# The Boy Hunter Who Never Sacrificed to the Deer He Had Slain explained — Zuni Folktales

> Chapter companion for Zuni Folktales by Frank Hamilton Cushing.

## What happens

A young hunter, cast into the river by his uncles, is rescued by a serpent maiden who guides him through a perilous journey in a hollow log to the Sun-father's mountain. There, he presents sacred plumes, receives blessings, and returns with the maiden to his home, where they marry and have twin children who grow with supernatural speed.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transformation and Identity

The serpent maiden repeatedly shifts between human and serpent forms, and the young man's journey transforms his status from outcast to blessed hunter.

### Sacrifice and Consequence

The young man's offering of plumes to the Sun-father and Moon-mother is essential for receiving blessings and straightening his 'crooked thoughts.'

### Nature and the Supernatural

The hollow log journey, the lightning shaft, and the serpent council blend natural elements with supernatural powers.

## Character check-ins

### The Young Man

The hunter who is cast into the river and guided by the serpent maiden to the Sun-father.

### The Maiden

The serpent maiden who transforms into a human, guides the young man, and later becomes his wife.

### The Rattlesnake

The serpent form of the maiden and the council of rattlesnakes that aid the young man.

### The Maiden the Sun

The Sun-father who receives the young man's sacrifice and blesses him.

### The Old Grandmother

The grandmother of the Sun who sorts the shell beads and turquoises.

## Key lines

> Instantly the grave and dignified elders, the happy-faced youths and maidens, the kind-eyed matrons, all reached up for their serpent skins, and, passing them over their persons—lo! in the time of the telling of it, the whole place was filled with writhing and hissing Serpents and the din of their rattles.

The council members transform into rattlesnakes by donning serpent skins, filling the room with snakes and noise.

_Highlights the theme of transformation and the supernatural nature of the serpent council._

> Then the Sun-father approached some pegs in the wall and from them suspended his bow and quiver, and his bright sun-shield, and his wonderful travelling dress. Behold! there stood, kindly smiling before the youth and maiden, the most magnificent and gentle of beings in the world—the Sun-father.

The Sun-father hangs up his gear and appears as a kind, magnificent being before the travelers.

_Depicts the Sun-father as a benevolent deity in Zuni mythology._

> Then the young man journeyed with the maiden southward; and on the way, with the bow and arrows the Sun-father had given him, he killed game, that they might have meat to eat.

The young man uses the Sun-father's gifts to hunt for food during their journey south.

_Shows the practical blessing of the Sun-father's gifts._

## Links

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