Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales, Part A

Venus, the evening star, over the Pacific Ocean. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Child of the Evening Star

The first thing that struck me in this story was Oweenee, beautiful and quiet, walking alone in the woods with a sweet and dreamy expression and refusing every suitor. I really like her for that - she is sweet and gentle but strong in standing up for what she wants. She pretends to reject everyone for superficial reasons, maybe because she knows her family won't understand her, but she really rejects them because she sees flaws in their hearts.

When I found out that Osseo was actually a young and handsome prince, I was a little disappointed because I felt that the moral of the story was ruined by making Oweenee's husband beautiful when she was supposed to only care about the heart and not looks. I was surprised when she turned into an old woman, and I like that plot twist because her reaction to her transformation shows that she really doesn't care about superficial things.

I was also surprised that Oweenee's sisters and their husbands were not at all upset to be turned into birds. I guess that says something about their personalities, and there is probably supposed to be a parallel between the chatter of birds and the chatter of the sisters.

An evil magician was introduced, but nothing ever came of it, which surprised me. I thought that Oweenee's son would accidentally attract or get hit by the magician.

I liked that the son had a longing for earth. I found the description of him stretching his hands toward the earth as other children stretch their hands toward the moon or stars very beautiful. I wonder if Oweenee missed her home like that, too.

I was worried that the son would be separated from his parents, so I was relieved to find that at the end they all ended up together, and Oweenee and Osseo seemed happy to be back on earth. I wish the story had included details about what they learned on the Evening Star that they wanted to share with the people of earth.

Bibliography: American Indian Fairy Tales by W. T. Larned. Link to the reading online.