Reading notes: Native American Marriage Tales, Part B
The stories I read for the second half of the stories about Native American Marriage tales were reminiscent of the first one, but also were different in other ways too.
For example, in the story about the girl who falls in love with and bears the children of a dog, there is a theme — like in the previous half of the readings — that the humans and dogs have the ability to change between their human and animal form. There is also the taboo of the girl having sex with and bearing the children of the dog, even if they are together when he is in human form. One detail I found interesting was how the girl's children — a litter of puppies — turned back into humans and celebrated, singing and dancing when she would go digging for clams without them. I think it might actually be interesting to narrow in on a story of one of the dog-human children about when they learned they could switch back and forth between dog and human forms. It would be funny if their dialogue and inner thoughts change tone between the dog and human forms.
I actually didn't pick up on the European fairy tale that the story about the girl and the turkeys was supposed to remind me of — it was sort of a blend of Cinderella and Ella Enchanted (not quite a classic fairy tale) for me. The part of that story I found most impactful was where the girl and the turkeys are calling back and forth to each other, but it ends with the girl not being able to finally find the turkeys. For me, it was the height of the story's emotions. Retelling it in greater detail, with the girl as the narrator, could be fun!
Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).
For example, in the story about the girl who falls in love with and bears the children of a dog, there is a theme — like in the previous half of the readings — that the humans and dogs have the ability to change between their human and animal form. There is also the taboo of the girl having sex with and bearing the children of the dog, even if they are together when he is in human form. One detail I found interesting was how the girl's children — a litter of puppies — turned back into humans and celebrated, singing and dancing when she would go digging for clams without them. I think it might actually be interesting to narrow in on a story of one of the dog-human children about when they learned they could switch back and forth between dog and human forms. It would be funny if their dialogue and inner thoughts change tone between the dog and human forms.
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| A mother dog with her puppies. Web source: Wikimedia Commons |
I actually didn't pick up on the European fairy tale that the story about the girl and the turkeys was supposed to remind me of — it was sort of a blend of Cinderella and Ella Enchanted (not quite a classic fairy tale) for me. The part of that story I found most impactful was where the girl and the turkeys are calling back and forth to each other, but it ends with the girl not being able to finally find the turkeys. For me, it was the height of the story's emotions. Retelling it in greater detail, with the girl as the narrator, could be fun!
Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).
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