Coyote and Raven, American Tricksters

1. Introduction to Native American Trickster Traditions

• Distinct Mythological Landscape: Unlike Norse, Greek, or Egyptian traditions where pantheons of gods and monsters take center stage, Native American mythological traditions feature animals as central protagonists who help create the world and establish vital rituals.
• Blurring Human and Animal Worlds: In these traditions, the boundary between human and animal realms is remarkably porous. Animals live alongside humans and act as profound cosmological agents.
• Frank and Unfiltered Storytelling: Native American myths are distinct for their unvarnished frankness. They feature candid discussions of bodily functions, elimination, scatological humor, and sexual appetites.
• Scavenging Origins: Animals like the coyote and the raven were well known for scavenging and making off with livestock or picking at dead carcasses. While scavenging might seem unheroic, it is inherently devious—providing fertile ground for elaborate trickster myths across the North American continent.

2. Core Mental Model: The Animalistic Nature of Humanity

• Rule by Appetites and Impulses: As scholars Lenard and McClure observe, the Native American trickster serves as a stark mirror for humanity. Despite human pretensions to intellectual and spiritual culture, bravery, and altruism, humans remain animals ruled by base appetites.
• Vulnerability to Flawed Impulses: Tricksters demonstrate that humanity is equally capable of cowardice, selfishness, and cruelty when driven by hedonistic desires.
• The Hedonistic Trap: Just like Hermes (hungry) and Anansi (greedy), Coyote is completely unable to resist giving in to his immediate bodily desires, setting off a chain reaction of comedic and chaotic events.

3. Coyote and the Rose-Hips: The Scatological Shot-Put

• The Temptation: While walking, Coyote encounters some tasty-looking, bright red rose-hips. The talking rose-hips explicitly warn him that eating them will cause horrible flatulence.
• The Reckless Decision: Ignoring the warning, Coyote devours the rose-hips (CHOMP), leading to an intense, alarming build-up of internal gas and severe abdominal pain.
• The Buffalo Contest: Doubled over in pain, Coyote stumbles across two crows picking over a dead buffalo. He proposes a contest: whoever can defecate from one side of the buffalo to the other wins the right to keep and eat the buffalo meat.
• The Climax of Gas:
  • The crow goes first, turning around and pooping as hard as he can, managing only to clear halfway.
  • Coyote, fit to burst with rose-hip gas, relaxes and launches his payload completely across the buffalo with ease.
• Trickster Compassion: Astonished by the feat, the crows beg Coyote for food. In an uncharacteristic moment of compassion, Coyote grants them the fat around the eye sockets, joints, and ribs.

4. Coyote the Creator: Placing the Stars in the Sky

• The Sky Observation: In a tale from the Wasco people of the Pacific Northwest, Coyote finds his wolf buddies staring intently up into the sky at two mysterious animals.
• The Arrow Ladder: Ever curious, Coyote shoots arrows into the sky with immaculate aim, each arrow hitting the previous one to construct a continuous ladder of arrows from Earth to the heavens.
• The Sky Bears: Coyote and the wolves climb the arrow ladder for days and nights, discovering that the mysterious sky animals are actually grizzly bears.
• Constellation Formation:
  • The wolves cautiously approach and sit with the bears, realizing they are safe.
  • Coyote admires the peaceful scene, leaves the wolves and bears in the sky, and pulls down the arrow ladder.
  • Today, the four youngest wolves form the handle of the Big Dipper, while the two oldest wolves and the bears form its bowl.
• The Desire to Be Remembered: Before leaving, Coyote calls out to the Meadowlark to ensure his deeds are told and remembered, highlighting the trickster's deep desire for lasting fame and timeless storytelling.

5. Raven and the Theft of Water

• The Setting: Among Native American peoples of the Pacific Northwest (including Canada and Alaska), Raven is a prominent trickster. This specific myth was recorded in Sitka, Alaska.
• Petrel's Spring: A very long time ago, Raven was stark white. He visited his brother-in-law, Petrel—a seabird who guarded the world's only everlasting spring of water and refused to share it.
• The Devious Plot:
  • Unable to trick Petrel into leaving his home with stories of the outside world, Raven waits until nightfall.
  • Raven sneaks outside, finds dog feces, and smears it all over Petrel's bird clothing.
  • In the morning, Raven wakes Petrel up to point out what has happened to his clothes.
• The Water Heist: While Petrel goes outside to clean himself, Raven uncovers the spring and drinks almost all the water.

6. How Raven Got His Black Feathers (and Earth Got Rivers)

• The Chase: As Raven flies up through the smoke-hole with his mouth full of water, Petrel calls upon his spirits to catch the thief.
• The Smoke Bath: Petrel throws pitchwood onto his fire to generate thick, black smoke. As Raven struggles against the spirits, the heavy black smoke soaks into his pristine white feathers, turning them pitch-black.
• Spilling the Water: Struggling to escape without spilling a single drop of water, Raven flies across the landscape. As he fidgets and tries to brush off the char, water sloshes out of his beak:
  • Large spills form major rivers like the Nass, Stikine, Taku, and Chilkat.
  • Small drops and splashes form winding creeks across the Pacific Northwest.
• The Dual Outcome: Through a single poo-stained trick, the world receives its life-giving rivers and streams, and Raven permanently acquires his iconic black feathers.

7. Real-World Practical Pitfalls & Edge Cases

• The Paradox of Trickster Power: Possessing supernatural or powerful abilities does not exempt a mythic figure from the messy realities of being an animal—complete with danger, confusion, and bodily functions.
• The Fine Line Between Gross and Beneficial: While trickster actions often seem outrageous, vulgar, or scatological, they cannot be written off as purely evil or detrimental to society.
• Pragmatic Creation: Many foundational elements of the natural world (such as constellations, rivers, and creeks) arise directly out of chaotic, impulsive, or inappropriate trickster behavior.

8. Summary and Key Takeaways

• Prominent Animal Tricksters: Coyote and Raven are two of the most popular and enduring trickster figures across Native American mythology, frequently utilizing scavenging instincts and devious tactics.
• Blurring Human and Animal Realms: Unlike Western or Mediterranean pantheons, Native American myths place animals at the center of creation stories and cosmological ordering.
• Unfiltered Storytelling: These traditions embrace frank discussions of bodily functions, elimination, flatulence, and sexual appetites without sanitization.
• Humanity's Base Impulses: Tricksters serve as psychological mirrors for humanity, demonstrating that people are driven by hedonistic desires and appetites despite intellectual pretensions.
• Scatological Catalysts: Major myths often spring from basic, crude circumstances—such as Coyote's rose-hip flatulence contest or Raven's dog-feces clothing prank.
• Creative Contributions: Despite their chaotic nature, tricksters actively shape the universe—such as Coyote placing wolves and bears into the Big Dipper constellation.
• Environmental Genesis: Raven's frantic escape from Petrel directly creates the rivers and creeks of the Pacific Northwest through spilled water.
• Desire for Legacy: Coyote's deliberate call to the Meadowlark highlights the universal mythic desire for fame, remembrance, and storytelling longevity.