The value of folklore and legends is that they reveal much about a people’s culture. The trickster figure, however, subverts the social mores, often revealing cultural tensions; he rebels against authority and social constructions, seeking ultimate freedom to pursue his often carnal desires. However, while the trickster breaks rules with no concern for others’ (or even his own) safety, there is generally no malevolent design to his mischief; his goals are simply based on satisfying his immediate cravings, and he seldom reflects on the potential effects of his actions.
In the Native American tradition, the physical embodiment of the trickster is typically as an animal-human being, the animal most often depending on the fauna of the geographic location. Coyote is one of most widely known of the Native American tricksters, most common among the Southwest, Plains, and Plateau regions. Iktomi (or Spider-man) and the Hare are also dominant figures among the various native peoples of North America, figures that are paralleled in African and African American tales (e.g., Anancy and Brer Rabbit). In fact, the parallels between some of the Native American and African American tales have evoked some speculation on shared influences, especially in the Southeast. One Native American tale collected in Erdoes and Ortiz’s American Indian Myths and Legends, for example, recounts what happens when Coyote has an encounter with a lump of pitch, which bears a strong resemblance to Brer Rabbit and the tar-taby.
Often considered a being who existed prior to humans, the Native American trickster is tied to the creation of the world and the shaping of its geography. In this, he is often associated with another cultural figure, the transformer. Thus, the subversive role of the trickster can also act as the means for change. Any cultural transformation achieved, though, is often accidental, stemming indirectly from the trickster’s miscalculation or weakness rather than by purposeful design. Still, the resulting benefits help to establish (or reestablish) order or to provide a new means for human survival. In explaining how people first got tobacco, for example, one tale has Coyote steal tobacco from Sun only to be tricked out of it himself. Arriving at an Apache camp where he is living, he refuses to share the stolen tobacco, so the council decides to prey on Coyote’s lechery and promises him a wife in exchange for the tobacco, but instead they dress a boy up as a woman. When Coyote grabs the boy’s penis, he kicks him out of his wigwam, but the people refuse to return his tobacco. In another tale, Coyote steals water from the Frog People who are hoarding it for themselves. Pretending to take a long drink of water, Coyote digs a hole in their dam so that all people have access to water.
As the tale above suggests, because the trickster focuses his attention on meeting his physical desires regardless of the cost, the stories are often bawdy. This, of course, opens up opportunities for psychoanalytic speculation of the role of the trickster in a particular culture. In these theoretical discussions, he is often associated with Freud’s concept of the id, offering a sort of outlet to act against constraints in a society. In one instance, the Sioux trickster, Iktomi, seduces a young virgin by posing as an old woman who has a large growth between “her” legs; Iktomi insists that the only cure is to put the growth between the girl’s legs, a cure they both find enjoyable. But despite the often sexual nature of the stories, there appears to be no taboo in sharing the stories in mixed company within the tribe.
While the trickster is often a lecher, a cheat, a thief, and a liar, his subversion often acts as a corrective. Offering cultural satire, the tales are humorous and provide entertainment, but the trickster’s foibles also reveal the limits of freedom and the value of order, for he is often punished for his bad behavior. In one tale, for example, Coyote, feeling generous, gives his blanket to Iya (the Rock); when Coyote gets cold later, though, he goes to get the blanket back. Despite the fact that Coyote argues that Rock does not need the blanket, Iya refuses to return it, noting, “What is given is given.” When Coyote takes the blanket anyway, Iya is displeased and chases Coyote, eventually rolling over him, flattening Coyote and taking the blanket. Coyote’s immortality, however, allows the audience to maintain a distance from his suffering, keeping the stories light and humorous; although Coyote dies, he is resurrected. In the same tale, for example, after Coyote is bowled over, a wasichu (white) rancher finds him and uses him as a rug in front of his fireplace. Coyote, however, is able to puff himself back up and escape before morning. The lesson learned, of course, is “always be generous in heart. If you have something to give, give it forever” (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984, 339).
While many of the best-known trickster tales provide a strong sense of tradition within various cultures, some also demonstrate the adaptability of the trickster character, especially when new cultures are encountered, as was the case of the arrival of Europeans in North America. In several stories, subverting the European intrusion subverts white power by cheating them. In one instance, Coyote bests a white trader. The trader, when told that Coyote could get the best of him, challenges Coyote to try. Coyote says that he needs to get his cheating medicine from home to make it fair, so he asks to borrow the man’s horse, saddle, and even his clothes for the trip. Agreeing, the trader watches Coyote ride off with his possessions, thinking he will come back to try to cheat him. In another tale, Coyote tricks town folks by hiding money in his burro’s rear; when he kicks the burro, the money comes out, so the town buys the burro from him. However, when they kick the burro, it only breaks wind.
Thus, the trickster figure in Native American culture is not simply a humorous, bawdy character that populates stories told for their entertainment value. The trickster figure embodies a subversive element that enables a group of people to cope with adversity and even challenge authority, while paradoxically reinforcing many social conventions and moral values.
W. Todd Martin
See also Azeban; Bear Man of the Cherokee; Coyote Tales; Great Hare; Iktomi; Trickster Rabbit
Further Reading
Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz. 1984. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Pantheon Books.
Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz. 1999. American Indian Trickster Tales. New York: Penguin Books.
Hyde, Lewis. 1998. Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Lankford, George E. 2011. Native American Legends of the Southeast: Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw, and Other Nations. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
Smith, Jeanne Rosier. 1997. Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press.