Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales-Part B

Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929)

A Girl and her Turkeys by George Fuller

The Dog-Husband: There once was a girl who had a dog best friend who would turn into a human at night. Soon she became pregnant, and when word spread people wanted to burn down her house with her in it. A crow warned her and she was able to survive and give birth to five pups, although she would be alone as her father killed her dog. They grew very fast, and eventually she caught them in the act of shape shifting into their human forms. She shamed them into staying in their human forms from then on, and taught the boys how to hunt whales. The crow again is in the story, telling the girl that the original people of her village were all evacuating. But soon the boys became the chiefs of the land, and fed all the people with whales.

The Youth Who Joined the Deer: There once was a hunter who had two wives. One of them had no kids with him, and the other a son. But one day while hunting he came across a woman and her child asking them if they had seen a deer. The woman claimed to have loved the man forever, and persisted that he should follow her. He did just that and was declared by her tribe to be her husband. However, there were only a few times in which he could "sleep" with her. Soon they asked the hunter to hunt for meat, and he actually killed his deer brother in laws. This was a system of killing the tribe, and reviving them by keeping all of the bones.

The Youth Who Joined the Deer (cont.): This method worked, and the couple lived very happily. But the wife thought it was unfair just to live with the deer people, so they went back to his village to start another life. His old human life was gone, as many thought he was dead. He taught the people his ways, including his son. Then when they decided to go back to the deer life, he asked humans to join. They decided to, as they were always able to eat. They continued to teach others how to hunt like this, and the humans and deer would forever live in harmony.

The Girl and the Turkeys: There once was a girl who was so poor that she herd turkeys for a living. The girl was unknowingly beautiful, and very kind to all, including the turkey. One day, she heard of a dance that was to be held soon, but she felt too poor and ugly to attend, despite wanting so badly to go. She would talk to her turkey friends about all of the people prepping for the event. They felt for their friend, and decided to do as their elders did and speak back to the girl. They told her how deserving she was and how they would help her go to the dance.

The Girl and the Turkeys (cont.): They warned the girl however, to never forget her turkey friends despite any good fortune that follows her. She of course agreed, and the turkeys began their work. They made her look as clean and beautiful as any wealthy person, and they even made her a beautiful white dress to wear. They then brought her jewelry that they found over the years, and she was very thankful. She then left to the dance, and of course was one of the most sought after girls for all of the chief suitors present. She was so very happy and danced all night.

The Girl and the Turkeys (end): The girl was having such a great time that she overstayed her welcome. The turkeys figured that for sure the girl had forgotten them. They were sad, and decided to run away, despite the fact that the girl was running home to them. They had gone too far ahead of her and she was unable to catch them before they left. She looked down to see that now she had gone back to looking like the turkey girl, and sadly went back to the town only to be the poor peasant girl again.

The True Bride: There once was a man with a daughter. The mother had died and he remarried, having another daughter with her. The stepmom accused her stepdaughter of being lazy. She would send the poor girl to pick berries in the winter, and girl would go anyways just to wander around and die. She in reality came across a lodge of relatives and they fed her. They gave her many fine clothes, the ability to spit gold, and a basket of strawberries for the stepmother. Of course the stepmother sent her own daughter to go get the same things, but since she was vain, they gave her nothing but the ability to spit toenails.

The True Bride (cont.): One day the prince came across the older sister, and he thought she was beautiful. When he told his dad of her spitting gold, he knew she was a worthy woman. At their wedding, she was liked by all. She soon became pregnant, but the husband was away on business. SO he trusted the stepmom to help her deliver the baby. Instead she let the baby fall into a hole and made the girl think she gave birth to a cat, who she raised up. Again she became pregnant, and the step mother did the same thing but with a snake. Now she could convince the prince to kill her and marry her daughter. After a meeting, they decided to throw the girl overboard a ship.

The True Bride (cont. again): Luckily, the relatives knew what was going on, and they saved her from death, telling her that her actual children were alive. They then turned her into a goose. Her dog had found them in the holes under the house and raised them, until the step mother found out and poisoned them. The poor dog wanted so badly to bring the boys back to life, and so he asked for help of the old woman of the sun. It took him many days to reach her, and when he did she gave him a cure as well as answers to some questions that friends of the dog wanted answers to.

The True Bride (end): The dog made it back to the boys and gave them the cure. They came back to life with symbols of the sun and moon on their heads. Soon a bird came to the dog and told him warnings of the future. Then the boys son found them, and the dog told him the truth of the real story. He was very sad that he was tricked, and imprisoned the lying stepmother and daughter. He then went to the goose and shook her to shed her goose skin and turn her back into herself. They then lived happily together as a family and hung the two step women.