I’m going to tell you
a story about why the
Tricksters no longer
talk to each other.
They say long ago
that the animals used
to talk together, just
like people do today.
One day, Rabbit,
Coyote, Raven,
Spider, Buzzard
and Fox all took
seats around
a table together
for the first time
in a long while
eying each other warily.
Finally, Fox cleared
her throat and said,
Thanks for coming—
As you know,
the point of today’s
faculty meeting
is to decide who
among us gets a
merit raise this year.
Trickster Story appears in the Fall 2019 issue of North Dakota Quarterly
© Jenny L. Davis. All rights reserved.
Jenny L. Davis (Chickasaw) is a Two-Spirit/queer Indigenous writer and professor of American Indian Studies and Anthropology. Her creative work has been featured in literary journals including the Santa Ana River Review; Transmotion; Anomaly; Broadsided; and as well as anthologies such as As/Us; Raven Chronicles; and Resist Much/Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance.
Author of Talking Indian: Identity and Language Revitalization in the Chickasaw Renaissance uapress.arizona.edu/book/talking-indian
