Zuni Indian Mythology Essay, Research Paper

Hundreds of years ago the Zuni people created and told stories of human

and world creations, tales of love and lust, and just about anything

"that gave people an explanation for something they could not

understand" (Gaarder 25). They made up all these legends or myths

before there was anything called science. The stories came from the

heart and soul of these native people. Legends are not just silly

stories that were told for amusement they are like magic lenses, they

allow us to have a glimpse of social orders and the daily life of how

the Indians interpreted things long ago. One legend of the Zuni tribe

tells the tale of the sun and the moon and how these two heavenly bodies

came into being. The legend is called "Coyote Steals the Sun and Moon."

The story begins when an out of luck Coyote can never seem to kill

anything. He watches Eagle catch rabbit after rabbit with all the

ease. He decides to go to Eagle with a proposition. Coyote told Eagle

that they should hunt together, Eagle accepts, so they begin to hunt in

partnership. Still all Coyote catches is just a couple of grubs, while

Eagle is far ahead with many rabbits. At the time the world was still

dark, the sun and moon had not been placed into the sky yet. So coyote

blamed his hunting problems on the fact that he could not see and eagle

if he knew where they could find light. Eagle was not really sure, but

he figured it was somewhere on the west. So they set out to find it.

They soon came to the Kachinas’ village, where the villagers were busily

going all out in their sacred dances. The Kachinas invited Coyote and

Eagle to rest and have a bite to eat while they continued to dance.

Eagle observed the people and could sense all the power they bestowed

within. He began to wonder if they were the ones who had control of the

light. Coyote pointed to two boxes, a large one and a small one. They

noticed that when the people wanted light they opened the lids of the

boxes. In the smaller box was the moon, it contained little light. In

the larger one was the sun and it gave off a lot of light. Coyote told

Eagle that they should go and steal the big box. So when all the

Kachinas went home to sleep, Eagle put both the sun and the moon into

one box and flew off. After a while Coyote wanted to carry the box

thinking that Eagle might be hiding something from him. He pestered and

pestered Eagle till he could not take it anymore and Eagle let him hold

the box. Coyote promised not to open the box, but after a while, he

wanted to know what the light looked like. So he took a peek. All at

once the sun and the moon came escaping out of the box. The moon caused

all the plants to shrivel up and turn brown. Then all the leaves fell

off the trees and it became winter. As he was trying to catch the moon,

the sun drifted away and all the fruits shriveled up in the cold. Eagle

turned to see what was keeping Coyote. When he saw what Coyote had done

he scolded him and blamed him for the reason coldness came to the

world. "If it were not for Coyote’s curiosity and mischief making, we

would not have winter; we could enjoy summer all the time" (Erdoes and

Ortiz 142).

In this Native American legend the sun and the moon represent the day

and night. Thus, they are metaphorically associated with summer and

winter. When Coyote releases the moon he brings death and desolation

to the world. "The sun, the father of light who begets all living

things upon mother earth, the illuminator of the primordial darkness, is

life giver as well as destroyer" (Erdoes and Ortiz 127). By doing this

he completely disrupts the seasonal cycle by interfering with the

heavenly process. At the time, to the Zuni, the Kachinas were

demi-gods. "They regularly visited the pueblos and established

elaborate rituals that included festive dances for the people"(Erdoes

and Ortiz 143). Yet, though the Eagle trusted the Coyote and showed the

Coyote he did by allowing him to carry the boxes, even though he knew

how sneaky he was. But to the Coyote that was not enough, he wanted

more. In a way, he had to have the "last word."