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COYOTE IN MYTH

COYOTE IN MYTH. ORIGIN MYTHS FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA By: Courtney LaHaie Sociology 65 Spring 2006. MAIDU. LIVED IN THE CENTRAL SIERRA NEVADA THE NAME MAIDU MEANS “PERSON” HUNTERS AND GATHERERS NO CENTRALIZED POLITICAL ORGANIZATION ESTIMATED POPULATION 9,000 ~ 1770 1,100 IN 1910

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COYOTE IN MYTH

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  1. COYOTE IN MYTH ORIGIN MYTHS FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA By: Courtney LaHaie Sociology 65 Spring 2006

  2. MAIDU • LIVED IN THE CENTRAL SIERRA NEVADA • THE NAME MAIDU MEANS “PERSON” • HUNTERS AND GATHERERS • NO CENTRALIZED POLITICAL ORGANIZATION • ESTIMATED POPULATION • 9,000 ~ 1770 • 1,100 IN 1910 • 93 IN 1930

  3. MAIDU MYTH THE MAIDU MYTHOLOGY REVOLVED AROUND COYOTE AS A TRICKSTER

  4. MAIDU CREATION MYTH • FOR A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF THE MAIDU CREATION MYTH, YOU CAN VISIT http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/mdut/index.htm FOR MAIDU TEXTS BY ROLAND B. DIXON

  5. MAIDU CREATION MYTH “The Maidu creation story is quite specific in naming obvious features of the landscape in the region of the Feather River; it also establishes the reason for death, the traditions of ancestry, and the relationship of the doorway to the sun's path. Coyote is introduced as a trickster character, connected with both truth and falsehood, joy, humor, and sadness; but he is powerfully involved in the explanation of human mortality.” (Dixon, 1982; and Shipley, 1991; 1-64)

  6. BASICS OF MAIDU MYTH • THE UNIVERSE BEGINS AS NOTHING BUT WATER • THE EARTHMAKER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CREATION OF THE EARTH • THE EARTHMAKER ALWAYS WORKS THROUGH OTHERS, MOST OFTEN COYOTE • THE EARTH IS CREATED FIRST, AND THEN VARIOUS CREATURES, INCLUDING THE FIRST PEOPLE

  7. MAIDU MYTH CONT… • EARTHMAKER AND COYOTE ARGUE ABOUT THE IMMORTALITY OF PEOPLE • THE ORIGIN OF DEATH • EARTHMAKER BELIEVES PEOPLE SHOULD BE IMMORTAL • COYOTE BELIEVES PEOPLE SHOULD DIE • EARTHMAKER INSTRUCTS THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH TO PURSUE COYOTE BUT HE ALWAYS ESCAPES • COYOTE FOLLOWS EARTHMAKER TO THE EAST

  8. IMPORTANCE OF COYOTE IN THE EAST • DEVELOPS COYOTE AS A LIAR AND A TRICKSTER • THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IS SET (LIFE HAS MOMENTS OF JOY AND PAIN, IT IS NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD) • EARTHMAKER FINALLY AGREES THAT PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE IMMORTAL • COYOTE’S SON IS THE FIRST TO DIE

  9. THE SEPARATION OF EARTHMAKER AND COYOTE • BEGINS THE HUMAN ERA ON EARTH • THE FIRST PEOPLE BECOME THE ANIMALS OF TODAY • COYOTE’S COMBINATION OF GOOD AND BAD SETS TONE FOR THE ERA OF HUMANS

  10. A CONNECTION TO TODAY… THE MAIDU ORIGIN MYTH ESTABLISHES THE WORLD AS A PLACE THAT IS NEITHER WHOLLY GOOD NOR WHOLLY BAD. THERE ARE TIMES OF JOY AND TIMES OF PAIN. THE WORLD CAN ALSO BE A PLACE OF TREACHERY AND DEATH. THESE CLASSIFICATIONS OF THE WORLD AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS ARE STILL TRUE TODAY. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPINESS AND SADNESS, ANGER AND LAUGHTER. EVERYONE WILL SOMEDAY DIE, BUT WE ALL GET A CHANCE TO LIVE. THE MAIDU CREATION MYTH IS IMMORTAL, NOT BECAUSE IT ESTABLISHES THE CREATION OF THE EARTH, BUT BECAUSE IT DETERMINES HOW THE WORLD WILL BE. WE ARE THE SAME TODAY AS THE NATIVES WERE HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO.

  11. SOURCES • Kroeber, Alfred L. (1925). Handbook of the Indians of California. (Reprinted 1953, 1970, 1976). • Heizer, Robert F. (1966). Languages, territories, and names of California Indian tribes. • Shipley, William (ed. and trans.) The Maidu Indian Myths and Stories of Hanc'ibyjim (Berkeley: Heyday Books, 1991) • http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/

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