Zuñi Coyote Tales

Frank Hamilton Cushing

• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Year: 1998
• Print ISBN: 9780816518920
• eBook ISBN: 9780816543311
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Cultural & Social Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

Coyote tales are among the best loved in Native American folklore, and those recorded by anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing at the end of the nineteenth century have well survived the test of time. This collection of authentic stories extracted from his classic Zuñi Folk Tales offers modern readers of all ages a new appreciation of magic and myth as celebrated by the Zuñi Indians of western New Mexico.

These tales pit the wily Coyote against various demons and other creatures in order to convey simple lessons or explain animal characteristics or behavior. They tell how the tip of the coyote's tail became black after dancing with blackbirds and how coyotes learned never to insult horned-toads—and to keep clear of burrowing-owls. Through these tales, we learn why Coyote meddles with everything that does not concern him, makes a universal nuisance of himself, and is ready to jump into any trap laid for him.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• How the Coyote Joined the Dance of the Burrowing-Owls
• The Coyote Who Killed the Demon Síuiuki; or, Why Coyotes Run Their Noses into Deadfalls
• How the Coyotes Tried to Steal the Children of the Sacred Dance
• The Coyote and the Beetle
• How the Coyote Danced with the Blackbirds
• How the Turtle Out Hunting Duped the Coyote
• The Coyote and the Locust
• The Coyote and the Ravens Who Raced Their Eyes
• How the Corn-Pests Were Ensnared
• About the Author