Coyote and The Pebbles: Analyzing a Trickster Tale Have you ever looked up at the sky at night? Chances are, you have. In doing this, you probably noticed that there are billions of stars in the sky, but have you ever wondered how they got there? One trickster tale, “Coyote and The Pebbles,” tells a mythological story that answers that question. While a child may simply see this tale as a funny story, trickster tales are often used to determine limits and identify proper social structures, often told with broader implications that they have in mythology. For example, this specific story serves as a vehicle for transmitting cultural values and teachings. However, before we get into that, one must understand the tale that we are talking about. …show more content…
Coyote is late to the meeting as they all leave and Raven catches him up on what is going on. Coyote is upset that no one waited for him to get there and rushes off to grab his pebbles, exclaiming that his picture will be the largest and best of all. He runs around, gathering as many pebbles as he can, but when he is done, he realizes that there is hardly any room left in the sky. He gets more upset, exclaiming that everyone else is selfish and begins to run around looking for a space to put his portrait. When he finally finds a spot, he isn’t paying attention to where he is going and trips, scattering the rocks everywhere. They bounce up to the sky and into everyone else’s portraits. This makes the other night animals angry, but the “great mystery” tells them that it is too late and that they only asked for light and now they have it. Coyote feels bad for what he did and the story ends with the explanation that when you hear Coyote howling at night, that is just him trying to get the “great mystery” to let the night creatures have another chance to make their