This is the 6th painting in my Native American Tales series. Each one depicts an animal that plays the starring role in a piece of animal folklore. Some stories resonate with strong visual imagery and those are the ones I want to paint. All I could find of this tale was a couple of sentences and no tribe of origin. But the picture that it created in my head was unforgettable. So I adapted and retold the story below, according to my interpretation.
Prints are available. I'm hanging on to the originals for now while I finish out the series.
When Coyote Was Blue
Even long ago, Coyote was brown like the sand of the desert but Bluebird was brighter than the bluest sky. Flickering in the sunlight from sage to sage, Bluebird filled the desert with brightness and beauty. Coyote longed to be as colorful as Bluebird.
One day Coyote said to Bluebird, “I want to be blue, too.” Bluebird led Coyote to a still, deep blue pool at the back of a shady canyon. She told her that, for 3 days in a row, Coyote was to jump into the pool and swim down as deep as she was able.
Coyote swallowed her fear, took a deep breath and jumped into the water. She swam down and down but had to come up for air before she reached the bottom. On the first day she turned from sandy brown to gray. On the second day she turned from gray to silver. On the third day, when she struggled to the surface of the pool gasping for air, she looked down to see that she was the color of the brightest bluebird.
For days, she strutted proudly and looked from side to side to see if the other animals saw how lovely she was. Soon, though, she became hungry. She couldn’t catch a rabbit because they could see her from far away. She couldn’t catch a mouse because they could see her even before they came out of their holes. She grew thin living on only sage and cactus.
She asked Bluebird, “How can I become the color of the desert again?” Bluebird answered, “Dive into the pool once again, but this time you must touch the sand on the bottom.” Coyote trotted back into the canyon, looked into the pool, and took the deepest breath she had ever taken.
She dove in and swam deeper and deeper into the pool. The water turned from blue to silver to gray. She reached the sand at the bottom of the pool, turned, and swam fiercely to the surface, afraid her lungs would burst. When she emerged from the pool she was once again the color of twigs and sand.
That night, she caught a fat rabbit and howled with joy at the moon.
This is the 6th painting in my Native American Tales series. Each one depicts an animal that plays the starring role in a piece of animal folklore. Some stories resonate with strong visual imagery and those are the ones I want to paint. All I could find of this tale was a couple of sentences and no tribe of origin. But the picture that it created in my head was unforgettable. So I adapted and retold the story below, according to my interpretation.
Prints are available. I'm hanging on to the originals for now while I finish out the series.
When Coyote Was Blue
Even long ago, Coyote was brown like the sand of the desert but Bluebird was brighter than the bluest sky. Flickering in the sunlight from sage to sage, Bluebird filled the desert with brightness and beauty. Coyote longed to be as colorful as Bluebird.
One day Coyote said to Bluebird, “I want to be blue, too.” Bluebird led Coyote to a still, deep blue pool at the back of a shady canyon. She told her that, for 3 days in a row, Coyote was to jump into the pool and swim down as deep as she was able.
Coyote swallowed her fear, took a deep breath and jumped into the water. She swam down and down but had to come up for air before she reached the bottom. On the first day she turned from sandy brown to gray. On the second day she turned from gray to silver. On the third day, when she struggled to the surface of the pool gasping for air, she looked down to see that she was the color of the brightest bluebird.
For days, she strutted proudly and looked from side to side to see if the other animals saw how lovely she was. Soon, though, she became hungry. She couldn’t catch a rabbit because they could see her from far away. She couldn’t catch a mouse because they could see her even before they came out of their holes. She grew thin living on only sage and cactus.
She asked Bluebird, “How can I become the color of the desert again?” Bluebird answered, “Dive into the pool once again, but this time you must touch the sand on the bottom.” Coyote trotted back into the canyon, looked into the pool, and took the deepest breath she had ever taken.
She dove in and swam deeper and deeper into the pool. The water turned from blue to silver to gray. She reached the sand at the bottom of the pool, turned, and swam fiercely to the surface, afraid her lungs would burst. When she emerged from the pool she was once again the color of twigs and sand.
That night, she caught a fat rabbit and howled with joy at the moon.