Native American Trickster Tales "Coyote, Skunk and

¶ … Native American trickster tales "Coyote, Skunk and the Prairie Dogs," and "Owlwoman and Coyote" and "Walden," by Henry David Thoreau. Specifically it will look at the depiction of the interactions of humans and nature, their similarities and differences, and what relevance the depictions have for Americans today. HOW HUMANS INTERACT WITH NATURE Walden" is often called Thoreau's ode to his beliefs - he wrote in while he spent over two years in a cabin on Walden Pond, about a mile away from Concord, Massachusetts.

He did see friends and go into town occasionally during his solitary life, but for the most part, he lived apart, wrote, and philosophized. His time there was serene, and he said, "Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me. Where I lived was as far off as many a region viewed nightly by astronomers.

We are won't to imagine rare and delectable places in some remote and more celestial corner of the system, behind the constellation of Cassiopeia's Chair, far from noise and disturbance. I discovered that my house actually had its site in such a withdrawn, but forever new and unprofaned, part of the universe" (Thoreau 79). He spent his time listening to the natural sounds, gazing on their wonders, and thinking about the lifestyle that allowed him such peace and pleasure, literally living as one with nature.

Coyote, Skunk and the Prairie Dogs" is a Native American trickster tale, handed down through many generations. The Native Americans have always had a strong bond with nature - they lived their lives in close harmony with it, and most of their legends and tales deal with the interaction of nature and man, or natural creatures with human characteristics, such as this tale. Coyote is often cunning and shrewd, but in this tale, Skunk outwits him, and Coyote becomes the fool.

The entire story takes place in nature, with no interaction by man. The Native Americans knew enough not to interfere with nature, they lived most harmoniously with it, and allowed the natural world to shape their own. In this, the Native Americans were far different from even Thoreau. He enjoyed and appreciated the natural beauty surrounding him, but he did not live "in" it, he was outside, looking in. He still walked the mile to town to visit friends and get a hot meal occasionally.

The Native Americans lived on the land, and with the land. They were a part of their natural surroundings, and did not need to leave to live. This is equally apparent in "Owlwoman and Coyote." Americans today could learn some valuable lessons from the Native Americans, and even Thoreau. As a society, most of us.