The Deer Girl

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

In various folklore, the Deer Woman is described 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 trapped by her magic to waste away until death. Other stories and traditions describe the sighting of Deer Woman as a sign of personal transformation or as 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.

According to Ojibwe tradition, she can be banished through the use of tobacco and chant others say that you can break her spell by looking at her feet, which are in fact hooves. Once she is recognized for what she is, she runs away.