Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [233]
In other tales, Coyote is a lecherous character with a colossal and magical penis. In a tale of the Shasta (northern California), Coyote sees two pretty maidens in a creek and desires them both. Turning himself into a salmon, Coyote/Salmon swims between the two girls and enters their bodies. As the girls ask each other if they feel something strange, Coyote emerges in his true form and laughs at them. In another Shasta tale, Coyote sees a girl digging for roots by a stream, changes his penis into the stalk of a plant, and stretches it across the stream so that it can enter her. When the girl sees the stalk, she taps at it with her digging tool. Coyote howls in pain and has to pull back his “stalk.”
Glooskap (Gluskap) (Algonquian, Abenaki of the Northeast) A creator and trickster, Glooskap is a patriarch who makes the sun, moon, plants, animals, and people from Mother Earth’s body. His troublesome brother, Malsum, creates insects, reptiles, and other nuisances. After Glooskap defeats his evil brother, he uses his trickster’s ability to change shapes and defeat the witches, spirits, and sorcerers who threaten mankind. Glooskap performs other heroic feats, including riding on the back of a whale before leaving the world. He promises to return in times of peril.
Hahgwedhdiyu (Hodenosaunee, Northeast) Creator of the Iroquois, Hahgwedhdiyu is the son of the sky goddess Atahensic. His evil twin is Hahgwehdaetgan. After the twins’ mother dies, Hahgwedhdiyu forms the sky and turns his mother’s face into the sun; the moon and stars are made from her breasts, and the earth is made fertile with her body. The evil twin counters his brother by making floods, earthquakes, and other disasters. The brothers ultimately fight, and the evil sibling is defeated and banished to the murky underworld.
Hinun (Iroquois or Hodenosaunee, Northeast) The great thunder spirit and guardian of the sky, Hinun is portrayed as a powerful brave armed with a bow and arrows of fire. With help from his wife, Rainbow, and his friend Gunnodyak, Hinun fights the great serpent of the Great Lakes. When the serpent swallows Gunnodyak whole, Hinun rescues the young warrior and takes him up to the sky. After applying a magic ointment to his own eyes, Hinun is able to see the serpent in the lake and shoot it with his arrows. The great snake dies but makes a great noise as it writhes in death throes. Terrified by the noise, heaven and earth fall silent. Hinun also slays the ferocious giant stone people who dwell in the west and are planning to attack the Iroquois.
Igaluk (Inuit, Arctic regions) Igaluk is the supreme god who directs everything. He is also the moon. When Igaluk discovers that he has slept with his sister, the sun, there is great upset. His sister tears off her breasts and rises into the sky. Eventually the pair build a house in the sky that is divided in two sections. That is where they coexist.
Iktome (also Ik-to-mi) (Sioux, Plains) Known as Spiderman, Iktome is a trickster who does things backwards but is still a sly and cunning teacher. To the Assiniboine (Plains), he is the Creator who orders the animals to dive for bits of earth (see Mythic Voices). A man with the attributes of a spider, Iktome has a hearty sexual appetite, like his friend and frequent companion, Coyote.
In one story told by the Brule—with a slight overtone of the Little Red Riding Hood tale—Iktome tricks a beautiful young maiden he sees walking one day. Dressing himself in the clothes of an old woman, he approaches the girl and asks for permission to accompany her across a stream. She notices that his legs are very hairy, and Iktome explains that it comes with age. When he hikes up his robes, she says his backside is hairy, too, and he responds that this happens to