Reading Notes: Reading A: Native American Hero Tales

For this week's reading, I picked Native American Hero Tales from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. The first part of the reading only consisted of four tales. In the first tale, The Jealous Uncle, we learn about an uncle that tries to kill off his nephews when they are babies. To save one of the babies, the uncle's wife lies to him and tells the uncle that the new baby is a girl not a boy. The uncle ends up finding out that the child is a boy and not a girl. He then plots ways to kill the boy off, but the boy makes it through each test. What I do not like about the tale is that the child's parents do nothing to stop the uncle. The uncle has killed three of their sons when they were babies and then attempts to kill the only one that made it to becoming a child. This tale could be changed to have the mother, fathers, and wife of the uncle all attempt to stop the uncle from killing his nephews. Or a new tale could be created, where the aunt and mother run away with the baby before the uncle can kill them. In the second tale, Blue jay and His Companions, the tale teaches readers an important lesson about treating other kindly. In the tale, the Blue jay is mean to the Grouse and teases him, so the Grouse seeks revenge on the Blue jay. This story could be rewritten to reflect a more modern take on the moral of the tale. In the third tale, Dug-From-Ground, I was confused through the reading. I reread it multiple times and could never figure out a moral or purpose for the tale. In the final fourth tale, The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle, seemed to actually be a tale about a hero. The hero Jonayíyin killed off the giant Elk and the giant Eagle so that they could no longer kill/eat humans. But the start of the story talks about other animals that devour humans, so another tale could be created on Jonayíyin killing off another type of giant animal.

Meme about jealousy. Source: imgflip

Week 10 Story: Finding the Perfect Turkey

Only the slaves or poor people of the town, Mátsaki had the job of herding the turkeys. Sunita was a very poor girl, who took the job of herding the turkeys in town so that she could afford to eat. Sunita was beautiful but it was hard for anyone in town to notice. Since she was so poor her clothes were rags, she was always covered in grime, and her eyes had a darken sadness to them. No one in town talked with her. Sunita could only talk to the turkeys. So, she spent her days talking to the turkeys, telling them of things she wished she had, mainly a companion. Sunita cared for the turkeys very much since they were her only friends and treated them with kindness. The turkeys were very grateful for how Sunita treated them and followed any request she made. This was how Sunita carried out her days, herding the turkeys to the fields during the day and back to their cages in town to be put up for night.

Every year the town held a dance called the Dance of the Scared Bird. And every yeat Sunita became very sad during this time because she could not go to the dance. She would tell her turkeys, “If only I had nice clothes and were beautiful, then I could go to the dance, then I could find a husband. No one will ever want me with how I look.”  

The night of the dance finally arrived and as Sunita was herding the turkeys back to town the oldest male turkey stopped. Sunita went over to him and lightheartedly asked, “What is wrong? Would you like to go to the dance tonight instead of you cage? Maybe I could go with you.”

To Sunita’s surprise the eldest turkey responded, “I do not want to go to the dance. But we would like to help you go to the dance. You have always been a kind mother to us and we would like to repay you. But if we help you, you must follow the rules I set.”

Confused and a little anxious Sunita agreed but asked, “How can I go to the dance like this? I do not own any nice clothes. No one will want me there if I look like myself”

The eldest turkey said, “We can help transform you and your clothes but only for the night. You must promise to be back at sunrise to let us out of our cages as if nothing happened.” Sunita promised and the turkeys began to their work.

The eldest turkey told the others, “Remove her rags and peck at them.” So, Sunita removed her clothes. The turkeys pecked away at the rags until they turned into a beautiful dress garment.

The eldest turkey told the others, “Now make a circle around her and gently brush her with your feathers.” So, the turkeys encircled Sunita and began to brush her with their feathers. All of the grime disappeared from her body and her hard was freshly washed. Her eyes were no longer dark but sparkled with beauty and excitement.

The eldest turkey then told the other turkeys, “A beautiful women like this needs jewelry.” So, the other turkeys went up to Sunita and coughed up a necklace and a pair of earrings.  

Sunita began to weep and told the turkeys, “I will forever be grateful that you have helped me go to the dance, if only I did not have to go alone.”

The eldest turkey ponder Sunita’s comment then called out for his oldest son, Lusio. He turned to Sunita and told her, “We will change Lusio into a human for the night. He can accompany you to the dance but when you see first light of daybreak he will turn back into a turkey and you will turn back into your old self.”

Sunita stopped crying and agreed. Lusio began to walk towards Sunita and shed his turkey skin. He was the most perfect man Sunita had ever laid eyes on. He kindly grabbed her by the arm and said, “Let us go enjoy the night.”

During the dance Sunita could not keep her eyes off of Lusio. Even when the other men of the tribe came up to her and requested dances, she still watch Lusio out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to charm everyone at the dance. At the night was ending he went over to Sunita and requested one last dance. As soon as the dance was over Lusio told her, “I am sad to say the night must be over. We must hurry and get back to the cages before daybreak.”

Just before the first light of daybreak peaked out, Lusio turned to Sunita and told her, “No matter what you wear or how clean you are, I have always loved you and though you are the most beautiful human in Mátsaki. Your kind heart is truly what matters.” And he kissed her.

At that moment, the sun finally peaked out and Lusio turned back into a turkey. Sunita also turned back into her old self. As Sunita gathered the other turkeys to take them out for the day she silently cried. The turkey she knew to be Lusio went up to her and gently pecked her hand. Sunita then found the eldest turkey and asked him, “Please make me a turkey! I will never find another man like Lusio, nor will I ever find any friends that will be there for me like all of you have been.”

But the eldest turkey did not respond to her but kept on walking. Sunita took this as a sign that she would never be able to be with Lusio again. She accepted her fate and began to herd the turkeys out into the fields. But, as she walked with the turkeys out into the field she began to shed her skin and became a turkey.

An America Indian women riding a horse. Source: Flickr by Daniel Eskridge

Author’s Notes: This story comes from the Tales of North American Indians by Stith Thompson, specifically the tale of TheGirl and the Turkeys. Similar to the original tale, a poor girl is in charge of herding the turkeys back and forth from town to the fields. The girl wants to go to a dance and complains to her turkeys about it. So the night of the dance the turkeys change her into a beautiful women with new clothes and jewelry. For the first part of my story I kept the plot the same, but the turkeys did not send anyone with her to the dance in the original. The girl is actually told to be back by the morning and not to forget them or they would leave her and she would be alone. The girl does not make it back in time and the turkeys leave her. Since I am not a fan of sad stories I added the character of the turkey Lusio. I wanted to present someone she would fall in love with but I did not want her to end up happy with the people. The only time the girl seemed to be happy was when she was with the turkey so instead of changing Lusio back into a human I changed her into a turkey. I also gave my characters names. I found names of the Zuni tribe, which is the Native American tribe the story originates from. The name Sunita means gracious, a characteristic that the girl shows to the turkeys that help her out. And the name Lusio means born at daybreak, representing when the love between the two of them began. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback and ideas!