Buffalo Mama and Baby by Jim Bowen
The Piqued Buffalo-Wife: There once was a man who fathered a buffalo boy. The boy wished to find out who his father was and so he went to the tribe to find him. When he did, they went off together to find the mother. Just as the boy warned, she charged at the father... but then turned into a woman! They lived happily, but she warned him to never strike her with fire. Of course the time came where the man grew angry at her and did strike fire at her, and the child and wife turned back into buffalos. The man was sad and went to get his family back, but not without a challenge from the buffalo chief. He passed three of the four tests, but when he was failed, he was trampled. The family mourned him, and decided to look for a leftover bone in order to bring the man back. They did, and they too turned back into humans.Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman: These two women were married to a chickenhawk and had children. But one day the bear ate the head off of the doe and cooked it in a fire in front of all of the children. As payback, the deer children killed the bear cubs and gave them to the bear mom to eat. The children accidentally let it slip that she was doing so, and she began to chase them. But when they came across a river, a crane let them across by way of his neck. But when the mom came, the crane twisted its neck and made the bear fall into the river.
Splinter-Foot-Girl: There once was a large amount of warriors that dwindled down to seven. One of them was so exhausted that they had to stop for camp and hunt buffalo for food. But one of the hunters got caught up in thorns, and out of his wound came a child. They all loved her and made her many clothes. Soon a bull tribe heard of her birth and sent out for her hand in marriage, but her "fathers" were not willing to let her go. After much asking from other creatures, they finally agreed to let the girl go.
Splinter-Foot-Girl (cont.): The men became sad about the loss of their daughter, as they missed her very much. Now they were the ones who used animals to try and get the girl. They "hired" a mole and a badger to be the ones to do the job. They got the girl to agree to flee with them, but after a while she grew tired. Eventually they had to carry her. Soon, the bull realized that his wife was gone, and he angrily went after her. Soon the tree that was helping the girl, was realized by the bull. He and his bull tribe began to charge at the tree, but it was no use. Some bulls would parish and others would retreat with their now short horns.
Splinter-Foot-Girl (end): The people and girl were able to flee the tree, but then they came across a rock who wished to marry her. But the rock was awful to his wives. Unfortunately the girl was to be married to him now, and so she went. Yet again the mole and the badger were sent to rescue the girl. So they were able to trick the rock into a trap while they helped the girl flee. But the rock persisted when he got out of the trap. Overall, the girl grew tired of having to constantly run, so she and her fathers ascended to the stars.
The Eagle and Whale Husbands: There once were two girls who decided they were going to marry and eagle and a whale. The eagle carried his bride away to a steep cliff, but she was able to escape by making a string of feathers. She was able to get a boat to rescue her. When the eagle saw that she was gone, he flew over all of the houses and screamed for her to come back. But when he opened his wings people shot at him. The other girl was held hostage under the sea. Luckily, she had two persistent brothers who set out to rescue her. They were able to, but not without being chased by the whale. However, the whale chased them all the way up to the shore where he turned into bone.
The Fox-Woman: There once was a hunter who was wifeless, yet after a long day of work his house was as if he had a wife. He decided to one day pretend to leave for work but to see who did the wonderful things. Soon he saw a fox, and decided to get a closer look only to see that it was really a woman. She and him lived some part of a happy life but soon he began to smell something foul. The wife told him that it was her, and since he was so rude about it, she left him!
The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales: There once was a fishing couple who caught a killer whale. The husband got it to shore, and the wife killed it. But when she went to wash her hands in the sea, she was pulled in my whales who wanted revenge. The man was desperate to get his now enslaved wife back, and so he got help from the shark. He was able to make a large distraction with underwater fire, and place the woman back into the hands of her husband. As they fled, the shark continued to violently fight against the whales.
The Rolling Head: There once was a small family of a hunter, his wife, and two kids. The wife would go to the river to bathe and there she would meet a large snake. The husband had no idea that she did this, but she did tell him that her paint would come off when she bathed. The husband grew suspicious, and decided to follow the wife in the morning. He saw her unclothe and allow the snake to wrap around her, and so he killed them both and fed them to his children. The father left again to hunt, but the mothers head came to haunt them. Animals saw what was happening and took in the children. They had an abundance of food and even shared it with a starving tribe. the father then came, but knowing what happened he was killed by the lions.
The Bear-Woman: A very sought after woman had 7 brothers and 1 sister. He father and brothers would go hunting and she would gather wood, leaving the little sister alone. The little sister grew suspicious of her sister and saw that while gathering wood, she would go to her bear lover. She told the father who had others go and kill the bear. The older sister was livid, and now held this against the younger sister forever. But one day when they were playing, she told the little sister to not touch her in a certain place. Of course she did and the older sister turned into a bear, killing many people.
The Bear-Woman (cont.): The girl eventually came back to the little sister as a human again. The little one tried to play it cool, in order to eventually sneak off and meet the rest of the family. But the older girl caught on to the trick and chased her as a bear. They ran up a tree, but the bear followed and killed 4 of the brothers. Birds warned to shoot the bear in the head, and when they did she died. The youngest brother then shot an arrow in the sky and revived the other four. They decided it was best to now live in the sky as stars.
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