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'{{short description|Spirit in various forms of Native American mythology}} {{Other uses|Deer Woman (Masters of Horror)}} '''Deer Woman''', sometimes known as the '''Deer Lady''', is a spirit in [[Native American mythology]] whose associations and qualities vary, depending on situation and relationships. To women, children, and men who are respectful of women and children, she is associated with fertility and love. However, to those who have harmed women and children, she is vengeful and murderous, and known to lure these men to their deaths. She appears as either a beautiful young woman with deer feet, or a deer.<ref name="DW">{{cite web|title=Deer Woman|url=http://www.native-languages.org/deer-woman.htm|website=Native Languages|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> ==In Native American traditions== Deer Woman stories are found in multiple [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American]] cultures, often told to young children or by young adults and preteens in the communities of the [[Oceti Sakowin]], [[Ojibwe]], [[Ponca]], [[Omaha people|Omaha]], [[Cherokee]], [[Muscogee]], [[Seminole]], [[Choctaw]], [[Otoe]], [[Osage Nation|Osage]], [[Pawnee people|Pawnee]], and the [[Iroquois]] - and those are only the ones that have documented Deer Woman sightings.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Russow|first1=Kurt|title="Gazing at Her Cloven Feats:" Mythic Tradition and "The Saccred Way of Women" in Paula Gunn Allen's "Deer Woman"|journal=Femspec|date=2013|volume=13|issue=2|pages=25–39, 97}}</ref> In [[Ojibwe]] tradition, she can be banished through the use of chanting and tobacco. Others claim that the spell she casts can be broken if one notices her cloven hooves.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dunn|first1=Carolyn|title=Deer Woman and the Living Myth of Dreamtime|url=http://www.endicott-studio.com/articleslist/deer-woman-and-the-living-myth-of-dreamtime-by-carolyn-dunn.html|website=Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts|access-date=17 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207012414/http://www.endicott-studio.com/articleslist/deer-woman-and-the-living-myth-of-dreamtime-by-carolyn-dunn.html|archive-date=7 February 2016|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Other stories and traditions describe the sighting of Deer Woman as a sign of personal transformation or as a warning. Deer Woman is said to be fond of dancing and will sometimes join a communal dance unnoticed, leaving only when the drum beating ceases.<ref name=LW>LaDuke, Winona ''Last Standing Woman'' Page 243 Published by Voyageur Press, 1997 {{ISBN|0-89658-452-6}} Accessed via google Book October 12, 2008</ref><ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20160206235000/http://www.endicott-studio.com/articleslist/where-the-white-stag-runs-boundary-and-transformation-in-deer-myth-by-ari-berk.html Where the White Stag Runs:]}} Boundary and Transformation in Deer Myths, Legends, and Songs by Ari Berk Realms of Fantasy magazine, 2003</ref> ==Similar creatures== The Deer Women show characteristics and traits of both sirens and succubi. The [[siren (mythology)|siren]], according to the Theoi Project, are monstrous sea nymphs that lure men to their deaths with their song.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sirens|url=http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Seirenes.html|website=Theoi Project-Greek Mythology|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> Succubi, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, are "demons who take female form who have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep"; constant contact with a [[succubus]] can result in failing health or death for the man.<ref>{{cite web|title=Succubus|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/succubus|website=Merriam-Webster|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> [[Fiura]], of the Chiloé region of Chile, causes deformation in anyone who looks upon her and will cast spells to confuse young woodsmen into sleeping with her.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Popovic|first1=Mislav|title=Trauco and Fiura|url=http://traditionscustoms.com/strange-traditions/trauco-and-fiura|website=Traditions and Customs|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> La [[Patasola]], literally "one footed", is a shape-shifter from the Antioquia region of Colombia who takes the form of a beautiful woman to lure men with her cries of fear; when the men (who are often causing harm in one way or another to the rain forest) come to her, she drops her beautiful mask and slaughters them in an effort to protect the forest.