Coyote (mythology)

Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote (Canis latrans) animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail and blunt claws. The myths and legends which include Coyote vary widely from culture to culture. The role Coyote takes in traditional stories shares some traits with the Raven figure in other cultures. Coyote (Navajo mythology) Coyote is the tutelary spirit of "Coyoteway", one of the Navajo curing ceremonies. The ceremony is intended to restore the patient's harmonious relationship with Coyote and the world, and to bring about a return to good health. Coyote is featured in the mythology of a number of Indigenous cultures of the Americas, including: Coyote is featured in the mythology of numerous peoples from the area covered by the modern state of California, including the Achomawi and Atsugewi, the Diegueños, the Gallinoméro the Juaneño, the Karok, the Luiseño, the Maidu, the Miwok, the Pomo the Rumsen, the Shasta, the Sinkyone, the Wappo, the Yana and the Yokuts. In many of these stories he is a major sacred character with divine creative powers; in others he is a malevolent and often comical trickster. In some stories he combines both roles. An example is a Maidu myth that says that at the beginning of time, a primal being called Earth Maker is floating on the infinite waters, when Coyote calls out to him. Together they sing to create the world. After it is completed, and Earth Maker has created the people, Coyote vows to spoil the world and introduce evil to it. Earth Maker orders the people to destroy Coyote, but despite their best efforts, Coyote uses supernatural trickery to outwit them. In the end, Earth Maker is forced to recognize that Coyote's power is equal to his own. A common theme is of Coyote benefiting the human community by organizing the theft of fire, or of the sun, from the supernatural beings who have been keeping it for themselves; in these myths he is portrayed as a benefactor of the people.

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Related concepts (3)

Trickster

In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and defy conventional behavior. Tricksters, as archetypal characters, appear in the myths of many different cultures. Lewis Hyde describes the trickster as a "boundary-crosser".

Coyote (mythology)

Fox

Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species belong to the monophyletic "true fox" group of genus Vulpes. Approximately another 25 current or extinct species are always or sometimes called foxes; these foxes are either part of the paraphyletic group of the South American foxes, or of the outlying group, which consists of the bat-eared fox, gray fox, and island fox.