Post #9

Long ago, there was a naming ceremony. It took place in order to rank the animals of the world in strength. Depending on how strong they were, a different sized bow was given. The stronger the animal, the larger the bow. Now I was there when it all happened. We all came together to meet the first man. The ones above had given the man all bows and the responsibility to rank all animals. It was getting to a later hour so we all decided to wait until the next day to hold the ceremony. In the dark of the night, I forged a seemingly fool proof plan. I would stay awake and be the first to the place and be named the strongest. But trouble arose. I began to feel tired. I had to do all I could to stay awake. I then ran around the world thinking that running would help me stay awake. When I got back, I was even more tired. I lay down and fell asleep. What felt like seconds of sleep was really hours. I woke and to my surprise every one was gone! What could have happened? I ran to the are of the undertaking of the ceremony and every one had bows! The man only held one more. I padded over to him and took my bow. It was embarrassingly tiny. I slunk away in melancholy. Could it be? I was the weakest animal. Even the small frog had greater strength. But the events that followed got better.  The ones above saw my depression and pitied me. They offered an alternative for the awful bow. If I gave the bow, I would be given a greater gift than strength, a greater gift than given to all the other animals. I would be given cunning. Something I could use to mold the minds of others. Something to become stronger in the sense of control. I could do anything I set my mind to.

Post #8

After all of my troubles, I finally got my gift. The greatest gift of all. My cunning. I did not need to be the strongest of all animals when I had cunning. I could trick my way into anything.

Post #7

Well I guess that I was very angry when I got the smallest bow and was dubbed the weakest animal. Who wouldn't be infuriated? At first I was in denial and had a burning temper but later went into a deep depression. But if you hang around, you will see what happened next.

Post #6

When I received my gift of cunning, I went through a lot of troubles. The contest was mostly based on the persons opinion, but us animals were head to head in competition. Inside, afterwards, I was at turmoil inside. In the beginning, I had to decide how to get to be the strongest but eventually ended up trying to get rid of the small bow. I was confused.

Post #5

When I was gifted my cunning, all of the forest animals were present. Rabbit, Owl, Eagle, Bear, Fish and even Frog. When it was announced that we all would receive our bows, I was joyous. I thought that I could outsmart all of the others and become the strongest but instead, my attempt was in vein. I was absolutely wretched after I was given the smallest bow. All that I wanted was to be powerful. When I was given my cunning I was ecstatic. I knew that even though I was not the strongest, I would be superior above the others.

Post #4

Once upon a time, I competed with the other animals of the earth. We were in competition for who would be the strongest. The ones above had bestowed upon the first man to give each of us a bow based on how strong we were. The bows came down in a giant white flash that encompassed the whole sky. Almost as if a bolt of lightning had struck the earth directly in front of us. There was a great wind that bent even the tallest, strongest pine trees around. A deep rumbling from deep beneath the surface shook the ground beneath our feet. When it was all over the sun had sunk beneath the mountains peaks and night was fast approaching. The man decided that we would wait until the morrow to distribute the beautiful bows. So I hatched a plan. I thought that if I stayed up all night, I would be first in line and become the strongest animal.

So the wait began. In the darkness I pretended to sleep, but in fact I was awake. All others snoring loudly. As the night progressed, I became more tired. I was about to nod off when I was given an ingenious idea. I would run around the world to stay awake! And so I ran. From the land of the Nisga'a of the west to the far east of the Iroquois. When I got back I only found that I was absolutely exhausted! I fell asleep immediately.

When I woke, no one was around! I ran as fast as possible to the place where we met the man. There stood every animal each with their own bow. My plan had failed. The others had noticed that a single bow remained. It was the smallest. Even Frog had a larger bow than I! I was deeply disappointed. Then, all of a sudden, a voice from above spoke. The ones above noticed my despair and had decided to trade. They offered a gift in compensation for having a bow. I agreed to their deal. All of a sudden, I had a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. My toes and fingers tingled with excitement. Then they spoke again. "We have given you an unbeatable trait. The gift of cunning. You will be able to outsmart anyone. Use your gift wisely." I felt alive. I would not only be able to use my cunning for others but could use it myself. That is why I am known as such a trickster. It was an unbelievable experience.

Multi-Cultural Coyote(Post #3)

So do you know that goofy looking, mangy dog that is always falling off of cliffs while you are watching your cartoons and eating cereal on Saturday morning? Well that is my modern day cousin. He does not get the family tradition of being tricksters. Instead he is the butt of the jokes. I need to teach him some lessons about thinking before doing.

Ian Tyson wrote a song in 1986 called "The Coyote and The Cowboy".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JjTGSipQTA

Through out Native America, there are many tales of myself. They range from creation to a simple story with a good moral in it. From the Salish to the Navajo, I am the greatest.

\

Me

Hello. My name is Akbaatatdia. You may know me as Coyote. That isn't quite my full name. I am a person of many identities. To the Crow, I am known as Akbaatatdia or Old Man Coyote in their language. I am a rather famous person to all of the the first peoples of North America. Anywhere that you travel, the native peoples will speak of me. In the South, I am known as a trickster. They even call me Coyote the Trickster or Ma'ii. I personally like the plains tribes and the people in or near Montana. To them, I am a creator, but I will let you in on a little secret. I'm not really the creator. I can give life to mud and make new animals by simply stating their name, but their is really greater power above me. I cannot speak their names though. They are to sacred. Anyway, I am really popular to Native Americans and everyone knows me. Just by different names.

As you can see above, I am not like you. We are similar, just not above the shoulders. I walk on two legs just like you and wear clothes too. The only difference is that I have the head of a coyote. For the Egyptian gods out there, I can be compared to Anubis. I wear moccasins on my feet and buckskin pants. I am used to wearing the clothing of the people who associate with me.

I don't have a very large family. Just very many friends. Raven, one of my best friends, helped me create the world in one version of creation. The Salish have seen me with Mole and think that we are married but honestly, she is just a friend. One of my favorite beings, my brother, is my animal counterpart. Coyote is a great friend. We can talk to each other and we have lots of fun. I do have very many friends though. I once though that I should mock them in their personal business, but quickly learned my lesson not to. It was a painful experience.

I am known as a trickster across America. I was given the gift of cunning from the ones above. It was an accident when I tried to become known as the strongest animal... I shouldn't have run around the world... Sorry. Anyways, I am very smart and know how to get what I want. I am a medicine man to. I can give life to animals that were once just a lump of clay in my hands. I have to be careful how I use my powers though. They can be revoked by the ones above. Sometimes though, I am not very smart. For instance, as I said before, I tried to mock my friends and only ended up injured. Also I tried to become the strongest animal. I didn't think that I would get tired from running around the world but I did. Sometimes I just don't think things through. Well that is a quick bio on me. Hope you enjoyed and learned more about the best god of all.