Coyote Still Going: Native American Legends and Contemporary Stories / Ty Nolan

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Native American Myths/ Legends/ Culture

Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Ty Nolan is a professional storyteller and a therapist. He was asked to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) professors how to use Storytelling to more effectively communicate complex concepts about technology to a general audience. Most recently he has worked with the National Science Foundation's Flagship Project, Synergy.

He currently lives in Arizona near South Mountain Community College, where one can be certified as a storyteller at one of the only Storytelling Institutes in the United States.

Description:

“Here are some Stories (Traditional Native Legends) and some stories (personal history.)... Coyote Still Going retells the mostly Sahaptin and Twana traditional legends I was taught by my relatives. It's also a memoir of how I have told these stories from Mr. Rogers' program to International AIDS Conferences, as well as with children around the world.

Many Native Nations begin a Coyote legend with some variation of “Coyote Was Going There.” Trust me—Coyote? Still Going. It’s about time ebooks caught up with that crazy Trickster. ”

Appraisal:

In this collection of Native American legends, Ty Nolan explains the spiritual aspect of each story and how the stories are used as teaching and healing tools for the soul. He is a true Storyteller in every aspect of this title. This is an amazing read and what makes it amazing are the personal stories Mr. Nolan shares along with the retelling of the traditional Native American Stories. He teaches us to listen with not only our ears but our hearts as he shares his Native culture with active links throughout the book. He could have just incorporated pictures but this way encourages us to explore more on our own.

Mr. Nolan has also included Native American foods and recipes to go with each story, because storytelling is a celebration and Native American celebrations always include food. I found his way of getting us to look at life with different eyes fascinating. “One of the powers of the Best Stories is helping you remember who you truly are.”

The retelling of the legends are relatively short, highly entertaining, and enlightening. One of my favorites was the story, Roots and Wings. It is the story of a Chief who continually boosts that his son would grow up to be a great Chief and a powerful Medicine Man. The moral was poignant and carries a truth that all parents should heed.

I hope to see more of these traditional Stories with Nolan’s unique spin in the future. I think Ty Nolan has done a great service for all peoples by writing down and sharing these oral histories of his culture with all of us. I would also like to thank him for including his personal experiences with these stories, by the end of this novella he felt like a friend I would like to know.

FYI:

There are several active links included with the stories. Most links led to pictures of artifacts and artwork while others were to web pages for more information or further research. These may be more fully appreciated in color on a Kindle Fire. I read on the Kindle Paperwhite and was still able to appreciate the photos in black and white.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant proofing errors. However, for some reason two of the embedded links did not work.

Rating: ***** Five stars