For those who might not know, Iktomi, Coyote and Heyoka are well known American Indian characters. All three characters can reveal truth in unexpected ways.
– In Lakota legend, Iktomi, the Son of Inyan (Rock) was born full-grown from a cosmic egg. He is both a Spider and a Spider-like man. He was once wise but was turned to a life of trickery and deceit, and can sometimes be very harsh.
– Coyote is a trickster who often shows the people what not to do by doing it himself, usually with disastrous results.
– A Heyoka is a Lakota Indian sacred clown, one who does contrary things. A clown with high purposes, one who often uses humor to teach. The Heyoka might walk backwards and say goodbye instead of hello when they meet you. They also might say Yes when others say No and can sometimes say things that regular people can not, or should not, say.The characters go by different names in the various tribal cultures and often have similar characteristics, but not always. Iktomi might be considered evil in one culture while in another, he might walk as a Heyoka, a Lakota Sacred clown.
The characters are Gods or at least God like. They can be both good and bad. They can be killed, and they can easily come back to life again. Their stories usually try to tell or show a moral, often in their own perverse ways.
I, the author, personally like the Native American Indian, First People stories. I’ve read many of the ‘published’ Coyote and Iktomi stories and have seen many of the related, online videos. I keep searching and hoping for new stories all the time.
Links to more Iktomi and Coyote stories:
https://aktalakota.stjo.org/lakota-legends/iktomi-and-coyote/
https://aktalakota.stjo.org/lakota_spirit_animal/coyote-sungmanitu/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY6iji29bMg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnu81eQsT1E
https://www.worldhistory.org/video/3145/iktomi-and-the-coyote/
https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/coyote.pdf
http://web.archive.org/web/20220808062101/https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Legends-IL.html#082Since I am not finding many new Coyote and Iktomi stories, I wrote one for myself. Its likely that this story has similar story lines in other Coyote and Iktomi stories which I have not heard or read yet, but I have tried, within reason, to not copy known stories. To the best of my ability, I have also tried to not bring in a ‘white guy’s interpretation’ or new personality traits, changing the characters to something they are not, nor never were. I generally try to stay within the Lakota’s versions of the characters because I live in the same region of the world. I do not own or license any of the graphics contained in this story.
Iktomi and Coyote stories often start with either one, or the pair, ‘walking across the prairie’.
A Season of Iktomi and Coyote Too
Chapter 1. Boasting Can Be Tricky
Iktomi and Coyote were walking across the prairie one hot, late summer evening bragging to each other of their exploits with women and drinking and what not. Coyote was telling Iktomi of the beautiful northern She-Wolf he had met just a couple of nights earlier. “She was one fine Long Legged Northern She-Wolf. Her breath was to die for and she had no mange* at all, Ikto. She was so very fine.” He kept saying, “I needed a stepping stone if you know what I mean, Ikto.”
*Mange is a transmittable, miserable skin disease caused by tiny mites and dirty living conditions.The more Coyote bragged, the more Iktomi wanted to shut him up. Iktomi laughed, “Ha, I know you are lying, you were out with me this whole last week. If you had met any She-Wolf, I would have known about it.” Coyote just shrugged it off. He didn’t care if Iktomi believed him or not, he believed enough of it himself and that’s what mattered, it made him smile.
Later that evening the pair found some fermented plum berries which he and Coyote quickly gobbled up. That’s when Iktomi had a devious idea and being in a philosophical mood, he asked Coyote, “Is the truth a lie, or is the lie a truth?” To which Coyote scratched his ear and looked around confused, scoffed, and then did his best to look disinterested.
Iktomi continued, “A lie about a lie is not necessarily true… but telling the truth about the truth is always true.” Coyote was now scrapping his butt across the hard prairie sod, he smiled an icky smile which made you think he was enjoying himself way more than he should be while listening to Iktomi’s nonsense.
“You know, I have been thinking,” said Iktomi, “and I have come to the conclusion that you are not a liar, but instead that you are a teller of truths.” Coyote did not like hearing this, it was making him mad and he snapped at the air. Breathing heavily, he declared to Iktomi, “Ikto, you must not say this, I am Coyote the trickster. You can not trick me Ikto. Take back those words!”
But Iktomi said he would not take back his words because they were true, and it was not his fault that Coyote could not see this. Iktomi explained, “I have great wisdom, I know what I am talking about Coyote. You are the teller of great truths.”
Coyote didn’t know what to say or think. Iktomi added, “I can prove this to you Coyote if you change into a Heyoka. If the trickster Coyote becomes a Heyoka, then you will have to do the opposite of lying and playing tricks, you will have tell the truth instead of always lie. Then you will see what I said is true!”
