Maid of the Mist

For my folktale, i chose an Indian folktale called Maid of the Mist. It is a tale about a young beautiful girl that loses her husband and all hope. It seems as if she is trapped in her own saddness and cannot find her way out. Until finally, her canoe gets caught in the water and as a result she gets hurled into the water. Luckily, the thunder god, Heno caught her and took her back to his home. Heno and his sons tended to the maiden until her heart could heal. The youngest of Heno's sons began to fall in love with the young girl and they married and had a son of their own. Then, she found out that there was a snake that was going to poison her people and she wanted to return to them and warn them of the evil snake. She told them to stay away from the water and move to higher ground. So they did. When the snake returned it was very angry and Heno heard the vicious cries of the snake and killed it with one thunderbolt. The snakes body became lodged in the water making a large semi circle and forcing it to deflect large amounts of water into the falls. Heno tried to fix the water but it was too late.

In this folktale, there were many examples of archetypes. The most obvious one being the maiden. The young girl was no longer married and helpless. She needed a man to come save her from her grief. The hero (monomyth) would be Heno the thunder god that saved her. The trickster would be the snake that wanted to poison the village. Also the snake stands for the decietfulness and vengefulness.

This folktale was clearly Native American. It has a distinct Native American feel to it and refers to nature as they did often. In the story, the gods pertained to nature (heno). It also could be written from a somewhat christian perspective because Heno, the god, saved the village and over powered and punished the snake just as God did with Satan.