. Bright isn't just some dude, he spent time with the Karuk tribe and learned their language. Additionally, most of the tales here are gathered from Native Americans or from similar academic scholars as himself. I think this is a great starting point to learn more on the myths but am looking for a newer (this one is from 1993) and one from a Native American, not a colonizer. Still lots of good stuff here.

(page XI) Coyote is a member of the First People
“..a race of mythic prototypes that lived before humans existed. They had tremendous powers; they created the World as we know it; they instituted human life and culture- but they were also capable of being brave or cowardly, conservative or innovative, wise or stupid. They had names we now associate with animals, and they sometimes had features, physical or psychological, that we now associate with those animals. When humans came into existence, the First People were transformed into the species of animals that still bear their names.”

(18) “[Coyote] is a mythic trickster, responsible for the world as we know it, yet a persistent bungler and dupe; and he is now, for many whites as well as Indians, a powerful symbol of a viewpoint that looks beyond abstractions and beyond technology to the ultimate value of survival.”

(86) He steals fire, not for human’s good, but because he likes to steal.

(86) What Stinks
They were after the picnic food
That the special dancers left
Down below the cliff
And Toe’osh [Coyote] and his cousins hung themselves
Down over the cliff
Holding each other’s tail in their mouth making a coyote
Chain
Until someone in the middle farted
And the guy behind him opened his
Mouth to say “What stinks?” and they
All went tumbling down, like that.

(116) When Coyote invented death no one cried when someone died until his own son died. He was the first being to cry at the death of a loved one. A great example of how he gets what he wants but it also backfires.

(124) Coyote and Badger tells the tale of how Badger hunts: he farts and kills his prey. Coyote is jealous, so he nags Badger until Badger trades assholes with him. It didn’t help Coyote hunt because he keeps farting with every step, tele-smelling his presence to his prey.

[Andrew Westphal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the concept and the the author clearly holds great expertise in this field. There is a lot of quality material here, but Bright failed to create enough synthesis between the primary sources. He tried to group the stories by subject matter, but most of the tales are broad enough to cover multiple subjects, so this approach fell short. Due to these awkward groupings, the reading experience feels a little disjointed.

[Josh braddick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doesn’t make a lick of sense what the author is trying to make a point about.

[Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essentially an American “Metamorphoses,” only all the heroes, villains, and capricious gods are all Coyote.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had much more of a West Coast Coyote focus given the specialty of the author, vs the southwest and plains in other books I've read. Outstanding analysis/read.

[Marni · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of poetry and stories based on the Coyote in indigenous culture.