2. The name Coyote (Canis latrans: barking dog) is derived from the Nahuah coyotl. The English first called them prairie wolves. [4]

3. The legendary figure of Coyote is perhaps more well-known than that of Iktomi. Coyote emerges from the Great Basin, Plains and California Native American Groups. He is almost always portrayed as male, and has a wide variety of characteristics. Many of them quite contradictory. "Coyote is seen as animal and human, social and antisocial, deity and mortal" [5] An enigmatic description of an extremely fascinating being. He is both trickster and culture hero, often described as witty, clever, obscene, vulgar, and theiving. Coyote stories have typically been 'bowdlerized', "classified usually etically, as humorous anecdotes, jokes, animal tales, folktales, legends, and/or myths - epic or episodic narratives involving a sacred and/or secular 'trickster - transformer - culture hero.' " [6]

Coyote is sometimes accompanied by companions. Most often are Wolf, Wildcat, Porcupine, Fox, Rabbit, and Badger. Coyote stories have often been explainied as being confined to the "prehuman mythical age, when animals lived and talked as people." [7] Some groups depict Coyote as a trickster whose existence and foolhardy escapades continue to the present time." [8] Generally, these tales are regarded somewhat as lessons or advise. "Children, or human beings in general, should not behave as Coyote behaves in the stories." [9]

4. Another wolf reference. This probably reflects the English referral to the coyote as prairie wolf.

5. This is the first reference in the story we have to Coyote's trickster-like characteristics. Was Coyote actually asleep, or was he waiting for Iktomi to come and carry him off?

6. I searched through other Native American tales and resources to investigate 'blue winks.' Zitkala-Sa has provided a wonderful description of "blinking blue winks", and it may be that this is a feature found only in this particular story. However, my research did discover a certain 'talent' some tricksters possess, known as eye-juggling. In these tales, the trickster "is given the power to throw his eyes into the air and replace them; but he must not do this beyond a specific number of times. Being trickster, of course he throws them once too often and looses them." [11]

7. There is much mythology about the origins of fire throughut the world's many cultures. In a Klamath tale, Coyote steals fire from a group of 'fire beings' and brings it to humans. The Maori tell of how Maui sought his grandmother Mahuika to obtain fire. The Tembe from Brazil tell of an old man who steals fire from vultures and sets it in a tree. And, of course, there is Prometheus, who steals fire and suffers a terrible fate for his crime. Fire also has certain meanings or significance in other Native American traditions. Some beleive that smoke can carry prayers, and that sending a little tobacco along with it adds an offering to the deity."[12]

8. Here is the 'moral' of the story. The term moral should be applied loosely when referring to Native American tales. Those of varying cultural backgrounds sometimes attach completely different meanings to the stories. For example, animal stories in the Native American context can be very different from European tales. Some animals are seen as "First People, members of a race of mythic prototypes who lived before humans existed." [13] European animal tales often make a statement , or have a moral. This is not always so obvious in Native American tales. Animal figures have different characteristics and roles in the stories of different groups. It should be reminded that these tales come to us from an oral tradition. They were not intended for an audience made entirely of children, but for the young and old.

"The old legends of America belong quite as much to the blue-eyed little patriot as to the black-haired aborigine. And when they are grown tall like the wise grown-ups may not lack interest in a further study of Indian folklore, a study which so strongly suggests our near kinship with the rest of humanity and points a steady finger toward the great brotherhood of mankind, and by which one is so forcibly impressed with the possible earnestness of life as seen through the teepee door! If it be true that much lies "in the eye of the beholder," then in the American aborigine as in any other race, sincerity of belief, though it were based upon mere optical illusion, demands a little respect. After all he seems at heart much like other peoples."[14]