Coyote had had enough, “Stop talking Ikto or I’ll bite off some of your legs. You can not trick me, I am the Trickster! I show people what not to do by doing it first. That is not telling truths or lies, that’s just being Coyote!”
“Can you imagine at least for this just once, to just only tell the truth?” asked Iktomi. “No thinking, no remembering, no tricks at all.” Desperate to stop the inquiry, Coyote admitted it could be interesting, which was all Iktomi needed to hear.
Iktomi called out loud to a nearby boulder. “Grandfather Rock, Coyote wishes to be made to only be able to tell the plain truth, as it is backwards of his ways.” Grandfather Rock laughed loudly and said he would grant Iktomi’s request on the condition that if Coyote could only tell the truth and be opposite of his normal ways, then Iktomi had to change into something else too.
They both readily agreed of course, never thinking about the consequences. Grandfather Rock first changed Coyote. Coyote looked the same, but when Iktomi asked Coyote about the fine She-Wolf, Coyote had to admit it was not true, he made up the story. Coyote even admitted he was really a little bit afraid of wolves. Iktomi laughed, “Ha ha ha, Coyote, I knew your women stories are all made up.”
Grandfather Rock then said to Iktomi, “And you Iktomi, are a female Coyote. A Sheyote, in-season!”, and Iktomi immediately changed into a female Coyote, in season! Grandfather Rock laughed so hard the ground shook, boulders rolled and small rocks flew around in the air.
During the confusion, Coyote completely lost his mind and started singing to this new Sheyote. Coyote didn’t even realize the Sheyote still sounded exactly like his old friend Iktomi. Coyote was in love. Grandfather Rock had tricked both Iktomi and Coyote!
Coyote wanted to win over this lovely Sheyote with all of his heart. He thought of the words to court her with. He would tell her he was a great and wise Coyote, he would give her smart children and he would be a good father and help to raise and teach them. But when he spoke, he could only speak the truth. “Lady Coyote, I can smell you from a mile away and I want badly to come to you so we can make puppies. I will be quick and you will probably never see me again.”
Coyote couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth, he so badly wanted to trick the Sheyote into accepting him, but instead he was telling her all the things that would make her run away from him as fast as she could. “Oooh…” Coyote, very truthfully, howled into the sky.
Iktomi tried to tell Coyote that it was he, his friend Iktomi, not a Sheyote in season. But of course Coyote could not be convinced, mostly because he didn’t hear a single word of what the Sheyote was saying. He was overpowered by the beauty of her pheromones and currently out of his mind.
Grandfather Rock changed Coyote so he could only tell the truth, which was opposite of his normal lies and trickery. It was completely unfair and caused Coyote to choke on his words. Coyote quickly became angry. He felt he was being held on a tight leash. He was frustrated and jumped to snap and bite into the air, but instead his body rolled on the ground and he let out a great big belly laugh, which only made him angrier. The madder he got the more he belly laughed, until finally the laughter became contagious and he started to laugh with himself and Iktomi, who was a somewhat uncomfortable looking Sheyote at that moment.
Coyote looked at the Sheyote and started cooing, “Oh how I love your smell and how you have no mange there on your thick thighs. I wish to trick you into thinking I will love you forever and will stay and help you raise our puppies, but I can not. I can only tell the truth and nothing else.” His voice softened, “This is the worst day ever possible for a Coyote,” he stammered and winced a little, “and I have mange… and fleas too.” He moaned quietly until the last of his breath was spent.
Iktomi, seeing his bragging friend was caught in his trap, decided to play it out for a little while longer, “I was so hoping that you would be my mate so that we could make puppies together. You smell nice too.” Iktomi gagged a little bit on that one, but managed to carry on, “I thought you were a great Coyote. But not now, not anymore! You are a scoundrel, a good for nothing Coyote, always lying and cheating to get your way. A Coyote who tells the truth, why that’s the biggest lie I have ever heard!” Iktomi pretended to be offended.
Coyote didn’t know what to think, he closed his eyes and covered his ears and told the Sheyote, “If I get mad, I laugh, and if I laugh, I get mad. Maybe if I don’t see you or hear you, then I can talk normal to you. Oh I hope you turn around so I can smell you better.”
Suddenly Coyote blurted out, “Help me Grandfather Rock, help me! This is not fair! Coyotes live to make puppies! This is important! Please don’t take this away from me. Not now! Don’t you see this beautiful Lady Coyote here in front of me? She is ready, I can tell! Oh she is so beautiful to me Grandfather Rock, so fine, and she has no mange at all!”
