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Trickster Tales: Animals
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The interest of the teller of tales in California seems to be two things only--the creation and the deeds of the trickster. A few other animal tales are present. One feels that, with the possible exception of the Eskimos, the range of interest is least among the California Indians of any tribes on the continent. (Nos. viii, ix, x, xiv, xlii, lviii.)
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This unit is related to the lesson Aesop and Ananse: Animal Fables and Trickster Tales, which provides the same background information for the teacher with different activities appropriate for students in grades K-2. Please note that different versions of spellings of “Ananse” and “Anansi,” and of “Asante,” “Ashante,” and “Ashanti” exist.
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According to Radin the trickster "embodies the vague memories of an archaic and primordial past, where there as yet existed no clear-cut differentiation between the divine and the non-divine" (ibid:168). C.G. Jung who was taken in by Radin's interpretation echoes, "he [the trickster] is a forerunner of the saviour, and, like him, God, man, and animal at once" (ibid:203). According to Radin Wakdjunkaga was meant as "the glorified image of man," but failed (ibid:150). Hare is, in comparison, more faithful to Earthmaker's — the Creator's — moral principles. To Radin's understanding the ambiguous figure of the main trickster shows that he is a true model of man, placed between good and bad intentions.
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A second class of tale is that relating the deeds of a trickster. Sometimes the buffoon is a human being, but more often he is an animal endowed with human characteristics. Usually it is quite impossible to tell whether animal or person is in the mind of the narrator. The distinction is never very clear. In the most human of these tales , such as the Manabozho cycle (No. xxiv), the animal nature of the trickster seems always in the background of the narrative.
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Context: While Adventures of Huckleberry Finn does not contain any traditional animal trickster figures, many of Huck's adventures resonate with trickster traditions. How does Twain draw on traditional trickster schemes and qualities in his narrative of Jim and Huck's journey down the river? Which characters in the novel seem most trickster-like?
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The trickster is a mythological figure dominant in creation and recreation stories birthed with stories themselves. The historical global omnipresence of this general character, who can shapeshift within the chosen animal or human embodiment, has given rise to much study and debate. This writing will specifically concern itself with tricksters within Native American storytelling.
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