Fox
Nez Perce · numen · Nez Perce traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Fox (tiléepe) is Coyote's inseparable companion and foil throughout the myth cycle. Wiser and more temperate than Coyote, he offers counsel that Coyote habitually disregards, and it is Fox who restores Coyote to life after each of his fatal misadventures by stepping or leaping over the scattered body, whereupon Coyote rises as though waking from sleep. Sources present the two sometimes as brothers and sometimes simply as fellow travelers.
Domains
- resurrection
- counsel
Powers
- revives the dead by stepping over the body
- counsels the headstrong Coyote
Epithets
- tiléepe — FoxHaruo Aoki, Nez Perce Dictionary (1994) (primary)
Relations
- companion: CoyoteCoyote's inseparable companion who restores him after each fatal mishap.Archie Phinney, Nez Percé Texts (1934), Coyote-and-Fox episodes (primary)
Sources
- Fox is Coyote's companion who restores him to life by stepping over his body.: Archie Phinney, Nez Percé Texts (1934) (primary); Deward E. Walker Jr. with Daniel N. Matthews, Nez Perce Coyote Tales: The Myth Cycle (1994) (secondary)