Coyote (Ban) is the trickster of Akimel O'odham narrative, present from the creation as a companion and foil to Earth Doctor and Elder Brother. He is among the handful of beings who survive the flood, riding it out in a hollow log or length of reed. Restless, greedy, and clever, he alternately aids and disrupts the ordering of the world: his meddling is blamed for imperfections of creation such as the scattering of the stars and the entry of death, and he recurs across a wide cycle of shorter tales as both dupe and deceiver.