Coyote – Native American Trickster, Creator, And Sacred Animal Who Can Deceive But Also Give Wisdom

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Coyote, the trickster-god, is a well-known figure in myths and legends of Indigenous peoples of North America.

Coyote, a mischievous, cunning, and destructive force at work within creation, was also assigned to the role of god-deceiver, a great cheater who misleads people and animals and finds obvious pleasure in causing troubles and upsets daily.

Credit: Adobe Stock - Yevhenii

Coyote Can Deceive And Be Reckless

Among the many tribes of Native Americans, there is a belief that the Coyote is the bearer of all evil and brings winter and even death. The Maidu people of northern California, for example, portrayed the Coyote as deceitful, greedy, and reckless, and these evident failings in his character make problems for people around him. His impulsive and foolish behavior causes him to suffer, too. Frequently, he is killed through his carelessness, but, in some way, amazingly, he always comes back to life afterward.

Still, the Coyote remains a very prominent animal. The basis of his character is the same in all myths; only a few character traits of Coyote vary from region to region.

Coyote Can Share Priceless Wisdom With People

Other tribes claim the opposite and believe Coyote is the teacher of wisdom, the trickling god, who - when properly approached - can share with people some priceless wisdom.

Many Native myths deal with this amazing creature, the most sacred and, at the time, most profane of animals. Coyote's power is to make people free or to feel fear.

Coyote is a sacred animal among Native Americans. Credit: Adobe Stock - Mircea Costina

Among many Native American tribes, the Coyote is credited with bringing humanity the gift of fire, the destruction of monsters, the making of waterfalls, and the teaching of useful arts to the Indians. But perhaps the most famous and fascinating incarnation of this remarkable creature is presented in the Nez Perce tribe's myth of Coyote and the Shadow People. His actions lead to humankind being forever separated from the spirit realm of the dead.

Coyote Shows Us How Ridiculous We Can Be Sometimes

As we look deeper into Coyote's character, we realize that the creature's cunning tricks are not always trivial. His mischief is not so much to deceive us from our goal as to show how ridiculous we often are in our lives and suggest we have to take a bit of distance from ourselves and think about what we really do with our lives.

Unlike the Coyote, we cannot come back to life if we are killed. Looking at Coyote's foolishness, we can avoid making mistakes and find a straight road with a purpose.

Coyote is sometimes a Creator and sometimes a clown, destroying things for himself and others who surround him.

Because of his vanity and boastfulness, the Coyote undertakes various ambitious enterprises, in which he fails due to his passions.

Is it not the same we experience our lives sometimes?

Coyote And Other Tricksters In Mythology

Coyote has been compared to both the Scandinavian Loki, and also Prometheus, who shared with Coyote the trick of having stolen fire from the gods as a gift for mankind, and Anansi, the great trickster of West African legend, who was originally credited with the creation of the world and became a cultural founder hero.

In the Aztec pantheon of gods, the trickster and transformer, Ueuecoyotl or Huehuecóyotl ("Old Coyote"), shares many characteristics with the trickster Coyote of the North American tribes.

In Eurasia, rather than a coyote, a fox is often featured as a trickster hero. For example, in Japanese mythology, he is known as kitsune, and in medieval European folklore, there is a similar figure known as Reynard the Fox.

Updated on January 7, 2024

Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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