Reading Notes: Reading B: Native American Marriage Tales

For the second part of the Native American Marriage Tales from the Tales of North AmericanIndians by Stith Thompson, I only had four stories to read. The last story, The True Bride was perfect. For once a story ended happily, with the evil stepmother and daughter being killed for their wrong doings to the True Bride. The first story, The Dog-Husband was a little weird. A girl becomes pregnant from her dog who would turn into a human at night. The parents of the girl kill the dog and then leave the pregnant girl all alone. The girl is able to raise her four puppies, three sons and one daughter fine. She even learns that they can become humans and teaches the boys how to hunt. The story goes on to explain how well the three boys grow up and even become chiefs but does not mention the daughter. A new story could be created off of this one, explaining how the daughter grows up and finds a husband. The real question is will she fall in love with a man or a dog? The second story was The Youth Who Joinedthe Deer. This story is about a hunter who marries a deer-woman, but he also has an Indian wife as well. The hunter has a child with the deer-woman and he can transform back and forth into a deer and human. The deer-boy ends up staying with his father’s Indian family and becoming one of them and teaching the Indian how to hunt deer properly and be respectful of them. The story never tells if the deer-boy finds a wife but I think if he were to find a wife it would be a woman who respects the deer and all wildlife like he does. The third story and the one I really want to rewrite is The Girl and the Turkey. The story follows the plot of Cinderella, where a poor girl wishes to go to a beautiful dance but cannot afford the clothes to go. She heard the turkeys and they listen to her sadness about not going to the dance, so they help her. The turkeys are like the fairy godmothers of the story and help the girl get to attend the dance and let her know that she needs to be home before daybreak or they will leave her. The girl does not make it back in time. Not only does she lose all of her pretty clothes and jewelry but she loses the turkeys, her only friend/family. I would like to change the story to where the girl does make it back in time to the turkeys. The girl could then dream of finding the perfect husband to which the turkeys could change on of their own into a rich man who wants to marry her. I like changing stories to have happy endings, because I think we have enough harsh reality in the world we live in today.

Turkey on a farm. Source: Pixabay by create219