Coyote in Native Mythology: Thomas King's "The One About Coyote Going West"

Thomas King's "The One About Coyote Going West" encompasses a Cherokee variant on Native Creation, the role of Coyote, the effect of white people on Natives, and a moral lesson classic to Native mythology. Also prevalent is the clichéd "don't fix it if it ain't broke" idea wherein matters of concern deteriorate when tampered with. Cherokee are a Native American tribe who mainly live in the southeastern United States and in Oklahoma. …

…herb, grass, and moss agreed to furnish a cure for one of the diseases named by the animals and insects. Thereafter, when the Cherokee Indians visited their Shaman about their ailments and if the medicine man was in doubt, he communed with the spirits of the plants. They always suggested a proper remedy for mankind's diseases. This was the beginning of plant medicine from nature among the Cherokee Indian nation a long, long time ago.