The three campers got up from the rock
and continued down the path to the campgrounds in Canyon de Chelly.
Avinn
and Shanai
took turns walking side by side Grandpa Gary. The rain that
trickled
down early in the evening was beginning to dry and the earth made
crunch-crunch noises as their feet moved the dirt trail. The woot-woot of
the owls scared Shanai. At
every sound she squeaked and squeezed Grandpa's hand tightly. Avinn
snickered each time she jumped at the slightest sound.
Gary smiled at how frightened Shanai was and reassured her that nothing was out in the darkness ready to pounce. Avinn heard his words and, like any other little boy, he got a devilish idea of how to scare his little sister. Gary and Shanai were walking at a moderate pace, so Avinn veered a little off the path and sped up to pass them. The tall bushes covered his figure so that he could not be seen. He used his Grandpa and sister's flashlights to give him a good idea of how far ahead of them he needed to get in order to jump out and scare them.
What Avinn didn't know was that Grandpa Gary had figured out that he was trying to trick them. Gary realized he could not hear the light footsteps of his grandson from behind him. Immediately, he surveyed the area inconspicuously so as to not worry Shanai. There were branches and rustling leaves to the left of Gary and Shanai and this is what tipped Grandpa off that Avinn was indeed up to no good. The old man decided to give Avinn a taste of his own medicine.
"Shanai, put your flashlight down right here," he whispered to his granddaughter. She did as he instructed and they both veered off the path. The two tricksters saw Avinn jump onto the path and scream, "Rawr!" Gary and Shanai then snuck up behind Avinn and yelled, "Boo!" Avinn screamed and began swinging his arms. He was so upset once he realized what had happened! Gary felt bad for turning things around and ruining Avinn's trick, but he knew that if he allowed Avinn to scare Shanai the trip would be over. Shanai could not handle being scared.
"Avinn, you almost had us there. Tricks are fun for the trickster, but not always fun for the one getting tricked. Right? Let me tell you a story about the most famous Navajo trickster - the Coyote."
"Wow," said Shanai. "So, what Coyote did was bad? But how does something bad make something so pretty, Grandpa?"
Gary replied, "You see, granddaughter, Coyote played a trick on Changing Woman. This made Changing Woman both sad and mad that she did not get to finish her task of putting the stars in the sky the way she wanted. Coyote did not know Changing Woman was in charge of placing the stars, but he also did not ask if he could help her. So, Coyote's trick was not intentionally meant to cause harm, which is why we have the beautiful Milky Way to look at."
Gary smiled at how frightened Shanai was and reassured her that nothing was out in the darkness ready to pounce. Avinn heard his words and, like any other little boy, he got a devilish idea of how to scare his little sister. Gary and Shanai were walking at a moderate pace, so Avinn veered a little off the path and sped up to pass them. The tall bushes covered his figure so that he could not be seen. He used his Grandpa and sister's flashlights to give him a good idea of how far ahead of them he needed to get in order to jump out and scare them.
What Avinn didn't know was that Grandpa Gary had figured out that he was trying to trick them. Gary realized he could not hear the light footsteps of his grandson from behind him. Immediately, he surveyed the area inconspicuously so as to not worry Shanai. There were branches and rustling leaves to the left of Gary and Shanai and this is what tipped Grandpa off that Avinn was indeed up to no good. The old man decided to give Avinn a taste of his own medicine.
"Shanai, put your flashlight down right here," he whispered to his granddaughter. She did as he instructed and they both veered off the path. The two tricksters saw Avinn jump onto the path and scream, "Rawr!" Gary and Shanai then snuck up behind Avinn and yelled, "Boo!" Avinn screamed and began swinging his arms. He was so upset once he realized what had happened! Gary felt bad for turning things around and ruining Avinn's trick, but he knew that if he allowed Avinn to scare Shanai the trip would be over. Shanai could not handle being scared.
