Who is Coyote? Guide to the Trickster of Many Native Nations
Coyote is the trickster-figure of many Native American nations, particularly across the Southwest, Plains, Great Basin, and Plateau regions of North America. He is not one figure but many - each Native nation that features Coyote in its tradition has its own version, with its own stories, its own character, and its own understanding of his role. He can be creator, disruptor, teacher, and fool, often in the same story. He is a specific real animal (the coyote Canis latrans, still common across western North America) and a specific mythological presence. This guide describes Coyote as he appears across several Native traditions - Diné (Navajo), Karuk, Crow, Shoshone, Caddo, and others - while emphasising that each tradition preserves its own distinct Coyote and that these traditions should not be flattened into a single generic figure.
A note on tribal specificity. Coyote appears in the traditions of many Native nations, each of which preserves its own distinct Coyote with its own stories and character. This guide describes Coyote across several traditions with attention to tribal specificity. There is no single “Native American Coyote”; there are many Coyotes, each belonging to a specific tribal tradition.
Key Takeaways
- Coyote is a trickster-figure central to the traditions of many Native nations, particularly across the Southwest, Plains, Great Basin, and Plateau regions of North America.
- Each Native nation that features Coyote preserves its own distinct version - Diné (Navajo) Coyote, Karuk Coyote, Crow Coyote, Shoshone Coyote, Caddo Coyote, and many others are related but distinct figures.
- Coyote’s roles vary by tradition and by specific story: he can be creator, disruptor, teacher, culture-hero, fool, or all of these at once.
- He is often responsible in various traditions for bringing important gifts to humanity (fire, in many traditions) and also for introducing suffering, death, or disorder into the world.
- His specific character - clever but often self-defeating, wise but easily distracted, powerful but often his own worst enemy - has made him one of the most beloved figures in Native American storytelling.
- The Coyote traditions are living oral traditions. They continue to be told in Native communities today and continue to develop with new stories, adaptations, and cultural understandings.
- Coyote is also a real animal - the coyote Canis latrans, one of the few native predator species that has actually expanded its range in the past century, now found across most of North America.
Who is Coyote?
Coyote is a trickster-figure in the traditions of many Native nations of North America, particularly in the Southwest, Plains, Great Basin, and Plateau regions. His stories are among the most beloved elements of Native oral tradition and take countless forms across the many traditions that preserve him.
Definition - Coyote
A trickster-figure in the traditions of many Native nations of North America. Coyote’s roles vary by tradition and specific story: he can be creator, disruptor, teacher, culture-hero, fool, or all of these. Each Native nation that features Coyote preserves its own distinct version. There is no single “Coyote”; there are many, each belonging to a specific tribal tradition.
The name Coyote itself entered English from Spanish, which borrowed it from Nahuatl (the Aztec language) coyotl. Different Native nations have their own names for him in their own languages - Diné (Navajo) call him Ma’ii; Crow call him Isaahkawuattee; many other nations have their own specific names.
The Coyote tradition is one of the most widespread in Native North America. It appears across a vast area from the Southwest through the Plains and Plateau, though not everywhere - some Native traditions do not feature Coyote at all, or feature him only as a minor figure. Where he does appear, his character varies significantly by tradition.
Coyote in Diné (Navajo) tradition
The Diné, whose homeland spans parts of what is now Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado, preserve one of the most extensively developed Coyote traditions.
Diné Coyote (Ma’ii) is present from the earliest emergence stories. He is one of the beings who accompanied the People through the emergence from the lower worlds into the current fourth (or fifth) world. He is often present at the origin of important elements of Diné life and cosmology.
He is characteristically ambivalent. In some stories he is a creative force, contributing to the shaping of the world. In others he is a disruptor, introducing conflict, disorder, or bad luck. Frequently he is a fool - undertaking schemes that backfire, boasting himself into difficulty, or being tricked by figures he considered his lessers.
The Diné Coyote’s specific character is preserved in a large body of stories, many of them told only at particular times (traditionally in winter, when the snakes are asleep) or under specific ritual circumstances. Read Coyote and the origin of death (which preserves a Caddo version), Coyote creates mischief (Crow, Shoshone, and other Plains and Great Basin traditions).
Coyote in Karuk tradition (fire theft)
The Karuk (Karok), whose traditional homeland is the Klamath River region of northwestern California, preserve one of the great Coyote-brings-fire stories.
In this version, humanity had no fire. The animal people watched them shiver in the cold and decided to help. They organised an expedition to steal fire from the Fire Spirits who kept it hidden on their mountain. Coyote led the expedition, but the actual work was done as a relay: Coyote seized a burning brand and passed it to Squirrel, who passed it to Chipmunk (who was burned in the passing, which is why chipmunks have stripes on their backs), who passed it to Frog, who eventually swallowed it and hid it in Wood. From Wood, humans learned to draw fire out by rubbing sticks together. Read the origin of fire.
The Karuk fire-theft story is one of many Native fire-origin stories. Different Native nations preserve different versions, some featuring Coyote, others featuring different tricksters or heroes.
Coyote in Plains and Great Basin traditions
Coyote is central to the traditions of many Plains and Great Basin peoples - the Crow, Shoshone, Ute, Paiute, and others.
