The Howling Muse: Chasing Coyote Tales in Northwestern California

Abstract

Coyote is a popular figure in the oral literature of North America, with a sweeping distribution in the stories, songs, and folktales devoted to this beloved character. Coyote, the familiar canine species, has inspired a huge body of oral narratives, with striking similarities in the tales that circulate from the Great Plains to the Southwest and the Pacific Coast (which is the focus of this article). For some groups, such as the Karuk, Coyote occupies a central place in myth, playing a key role even in the creation of the cosmos; for other groups, such as the neighboring Hupa and Yurok, Coyote is displaced by other myth figures, even where similar episodes circulate, instead becoming the secondary focus of everyday folklore. However, wherever Coyote appears, as the subject of oral literature, this beloved muse tends to occupy a liminal position between the sacred and the profane; between the ancient past and the present; and between nature and culture.