A Coyote Columbus Story

by Thomas King, William Kent Monkman (Illustrator)

Coyote, the trickster, creates the world and all the creatures within it. She is able to control all events to her advantage until a funny-looking red-haired man named Columbus changes her plans. He is unimpressed by the wealth of moose, turtles, and beavers in Coyote's land. Instead, he is interested in the human beings he can take to sell in Spain.

Native American author Thomas King reinterprets the entire Columbus conquest mythology as a trickster tale, making the point that history is influenced by the culture of the reporter.

Genres: Native American, Historical Fiction, Picture Books, Indigenous, Fiction, Canada, Childrens

Hardcover

First published September 9, 2002

About the author

Thomas King was born in 1943 in Sacramento, California and is of Greek and German descent. He obtained his PhD from the University of Utah in 1986. He is known for works in which he addresses the marginalization of American Indians, delineates "pan-Indian" concerns and histories, and attempts to abolish common stereotypes about Native Americans. He taught Native American Studies at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, and at the University of Minnesota. He is currently a Professor of English at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. King has become one of the foremost writers of fiction about Canada's Native people.

Reviews

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of undescribable, but it definitely has that Thomas King feel to it, with the storytelling style and sense of humour.
It's very, very funny, in an irreverent sort of way. But it's about the horror of colonization.
It's very silly and anachronistic and strange, both in the illustrations and text. But it's about real historical events.
In a very subtle way, this book points to how important who is telling the story is. And it's a powerful Native reclaiming of the stories of first contact between Indigenous people and Europeans.

The illustrations are wonderful, bright and funny, full of little details that support and add to the words.

Highly recommended, for pretty much every age group. It's a picture book, but doesn't feel like it necessarily only has children in mind as the audience. It somehow manages to introduce complex, difficult, and dark topics like slavery and colonization in an accessible but still emotionally resonant way.

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Thomas King's A Coyote Columbus Story, it is the both positive and negative, the both clever and sometimes massively naive, but also always a bit self-centred trickster figure Coyote who is shown by King to have created the world. And she (and yes, not he) makes both the good (like rainbows, flowers and clouds) and also the not so good (like prune juice, TV commercials, and of course Christopher Columbus himself, and oh my goodness, do I ever find it laugh out loud hilarious and also the total truth to have Thomas King in A Coyote Columbus Story compare that enslaver, that vile parasite Christoper Columbus to a disgusting tasting laxative liquid like prune juice).

But sadly, when in A Coyote Columbus Story, Coyote, distracted by baseball and materialism, is depicted by Thomas King as allowing Christoper Columbus and his crew to not only invade the Americas but to also capture and enslave many members of the native populations and to send them in chains to Spain, well, there is no fixing this, and horribly but very much realistically, A Coyote Columbus Story thus ends with the next explorer, with Jacques Cartier and his company already appearing on the horizon (an ending for A Coyote Columbus Story that many readers might find annoying, as they are probably wanting a finale of reckoning, of Columbus being made to look foolish and to be sent home to Spain as a failure, and thus an alternative to the Spaniards and their followers taking over and subjugating Native North and South America, but come on, such a conclusion for A Coyote Columbus Story would be also be a total denial of the truth and as such in my opinion utterly unacceptable, and also a fantasy that would be trivialising the reality of the matter, that Christopher Columbus and those explorers coming after him absolutely wreaked massive havoc, and that the consequences of this and their both cultural and physical genocide are still today being felt and terrifyingly so).

Now with regard to William Kent Monkman’s accompanying illustrations for A Coyote Columbus Tale, while I on an aesthetic level find his often rather psychedelic and garish woodcut like pictures not all that visually appealing, well and indeed, Monkman's visuals do bring Thomas King's words gloriously and wonderfully to life and do a great job of reflection (and I do very much both appreciate and enjoy that William Kent Monkman's pictures of the Native population tend to have pretty normal colors and shades, whereas the Europeans are a gaudy cacophony of violent pinks, greens, oranges, and purples, and that Christopher Columbus is a ridiculous clown with a red nose and bright orange hair, and that Columbus' men, well, they resemble an odd assortment of gangster like monsters, all totally fantastical of course, but also visually showing the awful awful truth, and a combination of text and images for A Coyote Columbus Story that even though it for me is uncomfortable, also rates as a solid and shining five stars).

