Essay for Week 9: Gobble Gobble!!

This week I read the Native American Marriage Tales. I thought that it was okay. I know that a lot of the Native American stories involve animals and nature, however, I was not expecting all of the partially animal/partially human characters. Almost every story had one of them! I also don't really understand how someone can fall in love with an animal. Not my favorite part of the stories. However, I felt really bad for how they were treated. For instance, in The Dog-Husband, the parents and the rest of the town kill the dog the girl was in love with, and tried to kill her by leaving her in a house to be burned to a crisp. All because she loved the dog/man and was pregnant with his child. I guess it doesn't really fit the image of the ideal family. I also really liked the Girl and the Turkeys story. It definitely had a Cinderella vibe going on. I liked that the turkeys were almost like the fairy godmother character. It seemed very fitting that they would try to do something to help make her life a little better since she had taken care of them for so long. I think I liked that better than the fairy godmother that had never even met Cinderella. It made the act seem more loving and meaningful. This unit was not really my favorite, however I think it was a good choice. The stories, although I thought it was a little strange, really let me grasp a little bit of the Native American cultures. It was really nice that I got to read stories from multiple tribes. I got a chance to compare and contrast all of the different tribes. Overall, it was an okay unit to read, but I got a lot out of it.

Male North American Turkey via Wiki Commons

Storytelling Week 9: Puppy Love

Golden Retriever Puppies via  Flickr

I fell in love with Spot. 

I know what you are thinking. "Ew that is a dog!," but Spot was a shapeshifter. He was a dog in the day, but changed into a man at night. We had been friends ever since we were kids. My parents always hated him, they thought less of him because of his physical appearance. As we grew older, we grew closer, and I fell in love with him. I use the word fall very heavily. I didn't chose this like you do not choose to trip and fall. It just happened. I had no control over what I was feeling. Anyway, when I turned sixteen, I became pregnant. When my parents found out they about died. They disowned me and kicked me out. They said, "Do not come back, if you dare to try, we will kill you." So I went from town to town looking for a job. Eventually I got one in a small diner and settled in. While working in the diner, I saw Spot on the television. I turned up the volume to hear that he was murdered a couple days earlier by one of my relatives. Apparently, they had heard about the new life that was inside of me. I was completely distraught. How was I going to take care of this child if everyone is rejecting it's parents? They had even gone to the lengths of killing the father. I packed my stuff up that night and ran. I haven't looked back since. I gave birth to triplets. Rose, Tyler, and Spot Jr. They are my sunshine on a rainy day. I love them so much! However, they take after their dad. They were all born puppies. I didn't even know that they could change into humans until I caught them by surprise one afternoon when they were around five years old! I told them that they are to never be in their canine form again. They are to remain human. So they did as they were told and now they have each become important members of the city. Rose grew up to be a teacher. She is the sweetest thing and she loves every child she works with. Tyler became a doctor. He works with the elderly and does his best to improve their quality of life. Spot Jr. became the town mayer. He keeps this town in order and is the best mayer this town has ever seen. Although my children did not start off with the greatest lives, I did my best to provide for them. I have to say I think I did a pretty good job! I am so proud of my babies! 

Author's Note: I kept my story pretty similar to the original story. I had the girl tell the story and changed the fact that her parents tried to actually kill her and were the ones to kill the dog-husband. Also in the end of the original, the boys become chiefs of the people and hunt food (whales) for their citizens. I thought that I would include the sister and would give all of them more modern occupations.

Bibliography: Dog-Husband from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). From the North American Marriage Tales Unit.

Reading Diary: Native American Marriage Unit

Native American Marriage Unit

The Fox-Woman

I think this story was pretty interesting. My biggest question is: Why did the fox think that she was the hunter's wife? She performed all of the wife's duties without the hunter ever knowing who she was. I felt pretty bad for her when the hunter questioned her musty smell. I don't think the hunter really told her she had to leave, but if it bothered you so much I guess that puts a damper on the relationship. I would have just given her some soap to see if it solved the issue. 

The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales

This story was very short and sweet. I was really surprised that the shark was the good guy in this story. They usually seem so menacing that they are given an antagonist role in most stories. He was really clever in creating the smoke underwater (don't get me started on how that would work) to create a distraction to give the man his wife. The shark seemed like a very chivalrous and selfless guy. I really hope that the shark won the fight against the killer whales and came out of the fight unharmed.

The Dog-Husband

All of the partially animal and partially human creatures are kind of weird to me. It is even weirder that all of these people are falling for animals without realizing that they are part human. If those pups/kids could be human whenever they wanted, why would they hide it from their mother? How would they hide it from their mother? I can never get away with anything. My mom always knows. It would be pretty intense hiding something like that for years.

The Youth Who Joined the Deer

I was not expecting a hunter and a deer to get married. That just wasn't something that made since to me. However, I guess they have nothing to fear if they just need their bones back in the water to become alive again. If this is what establishes a great relationship between deer and hunter, perhaps I should tell my dad and my brothers. They hunt deer, and this might just help them be more successful in their hunting trips.

The Girl and the Turkeys

I can definitely see the Cinderella vibe in this story. There may not be an evil stepmother or even evil stepsisters, but there are a lot of turkeys. None of them are evil, they are her friends. They are the "fairy godmother" character in this story to help make their Cinderella's dreams come true. She just cannot forget her turkey friends. Unfortunately she did forget her turkey friends. She lost all of the turkeys and became the poor girl in rags for the rest of the story. Not as happy as Cinderella's ending.