# The Maiden — Zuni Folktales character guide

> The Maiden in Zuni Folktales by Frank Hamilton Cushing.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** thou, herself, thee, the maiden

**First appearance:** 0001-zuni-folktales

## Snapshot

The beautiful daughter of Mátsaki's priest-chief, whose grace draws suitors from every pueblo while she serves bread in her father's firelit home.

## Who they are

She moves through her father's house with quiet competence, placing wafer-thin héwe before the visiting stranger and sweeping crumbs after his modest meal. Her beauty is legendary, yet her role in the household—serving, observing, being watched—hints at the constrained agency of a prized daughter. Her presence transforms a simple courtship visit into a trial, making her the still center around which the tale's romantic contest turns.

## In the story

### [Zuni Folktales](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/zuni-folktales)

Central figure in courtship and trial narratives.

### [Told the Second Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/told-the-second-night)

The spirit of the young man's wife, who leads him westward and enters the Land of Spirits beneath the lake.

### [How the Summer Birds Came](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/how-the-summer-birds-came)

The beautiful maiden of Kʻiákime, secretly married to a Rain God, mother of the miraculous boy.

### [The Serpent of the Sea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-serpent-of-the-sea)

Defiles the sacred spring, triggering the serpent's appearance.

### [The Foster-Child of the Deer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-foster-child-of-the-deer)

The beautiful maiden who is devoted to sacred things, loved by the Sun, and abandons her child.

### [The Boy Hunter Who Never Sacrificed to the Deer He Had Slain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-boy-hunter-who-never-sacrificed-to-the-deer-he-had-slain)

The serpent maiden who transforms into a human, guides the young man, and later becomes his wife.

### [The Warrior Suitor of Moki](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-warrior-suitor-of-moki)

The beautiful maiden of Walpi who sets the condition that only a hero who brings scalps from Zuni may marry her.

### [The Rabbit Huntress and Her Adventures](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-rabbit-huntress-and-her-adventures)

The poor maiden who becomes a rabbit huntress to support her parents, is rescued by the War-gods, and later marries.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/characters/maiden
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/characters