Context: This was a story told by an isolated elderly Navajo woman in rural Arizona. When asked what her favorite Navajo stories were, she began telling me about the mythical Coyote figure. This story is an explanatory myth about the stars and their appearances –

“He’s just a troublemaker. A mean lil trouble maker who didn’t like to wait for anything, even the stars. So when he sees Black God putting the stars up in the sky, one by one, taking his sweet time lighting and finding the perfect spot for ‘em, he starts pacing. Gets impatient – who cares how the stars look? He gets tired of being in the dark all the time, so one day, he waits for Black God to turn his back on the stars and he steals all the ones that aren’t up in the sky already. He gets ‘em all together into his little bag and just throws them up at the sky. Doesn’t care where they go or how bright they are, just that they’re up. Black God is mad of course, but what can he do? They’re all up there now. That’s why the Milky Way looks like that. Coyote didn’t take his time putting the stars up, so they’re unorganized.”

Analysis: In Navajo folklore, Coyote serves as a cautionary trickster figure. He embodies antithetical values of Navajo cultureŁ impulsiveness, recklessness, and impatience. Compared to Black God, who embodies harmony, patience, and balance with his meticulous star placement. By disrupting a sacred act, he leaves cosmic chaos in his wake, positioning him as an example of consequences of defying harmony and tradition.

Black God’s placement of the stars is a sacred act with deep deliberation given to each, reflecting the importance placed on harmony and beauty in Navajo culture. When Coyote disturbs him, he desecrates a cosmic ritual, the harmony Black God was trying to cultivate in the stars, and by extension, the very harmony that Black God is trying to cultivate in the world at large.

The chaos of the Milky Way serves as a lasting symbol for Coyote’s actions, serving as a visual reminder that disharmony, selfishness, and impatience can affect not just an individual, but become a permanent scar on the sky.