Long ago, or so the story runs, Coyote happened upon an impressive waterfall. Five sisters had lived near this place since ancient times, and Coyote, the eldest of the Creator's children, was disappointed to see that they had dammed the river with rocks to prevent the migrating salmon from swimming upstream.
Ever the trickster, Coyote hatched a plan. He leapt into the river and mimicked the cries of a baby. The maidens heard his distress, rescued him and took him in. Only the youngest was skeptical.
"That is Coyote," she warned her sisters. They shushed her, worried that she would hurt the poor waif's feelings.
At an opportune moment, Coyote escaped the sisters, ran to the dam, and tossed aside the offending rocks. The waters of the river began flowing again. The salmon were then free to swim up and beyond the falls, where some of their number could be fished and nourish others.
That is how Celilo Falls on the Columbia River came to be.
Coyote is a central figure in many more Native American mythologies of places and peoples. These stories were familiar to the Nez Perce actor and playwright John Kauffman, who collected several of them in a monodrama — that is, a one-person play — titled According to Coyote. It debuted at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in 1987.
Spokane Ensemble Theatre co-founder Josephine Keefe has distinct memories of According to Coyote. Kauffman was her uncle, and after his death in 1990, her aunt, Carlotta Kauffman, took up the role of Coyote.
"One of [Carlotta's] performances was my first experience seeing Coyote live," Keefe says. "Also, at a young age, I would watch these very grainy VHS video recordings of John performing According to Coyote at the Kennedy Center."
"Those were some of my earliest childhood memories, not only knowing who John was and his legacy to our family, but it was also my introduction to storytelling and the performing arts," she continues. "It was a strong component in my own journey into the pursuit of acting."
Today, roughly 30 years after her first brush with Coyote as re-enacted by her aunt and uncle through acting, song and dance, Keefe is reviving According to Coyote. With the help of an almost entirely Indigenous team, plus partnerships with Red Eagle Soaring and One Heart Native Arts and Film Festival, she hopes to "find the confluence" between the traditional storytelling that sparked her love of the performing arts and the work she wants to stage professionally.
To play Coyote, Keefe tapped her childhood friend and fellow Nez Perce tribal member Kellen Trenal Lewis. He has a long professional résumé in dance and theater, with a recent appearance on Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi's critically acclaimed series Reservation Dogs.
"I knew that this role would require an artist who could embody Coyote and take on the physical endeavors of this role," Keefe says. "For a text like this, especially with his background in dance and performance, I couldn't think of anyone other than Kellen. Kellen also reminds me of my Uncle John. In essence, what I'm trying to do with this production is to bring Coyote home."
Lewis says he relished "being able to dive deep into the text and a lot of the stories that I grew up with."
"Through these small legends and stories, we get an entire arc. And I'm really hoping that these stories will resonate with the audience," Lewis says. "We're portraying a wide range of emotions and experiences in a short amount of time and a compact space."
There have already been two recent public performances of According to Coyote in Riverfront Park in honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day, on Oct. 10, and there's another show to come this weekend at the MAC's outdoor amphitheater. Later this fall, According to Coyote will play at other Spokane-area venues. Keefe says there are even plans brewing for cross-state and national tours.
For both her and Lewis, one aim of this production is to reintroduce audiences of all ages to the mischief of Coyote and, by extension, to the world around them.
"These are the stories that are evident in the landscapes of our traditional homeland — the routing of the rivers, the large rock formations — and they're being passed down through this oral history," Lewis says. "Yes, they're grand and hilarious and sometimes even ridiculous, but they have value."
That value becomes evident when you pause to recall that Celilo Falls no longer exists.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undid Coyote's work when, in 1957, the completion of The Dalles Dam caused the waters of the Columbia River to submerge the roaring falls. The village of Celilo and its nearby fishing platforms became the bottom of Lake Celilo.
Yet it's through the tales of Coyote's adventures and exploits that places like Celilo Falls endure across the generations. ♦
E.J. Iannelli has been a contributing writer for the Inlander since 2010. Although he has covered everything from small business to steamboat history, his primary focus is on theater, literature and classical music. In 2022, he joined Spokane Public Radio, where he works as the arts and music director.
According to Coyote • Sun, Oct. 16 at 2 pm • $12 • Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture • 2316 W. First Ave. • spokaneensembletheatre.com
