Overview+of+Tricksters

Tricksters. Just about every culture or group of people has one. Some are humorous, others are kind, still others are malicious. Some are famous, others are only known to a few. Regardless, when dealing with tricksters, things will never turn out the way one expects.

Tricksters characters can be found all over the world (such as Coyote in North America, Fox or Wolf in Europe and South America, Anasi in Africa, Tengu in Japan, or the Wurulu-Wurulu race in Australia), but the various Indian tribes in North America showcase some of the most interesting and varied trickster figures in the world. As Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz write in the introduction to their book //American Indian Trickster Tales//, "Indian folklore also broadens the role of the Trickster character enormously. In European tales, the Trickster is a jokester and mischief maker, and usually little else. By contrast, Iktomi, the Sioux Spider-Man, and Rabbit Boy are complicated culture heroes. We certainly see them, in classic Trickster style, being clever and foolish at the same time, smart-asses who outsmart themselves. But they are much more than that."

Most tricksters are a bundle of contradictions. Often tricksters are clever and, as one might think, trick people into getting what they want. However, nearly as often they are the butt of their own joke. Many tricksters lie, cheat, and steal from other people, but in some stories, the trickster figure is also almost a god/creator character that brings the people something valuable, such as fire or knowledge. Paul Radin writes in his book //The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology//, "...Trickster is at one and the same time creator and destroyer, giver and negator, he who dupes others and who is always duped himself. ...He knows neither good nor evil yet he is responsible for both. He possesses no values, moral or social, is at the mercy of his passions and appetites, yet through his actions all values come into being."

In North America, there are a few tricksters that show up in many different Native American tribe's tales and myths. The most famous of these is Coyote, but Raven, Rabbit, Turtle, and a few others show up in many different locations. Most tricksters in North America are a combination of animal and human. Some, like Coyote can take on different forms (a coyote or a young man), or inhabit other people's bodies. In this wiki three different tricksters are discussed briefly: Coyote, Rabbit, and Raven.