Grandfather Rock rumbled, “Ha ha ha,” and the ground shook, “I will change you back to Coyote if you promise to go and live in the caves of the far north and not return until the Spring.” Coyote, who wasn’t thinking in the long term, immediately agreed and thanked Grandfather Rock for being so kind and wise. He immediately began sniffing in the air and singing love songs to the Sheyote using his normal tricky ways. He even sang Elk love songs to show how serious he was about winning her over.
Iktomi, seeing how Coyote was now back to his tricky self, said, “Grandfather Rock, I am ready for you turn me back into my old self.” But Grandfather Rock said very flatly, “No. You and I have an agreement. You can not break it.” Iktomi cried out, “But why Grandfather Rock? You let Coyote break his agreement with you!” Grandfather Rock rumbled, “You made the agreement for Coyote to only tell the truth. I released him because he did not make that bargain, you did.”
“But Grandfather Rock,” pleaded Iktomi, “it is not safe for me to be a Sheyote in season here in the woods. Look at Coyote there, he does not even recognize it is me, his old friend! Sometimes we even chase women together Grandfather Rock. He should not be looking at me this way! He should not be smelling me that way! I am Iktomi!”
“I will turn you back into Iktomi tomorrow if you return and ask me again. But you must promise to go and live in the southern caves for the winter.”, said Grandfather Rock. “You may want to start running now!” Grandfather Rock laughed, “I foresee a Coyote coming your way.” Iktomi ran as fast as that Sheyote’s body would go.
Grandfather Rock’s voice boomed, “Ha ha ha. I will remember this day. This is the day I tricked both Iktomi and Coyote, the biggest tricksters of all. I will not have to listen to their pathetic bragging now until next Spring!” Grandfather Rock rumbled and laughed so hard that again, the land shook, boulders were rolling and small rocks flew through the air.
Coyote said to Grandfather Rock, “Thank you most high and mighty and noble Grandfather Rock. I will just be leaving now.” He also told Grandfather Rock he had some quick, unfinished business to take care of, in the same direction the Sheyote had run, but then he would head north just as soon as his business was taken care of. “After all Grandfather Rock, a deal is a deal and there is nowhere I can hide from you.”
Coyote didn’t especially enjoy the Northern Caves that Winter. They were cold and dirty, but it was a convenient place to stay away from Iktomi for awhile. Soon enough though, Coyote realized it was probably already Spring down in the Southern lands. He softly asked for Grandfather Rock’s permission to go, and since he didn’t get an answer, he reasoned that Grandfather Rock wouldn’t mind. And after all, he was so miserably cold and hungry. He very quietly left for the warmer south lands.
Coyote didn’t know if Iktomi was still mad at him or not. He had been thinking of all the things he could say to his friend Ikto when they finally met again after their last encounter. ‘Hey Ikto, you’re looking good, turn around once for me!’, was at the top of the list. So was, ‘Hey Ikto, how are the puppies?’ It made Coyote laugh out loud, but he had to be careful or Iktomi would get mad.
It only took a couple of days in the southern lands before Coyote heard, “There you are you mangy Coyote! I am going to punch your lights out! You took advantage of me when Grandfather Rock turned me into a Sheyote!” Iktomi was indeed mad!
Coyote was still thinking about Ikto having puppies and he almost laughed out loud when he first saw him, but instead forced himself to say, “Sorry Ikto, you know we could not help ourselves, Grandfather Rock has very powerful magic.” It was all he could do to keep a straight face, he pretended to cough a little bit to cover up his chortling.
“Yes Grandfather Rock has powerful magic,” Iktomi snapped indignantly, “but you gave me a spot of mange on top of my head!” Coyote was wondering what the red lump on Iktomi’s head was. “I see that Ikto.” Coyote offered, “The red puffiness makes your head look bigger. It is like red war paint. It gets brighter when you get mad. It makes you very fierce looking.”
“Do not think that you will get off so easily Coyote!”, yelled Iktomi. “I am mad at you and you still have mange, even more now than before!” Coyote was mangy. He itched and scratched and his skin was red and swollen. He was miserable from living in the dirty caves of the north.
Coyote rolled in the shallow water and rubbed his fur against the rocks and trees, it came off in great dirty clumps. “Hey Ikto, Come scratch my back.”, he laughingly whispered under his breath. It would take many hours of lying in the warm sunshine to clean up again. Coyote was looking forward to it.
Chapter 2. The Dancer
Iktomi and Coyote were walking across the moon lit prairie a few nights later. Ahead of them was a ghosted cottonwood tree. The tree had died, the bark had rotted off and all that was left was the sun bleached, white inner wood core and some scraggly white branches tipped with black rot. The ragged tree looked especially ghostly against the starry midnight blue sky.
