How Coyote Changed His Ways

Coyote has always liked to be alone. Being the First, it only makes sense. In the beginning, when there was only All and All was Coyote, he decided to make things from the All-that-was-only-himself-at-that-time, so Existence would be more interesting. First, he made water to play in. He enjoyed the water at first, but soon became bored of it. So he made ducks, for he liked their chatter and wanted someone to talk to.1

Soon enough, he ate the ducks. So, while he may experiment from time to time, Coyote has always been, at heart, a loner. 2

Out of boredom, he made the plants and animals of the Earth (and other planets besides,) but he was always moving quickly from one creation to the next, never spending very long with any one.3

One day, the First Plants and the First Animals came together and decided to separate the World into Two Worlds, that they might have many children in the Flesh World and live themselves in the Spirit World, watching over them and their antics. This, everyone agreed, would make life much less boring. And they would have lesser beings to guide and nurture, perhaps one day to become greater beings like themselves. 4

Shortly after this first decision, the totems decided to split the One Existence into Many rather than merely Two, that they might have that much more room to create and experiment -- but to keep the layers hidden from each other, to prevent contamination. This was agreed, and the bargain was struck.5

Thus did the First Ones become totems, also known as "gods". Simultaneously, unnoticed by anyone at first, something called "politics" came to be. 6

You see, the First Ones agreed about the importance of creating children, but disagreed how they should be treated and dealt with. Some were reluctant to trust the lesser flesh beings, with their limited vision and cyclical birth-death-rebirth lifestyle. Others wished their children to be elevated to their own level; still others felt, though others' creations may not be worthy, their own peoples were.7

Hence, some of the Great Progenitors were generous, allowing their children knowledge of many things, including other totems from which they could learn. But some were jealous -- the First Human in particular -- and wished to keep their children to themselves, to the point of hiding the existence of any totem but themself! 8

Of course, this only provoked the cleverer First Ones to go behind the jealous totems' back. These sly gods -- very popular with the human-tribes until the First Human found out about it -- revealed previously forbidden secrets to their adopted children in order to teach them better, including how to find and treat with friendly plant-totems which would give them more access to the Spirit World. Also, some of the First Ones (say, the First Human) favored their children more than the rest did theirs, and couldn't stop themselves from giving them hints from time to time. Finally, sometimes the totems are just careless, and allow their children to get glimpses of things they shouldn't see. 9

Thus were religions, drugs, and quantum mechanics discovered.10

(Also thus did the First Human turn his children against the children of the First Snake, in revenge for the First Snake teaching the human-children too much behind the First Human's back.)11

So Coyote helped the other totems divide the One Universe into Many layers. But he stayed only long enough to make flesh-children of his own, then moved on to the next thing. With so many new Layers to populate (and then explore, play in, modify, improve ... ) why stick around? His children, being of his blood and spirit in all ways, followed suit, and scattered across the world in search of good places to live. 12

Wolf, unlike her brother Coyote, has always been a social sort. She even allowed some of her children to befriend the humans, and become dogs (though she has since turned against Dog for allowing men to use dogs to kill wolves.) For this reason, Wolf made many children, who lived in packs all across the Earth. Thus when Coyote's fewer children went to look for homes, they found Wolf's children almost everywhere they went. Only three places had few wolves, and those places were claimed for Coyote's kin. After the Claiming, they scattered, each to live alone in his or her own way.13

The Ethiopian wolves were few, even then, so many went to Africa, and became jackals. The story of how Coyote created a new totem for his pariah children is an interesting one. However, this story is about the coyotes who went to North America, and how some of them eventually became wolves.14

The coyote-children chose North America as their favored stronghold -- everywhere Wolf hadn't already claimed, that is. In some places, the wolves and coyotes lived side by side, but for the most part, Wolf was too territorial and didn't want to recognize Coyote's kin as her kin; for Coyote was often playing pranks on Wolf and her children, and she was angry with him, knowing the "pranks" were intended to teach. He had his own children to guide, Wolf thought, and should leave hers alone. So wolf packs hunted and killed coyotes, even the Red Wolves whose ancestors had mated with coyotes, and drove them from their lands. Eventually, it was agreed that Wolf should have the North and East, and Coyote should have the South and West.15

(Coyote thought he had tricked Wolf, by getting her to agree to accept Canada and the eastern half of what would later be the United States, in exchange for leaving all of South America to Coyote's children. However, his children found that most of the Far South was too full of jealous jaguars and hungry alligators to be very appealing, though Mexico remains one of their favorite homelands.)16

