The trickster is a prominent figure in many of the North American tribal mythologies. Within many of these mythologies, the trickster is Coyote and his purpose often varies in different tales. Coyote encompasses a number of trickster attributes, but is generally portrayed as a sly adversary usually driven by desire, for food or for mere objects and status.

The purpose of the trickster within many of these stories is to explain the existence of natural phenomena. According to the Zuni tribe, Coyote is responsible for the cycle of day and night. Coyote and Eagle come upon the Kachina tribe and see that they have the sun and moon kept tight in a box. Whenever they needed light they would open it for the sun, when they needed less light, they let the moon peak out. Coyote convinces Eagle to steal the box and once the two have it, Coyote complains until he is allowed to carry the box. Unfortunately, Coyote opens the box for too long to look at the sun and moon and the two escape, causing winter to appear, since the sun and moon are now too far to keep the earth warm.

In a Klamoth tribe story, Coyote plays a Promethean role by stealing fire and giving it to man. In a gambling game, Coyote plays Thunder for the possession of fire. Coyote tricks Thunder by cheating whenever Thunder is not looking. Thunder realizes that Coyote is cheating, but is unable to catch him in the act. At the end of the game, Coyote wins and is given fire. Angered by the outcome of the game, Thunder grabs fire, which is in a large boulder as thin as an eggshell, and throws it at Coyote. Coyote, however, could read Thunder’s mind and thus had taken off his skin and this is what Thunder hit with the boulder. Fire breaks into thousands of pieces and Coyote instructs all the animals to take fire to all of the tribes. After reclaiming his skin, Coyote warns Thunder, “Don’t gamble. It is not what you do best” (Erdoes 19).

In several of the tribal mythologies, Coyote shows the crossing of boundaries, such as life and death, and the sacred and lewd. The crossing of the boundary between life and death is not just to explain why people die; it also illustrates the point that there are just punishments for harmful actions. Coyote has lost mankind the ability to return from the dead because of his negative actions. In a Yakima tribe tale, Coyote and Eagle journey to the land of the dead to bring the spirits back to life. After staying with the dead for a day, Coyote is able to trick the spirits by eating the guardian of the moon, Frog, and pretending to be Frog. Coyote then swallows the moon, and while the spirits are confused in the darkness, Eagle collects them all in a basket. Coyote carries the basket back to the land of the living, and it becomes heavier as the spirits become alive again. After some time, the basket becomes too heavy and Coyote drops it and the spirits flee back to the land of the dead. If Coyote had not dropped the basket, all who died would return in the spring, but Coyote made the law that “after people have died they shall never come to life again” (Erdoes, 18).

Coyote often crosses the boundary between sacred and lewd to illustrate the consequences that occur when one does not adhere to sacred order. In a Southern Ute story, Coyote stages his death and transforms his appearance for the chance of sleeping with his own daughters. Coyote is able to trick his wife and daughters and marries both of his daughters and sleeps with them, however, Coyote’s son is suspicious. While hunting, Coyote’s son sees through Coyote’s disguise because Coyote has failed to conceal his four missing teeth. Upon learning the truth, Coyote’s wife attacks him with a knife and the two daughters are “so ashamed [that] they flew up onto the sky and became stars” (Erdoes 61). Coyote knew his actions were against the laws of nature, but he did not care, and thus was punished.