Thomas Doty – Storyteller
Doty & Coyote Stories – Digital Editions
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What the Elders Say "I pray that Tom lives for a long, long time so that generations ahead can hear these stories." "May your path be easy. Continue telling our stories. Keep our Spirit alive." Agnes Baker Pilgrim (Taowhywee), Takelma Elder, Spiritual Leader, International Indigenous Grandmother "Thomas Doty is a cultural treasure. From the Black Hills of South Dakota, to the deserts of the Southwest, to the Oregon Country, he is the best spinner of native myths I have ever heard. And I've heard quite a few." Dr. John M.H. Kelly, Skidegate Haida Elder, Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa |
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New Native Stories Here are the adventures of Doty the storyteller and his mostly-mythic, semi-wise trickster pooch, Coyote. Sauntering through their native homeland, they visit Old Time villages, attend ancient ceremonies, walk through history, and decipher rock carvings and paintings. They meet Rock Old Woman, Mister Bear, the ghost of John Beeson, Digging Stick Woman, Gwisgwashan the Keeper of Stories ... and many others. Illustrated, Digital Editions are high quality PDFs. Read them online, download them to your device, add them to your favorite reading app (Books, Kindle, Nook), or print them out. |
All Night Salmon Leap the Falls
Doty and Coyote meet the spirit of the poet called Lampman in an old house in the woods. The three of them walk back through time to participate in the Sacred Salmon Ceremony at Ti'lomikh, an ancient village along the Rogue River. 15 page PDF, 3.8 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Breath of the Earth
As Doty and Coyote take shelter out of a January wind, Doty tells the story of one of his more spiritual walks, from the Rogue River up Lower Table Rock into the mythic world of the Takelmas. Here he experiences Old Time stories about the great flood, the origin of death, and the power of this sacred place. 14 page PDF, 2.3 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
The Day Tule Lake Came Back
Doty and Coyote and Fox Girl join Coyote Old Man, Bear, and Basket Woman on a journey through the Klamath Lake country in search of creation stories. 20 page PDF, 4.5 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Doty Meets Coyote
In their first story together, Doty the storyteller and Coyote, his canine sidekick, become best friends and journey from their home into the Cascade Mountains. At Lake of the Woods, Doty gives a dramatic campfire telling of a Crater Lake myth, and Doty and Coyote climb to the summit of Mount McLoughlin. 15 page PDF, 2.5 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Five Nights at Medicine Rock
Guided by Mister Coyote, Doty journeys into the high country in search of an Old Time vision quest site on a ridge above the Rogue River. This story chronicles the native history of the rock through five nights of dreams, from the Rock People to a contemporary museum exhibit. 12 page PDF, 2.9 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Following Mister Bear
Doty and Coyote follow Bear into Oregon Caves and discover a magical world of timeless voices and ancient stories. 15 page PDF, 2.9 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Go Gather Seeds and Eat Them
Outside the Ashland Food Co-op, Doty and Coyote listen to an old man tell a story that has them in it. At the height of a wild snowstorm in the Siskiyou Mountains, Doty visits the lodge of the Digging Stick Women, and he listens to Gwisgwashan, the Keeper of Stories, tell an Old Time myth about Panther and his brother Wildcat. 16 page PDF, 3.4 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
John Beeson's Ghost
During the Rogue Indian War of the 1850s, John Beeson stood up for the rights of Indians. He was driven from his home by death threats, eventually becoming a national voice for native rights. On a quest to discover the peace-loving spirit of Beeson, Doty visits Beeson's grave in Stearns Cemetery. At night. Under a full moon. With Coyote lurking in the shadows. And he waits for "something unusual to happen." 15 page PDF, 4.2 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Latgawa
In December, Doty takes a five day trek to a winter solstice site in the Cascade Mountains. As he struggles with his desire to live a spiritual life, and the "messy business of the real world getting in the way," his journey becomes a personal vision quest as he is visited by several stories and, of course, Mister Coyote. 15 page PDF, 2.7 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Long Walk Home
Doty and Coyote are joined by Coyote's grandmother in a walk from the Siletz Indian Reservation to their homeland along the Rogue River. Following a Trail of Tears in reverse, this journey through landscape and time is edged with unsettling revelations. 15 page PDF, 3.7 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Night of Ghosts, Night of Stories
