American Indian Trickster Tales

Table Of Contents

Introduction

Part One: Coyote Creates the World—And a Few Other Things
The Beginning of the World (Yokuts)
Sun and Moon in a Box (Zuni)
Coyote Steals the Sun (Miwok)
Origin of the Moon and the Sun (Kalispel)
How People Were Made (Miwok)
Coyote Steals the Summer (Crow)
Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead (Yakima)
Coyote Steals Fire (Klamath)
Coyote Kills Terrible Monster (Salish)
The Seven Devils Mountains (Nez Peré)

Part Two: Up to No Good
Coyote Taunts the Grizzly Bear (Kutenai)
How Locust Tricked Coyote (Zuni)
Coyote-Giving (Paiute)
Putting a Saddle on Coyote’s Back (Northern Pueblo)
A Satisfying Meal (Hopi)
A Strong Heart (Arikara)
Better Luck Next Time (Hopi)
Long Ears Outsmarts Coyote (Pueblo)
Old Man Coyote and the Buffalo (Crow)
Coyote and Bobcat Have Their Faces Done (Ute)
The Adventures of a Meatball (Comanche)
Coyote Gets Stuck (Shasta)
Anything But Piñon Pitch! (Navajo)
Fat, Grease, and Berries (Crow)
Don’t Be Too Curious (Lakota)

Part Three: Coyote’s Amorous Adventures
Coyote’s Amorous Adventures (Shasta)
Two Rascals and Their Wives (Pueblo)
Coyote Sleeps with His Own Daughters (Southern Ute)
Old Man Coyote Meets Coyote Woman (Blackfoot)
Coyote and Fox Dress Up (Nez Peré)
Coyote and the Girls (Karok and Yurok)
Coyote Keeps His Dead Wife’s Genitals (Lipan Apache)
The Toothed Vagina (Yurok)
Something Fishy Going On (Athapascan)
Where Do Babies Come From? (Karuk)
Winyan-shan Upside Down (Sioux)

Part Four: The Trouble with Rose Hips
Coyote, Skunk and the Beavers (Wichita)
Monster Skunk Farting Everyone to Death (Cree)
Coyote Sells a Burro That Defecates Money (Lipan Apache)
Coyote the Credulous (Taos)
The Trouble with Rose Hips (Lipan Apache)

Part Five: Iktomi the Spider-Man
Seven Toes (Assiniboine)
Tricking the Trickster (Sioux)
Iktomi and the Man-Eating Monster (Lakota)
Iktomi, Flint Boy, and the Grizzly (Lakota)
Iktomi and the Buffalo Calf (Assiniboine)
Ikto’s Grandchild Defeats Siyoko (Rosebud Sioux)
The Cheater Cheated (Lakota)
The Spider Cries “Wolf” (Rosebud Sioux)
Tit for Tat (Omaha)
Iktomi Takes Back a Gift (Rosebud Sioux)
Iktomi and the Wild Ducks (Minneconjou Sioux)
Iktomi Trying to Outrace Beaver (Santee)
Too Smart for His Own Good (Sioux)

Part Six: Spider-Man in Love
Oh, It’s You! (Lakota)
Too Many Women (Lakota)
Forbidden Fruit (Lakota and Rosebud Sioux)
The Spiders Give Birth to the People (Arikara)
The Winkte Way (Omaha)

Part Seven: The Veeho Cycle
He Has Been Saying Bad Things About You (Northern Cheyenne)
The Possible Bag (Northern Cheyenne)
Hair Loss (Northern Cheyenne)
Brother, Sharpen My Leg! (Northern Cheyenne)
Veeho Has His Back Scraped (Northern Cheyenne)
He Sure Was a Good Shot (Cheyenne)
The Only Man Around (Northern Cheyenne)

Part Eight: The Nixant and Sitconski Cycles
When the People Were Wild (Gros Ventre)
The Talking Penis (Gros Ventre)
Hairy Legs (Gros Ventre)
Sitconski and the Buffalo Skull (Assiniboine)
She Refused to Have Him (Assiniboine)
Ni’hancan and Whirlwind Woman (Arapaho)
Ni’hancan and the Race for Wives (Arapaho)

Part Nine: Magical Master Rabbit
Little Rabbit Fights the Sun (Ute)
The Long Black Stranger (Omaha)
why the Possum’s Tail Is Bare (Cherokee)
Rabbit Escapes from the Box (Creek)
Rabbit and Possum on the Prowl (Cherokee)
Tar Baby (Biloxi)
Don’t Believe What People Tell You (San Ildefonso or San Juan)

Part Ten: Nanabozho and Whiskey Jack
Nanabozho and the Fish Chief (Great Lakes Tribes)
Why We Have to Work So Hard Making Maple Sugar (Menomini)
Who Is Looking Me in the Face? (Menomini)
Why Women Have Their Moon-Time (Menomini)
Whiskey Jack Wants to Fly (Cree and Métis)
Wesakaychak, the Windigo, and the Ermine (Cree and Métis)

Part Eleven: Old Man Napi Chooses a Wife
Choosing Mates (Blackfoot)
Napi Races Coyote for a Meal (Blackfoot)
Magic Leggings (Blackfoot)

Part Twelve: Glooskap the Great
How the Lord of Men and Beasts Strove with the Mighty Wasis and Was Shamefully Defeated (Penobscot)
Glooskap Turns Men into Rattlesnakes (Passamaquoddy)
Kuloskap and the Ice-Giants (Passamaquoddy)
Questions, Questions (Passamaquoddy)
A New Way to Travel (Micmac)
Glooskap Grants Four Wishes (Micmac)
A Puff of His Pipe (Micmac)

Part Thirteen: Skeleton Man
While the Gods Snored (Hopi)
How Masaaw Slept with a Beautiful Maiden (Hopi)
Scared to Death (Hopi)

Part Fourteen: Raven Lights the World
Hungry for Clams (Hoh and Quileute)
Give It Back! Give It Back! (Haida)
Raven Steals the Moon (Haida)
Yehl, the Lazy One (Haida)
Raven and His Slave (Tsimshian)
A Lousy Fisherman (Haida)
Raven Lights the World (Tlingit)

Appendix
Sources
Index of Tales