"Avinn, you almost had us there. Tricks are fun for the trickster, but not always fun for the one getting tricked. Right? Let me tell you a story about the most famous Navajo trickster - the Coyote."
Coyote
was a fun-spirited, but mischievous person. He always liked to
play
jokes on people, mostly mean tricks. He never liked to stay in
one
place, so he was always moving or running around. One evening,
Changing Woman was near the rim of Canyon de Chelly.
She had her beautiful tan and maroon pendleton
blanket laid out on the earth. She wore turquoise and sterling
silver
jewelry to accent her velvet black shirt and skirt. Her hair was
fixed
in a thick, traditional Navajo bun. Changing Woman was kneeling
on her
blanket singing a beautiful Navajo traditional song. Coyote could
see
Changing Woman's beautifully tanned brown face as there was a bright
glow coming from the blanket that lay beneath her.
Coyote was
curious. "What is making that light?" he wondered. The
little
trickster moved closer to the woman. Changing Woman stopped
singing
and stood up. In her hand was the same light Coyote saw
illuminating
from the blanket. She raised her hand high above her head and
placed
the light in the sky. "So'ee," she said.
"Bright star."
Changing
Woman continued this process of picking up the stars from the blanket
and carefully placing them in the sky to form patterns. The time
was
going by so slow that Coyote could no longer bear to wait until the
woman finished. He wanted to put the bright lights into the sky,
too.
Coyote snuck up to the pendleton
blanket as Changing Woman was placing another star in the sky.
He
grabbed two of the corners of the blanket and yanked it so that all the
remaining stars flew into the sky.
Changing
Woman was upset that
she did not get to finish her patterns. But the only good thing
that
came from Coyote's action was the Milky Way. You see that misty
line
that goes across the sky. It looks sort of like a cloud. That was
created when Coyote swept the blanket up from the ground, mixing the
stars with some of the earth.
"Wow," said Shanai. "So, what Coyote did was bad? But how does something bad make something so pretty, Grandpa?"
Gary replied, "You see, granddaughter, Coyote played a trick on Changing Woman. This made Changing Woman both sad and mad that she did not get to finish her task of putting the stars in the sky the way she wanted. Coyote did not know Changing Woman was in charge of placing the stars, but he also did not ask if he could help her. So, Coyote's trick was not intentionally meant to cause harm, which is why we have the beautiful Milky Way to look at."
Author's Note:
Coyote is known as the trickster in Navajo culture. There are many stories that involve the coyote and his bad behavior. The story I chose to retell was about the mischievous coyote growing impatient at the slow pace of the Holy People and Black God placing the stars in the sky. He picked up the bag of stars and threw the stars into the sky. This created the Milky Way. Although the story did not mention a particular setting, I thought it would be neat to have it set on the rim of Canyon de Chelly. In the original story, the Black God was responsible for placing the stars in the sky. I chose the Navajo god Changing Woman to handle this task because as a child I was told that she was the one who created the star formations. Choosing her made it possible for me to describe her Navajo characteristics. I have never heard of the Black God until I read this story, so it would have been difficult for me to just make it up. The overall story that I retold goes very well with the lesson Gary is trying to teach his grandchildren. Tricks, although seemingly harmless to the one playing the trick, can hurt the person being tricked. In this case, the Coyote played a trick that he did not realize would hurt Changing Woman. Likewise, Avinn attempted to trick Shanai and scare her, but ended up getting tricked by his Grandfather and sister, which scared him half to death.
Back to Casa
Coverpage
Introduction
Previous Story
Next Story
Coverpage
Introduction
Previous Story
Next Story
Source:
Myths About the Sky, Constellations, Stars (2000)
Windows to the Universe
Navajo: Coyote
Image Information:
"Milky Way: border of the Navajo Reservation, Arizona"
Websource: Stephen Alvarez
Myths About the Sky, Constellations, Stars (2000)
Windows to the Universe
Navajo: Coyote
Image Information:
"Milky Way: border of the Navajo Reservation, Arizona"
Websource: Stephen Alvarez