Influences Of Trickster Tales And Creation Myths

Influences of Trickster Tales and Creation Myths

In Native American literature, both creation myths and trickster tales were frequently told and passed down through generations upon generations orally, and then eventually written down. A creation myth is a tale that tells of how the world began or how people first came to live here, while a trickster tale is a short story that tells of a “trickster” with vacuous behavior, whose actions are meant to teach a lesson. Both types of literature are still relevant in modern society, whether it’s through pop-culture or re-told stories, and continue to guide individuals through their life, teach lessons about life on earth, morals, and human nature.

Creation myths are meant to explain how the world

began and why, and usually start with birth in some form, due to the Native Americans relating the birth of Earth to the birth of a child. Also, there is a supreme character who prompts the events that started the world. Many readers will classify them as false tales, but the culture that told these tales believed them to be true. The Iroquois creation myth “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” tells of twins born of a curious mother who landed on a turtle’s back and started the earth there by planting roots from “The Great Tree.” The twins constantly quarreled as “the right-handed twin made the deer, and the left-handed twin made the mountain lion which kills the deer.” (Allen et al. 42) This, in turn, created a balanced world. This tale demonstrates the Iroquois beliefs on the good and evil, as well as their attitude towards nature and their surroundings. One may believe that the left-handed twin was “evil,” but in reality, without him the world would be full of only satisfactory things, and too much of one good thing is an evil in itself. The Iroquois knew that, and valued both twins, realizing that they are both neccessary for our world to work.
A trickster tale is a short story that tells of a “trickster” who often demonstrates asinine behavior, using his cunning and creative tactics to get through tricky situations or manipulate other characters.

Often, the trickster finds his antics to come back and hurt him, due to greedy, conceited, or boastful behavior. These tales are told in a humorous manner, meant to entertain the reader, but are specifically designed to teach a lesson about human behavior or morals. One trickster tale, “The Coyote and the Buffalo,” is the quintessential trickster story, and uses a coyote as a main character, very popular for early Native American literature. It tells of a coyote that has gotten himself into trouble with Buffalo Bull, his enemy, and has made a deal to give the Buffalo new horns. To express his gratitude, Buffalo Bull gives Coyote a young cow on the condition that he does not kill it, but only cuts off the fat. Soon Coyote gets greedy, and kills the cow for the better meat. However, he is quickly outsmarted by a woman who offered to cook the bones. She ends up stealing them, and the coyote is left with nothing. He pleads to the buffalo for another, but the buffalo will not give it to him, “and that is why there are no buffalo along the Swah-netk’-qhu.”(Allen et. al. 52) The moral of this story is that having too much greed can leave you hungry, instead of full of the riches of life you can gain by listening and following the

rules.
As Helen Lock says, “Trickster tales have existed globally since the earliest times, and nearly everyone recognizes a trickster when one is encountered in a story.”(1) One trickster, Bugs Bunny, is perhaps the most well known in today’s time.

Robert Thompson says, “Bugs Bunny defies authority, he goes against the rules. But he does it in a way that's often lovable, and that often results in good things for the culture at large.”(Sutherland 1). Bugs Bunny displays cleverness, wit, and a “rules don’t apply to me” attitude, all qualities that were present in Coyote, when he says “Now i will have some fun, I will have revenge for the times Buffalo made me run,”(Allen et al. 48) and proceeds to pick up Buffalo’s skull and throw it in the air. As Native American authors conveyed their tales in a humorous way aimed at children, Bugs Bunny’s creators did the same, making a funny television show about a silly rabbit that is a modern example of the Native American archetype, the

trickster.
In creation myths, humans often learn about a culture’s views on the origins of life, and their attitude towards nature and society. Native Americans told these myths to explain how the world came to be and their place in it. These myths are continually being reinvented and taught today, whether in school learning about culture, or in churches and temples learning about religion. Stories from the Bible, such as Adam and Eve, attempt to explain the creation of the world, just as the Native Americans attempted to provide an explanation to what seems unexplainable.The fact that these myths today are still studied, analyzed and discussed shows that no one is completely sure how this world came to be and why.
Stories that are passed down from generation to generation, such as “The World on the Turtle’s Back” and “Coyote and the Buffalo” have a long-lasting effect in the world. These stories, known as creation myths and trickster tales, aim to teach lessons to the readers about how humans should act and why, and many individuals today still use them as a guide through life.