“Coyote & Changing Bear”

Context — This story was told by an elderly Navajo woman in Arizona. She knew many Coyote stories, but told me two of her favorites, including Coyote and Changing Bear–

“There’s this beautiful maiden. She has twelve brothers. Takes care of all of them by herself. She feeds them and cooks for them and cleans for them, all the while they hunt and fight monsters. Her beauty was so great, holy men would come from all over the world in hopes of marrying her. She ignored all of them. Why would she give them any attention? But Coyote, he asks her – what can I do to marry you? And she says he must slay a giant! Incredibly so, he does. All of her brothers tell her not to marry Coyote, they say it will bring a great evil to this world, but she does it anyway. After all, Coyote did what she asked.

“And it’s not so bad. Coyote even teachers her how to turn into a bear! The brothers are right. Coyote manages to turn this woman evil! He turns her into the Woman who Became a Bear or Changing Bear. And so she returns to her family and offers to comb their hair. One by one, the brothers all let her. But as soon as they turn their back on her, she eats them!”

Analysis — This is another trickster tale layering many elements together– heroic quests, gender, and moral imperatives through a subversive taleŁ Coyote slays the giant, but instead of resulting in a happy ending, his actions end in tragedy. By reversing the traditional structure of the myth, the tale reemphasizes Coyote’s role as a trickster and disruptor. His marriage to Changing Bear disrupts the social and familial order. By offering the maiden a supernatural power, he ultimately leads her to killing her own family. The transformation reflects Navajo values about balance, harmony, and beauty – Changing Bear is a physical and profound disruption of the peace that’s caused by the maiden stepping out of expected responsibilities and roles. Coyote and Changing Bear’s marriage ultimately highlight the importance of community and illustrates how personal choice can put the entire familial unit at risk.

A Ghost at SUNY Buffalo

Text

Tell me your ghost story:

Was in pharmacy school, in the early 90s, 1994ish. I had just rented a very small apt, in an old house. I was in the upstairs apartment. My room was really small, had space to walk in, my bed, inches, and then the window and the wall. There was no room between the bed and the window for people. One night early in my time there I was sleeping but then I woke up in the middle of the night. I look toward the window side of my room and there is somebody standing there, so real to me that I sat up and said “Hey!” The person was a very small in stature woman, dressed in black mid 1800s mourning garb with a veil, lacy, everything. She was standing there, regarding me. The feeling was like she understood I was a new tenant and she was taking my measure. After a little she disappeared, maybe a minute or so.

Were you paralyzed in fear?

To me it felt like a realization it wasn’t an intruder was positive, and then I had a few moments of getting that feeling. She wasn’t threatening, wasn’t there to scare me, it just felt like she was seeing who she was sharing her apartment with.

Part B:

At the time I had two cats, Punky and Sophie. I was sitting in my couch studying one afternoon. I had put a bag on a chair, and it had been there for a while. All of a sudden it starts to crinkle, and it could’ve been plastic fatigue or something but I was looking at it, and I said out loud “Please don’t do that, you’re scaring me.” Immediately after, it stopped.

Was there anything else that happened in the apartment?

It sometimes felt like the cats were watching something that wasn’t there.

Your version of the house in the 80s:

That house had bad spirits in it, evil ones for sure. Always had a not good feeling. There were two incidencies I remember. I used to have a big typewriter and I must’ve been home from college in my freshman year, my mom and dad were divorced. My dad stayed in that house. One night, middle of the night, the typewriter gets pushed over and clunks against the wall. The feeling was, “Something did that.” It was just “Woah,” and I was wide awake and then eventually I went back to sleep.

There was another night when my dad was dating Kathy and my brother Jason wasn’t there, so I was home alone, my dad and Kathy had gone to the movies. I went to bed. Sometime in the night I’m in bed and I hear distinct footsteps coming up the stairs. I thought, “Oh they came here.” I get out of bed, flip on the lights, and there’s nobody and nothing. There was a pit in my stomach. I remember feeling such relief at the thought of them being home, I hated that house alone, and that is how sure I was I heard someone home.

There was no fear with the spirit you saw, but one felt malevolent?

I never thought about that, but really it’s because you get a feeling. It’s like when you meet someone and the sense you get as to whether they’re positive or not, and maybe it’s the same with spirits.

Context

This is my mother’s story about a spirit she saw while in pharmacy school. Interestingly enough, she had a similar ghostly experience, that being a figure in old clothes standing over her while she was sleeping, to the one her mom had ten years earlier. While doing this interview I realized they had never discussed that, so they didn’t realize there was a throughline to both of them. My mother’s interpretation of the events we got into during the questions, but suffice to say the experience wasn’t negative for her with the ghost in pharmacy school. Her story about the malevolent spirit in the 80s absolutely was negative, but I only snuck that in as a matter of recordkeeping.

