A Dramatic Rendering of Five Native American Stories

A Joint Production of the Round Valley Community Theater and Round Valley Unified School District's Arts Alive! program

The Origins of Our Coyote Tales

The "Coyote Tales" production represents a broad and encompassing selection of Native American stories from all over North America. Two of our tales, however,  are of local origin. "Who-coy and the Grasshoppers" is a Yuki tale handed down by Yuki ancestors and related by Rachel Logan, recently adopted by Darla Benton, her granddaughter. For our production a play script was then adopted by Ida Harris.. "Who-coy" is the Yuki word for coyote. Although the original residents of Round Valley, the Yuki  traveled far and wide, from the coast to the Sacramento Valley.  Undoubtedly they passed by the Clear Lake area and told their children fanciful tales about its origin.. "Was-shet" is the Yuki word for bear; "Lopus" is rabbit;  and "Sis-kinnet" is skunk. "How Coyote Stole the Moon" is another local Yuki story which is part of a longer creation story handed down to Leota M. Card by her elders in Round Valley. Leota has been writing these tales from memory. For our production a play script of this story was also adopted by Ida Harris. "Why Coyote Stopped Imitating His Friends" is a Caddo story found on the Indigenous Peoples web site at www.indigenouspeople.org/natlit/stories.htm. For our production a play script of this story was also adopted by Ida Harris. "Coyote and The Rock" is a story from the White River Sioux in South Dakota, told by Jenny Leading Cloud at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in 1967 and published in the anthology American Indian Myths and Legends which was loaned to us by John and Sharon Gonzales.  For our production a play script of this story was  adopted by Asmeret Bier. The Meeting of the Dogs  For our production a play script of this story was  adopted by Asmeret Bier. Musicians and Dancers

About Coyote

The Coyote, Canis latrans, or coyotl to the Aztecs, is currently found in every state except Hawaii. They can be found in diverse habitats, from the lush tropics of Costa Rica to the barren landscape of the Arctic Circle. In the Western U.S., the animals tend to be solitary. They are very adaptable in terms of their food supply, eating whatever is available. They are thought to be the most intelligent of the wild canids because they have been able to survive and thrive despite human efforts to exterminate them for hundreds of years. While the populations of most large predators are declining, coyote populations are thriving and expanding their ranges.

Coyote Morning, A Poem  Old men and old coyote dogs boil their dreams in the sun served steaming within a bowl filled with shadows rolling sticks onto the ground and making wild songs while they smack their lips and spit out the dust blown in by the winds nameless and place-less but hard to ignore. author unknown

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A Few Links on Coyotes and their Tales Coyote Howl Project:  http://earth.simmons.edu/coyotehowl/coyotehowl.html Indigineous Peoples Page: http://www.indigenouspeople.org/natlit/stories.htm