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Megan Ogle

LBST 2102
6 November 2017
The Coyote Myth of the Kalapuya People

Polk County, Oregon is home to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Rhode of which the

Kalapuya Native American Tribe is a member. The confederation consists of five tribes and was

consolidated on a reservation in 1857 which they shared with 27 other Native American tribes. The

Kalapuya people upheld a patriarchal society driven by a desire for wealth and incorporated religious

practices such as Shamanism, sweat lodges, and myth-telling into their society (Kirby & Weide 1). One of

the many myths of the Kalapuya people is called Coyote, Master of Death, True to Life (Hymes 163).

The Coyote myth details a relationship between Coyote and his friend, Panther, and how their relationship

evolves when Coyote faces the tragic situation of his daughters death. Coyotes rash decisions and lack

of empathy for his friend become his biggest struggle and he must go to desperate measures in an attempt

to reverse a decision he had already made. Coyote, Master of Death, True to Life adheres to the

customary trickster style myth characteristics including, but not limited to, having a polymorphous main-

character with a sense of moral-ambiguity, and including a moral lesson that can be learned from that

characters actions throughout the myth and significant to the Kalapuya Native American tribe.

The myth is a synthesis of three acts and twelve scenes which subtly explain the origin of

permanent death, characteristics of the dead, and the habits of the living in that respective order. The first

of the three acts begins with a conversation between Panther, Coyotes brother, and Coyote about the

topic of permanent death. Panthers daughter had fallen ill, and instead of choosing to decide that when

someone dies, they will revive after five days, Coyote chose for death to be permanent in order to prevent

overpopulation. Feeling betrayed, his brother wept for his daughter. A year later, Coyotes daughter also

fell ill and died, and because he had chosen for death to be permanent, he followed his daughter to the

land of the dead to bring her back. The second of the three acts describes Coyotes experience in the land
of the dead. There, he portrays chiefly characters like Eagle and Salmon, but eventually loses his desire to

be with his daughter, and decides to return to the living world, when he realizes that he cannot spend as

much time with her as he would like to since the dead are nocturnal. When he returns to the living world

he assumes the various roles of a prankster, an autocoprophagous, a self-dismantler, a headman, and an

old woman and fools people around him to carry out his motives. The final act provides several accounts

of how Coyote pursues his life in the land of the living all alone, and ends with Coyote saying You beat

me indeed., meaning You will never beat me. (Hymes 165)

Throughout the myth, there are numerous accounts of Coyote changing physical forms and

altering his personality to fit the situations of which he wants to have control. After going through various

ordeals to get his way, Coyote is not satisfied and ends up lonelier than he was when his daughter died

because of his tendency to manipulate others. This Kalapuya myth highlights a lesson that can be learned

from Coyotes adventures and experiences as he progresses from the beginning to end of the myth.

According to the Esposito reading, myths recount what is sacred to the group: the origins of life, its

relations with animals, its connections to landforms, and the origination of the norms governing the

members of the groups. The Coyote myth of the Kalapuya people exhibits the sacredness of making

oneself a pure principle of transformations among Kalapuya Native American tribe (Hymes 165). As a

result, this myth fits into the category of the origination of social norms presented by Esposito and can be

considered a trickster because of the lesson it teaches and the incorporation of numerous details that fit

the definition of a trickster style myth.

In addition to the importance of the lesson that the myth of the Coyote teaches, the myth is also

significant in the Kalapuya culture because of the way it follows traditional Kalapuya symbolism and the

three types of relations with elements. Specific symbols are used throughout the myth to tie the story back

to the Kalapuya culture and make it relatable among the people who listen to or read the story. These

symbols include the incorporation of the fooling of the Frog sisters, the bird and the hollow tree, and the

recovery of the lost eye. Sequences of three, five, or three or five in pairs are often used as symbols to
highlight important parts of the myth. Prominent time references using these sequences of five and three

such as three days or five years are also included to enhance the significance of the length of time

described. The beginning of verses in the myth are noted by the words now then and sure enough

(Hymes 166).

The Coyote, Master of Death, True to Life myth upheld by the Kalapuya Native American tribe

is a story that highlights the lesson of being transparent through the various transformations of life

through the tale of a shape-shifting and people-manipulating Coyote. Although the details of the myth

have been altered and translated over time, the overall significance to Kalapuya people remains

consistent. As a result, this myth continues to be told among the Kalapuya people for two reasons many

trickster myths are told to teach a lesson and to entertain listeners.


Works Cited

Hymes, Dell. Coyote, Master of Death, True to Life (Kalapuya). Sky Loom, 2014, pp. 163183.,

doi:10.2307/j.ctt1d9nmxq.11.

Kirby, Jane, and Janice Weide. Kalapuya of the Willamette Valley. Salem Online History, 2005,

www.salemhistory.net/people/native_americans.htm.

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