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The Haudenosaunee Creation
By Barbara Alice Mann
The original ancestors of the Iroquios
were the Sky People, denizens of Karionake, "The Place
in the Sky," commonly called Sky World, a physical place
that floated among the stars "on the farther side of the
visible sky" ("Mohawk Creation," 32; Hewitt,
1903, p141). Sky World was well populated, with a social order
that greatly resembled later Iroquoian society. The people lived
in close-knit, matrilineal clans. The Sky People were greatly
gifted with uki-okton power. In a Mohawk Keeping, it is said
that the Sky People "had greatly developed what scientists
call E.S.P." ("Mowhawk Creation," 1989, 32),
a talent later valued by their earthly descendants, especially
for tapping into dream knowledge. The geography of Sky World
also resembled that of Iroquoia, with trees, crops, and longhouses.
All the flora and fauna later present in physical form on earth
had spiritual counterparts (Elder Siblings) preexisting in Sky
World. These animal spirit elders took part in sky councils
and performed creative tasks (Barbeau, 1915, 41-44; Hewitt,
1928, 465)
In the center of Sky World grew a
wonderful tree that, running the length of Sky World, held it
together from top to bottom. Some say it was a wild cherry tree,
and others call it a crabapple tree; still others call it a
pilar. The Tuscarora call it a dogwood tree. An Onondaga version
named the tree Ono'dija, it "Tooth," presumably indicating
the yellow dogtooth violet. The tree itself was sacred, supplying
food that the Sky People might gather. If sprouted from the
sides and fell to the ground to be collected, just for the thinking.
Several traditions speak of the conception,
birth, childhood and youth of the girl who was to become Sky
Woman, also called Awenhai (Fertile Earth), Ataensic (Mature
Flowers), Otsitsa (Corn), and eventually, Iagentci (Ancient
One or Grandmother). Sky Woman's mother dallied with a man she
did not actually love, enticing him daily by "disentangling"
his hair. (Combing out the hair was a metaphor for interpreting
dreams, part of making them true. It was a spiritual talent.)
This unfortunate man, the father of Sky Woman, died before she
was born and was "buried" high in the tree of Sky
World. His was the first death ever to occur in Sky World, a
spirit sign. Sky Woman grew up quickly (another sign of spirit
power), in constant mourning for the father she never knew,
prompting her grandmother to show her where her father had been
buried (Hewitt, 1903, 141-149, 256-265). In another version,
the deceased was not a sperm father, but the girl's maternal
uncle (Hewitt, 1928, 470). This cultural tidbit seems authentically
old because the mother's matrilineal brother, not an out-clan
biological father, was traditionally the male authority figure
of a longhouse and often was called, "Father."
Sky Woman's husband is usually called
the Ancient. She was soon with child through the sharing of
breath with her husband (Hewitt, 1903, 167). In one Seneca version,
Sky Woman gave birth to her child in Sky World, but this seems
anomalous. In nearly every other collected version, she was
pregnant when she arrived on earth, delivering her daughter
there. The Ancient was the presiding officer of Sky World, who
lodged in the shade of Tooth.
Dreams are very important to the
Sky People. It was necessary not only to understand them, but
also to reenact them, thus continually creating reality. One
day, the Ancient had a troubling dream,
which made him ill. In a Seneca version, he had dreamed that
a great "cloud sea" swam around under Tooth, the ocean
of a restless and unlit world. Its spirit was calling out to
the Sky People for aid in overcoming extreme loneliness (Converse,
1908, 33).
All of the Elders of the later plants
and animals, as well as the heavenly bodies and elements associated
with earth, came to peer over the edge at the water world. Deer,
Spotted Fawn, Bear, Beaver, the Moving Wind, Daylight, Night,
Thick Night, the Sun, Spring Water, Corn, Beans, Squash, Sunflower,
Fire Dragon, Meteor, Rattle, Otter, Wolf, Duck, Fresh Water,
Medicine, Aurora Borealis, and of course, the Great Turtle,
visited the window onto earth (Hewitt, 1903, 173-175). Some
add that the Blue Sky, the Air, the Thunderers, the Tree, the
Bush, the Grass, the Moon, the Star, and the Sun looked as well
(Hewitt, 1928, 473). The hole at the base of Tooth became a
regular Sky World tourist destination.
