Description

Salish and Kootenai artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith often references animals with connections to the deep history of Native American culture in her works. Of the coyote, she writes: “It is said that the Human Beings were created when Coyote turned on the light; or when Otter brought daubs of earth to the surface of the water to form the land; or when Turtle raised its back. That was the beginning of our time—of we, the Human Beings. These creation stories draw parallels to Adam and Eve in the garden and are just as powerful.” The idea of a coyote in hiding came about before the 2020 pandemic, but quickly evolved into an image addressing the prolonged isolation the global population was then experiencing.