Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman
"Coyote Waits" is a novel by Tony Hillerman that explores themes of cultural differences and the complexity of human motivations through the lens of a murder mystery set within the Navajo Nation. The title references the Navajo trickster figure, Coyote, symbolizing the unpredictable nature of fate and bad luck. The narrative begins with Navajo officer Jim Chee, who, after failing to assist his colleague Delbert Nez during a critical arrest, discovers Nez shot and left to die in a burning car. The plot thickens when Chee encounters Ashie Pinto, an elderly Native American shaman found with the murder weapon, seemingly confirming his guilt. However, the investigation, led in parallel by Lieutenant Leaphorn, reveals inconsistencies that suggest a deeper story.
As the investigation unfolds, the novel delves into the interplay between cultural perspectives and the justice system, highlighting how personal affiliations and myths influence the search for truth. Despite the apparent confession by Pinto in court, the narrative raises questions about guilt, cultural identity, and the assumptions made by law enforcement. Hillerman's work illustrates how understanding varied cultural contexts is crucial in unraveling human behavior, making "Coyote Waits" a thought-provoking exploration of crime and ethics within tribal communities.
Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1990
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Coyote Waits refers to the Navajo notion of the trickster, a mythic figure who is always ready to disrupt humankind’s harmony by bringing chaos. Every culture has some concept of bad luck that strikes randomly. A Vietnamese relative of one of the murdered men in this novel refers to a saying among her people that “fate is as gentle with men as the mongoose is with mice.” Navajo officer Jim Chee responds with his culture’s version: “Coyote is always out there waiting, and Coyote is always hungry.”
The comparison of similar concepts in different cultures, however differently they may exhibit themselves, is at the heart of what Hillerman does in the Chee-Leaphorn ethno-cultural novels. As his father told him when he was young, all people are the same, but once you know that you can find the differences. Clearly the author took these words to heart. His fictional officers operate from that same bedrock and follow police procedure to discover what cultural differences in particular might have motivated murderers to commit their crimes.
This novel opens with Chee failing to provide backup help for his friend, fellow officer Delbert Nez, who has told him by radio that he is about to collar a suspect he has been tracking. When Nez is late to their rendezvous, Chee belatedly goes to look for him and finds him shot and left to die in a burning car. Although Chee burns his hands trying to save him, it is too late. Almost immediately, Chee finds Ashie Pinto, a Native American shaman in his eighties who is walking down the road holding the murder weapon in one hand and a whiskey bottle in the other. The old man seems to confirm his guilt by repeating “I am ashamed” to Chee.
Case closed? Not quite. Lieutenant Leaphorn is approached by the family of the accused and a friend, Dr. Louisa Bourebonette, a mythologist in American studies at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Because his deceased wife was related to this family, which made them his in-laws, Leaphorn feels obligated to help them. When he discovers that the old man was miles from his home with no car but a bottle of expensive scotch and fifty-dollar bills in his pocket, he realizes something does not add up, and he begins his own investigation, paralleling Chee’s.
Although it appears right up to the end to both Chee and Leaphorn that Ashie Pinto could not have killed the policeman, Pinto confesses in court. However sad the ending, what is interesting is how many red herrings or actually plausible lines of inquiry Hillerman has presented the reader. It is ironic that the policemen are doing everything they can to prove the Native American shaman is not guilty, when he is. Throughout the novel, Leaphorn makes clear his dissatisfaction with Chee for not being a team player. At the end, however, Leaphorn considers that the officer’s intelligence and creative insights might be well suited for criminal investigations just like this one.
Bibliography
Bulow, Ernie. Talking Mysteries: A Conversation with Tony Hillerman. Gallup, N.Mex.: Southwestern Books, 1989.
Erisman, Fred. Tony Hillerman. Boise, Idaho: Boise State University Press, 1989.
Greenberg, Martin. The Tony Hillerman Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to His Life and Work. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
Hillerman, Tony. Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
Reilly, John M. Tony Hillerman: A Critical Companion. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996.