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Coyote Soup Reviews

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Beginning with the story of Rabbit and Coyote, this collection of stories traces the evolution of Grandfather Sings-Alone from ministerial student to Medicine Teacher. It ends with everyone's favorite true story, Grandma's Lowanpi.

Bryce Hoffman of the Traverse City Record Eagle wrote a special article about storytellers in the area. Here are his remarks about the stories in this collection:

"Coyote Soup for the Grownup Soul doesn't come in hardcover or paperback. Instead, the collection of modern and ancient Native American stories comes only on the lips of local Cherokee storyteller Duncan Sings-Alone and lives in the minds of everyone who
hears him talk.

As he spoke at Kejara's Bridge in Lake Leelanau, the audience sat in reverie, pitched forward in their seats--hanging on every delicious word. Two hours slipped by unnoticed before Sings-Alone concluded his final story, and even then nobody left right away.
A good story will do that to people." -- Bryce Hoffman, Traverse City Record Eagle

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Being a storyteller, I am always interested in hearing others tell the tales that have fed the imaginations of many generations around the fires of the winter camps. Recently, two new releases came to me from Grandfather Duncan Sings-Alone, a Cherokee elder whose story telling abilities have entertained many people young and old throughout Turtle Island.

The first CD called, Grandpa Sings-Alone's Favorite Tales is geared toward the general listening audience, both children and adults alike.  It begins with a story of the Cherokee trickster "Rabbit" who is always bragging about his abilities.  It seems that rabbit can do everything better than anyone else.  Then came Otter. In the end, the two get into a competition. In this funny account, rabbit learns that bragging is not a good idea and most often leads to trouble.  Of course, rabbit survives the encounter.  In fact, rabbit continues to be found in many other stories of the southern woodland people.  In the last story Grandmother spider teaches us about our connections to each other.  A very important lesson in becoming a responsible human being.  This is a story that comes to us from the Hopi people of the southwest.  One of my favorites!

It is said that a story is only as good as the storyteller. Grandfather Sings-Alone helps to make these stories some of the best I have heard. His enthusiasm and gift of creating the many characters in these complicated stories is developed to an art form that few can learn or master. Sings-Alone makes the characters come alive and take on their own life in each of the stories.
In the background is the music and special effects produced by Steve Schiavi and David Allen. Steve and David add soundscape to each story, helping to draw the listener deeper into each story, giving the entire CD a very professional sound.

In Coyote Soup for the Grownup Soul Grandfather Sings-Alone adds an "adult's only" element to his stories. In this modern world of "political correctness," these stories might be better suited to the adult listener but in the old days, these stories were shared equally. Remember that they are teaching stories from a different time when people were not so sensitive. I enjoyed these stories immensely. I was caught off guard and I like that. It adds to the enjoyment of listening. I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes!

Grandfather Sings-Alone is a national treasure. He is one of the few who are actively a "Keeper of the lore." I hope that anyone might find inspiration to learn these stories and share them around the fires of winter. They teach us so much about our world. They teach us how to be good human beings; they teach us to respect one another including the other creatures of the earth mother. They teach us to have hope and seek change for the things we find out of balance with our world.

If you are a lover of stories I recommend Grandpa Sings-Alone's Favorite Tales and Coyote Soup for the Grownup Soul. They are truly soup for the soul. --Tim Spotted Wolf,
Host of "Music from the Turtles Back, DWRBC 91.5 FM

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Contact Information

Two Canoes Press, PO Box 334, Hopkinton, MA 01748 or TwoCanoesPress@TwoCanoesPress.com.

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