<ref name="The Legend of La Patasola">{{cite web|last1=Hede|first1=Marcela|title=The Legend of La Patasola|url=http://hispanic-culture-online.com/the-legend-of-la-patasola.html|website=Hispanic Culture Online|access-date=17 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118101235/http://hispanic-culture-online.com/the-legend-of-la-patasola.html|archive-date=18 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> La [[Tunda]], another nature spirit from Colombia, lures people of all walks of life to them with their song and then drains them of blood; La Tunda can also shape-shift, but she will always have a single leg of a [[molinillo (whisk)|molinillo]] that she is very careful to hide.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bane|first1=Theresa|title=Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|page=324}}</ref> The Brazilian [[Iara (mythology)|Iara]] are beautiful warrior mermaids who, when found by a man, will charm him with her voice and beauty and either drown him, or turn him into something like her and make him her lover.<ref>{{cite web|title=Iara: Brazil's Lady of the Lake|url=http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/iara|website=Rejected Princesses|access-date=16 November 2016}}</ref> [[La Llorona]] ("the crier"), who is found in Mexico and the Southwest United States, is a female ghost who will kidnap the souls of children, effectively killing them, and whose cries bring irrevocable sorrow. Sighting La Llorona spells death for someone within the week.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Moran|first1=Mark|last2=Sceurman|first2=Mark|title=La Llorona - The Phantom Banshee|url=http://www.weirdus.com/states/texas/local_legends/la_llorona/index.php|website=Weird US|publisher=Weird NJ Inc|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> While all these spirits will lure away and/or hurt others, they also have various physical oddities. The Deer Woman has hooves. Sirens are bird from the chest down. Succubi were originally portrayed as hideous and demonic. La Patasola has no right leg from the pelvis down and her right breast is fused to her arm.<ref name="The Legend of La Patasola"/> ==In popular culture== * The Deer Woman was featured as a character in an [[Deer Woman (Masters of Horror)|eponymous episode]] of the Showtime horror series ''[[Masters of Horror]]''. It originally aired in North America on December 9, 2005, and was directed by [[John Landis]]. *The [[Monster High]] series introduced in 2015 a character inspired by the Deer Woman myth: Isi Dawndancer. Her name, Isi, means deer in the [[choctaw]] language.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Isi Dawndancer|url=https://play.monsterhigh.com/en-us/characters/isi-dawndancer|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> *In 2015, Anishinaabe writer [[Elizabeth LaPensée]] wrote ''Deer Woman: A Vignette''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Deer Woman : a vignette|last=Elizabeth|first=LaPensée|others=Vazquez, Allie,, Thunder, Jonathan R.,, Native Realities Press,, Arming Sisters (Organization)|isbn=9780990694731|location=Albuquerque, NM|oclc=936208630|date=2015-10-21}}</ref> *In 2019, [[Rebecca Roanhorse]] wrote the short story "Harvest" in the ''New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color'' anthology, which features a seductive Deer Woman harvesting hearts in the name of justice.<ref>{{Cite book|title=New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl|publisher=Solaris|year=2019|isbn=9781781085783|location=United States|pages=245–254|language=English}}</ref> *In 2020, Blackfeet author [[Stephen Graham Jones]] published [[The Only Good Indians]], which features a vengeful Deer Woman.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones|url=https://www.demontheory.net/the-only-good-indians/|access-date=2021-08-18|language=en-US}}</ref> *In August 2021, the Deer Lady, portrayed by [[Kaniehtiio Horn]], was featured as a character in Season 1, Episode 5, “Come and Get Your Love”, of ''[[Reservation Dogs]]'' on Hulu. She is portrayed as "a badass vigilante who only goes after 'bad men'."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Simmons|first=Kali|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/reservation-dogs-recap-season-one-episode-5.html|title=Reservation Dogs Recap: Be Good, Fight Evil|website=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]|date=August 30, 2021|access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[https://globalvoices.org/2017/10/03/deer-woman-an-anthology-sheds-light-on-violence-against-native-women-in-north-america/ ‘Deer Woman: An Anthology’ Sheds Light on Violence Against Native Women in North America] *{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20061111101802/http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrwoman.html Deer Woman And the Living Myth of the Dreamtime]}}, article by Carolyn Dunn from the Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts 2003 [[Category:Legendary creatures of the indigenous peoples of North America]] [[Category:Iroquois legendary creatures]] [[Category:Cherokee legendary creatures]] [[Category:Ojibwe legendary creatures]] [[Category:Mythological human hybrids]] [[Category:Mythological deer]] [[Category:Anthropomorphic animals]] [[Category:Female legendary creatures]]'