Washo myths contain a number of tales about a bumbling, not very bright,
generally malevolent Coyote, who as a companion of Wolf seems to devote a
great deal of time to eating Indians and to sexual misadventures.
Modern Washo seem less willing than their forebears to weave Coyote into
tales but are no less conscious of his malevolent presence. Peyotists
often see visions or dream of Coyote (d’Azevedo and Merriam 1957), and
quick asides about Coyote’s influence are apt to come up in conversation
either as tentative jokes or in seriousness. One tale of a modern
occurrence involving Coyote did come my way through the kindness of Warren
d’Azevedo. His informant was the brother-in-law of my own informant and,
like his kinsman, a semimystic, very conscious of his Indianness and
credited by other Washo with powers beyond those of an ordinary man in
hunting.
“I was staying in this shack with the guy who owned it. One night
he didn’t come home but I kept hearing something walking around
that shack. The next morning when that guy came home he was all
tired out and there was Coyote tracks all around that shack. I got
my gun and told that guy to stay away from me” (d’Azevedo).
The Aɲ, a huge man-eating bird described in Lowie’s myth number 13, is no
longer alive, but according to several informants the creature’s bones or
at least the island on which it nested can be seen by people flying over
the lake because they are only a bit below the surface. Washo insist that
white airplane pilots see the shape of the island daily but keep silent
because they don’t want to confirm an Indian story. One day on a trip
around Lake Tahoe my Indian companion, a sometime leader among the Washo
asked: “If we get that money from our claim do you think one of them
archeologist fellas could go down under the water and find that there aɲ
bird’s skeleton?”
The foregoing paragraphs illustrate the tenacity with which Washo
mythology has maintained itself among these people. The entirety of many
of the myths is no longer part of the repertoire of every adult Washo, but
variations, on-the-spot reconstructions, and the introduction of
mythological themes into contemporary stories of a secular nature are
definitely part of the oral literature of the Washo.
It is interesting to note that some aspects of Washo mythology appear to
have more viability than others. Thus the Water Baby remains an important
and vital aspect of modern Washo life, as does the Coyote. The twin
weasels have lost much of their appeal, as has the giant Hangawuiwui. The
giants of the mountains are acknowledged to be alive today but are seldom
referred to, whereas Coyote and Water Baby are almost always mentioned and
spoken of as living entities even by the most progressive Washo.
Except for the making of offerings to nature, which may be defined as
purely religious, other religious or ritual activities dealing with what
we would call the supernatural are so integrated with other aspects of
Washo life as to be almost inseparable. Thus in describing the religious
activities of the Washo I will proceed through various phases of their
life, pointing out the ritual actions which are part of Washo behavior in
specific situations.