After tricking some prairie dogs into becoming his dinner, Iktomi is himself outwitted by Coyote. Asides and questions printed in italics may be addressed by the storyteller to listeners, encouraging them to make their own remarks about the action.
How will Coyote get fire from the terrible and greedy Skookums? Will Iktomi trick Muskrat, or will Muskrat trick Iktomi? What will lazy Raven do to hardworking Crow so that he stays fed though the winter? Read this book to find out.
The Sioux people's oral traditions passed along customs and respect for the animals and outdoors. In this trickster myth, the custom of generosity is taught through the story of Coyote, Iktomi, and the rock. The Sioux nature myth is retold in this brilliantly illustrated Native American Myth. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Short Tales is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO.
"[...]hurry off! Stop! halt!" urged one of the singers. "Stop! stay! Show us what is in your blanket!" cried out other voices. "My friends, I must not spoil your dance. Oh, you would not care to see if you only knew what is in my blanket. Sing on! dance on! I must not show you what I carry on my back," answered Iktomi, nudging his own sides with his elbows. This reply broke up the ring entirely. Now all the ducks crowded about Iktomi. "We must see what you carry! We must know what is in your blanket!" they shouted in both his ears. Some even brushed their wings against the mysterious bundle. Nudging himself again, wily Iktomi said, "My friends, 't is only a pack of songs I carry in my blanket." "Oh, then let us hear your songs!" cried the curious ducks. At length Iktomi consented to sing his songs. With delight all the ducks flapped their wings and cried together, "Hoye! hoye!" Iktomi, with great care, laid down his bundle on the ground. "I will build first a round straw house, for I never sing my songs in the open air," said he. Quickly he bent green willow sticks, planting both ends of each pole into[...]".
Of all the characters in myths and legends told around the world, it's the wily trickster who provides the real spark in the action, causing trouble wherever he goes. This figure shows up time and again in Native American folklore, where he takes many forms, from the irascible Coyote of the Southwest, to Iktomi, the amorphous spider man of the Lakota tribe. This dazzling collection of American Indian trickster tales, compiled by an eminent anthropologist and a master storyteller, serves as the perfect companion to their previous masterwork, American Indian Myths and Legends. American Indian Trickster Tales includes more than one hundred stories from sixty tribes--many recorded from living storytellers—which are illustrated with lively and evocative drawings. These entertaining tales can be read aloud and enjoyed by readers of any age, and will entrance folklorists, anthropologists, lovers of Native American literature, and fans of both Joseph Campbell and the Brothers Grimm.
In this renowned collection of fourteen Native stories, the noted Yankton Sioux writer Zitkala-Sa (1876-1938) shares tales learned during her childhood in the late nineteenth century. Told for generations, these stories are part of both the heritage and the legacy of the Yankton Sioux, reflecting an active, continually revitalized storytelling tradition. Power, wonder, and a distinctive understanding of the world infuse these tales. Featured here are the classic adventures of the trickster spider Iktomi, as well as the exploits of formidable animal beings and such legendary characters as Iya the glutton, the giant Anuk-ite, and the hero Blood Clot boy. P. Jane Hafen provides a new introduction for this edition. Zitkala-Sa's other books include American Indian Stories and Dreams and Thunder: Stories, Poems, and "The Sun Dance Opera," both published by the University of Nebraska Press. P. Jane Hafen is an associate professor of English at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. She is the editor of Dreams and Thunder and coeditor of A Great Plains Reader (Nebraska 2003). Agnes Picotte is a teacher at the Red Cloud Indian School and has contributed to many volumes, including Ella Deloria's Waterlily, available in a Bison Books edition.
Iktomi, a Plains Indian trickster, attempts to defeat a boulder with the assistance of some bats, in this story which explains why the Great Plains are covered with small stones.