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Native American Stories About Marriage

Here is our collection of Native American legends and traditional stories about marriage.

Native American Marriage Stories

*The Loyal Sweetheart:
    A Passamaquoddy love story about a young couple who become engaged and remain faithful through adversity.
*The Changing of Mikcheech:
    Micmac story about a lazy bachelor who wins a wife and becomes a better man by becoming a turtle!
    (His wife follows him and becomes a turtle as well, in this version.)
*Oochigeas and the Invisible Boy * The Rough-Faced Girl * The Invisible One:
    Micmac, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy versions of the French Cinderella legend. In the Native American
variant, the heroine wins the hero's hand in marriage through her bravery and honesty.
*Pamola and the Penobscots * The Mournful Mystery of the Partridge-Witch:
    Wabanaki stories in which young spouses of spirit beings die or vanish when their families force
    them to marry another. (Note that this happens to both husbands and wives.)
The Hungry Fox and the Boastful Suitor:
    Iroquois legend about a man who is too lazy and full of himself to win a wife.
*The False Bride-Groom:
    Gros Ventre legend about two women deserting their husband when they learn he had been lying to them.
*Frog and Rabbit:
    Cree folktales about the marriage of Rabbit and Frog.
*Cleanliness and Respect:
    Oral history from a Cree elder including the tradition of arranged marriages.
*Traditional Marriage Practices:
    Audio recordings of an elder relating stories about traditional Cree marriages.
*The First Men and Women Marry:
    Blackfeet myth about how men and women first chose spouses.
*Raven and Goose-Wife:
    Athabaskan legend about an incompatible marriage between Raven and Goose.

Recommended Books of Related Native American Legends
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The Mouse Couple:
    Delightful children's book illustrating a Hopi legend about a mouse girl's search for a husband.
Love Flute:
    Picture book illustrating the story of how the elks brought the first courting flute to the Sioux.



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