-------------------- CH'SIITCING -- COYOTE ----------------------

ch'siitcing -- coyote (coyote page at U of Michigan)

Pronunciation:
  Like "ch-SEE-chung" (Listen)
  In Rose Ray's dialect it is pronounced like "SEE-chung" (Listen)

Etymology:
  ch'sii is related to the word for "coyote" in some of the closely related languages.
  -tcing is a suffix indicating "kind of thing" or "something like".
  ch'siitcing then means "a coyote kind of thing".

Culture:

  Ch'siitcing is one of the most important trickster characters in Cahto stories.

  Ch'siitcing is the star of numerous tales including*:
    The Securing of Fire
    How Coyote and Skunk Killed Elk
    Coyote and the Gambler
    Coyote Competes with Grey Squirrels
    Coyote Tricks the Girls
  
  In the stories Ch'siitcing is clever, brazen, boastful, lazy, lecherous, and absolutely unkillable.

  Ch'siitcing were sometimes killed by the Cahto, but were not eaten. Coyote leg sinews were used in the ritual to "poison" or curse an enemy.

  Ch'siitcing uuyaashtc (coyote puppies) were sometimes raised as pets, and ch'siitcing were sometimes bred with regular dogs to improve the blood-line.

Related Languages:

  Wailaki: ky'isee, shibee
  Lassik: ky'ithee, ky'isee, siibee
  Southern Sinkyone: sleetcing, shibee
  Northern Sinkyone: shibee, kyinditcing, sleetcing, t'oosghaaltci
  Nongatl: t'ooslhghaalhtci
  Bear River: 'isiitcing
  Mattole: 'isiitcing
  Hupa:xontehL-taw, tL'o:q'-nahL'awh
  

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*Note that so far the spellings in the stories have not been updated to show the sound ng.