Coyote Tales

This story is something different from my usual. It’s something I’ve been wanting to write for a long time now. My mother grew up on the Navajo Reservation. No, she's not Navajo. My grandfather worked at the boarding schools. He loved the culture and instilled that love into my mother. She, in turn, passed it onto me. When I got into writing, I always promised myself that I would write some of their myths in my own style and give them as a gift to my mother. I've finally gotten my writing to a point where I really feel like I can do justice to the great stories in Navajo folklore.

I decided to start with a Coyote story. Mostly because they were the first ones I ever heard. I plan on writing more. I’m having a few issues with it, but overall I think I’m fairly pleased.

I tried to use language a little differently than I usually do. I wanted to make it sound more like a folklore might. Audience wise I would see it as an older children’s book, does the language work for that?

I tried to make the references to the different constellations clear. Can you tell which ones are mentioned or does it need more?

I mention a few other characters found in Navajo folklore, Beaver, Wolf and Rabbit. Is Coyote’s relationship with each of these characters clear in the lines it is touched on? Or do I need to add to it? Or is it not necessary at all?

I think that’s all. Any other grammatical problems, general questions, thoughts. I want to hear what you like and what you didn’t.

Coyote and the Stars

The sky was dark and the moon hung low in the sky over the desert landscape. The few trees were bare now, the world was entering winter, and a few patches of snow clung to the ground under the under the scarce blades of grass.

Coyote trotted along the path, his ears perked and tail high. The chill in the air didn’t bother him and the breeze brought a familiar scent floating to his nose. He stopped in his tracks, and turned his head toward the smell to take a deep whiff. Beaver. He’d seen head nor tail of Beaver since the last time they’d played tricks. And the thought that he may have caught the scent of Beaver’s den made his blood race. It was, after all, his turn to make Beaver look a fool. Coyote turned his nose to the ground and followed the trail.

Lost in Beaver’s scent, he traveled off the path and deep into the desert. He moved around a few bushes and was nearly stabbed by a low growing cactus, but never veered far enough to lose the odor of his friendly foe. Soon he’d lost track of all else, lost in the aroma.

“Yá’át’ééh, Mą’ii,” a soft voice said.

The hair on Coyote’s shoulders stood on end and he dug his heels into the ground. He lifted his head, a few clumps of red mud clinging to the end of his wet nose. His tense body relaxed when his eyes fell on the raven haired woman seated on a finely woven blanket. Her kind face was illuminated by lights sparkling on the blanket.

“Hey, First Woman,” he said, padding forward. “How’s it going?”

First Woman frowned at him slightly. “You always speak so strangely, Trickster,” she said in an even tone.

“Sorry,” Coyote grumbled. “Yá’át’ééh, First Woman.” She gave him the same smile she always wore around him. Humoring and placating. “So how is it going?”

“Quite well,” she said. She gestured to the thousands of sparkling lights spread out before her on the blanket. “I call them stars.”

Coyote moved forward further and took a seat next to her. He watched the tiny lights twinkle before her moved forward, nudging a few with his nose. He pulled back sharply, a paw covering his nose. “I don’t like’em. They burn.”

First laughed lightly. “I should have warned you. You have to touch them carefully.”

“So what’re these stars for?” Coyote asked, nudging them more carefully now.

The woman sitting there eyed him carefully for a moment, then considered the question before she responded. “To guide me people. To give them hope.” She pointed to a group of stars in the rough shape of a spoon, the handle of which lead the eye generally northward. “These show the way to find this star,” she gestured to one particularly bright star, “it points to the north. It can guide a lost man home to his family.”

Coyote nodded and watching for a few moments as First Woman placed each star carefully into the sky. He cleared his throat. “Can I help?”

The woman seemed surprised, but nodded, a genuine smile gracing her lips. “Of course, Mą’ii.“

Carefully, not wanting to be burned again, Coyote took one of these stars and placed it in the sky. He took great care and created a crooked line of stars in the sky. First Woman frowned at him when he bared his teeth in a proud grin.

“What?“ he said, indignantly. "It’s a snake.“

She shook her head and continued silently in her work. Coyote shrugged and began work on a hunter just above the horizon. First Woman nodded proudly when he’d finished this shape, and Coyote was pleased.

They worked in silence for a long while, which for Coyote was a feat in of itself. When Coyote had finished the shape of two dogs chasing a hare, First Woman laughed, trying to hide it behind her hand.

“What?“ he groaned, trying to see what she found so funny. “It’s me! And big brother, Wolf. We’re chasing Rabbit. Going to catch him this time.“

“The stars can’t be moved now, Trickster, you’ll never catch Rabbit here,“ she said, still stifling laughter.

Growling in frustration Coyote stood and grabbed the blanket’s edge and pulled. Startled First Woman stood quickly, stepping off the blanket. With a fierce movement of his head coyote shook the blanket and the thousands of stars still left to be placed went flying. They found a place and stayed there, shining next to the moon in the sky.

“Mą’ii,“ First Woman scolded. She started to say something else, but stopped herself, pressing two fingers to the bridge of her nose, calming herself for a moment. Coyote sat back down, pressing his ears against his head, and turning his face away from First Woman.

“Sorry,“ he said quietly.

First Woman looked up at the sky and her anger seemed to fade. “It’s alright, Coyote, my friend,“ she said and gestured for him to look as well. “It’s beautiful.“