My interpretation

The similarities between this story and her mother’s story of ghostly encounters (especially when they had never discussed it) is fascinating. The collection of this folklore and the theorizing of its origins makes it important, but more than anything, the multiple perspectives of the same event is important as well. I was careful to not ask leading questions to either of them about the experiences they both shared, which made it all the more interesting when they would bring up similar details in stories they hadn’t discussed with one another. I think my mother truly did see something hovering next to her bed that night, and that it is plausibly unexplainable. I think she did hear footsteps clamping up the stairs while home alone and see nothing once she opened that door. The world of spirits and apparitions is not one usually discussed, which makes the collections of these stories have all the more value.

Ellen White holds up a Bible

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Marriage and Family Therapist
Residence: Forest Falls, CA
Language: English

Text: “Okay, so I think I was told this story by my parents when I was a kid, maybe they told it in Sabbath school. There was this story of Ellen White when she was a teenager, and she held up her family Bible for 30 minutes while she was having a vision — I originally thought it was one or two hours, but it was just thirty minutes, I guess. And Bibles were much more substantial back then, you know. And she also quoted verses from it without looking. So it was held up to be some kind of supernatural act. I don’t know if I believe it or not, I don’t think it really matters — I think a lot of figures get sensationalized in religious traditions after they die.”

Context: Informant JB was raised in Montana in a Seventh-day Adventist household, a religious identity which she still identifies with today. Ellen White was an American author and co-founder of Seventh-day Adventism, and she lived from 1826 to 1915. Ellen White is known in the Adventist church as a “modern-day prophet,” and much of Adventist tradition and theology is based on the visions and messages that she allegedly received from God and published as books. She is also known for her health challenges, including chronic pain, weakness, and mental health struggles.

Analysis: In the Adventist church legends such as the one described above are popularly circulated throughout Adventist church communities, despite doubts as to their validity. Other written accounts specify that White picked up the eighteen-pound Bible while “in vision” and held it open with her left hand, arm raised at a right angle from her body. These stories serve to reinforce the authority of White’s writings in the church community by presenting her as a historical figure with supernatural powers. This story in particular also reflects the strong Protestant belief in having a personal relationship with God and reading the Bible for oneself — ‘if this young and frail teenage girl can literally uplift the Bible and receive a message from God, so should we!’ More broadly, the story also points to a cultural emphasis on print as a ‘sacred’ and essential medium of communication in the U.S.

Kappa

AGE: 81

Date_of_performance: April 10, 2025

Language: Japanese

Nationality: Japanese

Occupation: Retired

Primary Language: Japanese

Residence: Yokohama

Context: The Kappa are river creatures that drown people and it’s a cautionary tale to be careful in water. B also naturally heard of the Kappa as she grew up in Japan. But today she doesn’t interpret it as the scary monsters they originally were, as Japanese media has made them more cute over the years.

Text: 

Interviewer is I. Subject is B

I: What’s another legend you like?

B: The one of the Kappa because I find them cute!

I: Can you say what Kappa are exactly?

B: They were originally ugly creatures but now they are cuter and even come up in that kids show that your cousin watches

I: Do you think the legend of the Kappa lost a little meaning from what it once was?

B: I think more and more people are forgetting they were meant to be dangerous creatures. But I also like the new Kappa and see no problem with them being nice creatures

Analysis:

The Kappa are interesting to me because I feel like overtime their haunting nature has been overshadowed by the cute lens that Japanese media has begun to paint them in. Kappa can be seen in kids shows and even other adult animes where they serve the roles of good characters. I’m curious if this is in a way killing the traditional folklore as their entire image is being shifted. Overall I also don’t see too much problem with it as their design and characteristics are being preserved, with the only things changing is their image from bad to good.

La Patasola

AGE: 21

Date_of_performance: April 10, 2025

Language: English

Nationality: Colombian

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: New York

Context: The story of La Patasola is a Colombian legend about this very beautiful woman who cries out for help at first, but if a man approaches she transforms into a creature with one leg and long claws, attacking them and eating them. Some say she used to be a beautiful woman that cheated on her husband and had her leg chopped off. Now, she targets men who are not loyal to their wives. L first heard this story from his cousin, who talked about the importance of faithfulness. L interprets it as a cautionary tale to not cheat on your partner.

Text: 

Interviewer is I. Subject is L.

I: What other legends have you heard?

L: My cousin told me the story of La Patasola, which is just a woman who turns into a monster and attacks men

I: Why does she do that?

L: I think it’s because she was killed for being unfaithful. But now she targets men who are trying to cheat apparently

I: What do you think the significance of the story is?

L: To be honest I don’t think it’s too deep aside from just telling people to stay loyal

Analysis:

The story of La Patasola does not seem as ambiguous of that of Urashimataro. It seems pretty straight-forward, she targets men who’ve cheat on their wives or any man that harms a woman. In a society where there is a lot of cheating and hook-up culture, I believe maybe some people should be reminded of La Patasola, and the dangers of cheating!