Reading Notes: Marriage Tales, Part A

These stories start off in such a strange way sometimes… a boy is in search of his father. He called for all the men to assemble. He chose one? Not even sure it he was the one. The mom was a buffalo cow, and changes to a woman. With a strike of a fire, she turns into a cow. She was struck and ran away with the boy.

Chickenhawk had two wives. They bite each other’s heads off?

Trying to swoon girl. Girl’s parents said no. but finally they said yes to it. She moved in. Then she was convinced to leave. There are various animals playing messenger in this story.

Killer whale by NOAA

Two girls were playing with different animal bones. An eagle appears and swoop a girl up, and a whale dragged the other girl into the sea. The girl with the eagle escaped but the eagle felt lonely and was hovering. This got him shot. The girl in the sea also escaped.

Someone was in a hunter’s home. A fox appeared but was actually a woman. She claimed to be his wife. He accepted that idea, and they lived together. The woman gave off a smell. The man pointed it out. She slipped away and never came back.

A fisherman caught a fish and asked his wife to prepare it. She went to wash her hands and was dragged into the water as revenge. A killer whale was doing this in honor of his friend. A shark volunteered to help the man get his wife back. The man got his wife back and caused the shark and whale to fight.

A woman was cheating on her husband with a snake. The husband caught them at the lake and stabbed the snake. Then he proceeded to kill his wife. He took her meat home and let his children eat her up unknowingly. Gross! They seek revenge for something I don’t understand. Then the children sent out lions to kill their father.

A young woman lived with her seven brothers, little sister, and father. The sister ran off into the woods alone, and her younger sister got curious one day. The young woman was in a relationship with a bear. The little sister went back and tattled. The bear was killed. The woman was angry at her siblings, and turned into a mad bear. A bird told the children to shoot her in the head. All the brothers and sister turned into stars.



Bibliography: Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson