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The Roles of Coyote in Native American Oral Traditions

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The Roles of Coyote in Native American Oral Traditions Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Kamila Hüblová The Roles of Coyote in Native American Oral Traditions Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. 2018 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………… Kamila Hüblová I would like to thank my supervisor Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. for his guidance and insightful observations through the work on my thesis, my mother for believing in me, and my family - Libor, Liborek and Emička, for their day-to-day support and patience. Table of Contents 1. Introduction...................................................................................................................5 2. Understanding Native American Culture......................................................................8 3. Coyote in Native Oral Traditions................................................................................19 4. The Roles of Coyote....................................................................................................25 5. Conclusion...................................................................................................................42 6. Bibliography................................................................................................................45 English Resumé ..............................................................................................................49 Czech Resumé ................................................................................................................50 1. Introduction Coyote, Coyote, Please tell me What is a shaman? A shaman I don’t know anything about. I’m a doctor, myself. When I use medicine, it’s between me, my patient, and the Creation. (Peter Blue Cloud) Coyote is a complex mythological figure in Native American mythology based on the animal coyote Canis Latrans, also called "prairie wolf", which is native to North and Central America. The origin of this name comes from the Aztecs who called this animal coyotl. Later, Spanish-speaking Mexicans borrowed this word from the Aztecs as coyote. (collinsdictionary.com) This animal is considered to be one of the most adaptable species in the wild as it managed to survive countless threats to its population and adapted to changes of the modern world in culture and technology. Therefore, such qualities seen in this animal have earned coyote a central role in Native American stories. As William Bright states: "Few protagonists from the oral literature of native North America have achieved lasting importance in the folklore or the written literature of Anglo-America ... A more important American Indian contribution to present and future literature may be found in Old Man Coyote" (Bright 339). Coyote is a mythic figure which has also been described as the creator of the 5 world as it was known to North American Indians during the centuries before the European colonization. Although Coyote has diverse roles in different Native American stories, his common traits remain the same as he is traditionally represented as a trickster. He is notorious for fooling other animals "he is an insatiable glutton, a gross lecher, an inveterate thief, liar, and outlaw, a prankster whose scheme regularly backfire" (Bright 340). However, Coyote the trickster does not simply mean evil, the trickster can also be a culture hero who acts as a benefactor of humans or a healer whose power can be used as a restorative and preventive remedy. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the roles of Coyote in Native American oral traditions. The thesis consists of three main chapters. The first chapter will provide a general overview of oral traditions in Native American culture. It will explain the importance and the main functions of storytelling and as well as the role of storytellers. The first chapter will also deal with the definition of a trickster figure and the traits which tricksters around the world share most frequently. The second chapter is focused on Coyote figure in Native American myths. Since the character of Coyote is the trickster for the largest number of American Indian cultures, this chapter will describe how Coyote's role varies from tribe to tribe. Also, this chapter will explore the relationship between the Coyote figure and the biological coyote - Canis Latrans on which is the character of Coyote is based. The last chapter is dedicated to the three most important roles of Coyote according to their functions - Coyote as a trickster, Coyote as a culture hero and Coyote as a healer. The three subchapters in this part will describe Coyote in each of this role and analyze him through the stories. The first part will focus on Coyote as a trickster. It will describe the main features which can be found in Coyote trickster tales across various Native American 6 cultures. Also, specific examples of the stories will be provided and analyzed to demonstrate the most important aspects of meaning. This chapter will also discuss the entertainment and moral functions of Coyote stories. The following subchapter will present Coyote as a culture hero as in Native creation myths Coyote lacks the typical traits of the trickster, and he acts as a benefactor of humans. He is also credited for the emergence of the world and people. The chapter will explain the main differences between the character of Coyote in creation myths and Coyote in trickster tales. The last part of this chapter will deal with a complicated phenomenon of medicinal uses of Coyote stories in healing rituals. Although this phenomenon has been a subject of various studies and it has already received a good deal of attention, it still remains an area not fully explored. The final subchapter will analyze selected Coyote stories and explain their meaning in connection with medicinal uses. The focus will be on the Native perception of health and the power of language to deal with disorders. The thesis uses descriptive as well as analytical methods of research. Primary sources are the Coyote stories from various Native American cultures. Secondary sources provide information for the analysis of these stories and their functions, and they help to contribute to support these analyses. 7 2. Understanding Native American Culture Stories, legends, myths and folk tales have always been powerful sources of meaning that shape and transform humankind. Moreover, for indigenous peoples, they are an essential aspect of the history and culture as they serve as vehicles to preserve, carry and teach historical events, religious beliefs, ethics and values to future generations. For others, non-Natives, stories, myths and folktales might be a powerful source which can provide spiritual empowerment, personal and spiritual growth and inspiration that can lead to transformation. Through stories, we are provided with experiences that can help us understand, honour and respect different cultures around the world. For all Native American peoples, storytelling has always meant a way of relating history, transmitting cultural knowledge, mythological, spiritual and historical understanding of themselves and the land which they had inhabited long before the first white colonists appeared on the American continent. This chapter provides information on the storytelling traditions of Native Americans in general because to understand Coyote figure one must understand the way Native Americans view the world. It focuses on the importance of Native American storytelling traditions, the role it plays in the everyday lives of Native Americans and how these stories reflect their spiritual and metaphysical knowledge, and perception of the world. Oral Traditions in Native American Culture There are hundreds of American Indian nations, each with their own language, customs and culture inhabiting the North American continent. However, there is one thing that these nations share in common, and that is a rich oral tradition. In other 8 words, they all have stories which were passed down from generation to generation through spoken language. Geary Hobson in his article "Native American Literature: Remembrance, Renewal" states: "Native Americans have been accustomed to recounting their histories and their ways of life through the intricate time-proven process of storytelling." According to Scott Momaday, the term "oral tradition" is used to "designate a rich body of preliterate storytelling in and among the indigenous cultures of North America" (89). In fact, in the times of absence of the written word, oral storytelling was the only way that guaranteed that members of each Indian nation would never forget their roots or lose sight of important knowledge that allowed these nations to continue to exist in harmony and cooperation with the natural world. In addition, in his essay "The Man Made of Words", Momaday tries to answer a basic question about the purposes and possibility of storytelling. He views this act as "imaginative and creative in nature" (88). According to Momaday, storytelling is a process "by which man strives to realize his capacity for wonder, meaning and delight. ... Man tells stories in order to understand his experience, whatever it may be. The possibilities of storytelling are precisely those of understanding the human experience" (88). Explaining Through Stories Native American stories always intended to explain. Like many other cultures around the world,
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