Anyway, the two totems spat into their paws, bit their thumbs, and shook on the deal, mingling their fluids to ensure neither could break the agreement. Coyote is a liar and a bandit when it suits him, but when he does decide to give his true word, he will keep it even if he must flay himself with his own teeth, for honor is important to him -- in his own way, of course.17

So, one day, not so long ago, Coyote was having lunch. Using his power of skin-walking, he had taken on the guise of a human, and was clearing his ninth plate of sushi. This is a really good place, he decided with satisfaction, and had just concluded that he was going to pay for the meal this time when he heard someone calling his name from the Other Side. Normally, he would have ignored it, but he recognized the voice, and was curious.18

"Huh! What could Sister Wolf want? She hasn't spoken to me since I got her paws stuck in that mud flat." Coyote began to giggle at the memory; Wolf's paws flattened and stretched in all directions until they were twice their original size before she got herself free, and now all wolves had large paws. True, they could run across snow and sand much better than they could before -- but no thanks had he gotten from Wolf! 19

Still chuckling a little, Coyote deftly removed a credit card from the pocket of an oil magnate sitting beside him at the bar, then signaled cheerily for the waitress to bring him his bill. After flawlessly forging the magnate's name on the receipt, Coyote excused himself to visit the restroom. 20

Wolf was waiting for Coyote in the Spirit World after he ditched the human-skin and crossed over through the mirror. He grinned amicably into Wolf's scowling visage. 21

"Long time no see, Sister Wolf. What can I do you for?"
"What did you do with that skin in there?"
"Oh, that," Coyote flicked his whiskers. "Once a skin is empty it squashes down real small. I rolled it into toilet paper and put it into the sanitary napkin disposal box in the ladies' room."22

"Anything to get into a women's bathroom, right?" Wolf's expression had darkened like a stormcloud overtaking the sun.23

"You know me; spreading love and cheer to everyone -- especially the ladies." He favored his sister-daughter with an outrageous wink. "Seriously, sis, what's the problem?" Coyote was curious enough to drop the games early. It had been thousands of years, human-time, since Wolf had sought him out face to face. Also, she looked more upset than he had ever before seen her.24

"Human's bastard spawn have all but eradicated my kin, that's what," Wolf snarled, her eyes blazing with full moonlight and cloud-lightning. "Surely you know that. And worse, they know not my kin's tasks, so their work goes undone -- or worse, done incompetently!" 25

The old bitch was truly enraged, moreso than ever before in Coyote's long memory. He listened respectfully, knowing there would be more. Wolf glared at her brother, as if trying to goad him to say something, then continued with obvious reluctance. She bit off each word as if it tasted like vulture feathers.26

"I would modify our bargain, Brother Coyote. The work must be done... and my children cannot do it anymore. But," she added, glaring, "your children will fail, too, if they do not change their ways. I know the humans have killed many of yours, too. Your children must learn from mine. What they did right... and what they did wrong."27

Wolf's furious eyes shone with diamond tears for an instant. Then she sat, and said no more.28

Coyote regarded his sister in silence, then spoke. "I will do this thing for you, Sister. But I will do it in my own way. This is agreed." 29

Immediately, he vanished from the meeting-place, leaving only a slowly dissipating cloud of moon-dust.30

"This is agreed," Wolf snapped into the empty space, for the ritual's sake. Then she turned and stalked into the shadows, to watch over what children she has left. 31

---32

Some human-children noticed the change before others did, but their reports were ignored by their fellows. But finally, the scientists got around to investigating, and found that the reports were correct. 33

First, it was found that coyotes were infiltrating the East, where once they had been known only in the South and West. The new Eastern coyotes were larger and more muscular, with bigger heads and stronger jaws, than their Western kin.34

Later on, Western coyotes were noticed to be larger and stronger than in past years...35

---36

Coyote smiled. He was in human-skin again, using a computer in a public library. The Internet has to be one of Spider's and my best ideas yet, he congratulated himself. She and I should work together more often. Why don't I work with the other totems more, anyway?37

He paused thoughtfully, peering at the display. 38

On the screen were several photographs. All were of coyotes, packs of coyotes, running openly together, or at their den-sites. Powerful old alphas with keen narrow muzzles and owl-wise eyes; lean yearlings with stocky bodies and muscular frames; nursing bitches with healthy young pups in unprecedented numbers. All together as never before. 39

Sure enough, we learned from Wolf. Now let's see if she can learn from us! Coyote, laughing, turned off the machine and left, on to the next project. I wonder what Snake is doing right now ... 40

That is why coyotes now run in packs, where they were once solitary animals, and thus did Coyote change his ways.