Coyote, Coyote, Please Tell Me

Peter Blue Cloud is a Mohawk, born to the Turtle Clan in 1933, and raised on the reserve in Kahnawake, Quebec, where he lives today. He is the winner of the American Book Award, and is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Clans of Many Nations and Elderberry Flute Song: Contemporary Coyote Tales , from which the poem below is taken.

Growing up on the Kahnawake Reserve, Blue Cloud spoke only Mohawk at home; he was introduced to books in English by his grandfather. He began writing poems and songs as a teenager, and was first published in the journal Akwesasne Notes, where he became poetry editor in 1975. He has worked as an ironworker, logger, carpenter, and woodcutter. His poetry is noted for combining Native American myths with contemporary issues. "Blue Cloud's poems are living proof that the power and beauty of the Old Way cannot be lost," writes poet Gary Snyder. "Blue Cloud does nothing glamorous: he speaks from his own heart and life. He is a true poet, at home in all times, everywhere." He is especially known for his use of the Coyote figure in his stories and poems. The following is his poem

Coyote, Coyote Please Tell Me.


Coyote, Coyote, Please tell me
What is a shaman?

A shaman I don’t know
anything about.
I’m a doctor, myself.
When I use medicine,
it’s between me,
my patient,
and the Creation.

Coyote, Coyote, Please tell me
What is power?

It is said that power
is the ability to start
your chainsaw
with one pull.

Coyote, Coyote, Please tell me
What is magic?

Magic is the first taste
of ripe strawberries and
magic is a child dancing
in a summer’s rain.

Coyote, Coyote, Please tell me
Why is Creation?

Creation is because I
went to sleep last night
with a full stomach,
and when I woke up
this morning,
everything was here.

Coyote, Coyote, Please tell me
Who you belong to?

According to the latest
survey, there are certain
persons who, in poetic
or scholarly guise,
have claimed me like
a conqueror’s prize.

Let me just say
once and for all,
just to be done:
Coyote,
he belongs to none.


Peter Blue Cloud