Iktomi said, “I have heard Coyote, that there is a dancer in the western village who is so good that he can dance just like that ghost cottonwood tree over there. They say that he can wave his arms in the air just like that and that he is a sight to behold. He must have special magic!”
Coyote added that he had heard from Hehaka (He-Ha-Ka) the Elk, of a dancer in the western village who was so good at dancing the love dance that he could have any woman he wanted.
Neither said a word, but Iktomi and Coyote both were rubbing their chins and if you know anything about Iktomi and Coyote, you would know it means they were planning and scheming and up to mischief. Coyote suggested, “I think we should go that way Ikto. I’ve heard there is easy hunting to be had. And I want to see this good dancer.” he added. Iktomi smiled his trickster’s smile.
Early the next morning on the path to the western village they met a scraggly old woman. She glared at Coyote with one big eye, the other squinted shut. “Shoo!”, she abruptly said waving her walking stick! “Shoo Sungmanitu! (shoong-moni-too) You are a trickster, you are not welcome here Coyote!”
Coyote was proud, but he still did not want to be badgered by a crazy old woman so he simply walked quicker as he went around her on the far side of the path. Everyone knows that old women are usually best left alone anyway.
Seeing his chance to tease Coyote, Iktomi shouted out, “Yes! Shoo! Shoo, Sungmanitu! (shoong-moni-too) Shoo!” You could tell Iktomi was laughing a little bit. He went up to the old woman and said, “Do not worry madam, I will make sure that that mangy Coyote does not bother you.”
He was just about to ask if she knew of the good dancer when she whacked the red spot on top of Iktomi’s head with her walking stick. Whack! He was dazed just long enough to allow the old woman time to wind up and strike him again. Whack! “You are not welcome here either you trickster!”
Iktomi fell and rolled away from the old woman as fast as he could roll. When he hit a tree he quickly changed into his small spider form and climbed up out of reach. “Had this been any other day old woman,” Iktomi yelled out, “I would have had Coyote bite your stick and water your leg!” Then he made some sort of gesture at the old woman using three arms and four fingers.
The old woman threw a stone at the tree, “You had better not come here to steal any dances. I will catch you. You are warned!” Iktomi slid behind the tree to let her go on her way before he came out again. By this time Coyote was on a little nearby hill top watching and laughing at Iktomi. “Serves you right for calling me mangy. Did she see that red spot on top of your head Ikto?”
Acting not surprised, Iktomi reprovingly said, “When they get old like that, they sometimes start to loose their minds and their eyesight. For some reason this old woman can see straight though to us.”
Before too long they came to a village where children were playing. They asked the children if there were any good dancers who live in the village to which the children replied, “Yes, Waci Hoksila, (Wah’-che Hok’-she-la) Dancing Boy. He lives over there on the far side of the village with Unci, his grandmother.” Iktomi groaned a little when he heard the word Unci, (Un’-che, oon-che) but he and Coyote made their way over to the far side of the village to a thick stand of Aspen trees.
Through the thicket of the trees they saw a young man dancing on top of a large boulder and then gracefully leaping to another boulder, like a deer bounding over a creek. He was a very good dancer indeed!
The trickster pair emerged from the trees. Coyote called out, “Hoka Hey, Waci Hoksila, Dancing Boy! We have been watching you from the tree line over here. You are a very fine dancer.” The boy laughed, he had seen them in the trees as their dark buckskin clothing stood out against the white tree trunks. “Thanks!”, he replied, “I am practicing for the Powwow.”
Iktomi told him, “My friend and I know all about powwows. We could help you practice.” Iktomi and Coyote were both obviously hoping to trick the boy into giving them some of his dance steps.
“Can you do a dance of a dancer sneaking up and tapping his dance stick on his opponents? A dance that dances circles around the other dancers so that I,” Iktomi coughed, “er, so that you may surprise the other dancers?”
The young man responded, “Of course I can. Watch me!” He went behind one of the boulders and walked out the other side dressed in white elk leather. “Ho ho!”, Coyote was surprised! The boy really did have magic! The boy raised his hands and waved his blackened finger tips in the air, just like the old ghost cottonwood tree. From somewhere a drum started playing and the boy moved with the beat. He snuck up on Iktomi and Coyote with the fast fierceness of a prairie thunderstorm. He blew into Coyote’s ear and tapped Iktomi’s shoulder with his dance stick and spun away in a whirlwind before they even knew what happened.
