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Buffalo And The Coyote Character Analysis

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Why are the Buffalo and the Coyote important characters that act as important symbols to the Okanogan culture? In the story retold by Mourning Dove, it can be seen the symbolism that animals had on this culture and their importance. The Coyote, with his vanity, and the Buffalo, with his craving for revenge, both showed themselves as tricksters throughout the story by deceiving one another. This way, the author tells a story while really trying to show the readers the important roles and attitudes of both Buffalo and Coyote and how they affect their fate. Through the beginning of the story, the author introduces the initial conflict between the Coyote and the Buffalo, which eventually influences both character´s further actions and decisions. The Coyote found himself with the opportunity to laugh at his enemy´s bones, Buffalo´s bones, who used to scare him for such a long time. Then, he heard a monstrous noise which happened to be Buffalo. Afterwards, the Coyote was in a critical life-death …show more content…

The old lady uses the Coyote´s weakness, vanity, as he used the Buffalo´s to trick him by flattering him and saying he shouldn´t worry about cooking that he should leave that to her that it was not his work to do. So he gave in to rest, as he heard what he thought was totally true, but little did he know that it was going to be a sip of his own medicine. The lady took with her the soup while mocking him while saying “Sin-ka-lip’, do you want this?”; she knew that he would never be able to catch her. This, we can infer, was also a part of Buffalo´s plan to teach Coyote a “lesson”. At the end, it can be seen that the Coyote, throughout all the story thinking he had been clever, goes begging for a cow, while realizing the cow he had killed never really died and was back with his owner. The Buffalo, refuses to give him what he wants, therefore forcing him to go back to his country

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At first the indians are wary of Dunbar but they begin to trust him after they visit him and form a rudimentary conversation. After some time actual dialogue is had when Kicking Bird, the medicine man, asks Stands with fist, the woman that Dunbar saved, to translate between the two. Communicating more and more with the indians, Dunbar begins to become more fascinated with the culture and customs of the tribe. When Dunbar helps them locate a large herd of buffalo, which is a hugely important commodity to the indians he is accepted as a honorary member. Later Dunbar helps them defend against a Pawnee war party be giving the Lakota guns and ammunition from the

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While Coyote was driving around the city for the narrator to visit, the narrator sees a big sign that says “Livestock Building”. He insisted on knowing what is inside the building. “So, I ask Coyote, what do you keep in that Livestock Building? Enemy Aliens, says Coyote. That’s where we keep the Enemy Aliens.”

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While Black Elk travels to and from Europe, there are two significant animals that die that symbolize the way the Sioux suffer during the third and fourth ascents. The two main animals that represented the ascents were the Bison and the Elk. In chapter eighteen it talks about how the Elk was in the east which is where power comes from. “ You will remember how the pipe and the bison were in the east and the elk in the south” (166) Throughout the story of the Sioux tribe we learn that the sacred hoop is a one of many places in which the tribe’s power comes from. So while the wasichus are killing the elk, they are also destroying the tribe’s source of power as well as breaking the nation’s hoop.

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Given he is a white man, his words will be hard to grasp for the Indians. Therefore, Dunbar’s loyalty is another aspect that gets portrayed in the challenges of Dunbar’s growth. Although Dunbar is a tranquil person, he feels the resistance to tell “Kicking Bird” the truth behind his arrival at the fort and the future of the frontier, his loyalty to the U.S army is greater compared to same loyalty to the tribe. It is after he has fallen in love with “Standing with a fist” Dunbar leaves his past and expresses his identity as “Dances With Wolves” and a member of the tribe. The guilt of his is unclear answers enlightens him, leading him to tell “Kicking Bird” about the white people.

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