About the Project

This site explores Coyote as an animal and a character in the histories and cultures of North America. Users can browse primary documents, set up collections, and contribute to the growing base of knowledge about this fascinating figure.

Coyote has a long history on the North American continent. Researchers have found evidence of coyote fossils in the La Brea Tarpits. The presence of these fossils suggests indicate that canis latrans (or “barking dog”) and Paleolithic humans shared the landscape with mastodons, saber toothed tigers, and dire wolves.

Coyote’s role as a character in human societies is most often associated with trickster myths, common to Native American tribal nations across the Western United States. However, mesoamerican cultures such as the Toletcs and the Aztecs also viewed Coyote as a potent figure. For example, Pyramid B at Tula, the capital of the Toltec Empire (c. 900-1200 CE), features Coyote alongside jaguar and eagle in bas-relief. These animals helped to define the warrior class in Toltec society. The “Coyote head,” a pottery creation that depicts a man’s head emerging from the jaws of a coyote, also dates from this period and suggests a deep identification with the animal.

The coyote takes on new significance with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire (1521) and the subsequent expansion of European colonial power across North America. For settler-colonialists the coyote was, at first, a scientific curiosity—a new entry in the Linnaean taxonomy. Thereafter, canis latrans was seen as a furbearer with a pelt that could be fashioned into blankets, throws, and trim for hats and coats. With the growth of the ranching industry, the coyote along with its cousin the wolf became a varmint and the subject of bounties in states across the west. Defined as such, the coyote was subject to a brutal and relentless extermination campaign involving traps, hunting tournaments, strychnine and other poisons such as compound 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate).

Despite all efforts at extermination, the coyote ranks as one of the most successful mammals in the 21st century. Where large predator populations have seen their range shrink and their populations diminish, the medium-sized coyote has filled the gap, occupying spaces that include wilderness regions, suburban golf courses, and city parks. Today, the coyote is a well-established presence across Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

Coyote’s long and varied history, its success occupying such a range of ecological zones recalls its mythical trickster counterpart. While the trickster may fall victim to his own stratagems, he is more than mortal: always hungry, always travelling, in one moment reckless in his generosity, in another startling for his depravity. It is not surprising that human affinity with Coyote cuts across history and culture.