Reading Notes: Mississippi Valley / Great Lakes Unit, Part B

The Deer on the Hunt. Wikimedia.

Why Deer Never Eat Men:
-all the animals gathered and discussed their source of food
-the wolf says that deer will be his main source of food
-the deer responds by saying that deer are too quick and swift, and the wolf would never be able to catch deer and eat them
-then the deer discussed that they will eat humans because there are an excess of them (specifically Indians) in the countryside
-the animals were shocked to hear the deer say this because Indians were believed to be too strong and powerful, but the deer did not care and they said that deer will eat Indians anyway and no matter what the others think because the deer didn't care
-After this one deer went hunting, he saw a few Indians in the woods and believed it would be simple to hunt them because there were so many of them
-Once the deer began stalking his prey (the Indian), the man noticed the deer was following closely
-The hunter took his bow and arrow and shot the deer, then took the deer back to his family to share the deer meat with them
-The deer had been warned and chose to ignore the warning, so since that deer would only live on grass and twigs and would never try to hunt humans again




Story source: Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes.