Coyote's Eyes: A Traditional Native American Folktale

Introduction to Coyote Stories

• Coyote Stories: A genre of traditional Native American folk tales.
• Parables: These stories offer parables about human behaviors.
• Coyote Character: Often a trickster, sometimes a hero or villain.
• Origin: Derived from the folklore of Oregon's Warm Springs tribe.
• Storyteller: Terry Tafoya, who learned the tale from his mother.

Key Elements of Storytelling

• Storytelling Techniques:
  • Use of hands, eyes, costume, and drum.
  • References to modern life.

The Story of Coyote's Eyes

Introduction

• Coyote: Encounters a strange rabbit, an Indian doctor or medicine person.
• Rabbit's Trick: Song makes its eyes fly out to a tree and return.

Coyote Learns the Trick

• Coyote pleads with Rabbit to learn the trick.
• Rabbit warns: "Do not perform more than four times a day."
• Coyote learns and practices the trick.

Coyote's Folly

• Coyote performs the trick for a village to impress people.
• On the fifth attempt, his eyes do not return.
• A crow eats Coyote's eyes, leaving him blind.

Encounters with Other Animals

• Mouse: Offers one of her small eyes.
• Buffalo: Offers one of his large eyes, causing imbalance and headaches.

The Huckleberry Sisters

• Coyote asks his sisters for help.
• Sisters refuse to help initially due to past experiences.
• Eventually suggest using flowers (a special daisy) for eyes.

Consequences of Using Flower Eyes

• Daytime: Coyote can see well.
• Nighttime: Flowers close up, leaving Coyote blind.

Coyote's Final Trick

• Trades flower eyes with an Indian woman for her normal eyes.
• At sunset, the woman's new eyes close, and she realizes the trick.

Conclusion and Moral

• Woman becomes a snail, eternally feeling her way around.
• Moral: Illustrates the consequences of not using one's better judgment and succumbing to tricks.

Traditional Elements

• Use of transformation as a consequence for character actions.
• Cultural teachings embedded in the tale.