Coyote Nature-Spirit (Maya)
In Maya belief the coyote is a nawal, a spirit companion and shape-shifting trickster of the forest's edge. K'iche' narrators tell how the coyote drums its ribs like a heart-beat to lure prey within reach, and its cunning marks it as a guardian of the boundary between village and wild, roaming the night world of caves, cenotes and the rain god's domain.