Table of Contents
Three Songs of Mad Coyote
Overview
For “Three Songs of Mad Coyote”, this work involves three instances that involve the titular coyote, with the first describing accessories the creature wears, the second telling what the animal does, and the third from a different perspective, another possible character who has encountered the haunting and terrifying monster.
Commentary
With the narrator singing, “eastern daybreak finds me the meaning of that song: with blood-stained mouth comes mad Coyote,” these last simple lines make the three songs completely change for me, especially in terms of the perspective of narration (36). I found this quite chilling because prior to the third song, it seemed that the singer wasn't a part of the “Coyote's” world, only describing the “Coyote” and not including the word “me” at all. However, with the third song, there is a possible reveal that hints that the singer of these three songs is in fact another possible character in the songs and not only that, but a form of prey to the “Coyote.” So, although these songs are separate songs, it completely changed the perception that I had of them, as the description of the “Coyote” and its actions in songs one and two could have been found because of the encounter the narrator has with the “Coyote” in song three.
Context
This translation is by Herbert Spinden of Nez Percé work from “Essay on American Indian Poetry” in Songs of the Tewa: New York: Exposition of the Tribal Arts, which was released in the 1930s.
The Nez Percé are a North American Indian people and resided in what is now northeastern Oregon, southwestern Washington, and central Idaho, U.S.
In the 1930s, with Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, there was reform for it that wished to improve the Indian American programs in the country, and this spawned the Indian New Deal. So, with this heavy consideration of American Indians during the 1930s by Americans and particularly John Collier, U.S. commissioner of Indian affairs at the time, this collection of songs Nez Percé people released could be a possible reaction to the release of this Indian New Deal. With the embrace and consideration of American Indians, as well as the U.S. realizing the importance of existing tribes and the ways they live, more facets of their culture such as hunting, wildlife, as well as oral poems like “Three Songs of Mad Coyote” could've been more encouraged and made more prominent. Coming off of the Great Depression, which may have involved more hunting of wildlife, there was hope and a foundation that was built not just for Americans, but Indian Americans and their cultures, too.
Bibliography
“American Indians 1933–1941 | Encyclopedia.Com.” Encyclopedia, www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-and-education-magazines/american-indians-1933-1941. Accessed 15 June 2021.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Nez Perce | History, Facts, Traditions, & Chief Joseph.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/Nez-Perce-people. Accessed 26 June 2021.
“Native Americans, Impact of the Great Depression on | Encyclopedia.Com.” Encyclopedia, www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/native-americans-impact-great-depression. Accessed 15 June 2021.
Spinden, Herbert, and Nez Percé. “Three Songs of Mad Coyote.” Alcheringa 1-2: Ethnopoetics, edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Dennis Tedlock, Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines, 1971, pp. 36.
