Zuni Folktales · Chapter
The Foster-Child of the Deer explained
A beautiful maiden, devoted to sacred things, is visited by the Sun and becomes pregnant.
What happens
A beautiful maiden, devoted to sacred things, is visited by the Sun and becomes pregnant. She gives birth to a son and abandons him on a refuse-heap. A Deer finds the infant, raises him as her own, and he grows supernaturally fast. Hunters from Háwikuh eventually discover the herd, and the youth is recognized as the maiden's son. He is taken to the Lake of the Dead, where the gods instruct him, and he returns to his people as a wise and successful hunter.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Supernatural
The Deer acts as a supernatural foster-mother, and the Sun descends to earth, blending natural and divine elements.
Transformation and Identity
The youth transforms from an abandoned infant to a wise hunter, guided by Deer and gods, redefining his mortal identity.
Sacrifice and Consequence
The maiden sacrifices her child due to fear of shame, and the Deer sacrifices her life and guidance for the youth's future.
Characters to notice
- The Maiden
The beautiful maiden who is devoted to sacred things, loved by the Sun, and abandons her child.
- The Deer
The kind Deer who finds the abandoned infant, raises him as her own, and later guides him to the Lake of the Dead.
- The Maiden the Sun
The Sun-father who descends to earth, loves the maiden, and fathers her child.
- Páutiwa
The Sun-priest of the Sacred Drama who sits in council at the Lake of the Dead and addresses the Deer and youth.
- Shúlawitsi
The God of Fire who waves his flame around the youth to convince him of his mortal origin.
- The Priest-Chief
The maiden's father, a great priest who confronts her about the child.
Key passages
“She carefully wrapped the little baby boy in some soft cotton-wool, and in the middle of the night stole out softly over the rooftops, and, silently descending, laid the child on the sheltered side of a heap of refuse near the little stream that flows by Háwikuh, in the valley below.”
The maiden wrapped her newborn son in cotton and secretly left him on a trash heap by the stream near Háwikuh.
Depicts the maiden's desperate act of abandonment.
“Bless my delight! cried the Deer to her fawns. I have this day found a waif, a child, and though it be human it shall be mine; for, see, my children, I love you so much that surely I could love another.”
The Deer joyfully declares she will adopt the human child as her own, moved by her love for her fawns.
Highlights the Deer's compassionate and maternal nature.
“Oh, my uncle, what wouldst thou? Thou hast killed my brothers and sisters; what wouldst thou with me?”
The youth confronts his uncle, asking why he has slain his foster siblings and what he wants from him.
Shows the youth's recognition of his human kin and his grief.
“Step in boldly with me. Ladders of rushes will rise to receive you, and down underneath the waters into the great Halls of the Dead and of the Sacred Dance we will be borne gently and swiftly.”
The Deer instructs the youth to enter the lake, where rush ladders will carry them to the underworld halls of the dead.
Describes the journey to the spirit world.