“Ho ho!”, now Iktomi was surprised! “Where do you get that magic from young dancer?”, he asked. The young man acting clever and smart, danced around a boulder and boasted, “I won’t tell you unless you can catch me and you can not catch me.” Coyote and Iktomi have some magical powers too, and with a little effort, they had cornered the boy. Both Iktomi and Coyote demanded, “Now tell us where you got that magic from. We caught you fair and square!”
The boy told them he did not know how he got the magic, he was just born good at dancing that way. But he was tired of it. He wanted to be more like the other boys. He had many dances in him and he had to dance them all the time, from the first one to the last, over and over.
Iktomi offered, “I could help you by dancing one of those dances for you, just for awhile. That last dance looks like great fun! Then you would have time to go and be with the other normal boys.”
Iktomi produced two feathers from one of his leggings and touched the boy’s arm, taking his fast dance. He touched the boy’s arm again and gave the love dances to Coyote.
“Oh thank you for your help kind sirs. That is such a relief to not have to do those dances for a little while. I have one more dance, that if you wouldn’t mind, I’d let you both borrow it as well. It is a fast stepped, Prairie Thunder Storm Dance. You will know how to dance it when it is the right time, you do not even need to practice this one.”
Coyote quickly said, “A Prairie Thunder Storm Dance sounds like something I’ve always wanted.”
Iktomi and Coyote couldn’t believe their luck. This boy was gullible enough to give them the magical dances. They hardly had to trick him at all!
All of a sudden a rock hit Coyote squarely between his eyes. He momentarily faded out of reality and awoke just in time to see Iktomi get hit right on his nose with another rock. Iktomi let out a shriek. Somewhere in the background someone was yelling and screaming, make that screeching! It was the old woman from the pathway. She was back!
She was yelling for her grandson to look out for those scoundrels. They were bad news. “They are tricksters!”, she yelled. “And that Coyote has mange, do not let it touch you. It probably has fleas too. Quick grandson, throw rocks at them!”
Iktomi and Coyote made a hasty retreat for the trees, knowing it wasn’t worth arguing with this crazy old women, Coyote looked back at her, Whack! Bad timing. Coyote was hit on his head by another rock. “Ouch! Why you mean old woman!”, Coyote yelped. His brain was throbbing. Unci was running and waving her hands and walking stick in the air, yelling loudly at the trickster pair.
Iktomi and Coyote glared back at the old woman once they were inside the safety of the trees. She was now at the edge of the grove hollering and rapping her walking stick across the trees taking effort to be as loud as she could.
“Ha ha old woman, you don’t drum very well and you sing even worse!”, taunted Coyote. He and Iktomi laughed at the old woman making such a sight of herself. Iktomi added for good measure, “If you are going to the Powwow, you had better do some more practicing of your singing and tree whacking!” Coyote and Iktomi laughed again at the crazy old woman, but they quickly hurried on knowing the further they got from her, the better.
Iktomi loudly said, “I have decided that I will go to the powwow with my new dance! I will go and scare all the other dancers. I hope that there is a lot of prize money. I am going to go as myself because I am quite popular these days. I will dance my new fast dance and scare every one of those other dancers. They will know that it was I, Iktomi who won all that prize money!”
Coyote looked down dejectedly and told Iktomi about the last two Powwows he had been to, “The dance officials kicked me out, Ikto. They said they didn’t like Coyote dancing. But I can’t help dancing like a Coyote. I AM Coyote!” Somewhat desperately he added, “Who else am I suppose to dance like Ikto!? Who else?”
Coyote liked dancing like Coyote. Some thought it was a little disgusting but he couldn’t help himself. It just felt so right to occasionally hump legs. And if the truth was really known, the lady Coyotes liked it too. “They pretend to want better,” he said, “but they are just as humpy as the boy Coyotes.” Yet somehow the dance judges just didn’t see the beauty in it.
Coyote said he would come to the powwow, but he would wait to dance his new love dance until he can use it to his best advantage. He would check out all the women at the powwow instead and just make himself a list of the prettiest ones. Coyote liked his plan so much that a shiver ran down his spine and his hind leg kicked with several spasms.
Chapter 3. Coyote Can Lie Anywhere
Iktomi and Coyote headed for the Powwow. As they were traveling through the woods that day when they ran across a small pond with two plump ducks. The always hungry Coyote, whispered to Iktomi to go and make some noise over at some nearby cattails.
Coyote reasoned that if the ducks were distracted with Iktomi, then they might not notice him sneaking up and he could catch both of them with one big swoop of his bag. Iktomi agreed and crawled up the stalks only as Iktomi can crawl, trying to be very conspicuous by wiggling his body about and waving some of his arms in the air.
