Week 10 Reading Notes Native American Tales, Reading A

("Buffalo," Web Source: Wikimedia) 

The story I found very fascinating was The Piqued Buffalo Wife. In this story, a human man somehow has sex with a female buffalo. I have no idea how that happens. The buffalo gets pregnant from human sperm. The child grows up and wants to look for his father. He looks literally everywhere. Finally, he finds his father. His father is happy to see his child and wants to see the mother. I wonder why he did not want to be with the mother beforehand. The child insists that the female buffalo will hook him four times and that will be okay. He just needs to be straight. He does as his child insists. The female buffalo turns into a human. She tells him that he cannot throw fire on her. One day he is upset and does so. His wife and child turn into buffalo and calf. Later on, he is very sad. He misses them and feels bad. He looks everywhere for them. He sees the buffalo tribe. The buffalo tribe ask him to identify his child. If so, then he can have them. His child says he will do a sign and that will help him recognize his son. He does many different signs. He must recognize him not only one time but 4 times. The last sign was a dance. However, the other calfs thought this sign, a dance, was fun, so they all joined in. The father had to make a random guess on that and got it wrong. When he got it wrong, the buffalos trampled him. He died. The wife buffalo and child were very sad. Essentially someone else pitied them, and they helped him live once again. Then, they turned into the Matoki society. I would want to retell this story but make it more emotional with more direct quotes. 

Bibliography:Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson