Blackfoot Discoveries: Blackfoot Stories: The First Marriage

Our summary of "The First Marriage" told by:
Tanja, Allysa & Shayla

A long time ago the men and the women didn't live together. One day a woman came to tell the men that the women were going to choose their husbands. The men got changed before they went to the women's camp. Na'pe was all fancy in cool clothes. The Chief of the Women was dressed in muddy, dirty clothes and when she picked Na'pe to be her husband , he pulled away because he thought that she was just a common woman and he wanted to be the husband of the Chief of the Woman. She went back to the women and said, "Don't pick old man Na'pe for your husband."
When she came back she was all fancy and Na'pe kept jumping out in front of her to get her attention so she would pick him. No one picked Na'pe! The Chief of the Women turned Na'pe into a tree and is angry to this day.

What did we hear in this story that we have heard in other stories?

• Na'pe is a trickster and full of fun until the end of the story when he gets mad.
• The animals come to help the Blackfoot.
• The animals and everything in Nature usually talks.

We think the story was told so that...

• The children will not look just on the outside of their hearts but look on the inside instead.
• The children would know not to judge other people by the way that they look.
• They would know to "Not mess with Woman!"