(Canis latrans), the animal on which the myths are based Coyote is featured in the mythology of a number of
Indigenous cultures of the Americas, including:
California Coyote is featured in the mythology of numerous peoples from the area covered by the modern state of California, including the
Achomawi and
Atsugewi, the
Chumash, the
Diegueños, the
Gallinoméro, the
Juaneño, the
Karok, the
Luiseño, the
Maidu, the
Miwuk, the
Rumsen, the
Shasta, the
Sinkyone, the
Wappo, the
Yana, and the
Yokuts. A common theme is of Coyote benefiting the human community by organizing the theft of fire, or of the sun, from the supernatural beings who have been keeping it for themselves; in these myths he is portrayed as a benefactor of the people. Some stories depict Coyote as the embodiment of evil lechery: a serial rapist who uses trickery to attack a variety of victims including, for example, his own mother-in-law
Paiute,
Shoshone and
Ute peoples. In this region most of the stories feature him as a malevolent and lecherous trickster. However, there are some echoes of his divine role as expressed in the myths of California, in particular obtaining fire for the people.
Plateau Myths and stories of Coyote are also found in the cultures of the Plateau area: the
Chinookan (including the
Wishram people and the
Multnomah), the
Flathead, the
Nez Perce, the
Nlaka'pamux,
the Syilx (Okanagan), the
St'at'imc, the
Tsilhqot'in, and the
Yakama. One story from the Chinookan describes Coyote's attempts to catch salmon. After repeated failures, Coyote defecates and his own feces begin to insult him. Eventually, his feces stops insulting him and offers detailed advice not only for catching the salmon, but also for preparing the fish once he has them. Coyote enjoys success for a while before he begins to fail once again. Coyote stops and, as before, defecates again. This batch of feces tells Coyote that there are even more aspects he has to take into consideration when fishing including specific instructions for specific geographic location. The story concludes with Coyote finally understanding how to fish properly but thoroughly exhausted. Sk'elep is the traditional
trickster figure in
Secwepemc mythology. He is featured in many legends and has many powers, including the ability to die and come back to life. Like the animal his character is enjoined to, he is very clever. But like all intelligent beings, he can also have his foolish moments and can make emblematic mistakes that people can learn from. According to one story, he once decided that he had to climb into a tree and spin a web like a spider. The only result of this misguided idea was that he left behind clumps of his hair in the tree. This magical hair, however, became
wila, the
Secwepemc language for a species of
lichen. In some other
Interior Salish cultures, Coyote went into the tree for other reasons; for example, in
Colville-Okanagan culture, he was dropped into the tree by some swans he had grabbed in a hunt. In this story also, though, his hair became the hair moss lichen. Between the Fraser and Columbia rivers, the Natives of the area held stories of Coyote in their Creation mythology. Coyote held a pivotal role in the change between a world of animals and plants only, to a world where humans roamed as well. "The people of the time, though they had human form, were really animals, gifted with magical powers. Into the world then came certain transformers, the greatest of whom were the Coyote and the Old Man, who put the earth in order, giving the mountains and the valleys their present aspects and transforming the wicked among them, and these were the beings who the ancient world denizens into the animal shapes which are still theirs; the descendants of the good among these pristine beings are the Indians of today"
Southwest Coyote also appears in the traditions of the
Jicarilla Apache. In the mythology of the
Tohono O'odham people of Arizona, he appears as an associate of the culture-hero
Montezuma. Coyote also appears as a trickster in stories of the
Tohono O'odham people. As told by a collective of natives in O'odham Creation and Related Events- Coyote Marries the Hunter's Wives, Red Racer Snake and Coyote, Turtle and Coyote, and many more stories of Coyote dealing in his usual mix of kind gestures with tricky twists and ulterior motives. He appears with a pivotal role in the creation myth of the Navajo people of Northern Arizona. "The Navajo people believe the world is built in a sequence of stories, the fifth of these being the earth on which men now dwell. The genesis legend of this tribe divides into four episodic tales: the first of which, The Age of Beginnings, narrates the ascent of the progenitors of Earth's inhabitants from story to story of the Underworld, and their final emergence upon Earth" As the story develops Coyote guides the humans down to earth while badger continues to the underworld. "One day they saw the Sky stooping down and the earth rising to meet it. At the point of contact, Coyote and Badger sprang down from the world above; Badger descended into the world below, but Coyote remained with the people (First Man)." He also appears in a legend of the
White Mountain Apache, "Coyote fights a lump of pitch" (a variant of the
Tar-Baby theme), and in similar legends of the
Zapotec and
Popoluca of Mexico. Coyote plays a prominent role in many stories in the Diné (
Navajo) mythos; see
Coyote (Navajo mythology). ==Functional cognates==