COYOTE IN MYTH

1
COYOTE IN MYTH

• ORIGIN MYTHS FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
• By Courtney LaHaie
• Sociology 65
• Spring 2006

2
MAIDU

• LIVED IN THE CENTRAL SIERRA NEVADA
• THE NAME MAIDU MEANS PERSON
• HUNTERS AND GATHERERS
• NO CENTRALIZED POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
• ESTIMATED POPULATION
• 9,000 1770
• 1,100 IN 1910
• 93 IN 1930

3
MAIDU MYTH

• THE MAIDU MYTHOLOGY REVOLVED AROUND COYOTE AS A
  TRICKSTER

4
MAIDU CREATION MYTH

• FOR A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF THE MAIDU CREATION
  MYTH, YOU CAN VISIT
• http//www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/mdut/index.htm
• FOR MAIDU TEXTS BY ROLAND B. DIXON

5
MAIDU CREATION MYTH

• The Maidu creation story is quite specific in
  naming obvious features of the landscape in the
  region of the Feather River it also establishes
  the reason for death, the traditions of ancestry,
  and the relationship of the doorway to the sun's
  path. Coyote is introduced as a trickster
  character, connected with both truth and
  falsehood, joy, humor, and sadness but he is
  powerfully involved in the explanation of human
  mortality. (Dixon, 1982 and Shipley, 1991
  1-64)

6
BASICS OF MAIDU MYTH

• THE UNIVERSE BEGINS AS NOTHING BUT WATER
• THE EARTHMAKER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CREATION OF
  THE EARTH
• THE EARTHMAKER ALWAYS WORKS THROUGH OTHERS, MOST
  OFTEN COYOTE
• THE EARTH IS CREATED FIRST, AND THEN VARIOUS
  CREATURES, INCLUDING THE FIRST PEOPLE

7
MAIDU MYTH CONT

• EARTHMAKER AND COYOTE ARGUE ABOUT THE IMMORTALITY
  OF PEOPLE
• THE ORIGIN OF DEATH
• EARTHMAKER BELIEVES PEOPLE SHOULD BE IMMORTAL
• COYOTE BELIEVES PEOPLE SHOULD DIE
• EARTHMAKER INSTRUCTS THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH TO
  PURSUE COYOTE BUT HE ALWAYS ESCAPES
• COYOTE FOLLOWS EARTHMAKER TO THE EAST

8
IMPORTANCE OF COYOTE IN THE EAST

• DEVELOPS COYOTE AS A LIAR AND A TRICKSTER
• THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IS SET (LIFE HAS
  MOMENTS OF JOY AND PAIN, IT IS NEITHER GOOD NOR
  BAD)
• EARTHMAKER FINALLY AGREES THAT PEOPLE SHOULD NOT
  BE IMMORTAL
• COYOTES SON IS THE FIRST TO DIE

9
THE SEPARATION OF EARTHMAKER AND COYOTE

• BEGINS THE HUMAN ERA ON EARTH
• THE FIRST PEOPLE BECOME THE ANIMALS OF TODAY
• COYOTES COMBINATION OF GOOD AND BAD SETS TONE
  FOR THE ERA OF HUMANS

10
A CONNECTION TO TODAY

• THE MAIDU ORIGIN MYTH ESTABLISHES THE WORLD AS A
  PLACE THAT IS NEITHER WHOLLY GOOD NOR WHOLLY BAD.
  THERE ARE TIMES OF JOY AND TIMES OF PAIN. THE
  WORLD CAN ALSO BE A PLACE OF TREACHERY AND
  DEATH. THESE CLASSIFICATIONS OF THE WORLD AND
  ITS CHARACTERISTICS ARE STILL TRUE TODAY. THERE
  WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPINESS AND SADNESS, ANGER AND
  LAUGHTER. EVERYONE WILL SOMEDAY DIE, BUT WE ALL
  GET A CHANCE TO LIVE. THE MAIDU CREATION MYTH IS
  IMMORTAL, NOT BECAUSE IT ESTABLISHES THE CREATION
  OF THE EARTH, BUT BECAUSE IT DETERMINES HOW THE
  WORLD WILL BE. WE ARE THE SAME TODAY AS THE
  NATIVES WERE HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO.

11
SOURCES

• Kroeber, Alfred L. (1925). Handbook of the
  Indians of California. (Reprinted 1953, 1970,
  1976).
• Heizer, Robert F. (1966). Languages, territories,
  and names of California Indian tribes.
• Shipley, William (ed. and trans.) The Maidu
  Indian Myths and Stories of Hanc'ibyjim
  (Berkeley Heyday Books, 1991)
• http//www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/