Doty, self-appointed old west wordsmith, and his legendary sidekick, Cowpoke Coyote, arrive by stagecoach at the Rock Point Hotel, along the Rogue River. Among trees and tombstones, a green fog forms in the nearby cemetery. Doty and Coyote step through the door and into a spooky night of stories. 14 page PDF, 2.4 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
On Younger Daldal's Back
On Lower Table Rock, a short walk in the fog takes Doty and Coyote to the edge. 6 page PDF, 1.6 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Remembering Fire
Along the Illinois River of southern Oregon, in the scorched aftermath of the Biscuit Fire, Doty and Coyote meet an old man who tells them stories about fire. 14 pages PDF, 2.6 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Return to the Village
Doty follows a white deer to a cave above the North Umpqua River where he finds Coyote, Bear, and Panther, acting out an Old Time story. Doty joins in. 19 pages PDF, 4.7 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Ribs of the Animal
Doty borrows Coyote's buckskin bag of magical masks and makes seasonal treks to the Table Rocks, the center of the Takelma universe, where most anything is possible. 17 pages PDF, 4.4 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
The Storyteller of Buckhorn Springs
On the winter solstice, Doty and Coyote and Fox Girl meet Gwisgwashan and her storyteller friends at Buckhorn Springs in southern Oregon. One night, everyone gathers in front of the fire in the lodge, and act out the story of this sacred place of healing. 16 pages PDF, 3.3 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Story Tree at Kilchis Point
Doty searches for a legendary tree where stories are stored. He meets a menagerie of characters ... South Wind, Wild Woman, Ice Man, Bashō and, of course, Coyote. During a Mythtime moment, the tree receives a native story. 16 page PDF, 4.2 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Trek to Table Mountain
Doty and Coyote visit an aging anthropologist who lives in an abandoned fire lookout in the Cascades. The old man describes how he discovered the power of stories he spent a lifetime collecting. As winter settles in, he tells an Old Time myth about the first war when Jackrabbit clearcut the forests. 16 page PDF, 3.4 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
The Truths of Trees
Doty and Coyote travel into the redwoods in search of a tree in a photo from Doty's youth. Encouraged by masterful taunts from his trickster friend, Doty journeys deep into the relationship he and the Old Ones share with the ancient race of Tree People. 15 page PDF, 2.5 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Voices of the Rock People
Doty and Coyote and an old man journey across the dry lakebed of Fern Ridge Reservoir, following the old course of Coyote Creek. Along the way, they meet Coyote's grandmother, and another Doty and Coyote. The two coyotes act out a story about the Frog People. 15 page PDF, 2.6 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Waiting for Rock Old Woman
Doty and Coyote wait for the return of the spirit of an Old Time Takelma medicine woman. At an ancient creek crossing, they witness centuries of stories pass by, and then they walk the old Indian trail up Sexton Mountain to the traditional home of Rock Old Woman. 13 page PDF, 2.9 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
We Who Watch the River
Doty and Coyote journey up the Columbia River. Coyote has numerous adventures. He meets a man with no mouth, and Tsagiglalal (She Who Watches), and The Old Man of the Dalles. For a brief while, he becomes the Sun's assistant, before Doty and Coyote return to the mouth of the river. 16 page PDF, 2.8 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
When Animals Talk
Trapped in a museum after hours, Doty and Coyote wander through the night and experience Mythtime in the high desert. They visit the Rollhead Owl People, the Otter People, the Porcupine People, and listen to their stories. 14 page PDF, 4.4 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Where Koomookumpts Sleeps
In this Doty & Coyote prequel, Doty tells a childhood story of his first trek to Koomookumpts' Bed at Tule Lake, home of the Modoc creator. 8 page PDF, 1.6 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
Where the Sun and Moon Live
With a mysterious young man as a guide, Doty and Coyote travel underground through lava caves to the center of the Modoc universe. They experience Old Time myths of the sun, moon and stars, witness the supernova of 1054, and visit a sacred solstice site. 15 page PDF, 3.3 MB. Digitally signed, with drawings by the author. |
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