Coyote Speaks Quotes

“Of course, not all journeys are undertaken for sacred purposes. Some people may undertake journeys for the simplest reason of all: curiosity. They wish to see what there is to see just beyond the next hill, or over the far river, or at the end of the long trail leading towards dawn....”
― Ari Berk, Coyote Speaks: Wonders of the Native American World

“Can these signs and symbols still speak? Images, memories, stories, and objects all carry the past into the present. As we think about these messages from the past, we might wonder, too, about what kind of signs we are leaving for the future. How will our children's children know of us? What markers of our passing do we leave upon the land? Some of these signs, because of the material they're made from, or the care taken in making them, may last longer than others and have different stories to tell.”
― Ari Berk & Carolyn Dunn, Coyote Speaks: Wonders of the Native American World

“Or perhaps it has another form that only you can see and imagine. What story does the simple stone tell? Where did it come from? Isn't it like stones you yourself have picked up on your travels? Why do we keep such things? Reminders of all that has gone before, perhaps they keep us.”
― Ari Berk & Carolyn Dunn, Coyote Speaks: Wonders of the Native American World

“When a person sets out upon a journey - whether to hunt for food or knowledge, to make war, or even to visit the Otherworld - they are never the same when they return. Traveling changes us. Journeys shapes our memories and expand our experiences. Those things we bring back from the hunt - either food or knowledge - sustain us and keep us curious about the world.

Think of your own travels and adventures out upon the land or in foreign countries: What wonderful stories do you have to tell? What experiences have you "hunted" or sought on your travels? What have you learned from the land? The stories told about journeys are as important (perhaps more important) than the destination. The journey lasts for only a fixed time, but the stories told of it, the wisdom brought back, can keep traveling forever, keep living, even after the tellers have traveled on.”
― Ari Berk & Carolyn Dunn, Coyote Speaks: Wonders of the Native American World

“Everything has an origin in it, and animals are no exception.”
― Ari Berk & Carolyn Dunn, Coyote Speaks: Wonders of the Native American World

“Such stories ask us to remember that there are little things in the world around us that we
hardly notice but which contain great beauty and strength; that we might learn by taking a closer at places we already thought we knew; that we overlook important knowledge by not asking enough questions of the land around us; that some places in the wilderness are not for us to visit; that there are always small, secret wonders hiding in nature, just out of view.”
― Ari Berk & Carolyn Dunn, Coyote Speaks: Wonders of the Native American World