Native American Trickster Tales

Oral Tradition Trickster tales an example of oral tradition. Before the invention of writing, the majority of human experience recorded via memorized tales. The Iliad and the Odyssey, two of the oldest stories in the Western world, transmitted orally long before they were written down.

Myths for Life “Myth in its living, primitive form is not merely a story told but a reality lived.” –Bronislaw Malinowski

Myth From the Greek word mythos, literally an explanation couched in story form that attempts to explain all the fundamental, important questions of human existence.

Archetypes Trickster tales are archetypal, embodying primal patterns that are widely applicable to many human beings, in many times and places. Native Americans talk about beginning time again and again in their tales.

Native American Concepts Earth and Nature as living and acting forces Pantheistic: everything is a part of God; nature, God, and the world are all one. Created and creator not separate All are connected  Characters often include animals and plants

European Contrast To those used to patterns of European fairy tales and folktales, Indian legends often seem chaotic, inconsistent, or incomplete. Plots seem to travel at their own speed, defying convention and at times doing away completely with recognizable beginnings and endings. Characters of the myths also change greatly from myth to myth: Coyote is a powerful creator one moment, a sniveling coward the next.

Additional Contrasts Infants display alarming talents or powers. Births and deaths alternate as fast as night and day. To apply Western logic to these tales is impossible and unnecessary: the native tales are not intended to be single self- contained units; they are incomplete episodes connected in a chain or a progression of tales that travels back into a tribe’s traditions.

Regional Variations Legends vary according to a people’s way of life, the geography, the climate, the food they eat and how they obtain it. The Plains nomadic buffalo hunters tell stories very different from the Eastern forest dwellers.

Regional Variations, II To the Southwestern planters and harvesters, the coming of corn and the changing of seasons are primal concerns, while the sea people of the Northwest are concerned with ocean monsters, swift harpooners, and powerful boat builders. Likewise, the cultures overlap and influence each other.

Common Themes and Motifs Despite their variations, a common theme binds the tales together–a concern with fundamental issues about the world in which humans live. We encounter again and again in a spectrum of forms, the story of the children of the sun, the twin brothers who bring culture, perpetual destruction and recreation, heroes and tricksters: motifs.

Myths and Culture The mythological cultures of the tribes also contain influences of history and the particular experiences of each tribe. By moving these often cataclysmic events into the realm of myth, the storyteller can at once celebrate, mourn, and honor the past… and hope for a time the great heroes may return to their people, restoring them to glory.

Origin of the Term “Trickster” Trickster is the term first used by Franz Boas in the late 19 th century to describe a mythic creature who appears in the oral tales of the peoples of Native America. Native Americans don’t use the term Trickster at all. Origin of term not important. Inner psychological manifestations of an outward physical state.

Trickster Archetype Purpose: To inform, to guide, or to explain. Little distinguishment is made between animals and humans, the natural and the supernatural  Coyote, rabbit, hare, raven, jay, and wolverine are animal names for human, temporal experiences that are archetypal

Three Purposes of Trickster Tales Entertain Teach appropriate behavior, i.e., don’t do as the trickster does Explain (etiological function): why reality is so  How the leopard got its spots  Why the magpie steals

Native American Trickster The “trickster” is different in European literature.  Usually human form Native American trickster is not always the prankster or jokester Often the creator of:  the earth  evolution (through his treachery)  transforming the world / earth  the trickster’s morals often conflict

Trickster Is the Spark Scandalous Very highly sexed, often sexual misconduct Disgusts Amuses Shifting shapes Outwitting the powerful Pranks Disrupts Humiliates

Questions Addressed by Tales 1.How did the universe come to be? 2.Why am I here? 3.What is my purpose? 4.How should I live? 5.Where am I going?

Trickster Today Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny Jim Carrey in The Mask

Sources Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. American Indian Trickster Tales. New York: Penguin Books, 1998.