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

Reading Notes: Reading A: Native American Marriage Tales

For this week’s reading I picked the Native American Marriage Tales from the Tales of North American Indians by Stith Thompson. For my final portfolio project, I have focused my stories over romance tales that have animals, so the marriage tales drew me in with hopes of animals and love stories. One of the tales I really enjoyed was the tale of The Fox-Woman. In the tale, a hunter has “secret admirer”, the fox-woman, who cleans and cooks while he is away hunting but at first, he does not know who it is. When the hunter finally catches the fox-woman in action she tells him that she is his wife, they live happily until the husband complains that the wife smells. When the woman hears this, she gets upset, turns back into a fox and leaves. There are two things I think this tales needs. The first is an explanation of how the fox-woman fell in love with the hunter, and what lead to her wanting to become his wife. The second is changing the ending to the hunter and fox-woman living happily together. Another tale that caught my attention was the tale of The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales. In the tale, a man accidently catches a killer whale so him and his wife cook it up to eat. This angers the other killer whales who then steal the wife. The husband is able to get his wife back from the help of a shark. The tale gives a different perception of sharks being seen as a villain to the actual hero of the tale. However, in the tale, the shark is not rewarded for helping the husband and wife. As a thank you the husband and wife could over a beautiful daughter to become the shark’s wife. Another aspect of the Native American tales is that some of the women are forced into marrying, men (mainly animals) that are mean and that they do not want to be married too. Usually the family has to plan a rescue mission to help save them like in the tales of The Eagle and Whale Husbands and Splinter-Foot-Girl. These tales could be changed to where the animals become respectable suitors, and both actually want to marry each other. But it could also have a Romeo and Juliet twist of the family not wanting the marriage to happen.

A fox in a meadow. Source Max Pixel 

Week 9 Story: The Princess Chooses a Husband

The spider had successfully presented the fire from heaven to Nzambi, so that he could have Nzambi beautiful daughter in marriage. But the tortoise, the woodpecker, the rat, and the sandfly angrily disagreed. All of the animals had helped the spider get the fire and felt that the beautiful princess should be their wife. When Nzambi heard the animals fighting over her daughter she came up with a plan to solve the quarrel.

“Since all of you helped retrieve the fire, you all have a right to marry my daughter. Therefore, the princess will get to pick from the five of you to decide which of you will become her husband,” Nzambi told the animals.  The princess had each of the animals come forward and explain to her why they should be her husband.

The spider went first. The spider explained, “My beautiful princess I will make sure that you will always have the finest clothes made from my personal silk.”  

The tortoise went second. The tortoise explained, “While fine clothes may seem nice, I can offer you the comfort of a home for travels. We can venture around the world while I carry our home on my back.”

The woodpecker went third. The woodpecker explained, “Princess, I can fashion you anything your heart desires from wood. I can make you a home as big as you would like.”

The rat went fourth. The rat explained, “The other animals talk about making you possessions but I can retrieve any possession you would like.”

The sandfly went last. The sandfly explained, “Everyone talks of things that can give to you princess, but I promise to always love you and treat you as a queen.”

The princess thanked the animals and told them, “All of you have been able to promise me things for my hand in marriage but the sandfly knows what is really important in a marriage. Things can come and go but knowing you are always loved by is a women true desire for her marriage. Therefore, I choose to marry the sandfly.”

A spider web in the middle of a barbwire heart. Source: Pixabay by Baerenfein 

Author’s Notes: This story comes from the Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by R.E. Dennet and the specific tale of HowThe Spider Won and Lost Nzambi’s Daughter. In the tale, a spider wants to marry the beautiful princess of Nzambi. Nzambi will not let anyone marry her daughter unless they present her with fire from heaven. So, the spider enlists the help of the other animals so that he can get the fire. In the original tale, the animals argue over who should get to marry the princess once they present the fire to Nzambi. Nzambi then decides that none of the animals will get to marry the princess and the princess becomes an old maid. I did not like this ending so I changed it to where the princess gets to choose between the animals. I liked the idea of each animal saying what they could get the princess but having one only promise to love the princess. I chose to have the sandfly as the animal promising love because he is the smallest of the animals and did not have much to offer. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback and ideas!