They have been part of the North American landscape for a long, long time. An interesting DNA study I found, done in 2016, indicated that coyotes and Asian wolves diverged from a common ancestor about 117,000 years ago. It is known that wolves and coyotes follow nomadic peoples because there are food scraps to be had. Coyotes today also have DNA elements of the Tibetan wolf and the Mongolian wolf which further supports this theory. Native American cultures knew the coyote well.

Source: Daily Sun January 16, 2020 05:03 UTC