Navajo Coyote Tales

Coyote encounters Rabbit, Fawn’s Stars, Crow, Snake, Skunk Woman, and Horned Toad in these 6 delightful, English-language adaptations of traditional Navajo Coyote stories collected by anthropologist William Morgan and translated by him and linguist Robert W. Young.

During the last decade or so many of the customs which formerly characterized the Navajo people have tended to disappear. Among these apparently dying customs is that of story-telling. Not many years ago few Navajos had access to rapid modes of travel to visit neighboring towns. Few went to movies, or to other types of commercialized entertainment. In fact, few knew how to read and write for there were not many schools, and the white man”s education was not always something to be desired from the point of view of the Navajo of former times.

CONTENTS Introduction……………………………………………1 Coyote and Rabbit……………………………………3 Coyote and the Fawn”s Star……………………….9 Coyote and Crow……………………………………13 Coyote and Snake…………………………………..18 Coyote and Skunk Woman……………………….25 Coyote and Horned Toad………………………….38