Coyote was so pleased with himself for being so clever and he thought Iktomi looked especially silly waving his butt all about up in the air that he accidentally chuckled out loud, so out loud that the ducks heard him. The Man Duck flew off over the water while the She Duck raced for the cover of the cattails. She spied Iktomi as a bug and snatched him up to eat in the blink of an eye as she disappeared into the jungle of cattail stalks.
Coyote pounced at the place where the ducks had just been and landed on the nothingness that was now there. Snarling because his plan backfired, he jumped and snapped his teeth into the air at the missing Man Duck. Next he dashed after the She Duck who was already deep inside the cattail stand. She had just burped Iktomi back up.
Iktomi pleaded with the She Duck, “Oh Madam Duck, you do not want to eat me… I have green and yellow guts and I am poisonous!” The She Duck replied, “Good, I like green and yellow guts! And spiders are not poisonous to me!”
Iktomi knew she was right, he was sour and bitter but he was not really very poisonous to ducks. So he quickly thought and then told the She Duck, “What you say is true, but I am deadly poisonous to Coyotes and if you will let me go, I will bite that Coyote who is chasing you and then you and your Man Duck will eat in style. You will have more food than you can eat!”
The She Duck pondered Iktomi’s words for a moment and then agreed. She tossed Iktomi high into the air above the cattails and towards the noise she knew was Coyote. As soon as Iktomi landed, he whispered to Coyote what had happened.
Iktomi said, “I have a plan, I will pretend to bite you, you yelp and pretend to die. Lay in that bad scummy water over there by those smelly cattails. The duck will be sure to think you are dead because only something dead would lie in such bad water.” “It is true.”, Coyote laughed, “I can lie anywhere.” Iktomi ‘Humphed’ and then added, “and when that She Duck comes to claim you for her supper, you catch her up in your bag and then we will eat fine roast duck tonight.”
Iktomi bit Coyote’s ear hard, so hard that Coyote really did yelp out loud. Twice! Coyote now had a bad bite mark on his ear and Iktomi had finally gotten some revenge! Coyote grudgingly flopped around for a bit and pretended to die.
Coyote whispered, “When you were waving your butt all around up in the air, you know what I was thinking about?” Iktomi quickly and sharply bit Coyote’s other ear, shutting him up on the spot.
Neither Iktomi or Coyote knew the She Duck was such a smart She Duck. She already knew of Iktomi and Coyote and had quietly flown off the moment she tossed Iktomi back to Coyote.
Coyote rinsed off in less smelly water and the two were off again in search of food while on their way to the powwow. Luckily for them, they came across a dead deer and were able to eat a meal before an afternoon nap. They awoke to find the sky already filling with stars. They ate more of the deer meat and slept until morning.
Chapter 4. The Powwow
It was a long journey and Iktomi was growing tired. Seeing birds flying around, he thought it would be fun to trick one of the birds into giving him a free flight to the powwow, and maybe he’d get another feather or two!
“Coyote, I am going to fly to the powwow so I can see who the best dancers are. Tonight, if you go to dance on the dance floor, I will get you with my dance stick like the other dancers. You are warned.” he goaded Coyote.
“When I do my love dance Ikto,” Coyote responded, “look the other way so you will not fall in love with me again.” Iktomi was already half way up the next mountain, but he stopped dead in his tracks and walked very, very fast back down the hill, looked right into Coyote’s face and angrily said, “It was you who fell in love with me Coyote! I was not attracted to you in any way! Do not forget that!”
Iktomi got a strange look in several of his eyes and backed away from Coyote without turning around. “You get going now Coyote!”, he demanded. “I will give you no excuse to be glad to see my backside, even if it is because I am walking away from you! Shoo, Sungmanitu! Shoo!” Coyote had had his fun and he knew enough to leave now. Had he stayed any longer, he might have laughed out loud again.
Iktomi soon found a clearing with a pond and several crows who were conspiring to catch a nearby chipmunk for their lunch. Iktomi said, “Brother and sister Crows, please do not be alarmed.”, which of course put the crows into a panic of cawing and squawking. “I am looking for a ride to the powwow. Will one of you take me?” He added. “I will give you a big bag of roasted peanuts.”
The disapproving crows cawed noisily at Iktomi as they flew away, but there was still one young bird on the far side of the pond. “I love roasted peanuts!” she said.
“Ah and I can tell that you are from an old and noble family of crows.” and with that, Iktomi crawled up onto her back as a small spider.
When they arrived at the powwow, Iktomi said, “Thank you Sister Bird, but I have no money to buy roasted peanuts. I am afraid I will have to pay you later.” As Iktomi was changing back to his human form, he quickly plucked two of the bird’s big inner wing feathers. “Sister Crow, I hope you do not mind but I need a couple of magic feathers, I used my last ones for some dances.”
