Tricksters: Iktomi and Coyote

I'll finish up this week's posts with two more Paul Goble books — and for people with concerns about Goble, understandably, please be sure to see the resources and references in yesterday's post; questions about cultural (mis)appropriation are going to be an ongoing theme in this trickster series, just as it has been in the African and Diaspora projects that preceded it. 

So, here are today's final two Iktomi books: Iktomi and the Coyote, and Iktomi Loses His Eyes.

In the story about Iktomi losing his eyes, it's a case of "fatal imitation" where Iktomi thinks he can do anything that anyone else can, including a mysterious man who is able to make his eyes leave his eye and then return. So, not only does Iktomi lose his eyes in a tree, Squirrel finds them and takes them! Iktomi tries various solutions to his problem, but none of them work, and the story then ends without an ending, with Goble inviting the reader to imagine what might happen when Iktomi goes back to Squirrel for help:

In the story about Iktomi and Coyote, Goble tells us about when he first heard the story back in the 1950s, when he first traveled to South Dakota (he eventually moved to South Dakota in the 1970s); click on the image for a larger view:

As you might guess from the title, this is a story about the trickster tricked: it starts with Iktomi tricking the foolish prairie dogs, and then Coyote fooling Iktomi. You can probably guess who gets to eat all the prairie dogs in the end!

For the details of all the trickery, just jump in and read the book; all seven of Goble's Iktomi books are just a click away at the Archive! And here are the links to today's two books:

Iktomi and the Coyote:
A Plains Indian Story
by Paul Goble

Iktomi Loses His Eyes:

A Plains Indian Story
by Paul Goble

Tricksters: Iktomi and the Buzzard

As you've seen, the theme for this week is Paul Goble's Iktomi books, and here's another one to add to the collection so far this week: Iktomi and the Buzzard.

Today's story even has a bit of music (click on the image for a larger view):

You can see there how Goble weaves his commentary on Iktomi right into the story, using a different font style and color; I really like how he does that.

This time, Iktomi is trying to take advantage of Buzzard's kindness, but Buzzard eventually realizes that Iktomi is not a good friend. Long story short, Iktomi ends up inside a tree, and I love this illustration done from Iktomi's point of view, showing the woodpeckers on the outside of the tree looking in:

Goble includes his sources as usual, along with advice for the readers, plus the usual jesting where he uses Iktomi to make fun of his own position as a white writer retelling these stories. There's no easy answer to the question of appropriation, and there are plenty of people who reject strongly the authors like Goble who profit commercially from their books of Native American stories. I understand those objections, and if I were a buyer for a library, I would prefer books by Native authors every time. But if you are browsing for books at the Internet Archive, you can do worse than Goble's books, and his joking acknowledgment of his racial position is, in my opinion, better than pretending the problem doesn't exist at all. He does something like this in each of the books, where Iktomi complains about the author:

To read more about the objections to Goble in particular, and to white writers in general, see this very useful website and the post about Goble (with people agreeing and disagreeing in the comments): American Indians in Children's Literature by Deb Reese, a tireless advocate for Native authors, citing important work by Native scholars Elizabeth Cook-Lynn and Doris Seale. Doris Seale is one of the editors of A Broke Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children, which is, thankfully, available at the Internet Archive, as it is rather expensive to purchase, even used.

Meanwhile, on the spectrum of books by white writers, just speaking for myself, I would say that Goble's books are better than most which is why I am blogging about his books here. His attentiveness to Native art traditions (like the Ledger art style he uses to depict Iktomi), his citation of his sources, his sense of humor, his awareness of living Native culture: those factors make him a good choice, if you are choosing among books by white writers. But that's something everyone has to ponder on their own based on their own priorities, and the choice is certainly more acute if you are actually buying books as opposed to borrowing them from the library. If you are spending money to buy books, I would urge you to buy first from Native writers, and the AICL website is a great place to look for those books.

Meanwhile, here is a link to today's story about Iktomi, which is just a click away at the Internet Archive:

Iktomi and the Buzzard:

A Plains Indian Story

by Paul Goble

Tricksters: Iktomi and the Berries

It was Goble's Iktomi and the Boulder yesterday, and here's another one of Goble's Iktomi books for today: Iktomi and the Berries. 

The cover already tells you a lot: there's poor Ikto, going down under the water, tied to what is clearly a heavy rock. How on earth did he get himself into this dangerous situation...? And how is he going to get out of it...? As the story begins, Iktomi is going to go hunting, and he's brought a coyote disguise with him:

Suffice to say that things do not go well with the hunting, and Iktomi ends up on a quest for berries, which ends up with him underwater. Can you think of a way that a quest for berries would take him under the water? The folktale motif here is one that is frequently associated with greedy characters, with fools, and with tricksters, both human and animal.

As usual, Goble has drawn on a variety of sources to craft this version of the story (click on the image for a larger view):

Also as usual there is a note for the reader, including someone who is reading the picture book together with others:

I'll be back with more Iktomi tomorrow, but for now: jump in and enjoy!

Iktomi and the Berries:

A Plains Indian Story

Tricksters: Iktomi and the Boulder

Carrying on with Goble's beautiful Iktomi books (see yesterday and the day before), here is another installment in the series: Iktomi and the Boulder.

