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Female Skinwalkers Indiana


Chris Talbert

Paranormal Novice
When I lived in Shelby County, Indiana, for a few years I found that most local legends were the same except for a different local.

One odd legend I heard was that in the southern part of the area, in the early settlement days contained a group of native american holdout women. The twist was that these women could turn themselves into deer?

Is this a unique legend or is this one of those things that just gets passed around to dozens of communities? Is this story common lore or unique?
 
Cool find that's news 2 me! Anyone else hear anything similar from the region? How about you do some in-depth research, corroborate it if possible and then post what you've found? :cool:
 
The_Deer_Woman.jpg

There are many variations on the traditional tales of the Deer Woman and her role in the stories of various Indiginous populations. Research returned me again and again to a specific anthropologist who wrote. "Deer Women and Elk Men." Her story is very interesting and worth noting for its own sake just to see some of the struggles involved in documenting the culture you have a passion for. Her name was Beautiful Day Woman - that's a good name.

Ella Cara Deloria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A review of her work: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1818&context=greatplainsquarterly

"The story of Deer Woman is a puberty narrative for our traditions. She teaches us the correct way of behaving, and especially the correct use of our sexuality in terms of our marriage rites. The Lakota have Deer Woman and Elk Man narratives very similar to our Deer Woman stories. The gist of the story is that the Deer Woman is very beautiful, very enticing. It's easy for you to fall in love with her. If you notice that she's a deer, you look down at her feet and you can see that instead of feet she has hooves, and then you think, "Oh, this is Deer Woman, and I know who I'm dealing with." So you're okay because you're able to think, "I recognize who she is." But if you don't recognize who she is, you become totally enchanted with her, completely enspelled by her, and she drives you to madness, and some say prostitution, and illness or disease which is a break with the community. That is a little bit about the Deer Woman character and what she means to us. It's called Deer Hunter, and it has a short preface from Grandmothers of the Light by Professor Paula Gunn Allen."

From: Mythic Imagination Institute


"The Deer Woman, sometimes known as the Deer Lady, is a shape-shifting woman in Native American mythology, in and around Oklahoma, the Western United States and the Pacific Northwest. She allegedly appears at various times as an old woman, or a young beauitful maiden, or a deer. Some descriptions assign her a human female upper body and the lower body of a white-tailed deer.

The Deer Woman is said to sometimes be seen as a beautiful woman just off the trail or behind a bush, calling to men to come over. Deer Woman is often said to have all the features of a normal young woman, except her feet which are shaped like deer hooves and her brown deer's eyes. Men who are lured into her presence often notice too late that she is not a natural woman and are then stomped to death. Other stories and traditions describe the sighting of Deer Woman to be a sign of personal transformation or a warning. Deer Woman is also said to be fond of dancing and will sometimes join a communal dance unnoticed leaving only when the drum beating ceases."

From: Deer Woman (mythology) - Villains Wiki - villains, bad guys, comic books, anime
 
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Wow, Burnt State! You didn't have to write all that!!! But, thank you very much.

I have started some research. A stop by local historical society and library today was made to learn their process and to get strange looks.
 
You're welcome, Chris. I very much enjoy aboriginal traditional stories as transformation and metamorphosis are frequently features. Shapeshifting is really just a state of mind.
 
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I got a verbal lead from an old friend. He said he read a related Shelby County story in this book.

Hoosier Folk Legends - Google Books

It involves a hunter wounding and tracking a deer only to discover a cabin, with a bullet wounded girl inside I can't read the story through google books. The book is cheap, used, on Amazon. The book has a lot of hooky stuff in it, judging by the table of contents. But, for that price I can't go wrong.

Is the story above a TYPICAL rural legend? Sounds like an "old country" play off werewolf tales? Is it worth following up?

The story appears to be collected through the WPA during the depression. The archives are located at IU about 40 miles from where I live.

Celebrating New Deal Arts and Culture - 80 Years since the Crash!

Should I make a visit and get more strange looks?

Called the Shelby County historical society. They had no knowledge of the legend, but they said they can't reveal the location of the petroglyphic boulder, because it is on private land and has been vandalized? I didn't know about this boulder? Could the rock be related?
 
Mr. Talbert can you point me to a book on local history / folklore of Shelby County or the area of Indiana you mentioned that discusses these female were-dear? Thanks in advance.
 
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