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Discovery Theater Artistic Director:

Roberta Gasbarre

Learning Guide Layout:

Anne Stewart O’Donnell

A REPRODUCIBLE LEARNING GUIDE FOR TEACHERS

This learning guide is designed to help you and your students prepare for, enjoy, and discuss Coyote Mischief Tales. It contains background

information, questions and activities. Appropriate for ages 5 to 10

Coyote

Mischief Tales By: Philip blue owl Hooser

Presents

PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE, IN PART, BY GIFTS FROM The Smithson Women’s Committee

The Nora Robert’s Foundation Siewchin Yong Sommer

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How many

coyotes do you

weigh ??

Coyotes in American Indian Legend

Many American Indian stories are animal stories. They take place in an imaginary time long ago when animals were much larger than they are now and could talk and do many things that humans do. Coyote is one of the chief animal characters.

In some Native American traditions, Coyote is a Creator who made the world’s first people. In others, he is a Transformer who has powers to change the universe. In many legends, he is a Trickster figure who loves to outsmart others. As Barbara Diamond Goldin explains in Coyote and the Fire Stick, “Coyote could be both a hero and a trickster. He could be greedy, bullying, deceitful, and cowardly, as well as being a mischief-maker. He could also be a rescuer, teacher, and powerful magician. And sometimes he was all of

these in one story!” In some stories, Coyote is so clever, he even tricks himself. For hundreds of years, children and adults have laughed at the messes Coyote gets himself into—and have learned (sometimes!) from his mistakes.

Coyotes in the Wild

Like wolves and foxes, coyotes belong to the dog family. They have large pointed ears, a pointed nose, and a bushy coat in shades of cream, brown, and gray. Males grow to be about the size of a medium-sized dog, weighing about 40 pounds.

Coyotes can be found throughout the United States

and Canada, and even as far south as Central America.

Mainly nocturnal, they use their sharp hearing and

keen sense of smell to hunt rabbits, moles, and other small animals. Often,

at sunrise or sunset, the coyote’s barking, yapping, howling “song” fills

the air. It’s easy to see why the wild coyote makes such a good, “tricky” character for a story. The coyote’s yips and howls sound like laughing and singing in the night—and by changing their song, two coyotes can fool you into thinking you are hearing a dozen.

Wild dogs were given the name “coyotl” by

the Nuhuatl tribe, who lived in what is now Mexico. Conquerors from Spain replaced the

“l” with an “e”—giving us the modern word “coyote.”

“In the beginning of all things,

wisdom and knowledge were

with the animals, for Tirawa, the

One Above, did not speak

directly to man. He sent certain

animals to tell men that he

showed himself through the

beast, and that from them, and

from the stars and the sun and

moon should man learn…”

--Eagle Chief (Letakos-Lesa) Pawnee

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When necessary, coyotes can move silently, secretly—and very fast. Above all, they are intelligent and adaptable. They have learned to survive from the Alaskan tundra to the Mexican desert. Coyotes have been sighted in Los Angeles and New York City, where they live on rats and garbage. They’ve even been seen drinking out of backyard swimming pools!

The Medicine Wheel

In many Native American traditions, life is seen as a circle. Black Elk, a holy man of the Oglala Lakota Sioux nation, described these beliefs.

“Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round,

and I have heard that the Earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The

wind in its greatest powers whirls. Birds make their nests in circles….The sun

comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both

are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always

come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood

to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.”

(Quoted in Keepers of the Animals, by Caduto and Bruchac, p. 5)

Like many early peoples around the world, Native Americans built circles of stone as symbols of these natural cycles. These stone circles--some thousands of years old--are known as Medicine Wheels. Rocks large or small were arranged in piles and circular patterns, forming special places used for ceremony and prayer. (To see maps of some ancient medicine wheels, follow the links at http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/medicinewheel.htm

Every medicine wheel is a little different. Basically, a medicine wheel is a circle, with something to mark the points of the compass: North, South, East and West. The wheel stands for all of creation: all people and animals; the sun, the moon, and the earth; the seasons of the year; the times of a person’s life. Special plants, colors, or animals might be linked to certain parts of the wheel. Every stone has a meaning, and all these meanings together make up the greater meaning of the wheel.

A Misunderstood Predator

Some ranchers and farmers wage war against coyotes, trapping,

shooting, or poisoning them because they raid chicken houses or attack calves. Although some

coyotes do prey on livestock, most coyotes live on small animals such as mice, rats and rabbits—the very

animals that damage farmers’ crops!

In Native American tradition, “medicine” is much more than the pills

you get from a doctor! Medicine refers to power, sacredness, or healing for the mind, body or spirit.

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About Philip blue owl Hooser

Philip blue owl Hooser is a Native American member of the Choctaw Nation. Besides being an accomplished actor and director (and a favorite performer with Smithsonian audiences), Philip has written many plays for both children and adults, including Little House by the Shores of Silver Lake; DOTTIE: A Story of Dorothy Parker; and The Christmas Carols. His Animalway of Turtle Island premiered at the Smithsonian Associates’ Discovery Theater, and his Coyote Mischief Tales played here previously to sellout audiences. Philip has also written and done voices for the computer-animated children’s series, Farkleberry Farm. A recent project was Loving Lucy, a one-woman play about the life of Lucille Ball.