Crow tradition preserves Coyote as one of the two great creator-tricksters of the world (with Old Man Coyote often distinguished from ordinary Coyote as an older, more powerful figure). In Crow tradition, Coyote is deeply involved in the shaping of the physical landscape - the arrangement of rivers, mountains, and the distribution of animals.
Shoshone tradition preserves Coyote as a wandering figure who moves through the landscape encountering situations, sometimes helping and sometimes making trouble. Ute and Paiute traditions similarly feature Coyote extensively.
Each nation’s Coyote is its own, with its own specific stories and character. Read Coyote creates mischief (Crow, Shoshone, and related Plains and Great Basin traditions).
Coyote and death
One of the most consequential Coyote stories in several traditions involves his role in the origin of death. In many versions, Coyote either introduces death into the world (either through carelessness or through active choice) or prevents death from being reversed.
In the Caddo version, when the first person died, the other animals and beings debated whether death should be permanent or reversible. Most argued for reversibility - the dead should return after a few days, as if from a long sleep. Coyote alone argued for permanent death. He said the world would become too crowded, that food and space would run out. The others agreed reluctantly. Death became permanent. Coyote then had to live with the consequence when his own son died and he could not bring him back. Read Coyote and the origin of death.
Similar stories are preserved in other Native traditions, with different specific details.
Coyote compared to other trickster figures
Coyote belongs to the world’s great trickster traditions.
| Tradition | Trickster | Form | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Various Native American nations | Coyote | Coyote / man | Multiple regional traditions |
| Norse | Loki | Shapeshifter | Ends as enemy of the gods |
| Akan | Anansi | Spider | Owns all stories |
| Yoruba | Eshu | Crossroads figure | Living religious figure |
| Greek | Hermes | Herald god | Full Olympian |
| Chinese | Sun Wukong | Monkey | Achieves buddhahood |
| Polynesian | Maui | Demigod | Reshapes physical world |
Coyote is distinctive for existing as multiple distinct figures across many related but distinct traditions, and for being simultaneously a mythological figure and a real animal actively present in the landscape of most of North America.
Read the stories
Coyote appears across many Native American traditions on the site:
- Coyote and the Origin of Death (Caddo)
- Coyote Creates Mischief (Crow, Shoshone)
- The Origin of Fire (Karuk)
- Changing Woman (Dine)
- The Hero Twins (Dine)
- The Great Hare Nanabozho (Anishinaabe - a related but distinct trickster)
- Raven Creates the World (Tlingit - a Pacific Northwest trickster comparable in some ways)
Coyote is what the storytelling traditions of many Native nations kept as their trickster - the being who is clever and foolish at once, whose schemes often work and often fail, who brings important gifts and important trouble in equal measure. His stories are living tradition in Native communities today. And the real coyote continues to prosper across most of North America, one of the few native predator species whose range has actually expanded in the past century. The tradition and the animal remain present together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Coyote?
Coyote is a trickster-figure in the traditions of many Native nations of North America, particularly in the Southwest, Plains, Great Basin, and Plateau regions. His roles vary by tradition and by specific story: he can be creator, disruptor, teacher, culture-hero, fool, or all of these. Each Native nation that features Coyote preserves its own distinct version - there is no single “Coyote,” but many.
Which Native nations tell Coyote stories?
Many. Coyote traditions are found across the Southwest (Diné, Pueblo peoples, Apache), the Great Basin (Shoshone, Ute, Paiute), the Plains (Crow, Blackfoot, and others), the Plateau (Nez Perce, Umatilla, and others), and parts of California (Karuk, Yurok, and others). Different nations preserve different versions with distinct characters and specific stories. Not all Native nations feature Coyote; some traditions preserve other tricksters (Anansi-like figures, Rabbit tricksters, Raven, others) or do not feature a comparable figure at all.
What does the name Coyote mean?
The English name “Coyote” comes from Spanish, which borrowed it from Nahuatl (the Aztec language) coyotl. In each Native tradition that features Coyote, he has his own name in that tradition’s language. Diné (Navajo) call him Ma’ii. Crow call him Isaahkawuattee. Different Plains, Great Basin, Southwest, and Plateau nations have their own names for him.
Is Coyote good or evil?
Neither, in most tellings. Coyote is characteristically ambivalent. In some stories he is a creative force, contributing to the shaping of the world. In others he is a disruptor, introducing conflict or bad luck. Frequently he is a fool - undertaking schemes that backfire. The moral valence of Coyote in the traditions is complex and not reducible to simple good or evil.
Are Coyote stories still told today?
Yes. Coyote traditions are living oral traditions across many Native nations. They continue to be told in Native communities today, continue to develop with new stories and adaptations, and remain central to the storytelling identity of many Native peoples. Some traditions preserve specific rules about when Coyote stories may be told (many nations restrict them to winter, when snakes are asleep, or to specific ritual times) - but the traditions themselves are current.
Is Coyote the same as the real coyote animal?
The mythological Coyote and the real animal coyote (Canis latrans) are connected in the traditions - the real animal is understood as the physical presence of the mythological figure. Real coyotes are common across most of North America today. They are one of the few native predator species whose range has actually expanded in the past century, adapting successfully to human-altered landscapes. The animal and the mythological figure remain present together in the traditions.