Careless In Red (The Deer Lady)

All my life I had heard stories about her. How she was a symbol of protection and love but also something that didn’t shy away from true justice. Even if it meant death. I remember hearing a story about a hunter who would drive through the Reservations and look for women walking alone. He would kidnap them and take them in to the woods and they would never be seen again. This happened until one day he went missing himself. It was weeks until his body was found by another hunter and his son. It was said that he was found with an antler stabbed into his chest with what looked like hove imprints all over his chest, face and legs. The local authorities chalked it up to being an animal attack but the indigenous people knew better. It was the Deer Lady. If you don’t know or haven’t heard about the deer lady it is said that she is beautiful and tall but when you look down at her feet, you’ll see that they aren’t feet. They’re hooves and by the time you realize what it is you’re looking at it’s too late. But she didn’t just kill anyone. No, she sought after those who were causing harm to the land and to abusive men who preyed and abused women and children. Ive never told anyone but I myself have seen her. I know what you’re thinking. Aint no way you saw the deer lady and lived, that’s not how it works. But you see, she wasn’t after me and to be honest she probably saved my life.

It was a day like any other. I woke up on my day off and you see I was very active when I was younger. I loved to got for runs and especially loved a good hike. This particular morning I felt a desire to go to a specific trail. One I had never been to before and today felt like the perfect day to go. So I got up, took my shower and got ready. I made sure to smudge up before I left and said a little prayer to the creator for always keeping me safe and healthy. Maybe this was the difference in this story.

I drove up the mountain and entered through a winding road called bear creek road. I eventually made it to the trail and it felt like my lucky day. There was only one car in the parking lot. Looked like I beat the crowd. I eagerly snatched my water bottle and backpack which was filled with a couple of bags of trail mix, some granola bars and some sandwiches I had ready for the day. I know most people love to enjoy the sounds of nature and the wind blowing through the trees but I liked to listen to music on my hikes or even a good podcast. Today I chose a horror podcast and placed the headphones in my ears and began at the trail head. This trail had 2 trials to it, one that went around the mountain or one that looped back and was only about a mile or so. Today I had time and chose to do the full trail.

As I was walking I received an alert on my phone that there was a manhunt nearby and that the suspect was known to be armed and dangerous. This person had a history of assault and violence, particularly towards women. I realized I didn’t have my knife or anything I could use to protect myself with. So I bent down and grabbed a thick branch and looked for the strongest rock I could find and began making a spear with it. I did this while I walked and it was actually pretty therapeutic . I continued walking and received another alert. It was about the manhunt and showed a picture of the car the suspect was known to be driving. I tapped the notification and immediately stopped walking. I dropped the spear and stared at my phone. The picture of the vehicle the suspect was traveling in was the same one that was parked in the parking lot. Blue Ford ranger pickup. I knew it was the same car and my heart began to leap out of my chest. My mouth grew dry as I looked up and scoped around to see if anyone was around me. At this point I made I was 2 hours into my hike and knew I should turn around and just call it.

That’s when I heard it. A loud scream coming from what felt like every direction. I knew it was from behind me so I knew that was the safest bet to make. But what if someone was in trouble. Would I be able to live with myself if I just turned around and left. Fight or flight and I was choosing flight. I looked down at the spear and made a spontaneous decision that I could help save this person when again another scream. This time the person was screaming Help! Help!

I raced ahead leaving my backpack and gripping tightly to the spear.

I was mentally preparing to do what I had to do to help. I grabbed my phone and dialed 911 and raced away with the call on speaker. "911- dispatcher what is the emergency?" I answered and pleaded that I had heard screaming coming from the location of this man hunt when I heard the operators repeat   “911- what is the nature of our emergency?” when the call officially dropped. I was in disbelief because this whole time I was able to receive these alerts and now that I was using my phone It was completely useless.

I continued on and heard another scream when suddenly it was cut off.

I stopped and tiptoed ahead and that’s when I saw her. She had him up against the tree with an antler stabbed into his chest. He had a gun in his hand and he dropped it. She backed up as he fell to the ground and tried to reach for the gun when she stepped on his arm and that’s when I saw it. The hooves. She had hooves for feet and antlers sticking out from her head. I gasped out “Oh Shit” and she turned around and saw me. I was frozen. Everything in me was telling me to turn around and run, but I couldn’t. See, while I was terrified I was also in awe of her beauty. She didn’t seem murderess, malicious or evil at all. She began to step away when the man screamed for help as she lunged back her leg and struck his head twice with her hooves bashing it in. She stepped on his foot while walking towards me completely bending it back. She came up to me and uttered, “Your ancestors, they walk with you. They guide you and right now, they are protecting you. You’re not bad, and you have no intentions to be.” She leaned forward and her forehead met mine and we were face to face. She closed her eyes and when I saw this, I closed mine too. When I opened them, she was gone.

I spun around and I never even hear the sound of her walking away. I turned back to the tree and the mans face was bashed in with stab marks all over his body. He had a bag next to him filled with gloves and zipties. I could also see a handful of wallets and knew this was the suspect of the manhunt. I looked at him and thought the try and call the police when I realized. Maybe this motherfucker deserves to rot. After all the Deer Lady herself made the judgement call and clearly he was a terrible person. I backed up and I left.

This was my encounter with The Deer Lady. I dont know why I was spared that day but I'd like to think that my ancestors were truly protecting me and that creator had put a good head on my shoulders. I will forever be grateful that my life was spared that day and judgement wasnt casted on me. But let this be a warning to you, to any man out there, who seeks harm against women or children or to the land. She will find you and you will not be spared.

I would like to take this time to educate my listeners on Missing Murdered Indigenous Woman, Also known as MMIW. Indigenous women and children are among the highest percentage to be targeted to face violence and to go missing with most resulting in unsolved cases. This is a real epidemic and The National Crime Information Center reported that, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing person database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases.” ...murder is also the third leading cause of death for native women. MMIW exists to bring awareness through organizing marches; building databases of the missing; holding local community, city council, and tribal council meetings; and conducting domestic violence trainings and other informational sessions for police. For more information you can visit www.nativehope.org