My Name is Coyote

One of the great Shamanastic mysteries of North America is how many of the indigenous people have “power name” totem animals. Ask a Cree, Blackfoot or Dene in Alberta what his totem is and it’s either a Bear, Eagle or Wolf. No one I meet ever comes back with Badger, Songbird or Snake. I never hear a Cree look me proudly in the eye and say “I’m a frog and I am proud of his strength” which would not only be nice but would let me know he really knows his Shamanic Lore.

It’s understandable. You never see kids playing superheroes going, “I wanna be the Flaming Carrot” (and if they did, watch your booze) or Reed Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman (and if they did, watch out ladies). No its always Superman, Batman, Spiderman or Wonder Woman. I find it sad, as no totem animal is with out power and knowing your real totem, embracing it and learning their power can only enrich your life.

I knew a very successful Native businessman who had Rabbit as his totem. He had embraced those qualities and was always more aware of his surroundings, never missing a trick, always one “jump” ahead, could hear his name whispered (or so it seemed) from one hundred yards away. He could able to “read” a room better than anyone around and quickly disappear from any situation he wanted.

Trust me, I used to think Rabbit beats in any list of totems from being the one that’s always an asshole. Seriously, who wants to be known as a “trickster”. I don’t recall any comic books or movies called “Loki”. Though ravens and crows have had some nice things written about them in popular culture, most mysticism associated with them is invented and relies little (if at all!) to their role as a West Coast Native trickster god.

So you can imagine I should have been less than thrilled to learn I was “Coyote”. Yup me and old Mestakacan, howling at moons and causing trouble. Yet, ask about my old punk rock days and the coyote totem was pretty accurate. It also explained a lot of my behaviour. So much so, I wished I was Snake or Badger. Hell, even Frog. There is even a tribe in the south western United States that has Rock and it sounded good to me at the time too.

I don’t mind now but to tell you why, perhaps you should learn how this rascal got his name.

(Cue drums, light the fire, smell the smoke)

You see a long time ago, before there were people, all the animals had other names. Then Creator came down and said, "All you animals have gotta get new names. I got these new people coming and they are gonna need those names. So I will make it simple. Tomorrow, soon as the sun comes up everyone show up at my Tee-pee and pick a new name. First come, first served."

Now old Coyote thinks this is a great idea because, like Captain Stern in the animated movie Heavy Metal, he's got an angle. Coyote is going to stay up all night and head out before sunrise. That way he can be the very first in line and pick out any name he wanted. He planned on getting a Great Name like Eagle, Bear or Wolf. A powerful name.

Yep, he was gonna be somebody.

Now Mole, Coyote's wife, was not so fond of this plan. Calling him a rascal would be overly kind. If you ever hear the other stories and as I said earlier, he is kind of an asshole. She knows he is already full of himself and if he gets a Great Name, well, he might just up and leave her or something else really stupid. So when he tells her his plan she is not so happy with it.

"Wife" said Coyote, "I am gonna stay up all night in front of the fire (something you do when you don't have a television and a good cable package) so when it starts to burn down I need you to throw more wood on it so I stay awake."

Well of course when the fire started to burn down and Coyote starts to nod off she lets it go out. By the time Coyote wakes up the sun is way up high in the sky. He looked around and nobody is there, even his wife was gone to get in line at Creator's Tee-pee.

Well as you can imagine, he panics! Some legends say he learned from the panicking as it cost him more time and its why coyotes never seem “spooked”.

Running like his ass is on fire down to Creator's Tee-pee, Coyote sees there isn't even a line-up anymore. Rushing into the Tee-pee he sees Creator and asks "What names are left?" but it is too late. All the names are gone. Even the little names have been taken. The only name left is "Coyote". So Coyote, being the selfish jerk he is, goes into a funk.

Now Creator has a soft spot in his heart for Coyote (and perhaps His head indicating He might not be perfect) so He went over to Coyote, sat down next to him, put his arm around Coyote’s shoulder and got this idea to help his friend.

"Coyote," said Creator, "when these new people come around they are gonna need some help from time to time and I think you’re the guy for the job. That said my friend; I am going to have to give you some special powers to assist you.

"First I will let you be able to change your shape so they won't always know who you are.

"Second I will let you be able to speak the languages of everything else except the rocks and trees. You can go anywhere and sit down to hear all the stories." I know, great deal right?

"Finally," said Creator, "if you should ever die, I will bring you back to life."

Wow! Forget "great deal", that's frickin' awesome! Coyote thinks so too and he jumped up to leave and said "Thanks my friend, I am gonna be the Big Chief, the Number One Guy of these new people!" As he ran off leaving Creator, what must have been a little stunned (As I mentioned earlier, even He is not perfect), and as it sets in His mind, the real "Big Chief” realizes what He has done.

"Hold on Coyote! Wait!", Creator called after him, "That's not what I meant!" but it was too late. That son of a bitch (now literally) was out of ear shot and now...

Well, that, according to the Old People, was when all the trouble began.

?Trouble with out knowing the power coyote had to influence me, I would go on to imitate. Ask an old punk rocker and some of the stories about me are almost legendary. Good thing I got more than Coyote’s attitude back then.

There was an old saying among Edmonton Punks back then, “No one takes a beating like Dave Dutton-Fraser.” which was probably a good thing because there was a corollary to that. “No one deserves a beating like Dave Dutton-Fraser.” It always seemed no matter what came at me, man made or natural disaster, I survived, usually with little apparent injury. It was like I was being brought back to life just like Creator promised Coyote.

I could talk to anyone, almost anywhere, and some how get the help or information I needed. At my family's dinner table I would hold my own with famous authors, television personalities and politicians. Five minutes later I would be conversing with dangerous and “uneducated” criminals. Again, like Coyote, it was an ability to speak their language.

Still it was more than that, it was like my appearance changed with more than just a suit jacket over a T-shirt. Like Coyote, I felt I was changing shape, morphing into another being. It wasn't the clothes or quality of dress, it was how I "held" myself.

Sure, Coyote is the worst of them all, I would imagine, to go to for advice and information. Once I learned he was my totem and began to call on him, fasting first then dancing myself to sleep, I became aware that some information would be withheld or passed by. Sometimes crucial background information would be omitted or neglected in its importance. Coyote would have his own agendas over mine. I learned to adapt and unlike other people who call on their totem animals, I can never completely trust mine.

Still I hope this encourages those in shamanistic pursuits to actually find their “real” totems. To learn the inherent strengths and weaknesses of their animals and use that to enrich their lives beyond esoteric and occult pursuits. After all, I once saw a guy who “knew” he was Frog kick the shit out of a guy who “claimed” he was Bear.

To quote Socrates, “Know thyself”.