Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales, Part B

In the story "The Fairy Bride," a young girl named Neen-i-zu is the daughter of an Indian chief who lives on the shore of Lake Superior. She plays with the other girls in the village, but likes to go for walks by herself and sometimes disappears for hours. It was believed that fairies called Puk-Wudjies lived in the sand dunes she likes to explore. The fairies stayed out during the day because people do not often visit the sand hills, but disappear at night. Some fishermen and hunters have seen them and been tricked by them. Although they are not harmful, the Puk-Wudjies like to play tricks, such as misplacing people's items. Neen-i-zu heard the story of a Happy Land, a place without sorrow, and wants to find it. She believes the fairies are the way to find the Happy Land. She makes up a song asking the fairies to show her to the Happy Land and sings it. Neen-i-zu's mother wants her to marry a deer hunter, but the girls protests, saying he only cares about deer. On her wedding day, she goes to the grove to say goodbye. The sky becomes dark and Neen-i-zu does not return. The next day, a hunter says he saw her figure singing in the grove. He says she and the fairy Evergreen entered the Sacred Grove together. Neen-i-zu did become a bride.

Fairy Forest at Sunset by Ivan Bilibin

Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921)

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