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penticton is a city in British Columbia, Canada, so, yeah, they wanted to get very far away from Columbus and Cartier. I agree that the ending does not satisfy. But guess what? It's an accurate reflection of the *non*-ending that Native/Indian people face even today. The anachronisms aren't... they're a symbol of the ongoing problems. Coyote has *not* yet learned her lesson, much less fixed anything. And that's the point.

This is not for tots. It's longer, and requires some base level of understanding of the invasion of North America by the Europeans. But it's terrific in so many ways, I do recommend it.

Avl. on openlibrary.org to read for free. But check your library first, and get it into circulation to say 'thank you' to them for buying it.

[Ch_jank-caporale · Rating 1 out of 5]

"A Coyote Columbus Story" was recommended on a N.A. booklist. In this version of first contact, Coyote is both the creator and the fool. Coyote's unwillingness to live by his own rules eventually causes the creatures and the humans to stop playing with him. It's hard to play baseball (Coyote's favorite game) alone, so when some funny looking people with red hair and silly clothes arrive looking for a place called India, Coyote tells them to "forget India" and invites them to stay and play ball. The problem is, they're only interested in gold, chocolate cake, video games, and music videos. Plus, they have really bad manners. Instead of playing ball with Coyote, the silly people keep looking for stuff to sell. Their eyes land on the beautiful pond where Coyote's friends live. The newcomers see only a "four dollar beaver, a fifteen dollar moose, and a two dollar turtle" until they realize the potential profit in "Indians." With a boatload of Coyote's neighbors they sail away, but then a new group of silly strangers comes, and then another, and another, and... you know the rest.
The illustrations are vibrant, almost garrish. The "Indians" and Coyote wear modern clothing- jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes... but the silly strangers are dressed like clowns and Elvis impersonators- very humorous, but disturbing.
I didn't care for this modern parable. Obviously Coyote was foolish and selfish and the oddly dressed strangers were greedy and demanding, but the outcome is not humorous and, sadly, Coyote never learns his lesson. So, what's the point?

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for concept, three for execution. Okay. The idea of this is brilliant. A picture book of the Columbus myth, but from a native perspective. The execution is...iffy. The anachronisms are a bit confusing, especially for the target demographic. And the writing style has some fun elements, along with the illustrations, but I just don’t know if it worked for me. There needs to be more options like this, though.

[Jillianne Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obsessed with this! I need everyone to read it so I can talk about it! Did coyote cause Columbus’s arrival by ‘dancing and singing and thinking real hard’?? Would the anachronisms be super confusing for kids? Is there a lesson other than Columbus is the villain? Should coyote learn something at the end? Brilliant brilliant brilliant book!!

[Sandra Miksa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great vibrant read pointing out the reality of the Columbus explorations on native land - there’s even reference to Jacques Cartier; the next settler. Hysterical, satirical, and masterfully ambiguous is how I’d describe this work. All I can say that’s it’s important; an important reminder to Canadian history and history in general about colonialism and land appropriation that’s often disregarded/forgotten in our modern world.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the illustrations of Columbus, Cartier and their men were humorous and gave me much delight I felt that there was nothing resolved by the end of the book. To be fair, this is a more real life conclusion. Colonialism is still a large issue in Canada today so maybe the intent was for it to feel senseless and empty in the end? Regardless, as far as the writing goes, I can’t say I particularly cared for it. The mentions of modern things such as video games and shopping malls also just seemed odd and out of place to me.

I appreciate the intent behind the telling of this story but it just wasn’t for me.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great addition to an elementary school library. This irreverently funny story definitely has Thomas King written all over it. The story is just subtle and tangential enough to engage both First Nations and non First Nations children. Just weird enough to keep them reading. I'm not crazy about the art work, but that's it works well enough.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas King gives us the Columbus story from the Indigenous perspective. It's both hilarious and horrific.

[Freya Abbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas King has a really humorous and entertaining writing style. Even when he writes about colonialism and other serious topics, he still manages to infuse his writing with humor.

[BiblioBickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It was Coyote who fixed up this world, you know. She is the one who did it. She made rainbows and flowers and clouds and rivers. And she made prune juice and afternoon naps and toe-nail polish and television commercials. Some of these things were pretty good, and some of these things were foolish. But what she loved to do best was to play ball."

Time collapses, animals wear clothing and watch TV, and people (and beavers) drive Jeeps and wear jeans. Columbus's ships look more like armored Civil War ships, his people wear coats and ties or Shakespearean-looking garb (one looks like an Elvis impersonator in ill-fitting high heels), and they bring suitcases, golf clubs, and machine guns. None of Columbus' people want to play ball with Coyote; they want to find things to sell. But, a "four-dollar beaver...a fifteen-dollar moose...a two-dollar turtle...aren't worth poop...we can't sell those things in Spain. Look harder." They decide they are indeed in India, and they decide the humans they see are Indians, and they "bet we can sell these Indians." Coyote laughs at this idea; "who would buy human beings?" Joke's on her, though, because while she's laughing, Columbus "grabs a big bunch of men and women and children and locks them up in his ships." The rest of the humans pretend to be beavers, moose, and turtles to evade capture, and when Columbus and his crew leave, everyone gets mad at Coyote: "You're supposed to fix up this world...you better watch out or this world is going to get bent." Coyote insists she's got it all under control, and begins to "sing her song, dance her dance, and think really hard," but "another bunch of funny-looking people" show up. This time, they're led by Jacques Cartier, also looking for India. The humans and animals all "catch the first train to Penticon," and Coyote is left trying to get the new arrivals to play ball with her. [Penticon is the name of a small town between two lakes not too far east of Vancouver in British Columbia.]

Trickster tale, history from a different point of view. Is historically accurate more true than this mash-up? I would posit not. This does not appear to be a story written for the white gaze; non-Indigenous readers may find it helpful to keep this in mind when trying to make sense of it.

This would make a great text to analyze in ELA classes for middle or high school.

[Sawyer K · Rating 3 out of 5]

We were able to have a good discussion about a white man “discovering” a continent that was already populated, and Eurocentric history stories (as much as is possible with my 5 and 7 year olds). But it was a little too abstract for them.

Also, I think I’m missing out on some inside part of the story about why Coyote’s nose kept falling off.

[Aura Keaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fairytale retelling of how Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas while looking for India is told from a First Nations perspective through the character of a female coyote god; she is a trickster who loves to play baseball.

As an adult, I found this story confusing and strange. I can't imagine how an adolescent reader will make sense of it. *Left scratching my head.*

[Viviana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art of the Coyote, lady turtle & Columbus n crew, etc, may give u nightmares, but nothing to the like of what was done to the Native Americans, so..I'm guessing that's the reasoning for why it was published.

[Viv · Rating 3 out of 5]

good message, written in a freaking confusing way for no reason, forgot how to pronounce coyote halfway through

idk why coyote was happy about christopher selling the indians and becoming rich, i think something got lost in translation for her

[Samantha (librarysniffer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this story for a cultural tourism class and it really made me think which I loved.

[Lynda Toews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may be illustrated, but it is not just a children's picture book. The book has a great sense of humour and history.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended as a Columbus story from the Native point of view!

[Kiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a children's lit class.

[sahra reads]

yes. yes i will add every book i have to read for class to my goodreads challenge. even if it is 20 pages. and no one can stop me :D.

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the illustrations were very colorful, I did not enjoy this story. I think it would be hard for students to follow. It was very busy.

[Sarah Sloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children's book that poses a question to all ages, regarding the narrative of "found" Native land.

[raedah · Rating 3 out of 5]

english class read! look at me actually doing my readings for once, it may only be so i can log them in goodreads but at least im doing them

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story. I loved how the Europeans were all sorts of bizzare colours, almost like clowns.

[Sharon Dorival · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some good things to think about in there about being fair.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[breanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

for class

[Diana Craciun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! ❤

[MeToo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the short story. It was enjoyable and it made me laugh. Though it was a little tricky to read.