Coyote Stories/Poems

Coyote Dance

Coyote, an interesting character, is found in Native cultures throughout North America.
In some stories, Coyote is the Creator or has the power of creation.

In others he’s a culture hero, battling supernatural enemies. At times he’s a messenger,
bringing culturally significant information to the people.

Sometimes he’s a trickster, outsmarting people and animal-people.
And still in others he’s a buffoon; he's sex-crazed; he’s forever dying at the hands of a more clever being.

These stories are meant to entertain, instruct, or do both.
In contemporary Coyote stories, the concept is the same,
although in most contemporary Coyote stories he’s a buffoon of sorts.

Jicarilla Apache Coyote Stories

The coyote cycle is a series of tales or episodes involving the travels and adventures of the trickster, Coyote.
For any one story-teller, these tales or episodes had a fixed order in respect to one another,
though another story-teller's account might run somewhat differently.
The manner of organizing these episodes seemed to depend more or less on family lines,
since the young of a given family group drew their inspiration from some venerable
relative and carried on his version of the proper way to relate the antics of Coyote.

Antelopes Take Arrows from Coyote 1
Antelopes Take Arrows from Coyote 2
Coyote and Beaver
Coyote and Beetle
Coyote and His Mother-in-Law
Coyote and the Pitch Baby
Coyote and the Expanding Meat
Coyote and the Two Running Rocks
Coyote and Yellow Jacket
Coyote As Eye-Juggler
Coyote Burns His Children
Coyote Chases the Rocks
Coyote Comes to Life Four Times
Coyote Dances with the Prairie Dogs

Coyote in the Underworld; The Origin of the Monsters;
The First Emergence

Coyote Kills Deer with His Ceremony
Coyote Kills His Wife and Carries Her Body
Coyote Loses His Bow and Arrows to Antelope
Coyote Loses the Power to Obtain Food
Coyote Marries His Own Daughter
Coyote Obtains Fire
Coyote Plays Tricks on Owl; the Vomit Exchange
Coyote Steals Another Man's Wife
Coyote Visits Buffalo
Coyote Visits the Red Ants
Race around the World
Rabbit Escapes
Rabbit Fools Coyote
Rabbit Scares Coyote Away

Stories

Coyote in the Underworld;
The Origin of the Monsters;
The First Emergence (Apache)

Coyote Insults the Rock (Apache)
Coyote is Disobeyed by Turkey (Apache)
Coyote is Revenged on Wildcat (Apache)
Coyote is Shot With a Pine Tree (Apache)
Coyote Kills a Giant (Dine/Navajo)
Coyote Kills Deer with His Ceremony (Apache)
Coyote Kills His Own Child Instead of the Turkeys (Apache)
Coyote Kills His Wife and Carries Her Body (Apache)
Coyote Kills the Prairie Dogs (Apache)
Coyote Loses His Bow and Arrows to Antelope (Apache)
Coyote Loses His Eyes (Apache)
Coyote Loses The Power to Obtain Food (Apache)
Coyote Marries His Own Daughter (Apache)
Coyote Marries Under False Pretences (Apache)
Coyote Misses Real Rabbit (Apache)
Coyote Obtains Fire (Apache)
Coyote Proves Himself a Cannibal (Apache)
Coyote Quarrels with Mole (Salish)
Coyote Reads the Letter As He Sits (Apache)
Coyote Rides a Star (Klamath)
Coyote Secures Fire (Apache)
Coyote Secures Fire II (Apache)
Coyote Steals Abert Squirrel's Fire (Apache)
Coyote Steals a Man's Wife (Apache)
Coyote Steals Sun's Tobacco (Apache)
Coyote Steals Wheat (Apache)
Coyote Takes Arrows From Owl (Apache)
Coyote Tries to Make His Children Spotted (Apache)
Coyote Trots Along (Apache)
Coyote Visits Buffalo (Apache)
Coyote vs. Duck (Apache)
Coyote With A Thorn In His Eye (Costanoan)
Coyote's Adventures (Maidu)

Coyote's Adventures And The Prairie Falcon's Blindness
(Yokuts / Yauelmani)

Coyote's Adventures in Idaho (Flathead/Salish)
Coyote's Children (Wintu)
Coyote's Daughter [Becomes] His Wife (Apache)
Coyote's Faeses Under His Hat (Apache)
Coyote's Rabbit Chase (Tewa)
Coyote's Squirrel Hunt (Klamath)
Coyote's Salmon (Sanpoil)

Coyote, The Mountain-Tossing People,
And The Wind-Man (Maidu)|

Coyote, Heron, And Lizard (Yana)
Coyote, Pine Marten, And Loon (Yana)
Desert Tortoise and Coyote (Yaqui)
Fire Race (Karuk)
How Coyote brought Fire to the Cchrocs (Karuk)
How Coyote Brought Fire to the People (Karuk)
How Coyote got his cunning (Karuk)
How Coyote Stole Fire (Karuk)
How Coyote Stole Fire (Shasta)
How Coyote Stole the Sun (Klamath)
How Squire Coyote Brought Fire to the Cahrocs (Karuk)
How the Coyote Got his Cunning (Karuk)
Old Man Coyote makes the world
Panther's Children And Coyote Yokuts / Yauelmani
Rabbit and the Coyote (Mayan)
Rabbit Fools Coyote (Apache)
Skunk Outwits Coyote
The Meeting (Dog's Tails)
Why Coyote Stopped Imitating His Friends (Caddo)
Why Mount Shasta Erupted (Shasta)

Poems

Coyote Gulch
Coyote Morning

Other Coyote Pages

Mourning Dove: Coyote Stories
Coyote: Wildlife Information
Little Wolf
Alabama Coyote Photo

Coyote Morning

Old men
and old coyote dogs
boil their dreams in the sun
served steaming within a bowl
filled with shadows
rolling sticks onto the ground
and making wild songs
while they smack their lips
and spit out the dust
blown in by the winds
nameless
and place-less
but hard to ignore.

Coyote Gulch

Coyote runs along the river
trees
offer their roots to the rhythm
which is deeper
quieter
moving with the sun
my memories are a 4-legged
song.

Coyote and the Stars

Coyote is just being coyote when he sees the Creator placing the stars in the sky from a bag in a very orderly manner. Coyote asks if he can help and the Creator lets coyote place stars in the sky reminding him to be sure and put the stars up in an orderly manner. Coyote does it correctly, but, as is his nature, coyote becomes impatient and throws the whole bag of stars into the sky distributing the stars helter skelter. The Creator scolds him for his carelessness and for the mess he made. Coyote leaves with his tail between his legs. Soon, however, Coyote goes back to being a coyote, only after that he howls at night when he sees the mess he made with the stars.

Return to Indigenous Peoples' Literature

Compiled by: Glenn Welker

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