In the second half of the reading, I noticed some more stories about the characteristics of the coyote as well as some other stories that signified the important things within the Native American southwestern culture.
The story of the Children of the Cloud demonstrates features such as the wind, clouds, thunder and lightning. This is important because it shows that the found a way to create a reason for why thunder happens, when the children are looking for their father, they prove they are his son by creating thunder. This story also focuses on some other key animals in the culture such as the raven, the hawk, the eagle, and the roadrunner. Again, the coyote appears at the end of this story. The whole point of this story, though, was to explain why it rains when they gather mescal, which is a type of plant used to make alcoholic beverages.
The story of the Boy who Became a God shows the curiosity that comes from parts of the country that are far from them. I'm sure that people would tell stories of the far country, as the brother did in this story, and they would call them crazy too. In this story the significance of numbers comes into play too, similar to the bible, which is interesting.
The story of the Coyote's Eyes is another coyote story and, by his foolish desire to imitate others, he ends up worse than he was before. The story makes reference to the pinyon pine tree, which is a source of pinyon nuts or pine nuts, which is a staple food for the Native American peoples of the Southwest. However, in these stories, the coyote wanting to imitate another animal is considered a bad thing, but in my opinion it seems like he is just curious and admiring of the other animals traits.
Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katherine Berry Judson, California and the Old Southwest Unit
The story of the Children of the Cloud demonstrates features such as the wind, clouds, thunder and lightning. This is important because it shows that the found a way to create a reason for why thunder happens, when the children are looking for their father, they prove they are his son by creating thunder. This story also focuses on some other key animals in the culture such as the raven, the hawk, the eagle, and the roadrunner. Again, the coyote appears at the end of this story. The whole point of this story, though, was to explain why it rains when they gather mescal, which is a type of plant used to make alcoholic beverages.
The story of the Boy who Became a God shows the curiosity that comes from parts of the country that are far from them. I'm sure that people would tell stories of the far country, as the brother did in this story, and they would call them crazy too. In this story the significance of numbers comes into play too, similar to the bible, which is interesting.
The story of the Coyote's Eyes is another coyote story and, by his foolish desire to imitate others, he ends up worse than he was before. The story makes reference to the pinyon pine tree, which is a source of pinyon nuts or pine nuts, which is a staple food for the Native American peoples of the Southwest. However, in these stories, the coyote wanting to imitate another animal is considered a bad thing, but in my opinion it seems like he is just curious and admiring of the other animals traits.
Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katherine Berry Judson, California and the Old Southwest Unit
Image Info: Coyote Pup
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