The young crow was embarrassed to be so easily fooled. She squawked loudly at Iktomi and pooped a big glob of white bird poop on top of Iktomi’s mangy red head before flying away. From then on the other crows called her Gullabelle and all of her children were marked with small white feathers somewhere in their wings, as a sign of shame.
Iktomi went to the creek to wash his head. The cold water made the mange spot on the top of his head bright red, but at least it matched the paint on his cheeks and eyes he thought.
There were lots of people at the powwow and when the people saw Iktomi strolling through the arena in his fringed buckskin leathers with red piping, they exclaimed he was the best looking and most fierce looking they had seen in a long time. The eight braids on his head were perfect, even if there was a big red bump in the middle of them.
Iktomi went into the arena to see the other dancers. He wanted the people to know he was still around, still powerful and still full of mischief. No one would be able to stop him from playing his dance tricks upon all of the other dancers. No one! The people, he thought, would look upon him with great respect and some fear too.
Meanwhile, Coyote found a creek to bathe in and finally got the rest of the foul smelling water off of his coat and skin. His ears were still sore from where Iktomi had bitten them, each having two little red bite marks. He slicked his hair back as well as he could and went to the powwow. All cleaned up, Coyote thought he was a handsome stud, the ladies would not be able to resist him, and this was often the case.
The drums were playing loud and Coyote was moved. He felt the vibrations clear through to his bones. He started dancing and accidentally humped one of the other dancer’s legs. “Get away from me you Coyote!”, she yelled. It did not take long for the other dancers to kick Coyote off the dance floor. He didn’t care. He was just scouting around to see all the pretty women anyway. He went off to the seats to make a list of his favorites.
Iktomi joined the dance floor when it was full of dancers. He was delighted at how fast and how well he could spiral and spin around them. He was able to sneak up on any of them tap them with his dance stick. Several startled dancers even jumped off the dance floor while they were waving their hands in the air trying to get away from Iktomi’s spidery touch. Iktomi was spinning in such fast circles that the long ribbons on his leggings looked like big solid hoops of color, he was magnificent.
As he wound his way around the dancers he saw one dancer dressed all in blue with white ribbons and wearing a blue mask. The dancer was now raising and lowering a dance stick as if she were controlling the beat of the drums. Even the lights above seemed to flickered on her command. The people were moving with this mysterious blue dancer. Her dancing was magical, just like the boy’s, but this dancer wasn’t the boy they had met in the village. This was a girl dancer!
Iktomi stopped to watch the dancers when suddenly an old woman appeared in front of him. Her walking stick came down hard on his head. Whack! “You can’t fool me by walking around in plain site Iktomi!” The top of his head glowed red. He had just been beat upon by the crazy old woman from the village. Iktomi was starting to hate crazy old women, especially this one! He looked around but she was already gone.
The masked woman in blue again sailed by Iktomi and tapped the red lump on his head. He jerked and shivered, but she too, was gone in a blur of blue sky with white streaming ribbons. He had been had, twice now!
Iktomi was determined to find out who this masked blue dancer was. He started dancing his dance again, looking to count coup on the blue dancer, like an enemy. They met on the dance floor and danced a dance like none had seen before, twisting and dodging and circling each other. Both coming close but neither being able to touch upon the other until the woman dancer in the blue mask came close to Iktomi, stopped and removed her mask so only Iktomi could see her. It was Unci! The dancing boy’s crazy grandmother! The crazy old woman! She smacked her stick on the top of Iktomi’s head and spun away.
The dance was over and Iktomi crowded the blue dancer on the side of the dance floor. Coyote joined them. “Who are you that you know how to do all of this?”, Iktomi demanded to know.
With her mask off, a beautiful young woman circled them and said, “I am Blue Snow from the Northern Wolf Clan. I was a vain young wolf and tricked by a Northern shaman who wanted me for his mate. He said he would turn me into the most beautiful dancer in the world if I would marry him. I agreed, but later I would not be his mate so he turned me into an old woman whenever I am not dancing.” She stopped dancing, reveling the haggard old woman, the shaman’s curse.
“And what about the boy?”, Iktomi asked. “He is my father. He tried to save me. The shaman made me old and ugly and my father a handsome young dancing boy. A cruel and ironic joke upon us both.”
Coyote knew of the long legged Northern Wolf Clan. They were said to be the strongest and most stunning clan of wolves to ever rule the land. He knew he would do the love dance like never before and he would have a beautiful Northern She-Wolf of the Long Legged Clan as his mate. She was Coyote’s dream come true and he had the magical love dance! It was going to be a good night for Coyote. He was breathing heavily and his back leg spasmed again, several times!