Activities

More Coyote Mischief!

In Coyote Mischief Tales, Coyote learns lessons about politeness and sharing and about giving gifts from the heart. Read some more Coyote tales from the picture books listed below.

What “Coyote Mischief” does he get up to in each story?

Do his tricks succeed or fail? Why?

What does Coyote learn? What did you learn from what he did? These stories, like the Anansi stories and Aesop’s fables, teach us about making choices. Put yourself in Coyote’s moccasins. What would you have done in each story? Perhaps the real “trick” is this: next time you have to make a hard decision, remember what happened to Coyote—and choose carefully!

Picture Books featuring Coyote

♦ Coyote: A Trickster Tale from the American Southwest by Gerald McDermott

♦ Coyote and the Fire Stick: A Pacific Northwest Indian Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

♦ Coyote Places the Stars by Harriet Peck Taylor

♦ Coyote Steals the Blanket: A Ute Tale by Janet Stevens

Make a poster

of your favorite

Coyote scene--or act

it out with friends!

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Wheels within Wheels

Look around. Do you see any circles? Make a list—see how many round things you can see in the classroom…in your neighborhood…in the supermarket. Next, imagine being outside in your back yard, a park, or a forest. What circles do you see? How about things that move in circles? Make another list. Think about the natural cycles that Black Elk mentioned above. Can you think of any other cycles? Hints: -Seeds being planted, sprouting, being harvested, dying -The tides -People being born, growing, and dying -Evaporation and precipitation

Pick one of these natural cycles and find a way to symbolize it. Can you draw it? Sculpt it??

Dance it??? Use your imagination!!!

Around the Wheel

The text and music for this “Medicine Wheel Chant” is taken from Celebrate the Spring: Spring and May Day Celebrations for Schools and Communities, by John Langstaff with Patrick Swanson, published by Revels, Inc. Available from http://www.isbns.sh/isbn/9780964083653.

FOR OLDER AUDIENCES The four directions—North, South, East, and West—are important parts of the Medicine Wheel. Think about the cycle of the sun: it rises in the ________ and sets in the ________. At home, at sun-up and sundown, observe the position of the sun from the front of your house. Which direction of the Wheel does your house face?

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Online Resources .

www.kidport.com/reflib/socialstudies/nativeamericans/TribesandCulture.htm provides information on the customs and traditions of the American Indian tribes of the United States, as well as official web addresses for Tribal Nations. http://www.hanksville.org/NAresources/ - Index to Native American resources on the internet – archaeology, music, current issues, and much more. National Museum of the American Indian – Visit the newest museum on the National Mall, dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans.

Books to Check Out

. Keepers of the Earth and Keepers of the Animals by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac, 1991. Two great collections of Native American stories from across the continent, with dozens of environmental and wildlife activities for children, tips on storytelling and puppetry, etc., 1991. A fabulous resource for parents or teachers. In a Circle Long Ago: A Treasury of Native Lore from North America by Nancy Van Laan, illustrated by Lisa Desimini, 1995. Beautifully illustrated stories and poems, with background for adults. Coyote: North America’s Dog by Stephen R. Swinburne, 1999. Stunning photographs and lots of facts about this adaptable animal, in the wild and in human areas. . Crafty Canines: Coyotes, Foxes, and Wolves by Phyllis J. Perry, 1999. Natural history for readers aged 9-12.

Meet Tricky Coyote! and That Tricky Coyote! by Gretchen Will Mayo. Traditional tales retold in easy-reader format. Coyote and the Winnowing Birds, by Eugene Sekaquaptewa, et al., 1994. Coyote tales illustrated by Hopi children. Ages 4-8. Back in the Beforetime: Tales of the California Indians, retold by Jane Louise Curry, 1987. Twenty-two tales for ages 9-12, most featuring our favorite trickster, Coyote.

Definitions

Adaptable: Able to change your behavior when the situation around you changes.

Symbol: Something that stands for something else. Ex: there are 50 stars on the American flag and they symbolize the 50 states.

Cycle: A series of events that repeats over and over in the same order

Nocturnal: Active at night rather than during the day.

Predator: An animal that hunts and eats other animals.

Tundra: A treeless arctic or subarctic plain, with subsoil that remains permanently frozen.

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About Discovery Theater

The mission of The Smithsonian Institution: “The increase and diffusion of knowledge.” The Smithsonian Associates advances the Institution’s mission to “increase and diffuse knowledge” through life-enriching educational and cultural experiences inspired by the Smithsonian’s research and collections for DC-region students, families, and adults, and for learning communities nationwide. Discovery Theater has been presenting DC-area children with live educational performances for more than 30 years. As a program of The Smithsonian Associates (TSA), Discovery Theater serves as a child’s gateway to the exhibitions, collections, and cultures contained in the museums on the National Mall and beyond. Each year, almost 50,000 Washington-area children and their adults visit Discovery Theater to explore American history and cultures, folk tales from around the world, and exciting, accessible science and math programs in the company of puppeteers, storytellers, dancers, actors, musicians and mimes. Discovery Theater performances unite ideologies, enact themes that reflect the diversity of its audiences, open avenues of self-reflection, and offer an enjoyable means for parents and teachers to demonstrate life’s lessons.

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