Unmasking Colonialism in "A Coyote Columbus Story" by Thomas King
In this rssay on "A Coyote Columbus Story", we explore Thomas King's unique take on European colonization through his portrayal of Columbus as a mafia boss and Coyote as a naive character. The book challenges the traditional narrative of colonization as a positive force and instead highlights the destructive impact it had on First Nations cultures, shedding light on a perspective that has long been ignored. Through illustrations and dialogue, Columbus is depicted as a power-hungry figure who is willing to use violence and intimidation to achieve his goals. Meanwhile, Coyote's naivety serves as a metaphor for the First Nations people who were taken advantage of and lost their land and culture. King's book offers a powerful commentary on the destructive impact of colonization and the importance of hearing and honoring marginalized perspectives.
In this story, Thomas King decided to show European colonization through the eyes of the First Nations people. Many stories with colonization don’t show the truth about what really happened. Through this different perspective he illustrates the truth of what happened. Colonization took First Nations people away from their families to be sold to the rich “That one goes back to Spain and sells the human beings to rich people like baseball players and dentists and babysitters and parents. ” First Nations people were treated with no respect, on page 23 the picture shows Columbus smiling while holding a small flag with a money sign which shows that he’s happy and will be getting money in the future. Just below Columbus are the First Nation people he took crammed in the back of the ship, their arms are hanging outside of the windows and their faces show anger. On page 24 when you see the First Nations being sold, the look on their faces show anger or displeasure for the way they’re being treated. Compared to the look of the people from Spain who have a happy or sinister look on their faces because of the people Columbus brought back. Columbus and his men are pictured very differently in this story compared to other stories.
In this story, King shows Columbus through the eyes of the First Nations people. In many stories Columbus is shown as a great and respectable person, but in this story he’s shown as greedy and selfish instead. In the illustrations of the book Columbus and his men are drawn to look like they’re in the mafia. The mafia is known for being greedy, selfish, and even being involved in human trafficking. Columbus is looking for things he can sell in Spain to become rich, all the find are the animals. When he sees the First Nations people he thinks that he can sell them “And he looks at the human beings. I’ll bet these are Indians. And he looks at his friends. I’ll bet we can sell these Indians”. Columbus had no respect for the First Nations and looked at them like property he could sell to the people in Spain to become rich. He was able to sell them to the richest people. In the book when the first people are being sold, it shows where they’re being held, Across the wood it says ‘imported’, this shows how they got treated as animals for people to buy and look at like it’s something they have never seen before. They got forced into something they didn’t want by Columbus who only looked for profit to buy himself expensive items. This was caused by Coyote, since she creates the good and the bad in this world.
Coyote is a supernatural being in the story who just wants someone to play baseball with. Her character is naive and trusting, she doesn’t sense the danger around Columbus and his men. This could have happened because her nose was falling off when she created new people. In the beginning all she wants to do is play baseball and she asked the beavers, the moose, and the turtles. They were all to busy to play with her. She decided to create new people to play baseball with, they were the first humans Coyote ever met. They were nice and decided to play with her. However, after a while they didn’t want to play with Coyote anymore because she would change the rules to make her win. The humans found other things to do and Coyote was left alone. This caused her to create more humans and her nose fell off again. This is when Columbus shows up. She only thinks they have bad manners and doesn’t realize what their true intentions are. Her sense of danger disappears while Columbus is their. This happens when he finds what he wants to sell back in Spain. It’s the first people she created. She laughs so hard that her nose falls off again “When Coyote hears this bad idea, she starts to laugh. Who would buy humans beings, she says, and she laughs some more. She laughs so hard she has to hold her nose on her face with both hands”. While she laughs, Columbus and his men tie up the people and it doesn’t matter what age or gender. All columbus wants is something to sell. Eventually she realizes what’s happening but it’s too late. They left with the people they already had. The first people and animals were mad at Coyote for messing up the world instead of making it a better place like she’s supposed to. Coyote tries to make it better by trying to take back Columbus. Her nose falls off again, this is when Jacques Cartier is introduced and all the first people and animals make their escape. Coyote tries to tell them it’s going to be okay. However, everyone else knows how it’s going to turn out.
The book ‘A Coyote Columbus Story’ shows the true colours of colonization. Instead of Columbus looking like a hero, He’s portrayed as greedy and selfish. Coyote is a trickster, but in this story it seems like she’s the one who got tricked instead. This book shows a First Nations storytelling of Columbus’ journey to ‘India’. The book has wonderful writing, but the illustrations give a better look into what King is telling.