The dancer in blue continued, “To rid this curse upon myself and my father we must give away all the dances, but only by tricking whoever we give the dances too. My father tricked you into taking his dances and is now waiting for me. I have two more dances I must yet dance. The dances I would not dance with the shaman.”
Coyote was overjoyed. She was everything he had ever thought or heard or even dreamed about the Northern Clan of Wolves. Coyote had agreed even before he could stuff his tongue back into his mouth. He was visibly moved and again, his back leg kicked several spasms.
The old woman started dancing and quickly turned into a beautiful young woman, the mate intended for the Northern Shaman. Coyote joined her and together they danced the love dance. Even though they were not on the dance floor they drew a crowd. The dance was like love in fluid motion. As the drum beats got faster the blue dancer touched Coyote’s arm and he knew what to do. They spiraled and circled around each other, like two whirlwinds joining. They became one blur of blue and beige buckskin. When the two finally separated, Coyote had a blue streak running along his back and Blue Snow was once again a Northern She-Wolf of magnificent beauty and strength, now with a yellowish brown streak running down her back.
Blue Snow said to Coyote, “We are married now, but only as long as you are loyal to me. If you lust and follow after another our bond is broken. It is the Northern Tribe’s way. An unloyal mate will not be tolerated.” Coyote just kept saying ‘Yes, Yes, Yes’. He had a magnificent woman, a Love Dance and a Prairie Thunder Storm Dance. He was feeling very powerful.
Under the lights, the dancers had filled the dance floor again. Blue Moon was as beautiful as she was a wonderful dancer even though she no longer had her magical dances. Coyote was dancing in his usual Coyote way, just with no leg humping. And Iktomi was whirling around the dance floor on the lookout for crazy old women. He was now looking to count coup and most any old woman would do.
Suddenly, an old woman appeared in front of Iktomi startling him. By some unknown instinct, Iktomi started to dance the Prairie Thunder Storm Dance. He stamped his feet very fast and out of his gut came a low rumble that grew like approaching thunder until it released, farting so long and so loud that he even out blasted the drums!
Several little kids stumbled backwards and everything in the arena grew very quiet. Iktomi saw the whites of many eyes shining at him in the dark shadows beyond the dance floor. He gave a kind of weak smile and went back to his dancing. Soon the drums started again too.
Coyote was having such a good time showing off his trophy She-Wolf mate that he forgot and accidentally starting dancing the love dance when a pretty dancer walked by. In a confused moment he had humped her leg! Blue Moon let out a savage growl and snapped, “I warned you Northern Wolves do not tolerate this! Our bond is already broken, we are no longer mated!” And she walked away from Coyote, her yellowish brown streak fading fast. She joined her father who was once again, an old man.
Suddenly and also without choice, Coyote started stamping his feet very fast. He too, was dancing the Prairie Thunder Storm Dance and a bright blue bolt of lightening flashed from a light fixture above striking Iktomi on his red head and smacking Coyote hard on his buttocks, giving rise to a wisp of smoke. Coyote jumped and like a mule, kicked both of his feet straight out behind him. Iktomi let out another great loud fart and the top of his head pulsated red. Coyote tucked his tail between his legs as he slunk off the dance floor and Iktomi trailed after.
Much later that night, Coyote always the trickster, laughed and told Ikto, “Ikto, your red blistered butt matches your red mangy head!” To which they both laughed, although Coyote laughed a little more than Iktomi, until Iktomi added “And now your ass is as red as mine you dumb Coyote, and you still have mange.” Coyote quit laughing and the pair did not talk so much for the rest of that night.
The next day, Iktomi and Coyote were walking across the prairie again. Coyote was bragging to Iktomi, “That Northern She-Wolf I had was one fine woman Ikto. She had breath to die for and no mange at all! She had really fine long legs Ikto. I needed a stepping stone if you know what I mean.” Defiantly he added, “You said I was the ‘teller of great truths!’, but I am not, I just tell the truth about great lies.”
Iktomi was still getting tired of Coyote’s bragging, but he wasn’t going to say a word. Last time he complained, Grandfather Rock turned him into a Sheyote, in season.
A nearby boulder rumbled a small amount. Iktomi thought he could hear Grandfather Rock laughing and laying in wait to try to trick him into being a Sheyote again. Iktomi was not going to fall for that trick ever again.
Iktomi and Coyote still have the Prairie Thunder Storm Dance. Iktomi tries to never use it, but Coyote likes to scare Iktomi with his Wakinyan (Lakota Thunder beings) impressions.
By Randy Peterson
All the artwork on this page was stolen!