This is one of my all-time favorite Native American folktales, and I really like this version of it! I'm most familiar with this story being told about Coyote, and in that version, Coyote steals the blanket from the boulder. I like this Iktomi verison even better, where Iktomi pretends to be generous and give the blanket to the boulder, when really Iktomi is just tired of carrying the blanket. The boulder, however, accepts it as a real gift, and is not happy when Iktomi tries to take it back... understandably! Another difference from the versions I know is that instead of asking other animals to smash the boulder as it rolls, Iktomi gets trapped under the boulder and asks the other animals to roll it off him:

I won't tell you who finally rescues Iktomi from under the rock but it is pretty funny, and it definitely shows Iktomi using his wits to get out of a bad situation... even when he only has himself to blame for getting into trouble to begin with!

As usual, Goble does a great job of sharing the sources he used in crafting the story:

I am also so appreciative of the way that Goble always invites us readers to join in, contributing to the story experience as we read:

So, I'm really glad I decided to spend this week doing a post each day about Goble's Iktomi books; I'm enjoying them so much, and I hope you are too! :-)

Iktomi and the Boulder:
A Plains Indian Story

Tricksters: Iktomi and the Ducks

Since I had so much with Paul Goble's Iktomi book yesterday, I thought I would just go ahead and devote this week to the whole series! So, next up is Iktomi and the Ducks, which is actually based on one of my favorite Native American folktales:

You will see that Iktomi is depicted as he was in the previous book, the trickster in his human form. In this story, Iktomi sees some ducks, and he decides that he would very much like to eat some roasted duck. So, he tells the ducks that inside his wrapped-up blanket are songs, and the foolish ducks beg him to share the songs with them. Iktomi pretends to be reluctant, but finally he agrees... provided that the ducks will dance with their eyes closed. The ducks agree (eeek! how could they agree? you should never close your eyes around a trickster...!), and then Iktomi clubs them to death while they dance. 

Do you notice the little coyote there in the upper right corner of the illustration? The next part of the story involves Iktomi getting himself into trouble (as usual), and while Iktomi is stuck in a tree, Coyote eats all the ducks, leaving only one for Iktomi... and Iktomi is in for a terrible surprise when he eats that last duck!

It's a grim story as far as the ducks are concerned, and I appreciate the fact that Goble does not shy away from that, and simply prompts his audience to think about just how cruel and greedy Iktomi is. So when Coyote tricks Iktomi in turn, there's a kind of justice there... although the Coyote himself is a trickster who leaves a trail of destruction in his wake also, and who is bound to be tricked himself down the road in some other story!

As in his other books, Goble carefully cites sources (click on the image for a larger view):

There is a note for the audience too, encouraging them to join in the storytelling, and even to replace the name of Iktomi if they know another trickster name from their own culture, like Kiowa Saynday or Blackfoot Napi, and so on.

So read, enjoy, and participate in the story as you read... maybe you'll even read it out loud and add your own comments in response to Goble's prompts!

Iktomi and the Ducks:
A Plains Indians Story

by Paul Goble

Tricksters: Iktomi and the Buffalo Skull

So, I'm pretty excited about this! It's a NEW bibliography project at the Internet Archive... tricksters! Now that the Reader's Guide to African Folktales is done, and the Diaspora Folktales Guide is well underway (I'm drafting the book now!), so I decided that the best Guide to do next would be tricksters. Learning about tricksters is my own personal focus for the foreseeable future (I'm doing a NaNoWriMo trickster project; more about that on November 1), and I realized that people might appreciate a guide to trickster resources at the Archive. :-)

So, just like with the previous Guides, I'll prepare by blogging every day about a different book here, covering a range of trickster resources, but focusing on actual stories, including both anthologies and single-story children's books. I'll start with one of Paul Goble's series of books about the Native American trickster Iktomi: Iktomi and the Buffalo Skull: A Plains Indian Story.

Goble both writes and illustrates these books; you can find out more about Goble's life and career at Wikipedia.

Iktomi is the Spider trickster of the Sioux people, but Goble introduces Iktomi in his human form, speaking to us in the first-person. Here is how Iktomi introduces himself, boasting about his fine appearance of course, I look good!

Goble then switches to third-person, telling us the story of how Iktomi got his head stuck in a buffalo-skull... it involves the partying Mouse People! Just look at them singing and dancing:

In addition to the fabulous storytelling, which goes back and forth between Iktomi and the narrator, Goble also provides detailed references, which is very helpful (click on the image for a larger view):

Even better: there is a note to the reader, as Goble invites the audience to participate in the storytelling, adding their own remarks about Iktomi's behavior; there are lots of questions and prompts for the audience throughout the story.

In addition to this beautiful book, you can find these other books in Goble's Iktomi series at the Archive: Iktomi and the Ducks, Iktomi and the Boulder, Iktomi and the Berries, Iktomi and the Buzzard, Iktomi and the Coyote, and Iktomi Loses His Eyes. Yes, they are all just a click away, waiting for you to read and enjoy them. So... read and enjoy!

Iktomi and the Buffalo Skull:
A Plains Indian Story
by Paul Goble