Skywoman Falls to Earth
Having uprooted the tree,
the Ancient was thus able to fulfill the second part of his
dream, that his wife was to fall through the hole in the Sky
World, down to the water below. Occasionally, it is said that
she fell because of her own curiosity, having leaned too far
over the edge for a better look at earth (Parker, 1913, 6).
Some Wyandot Keepings depict the illness as Sky Woman's, not
the ancient's, stating that, to cure her, an aged shaman uprooted
the tree, laying Sky Woman as near as possible to its medicinal
roots -- too near, as it turned out because the soil was unstable
and the sick girl was sucked down into the hole and rolled into
the void (Barbeau, 1915, 37).
In yet another variant, this one
Mohawk, her husband was considerate, not cruel, and gathered
the living bark of Tooth for tea to calm the cravings of his
pregnant wife. It was his kind deed that caused the Sky tree
to collapse, opening the window onto earth below and occasioning
her slip ("Mohawk Creation," 1989, 32). Most Haudenosaunee
keep the version of the bad-tempered Ancient, however, attributing
Sky Woman's tumble to his jealousy. In several versions, the
Ancient was irrationally jealous of the Aurora Borealis, the
Fire Dragon, and especially of Sky Woman, who was more gifted
with uki-okton than he.
Although unable to climb back up
the ledge, she did acquire seeds from the munificent Tree. In
her right hand, she garnered the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans
and Squash. Some say she also laid hold of Tobacco in her left
hand. A Seneca version claimed that the white Fire Dragon or
the Blue Panther - an okton spirit jealously sought by the Ancient
-- was at the root hole just as Sky Woman fell. In this version,
it was the Blue Panther who gave her Corn, mortar, and pestle
(Hewitt, 1903, 224 and 1928, 481; Cornplanter, 1928, 9, 13).
Jesse Cornplanter said that it was the Ancient himself who threw
the Elder plants (corn, beans, squash, sunflower, tobacco) along
with the Elder Animals (Deer, Wolf, Bear, Beaver, etc.) down
the abyss after her in a final frenzy of rage ([1938] 1992,
10).
In all versions, however, Skywoman
slid down, down, down through space and into the atmosphere
of the Earth. (The suggestion of tradition is that the strong
spirit of Sky Woman's father had foreseen all of these events
as necessary to the beginning of human life on earth, and that
this was why he had urged his daughter on to such an unfortunate
marriage, with all of its character-building trials and tribulations.)
Sick of the disruption in Sky World, on her fall
through the hole in Sky World, the
Sky People set Tooth, the Tree of Light, back into its socket
(Hewitt, 1928, 480).
Now, the Elder creatures of earth,
alerted first by the far-sighted Eagle, saw Sky Woman falling.
For the first time, lightning (the Fire Dragon or Meteor Man)
streaked across the sky of earth at her side as she hurtled
through the atmosphere (Parker, 1912, 6). Sweeping into action,
Heron and Loon caught and held the frightened Sky Woman aloft
on their interlocking wings while, in an amusing portion of
the tradition, the Great Tortoise sends around a moccasin, that
is, he called an emergency council of Elder animals to see what
was to be done. (For a sprightly Wyandot version of the Elder
animals' Creation Council, see Barbeau, 1915, 38-44). Knowing
that she was a Sky Woman, unable to live on their watery planet,
the Elder Spirits of earth creatures all quickly agreed that
she should not be dropped into the waters to die.
The Origin of Turtle Island
In every version, the great
Snapping Turtle offered his carapace, vowing to carry the earth
above him forever as he swam. The idea gained ready assent,
and the council of earth elders assembled its divers. Usually,
the divers were said to have been Muskrat, Otter, Toad, or Beaver.
In some versions, the Muskrat and Otter die in the attempt to
bring up dirt in their mouths, with Beaver finally bringing
it up on his tail, or Toad in his mouth. A Mohawk version has
poor, dead Muskrat floating to the surface, his mouth was smeared
with the dirt that was to become earth(Hewitt, 1903, 287). A
Seneca version says that it was Sky Woman herself, who arrived
with the dirt of Sky World on her hands and under her fingernails,
gathered as she frantically clutched at the tree roots during
her fall (ibid., 226)/ A tad of dirt now ready to accept her,
the Birds were able to set Sky Woman down on her new abode,
Turtle Island. Looking around forlornly, alone and torn from
everything she had ever known, Sky Woman wept bitterly (ibid.,
225).
Wherever Sky Woman went, every kind
of plant sprouted up before her. Now, she planted the Three
Sacred Sisters she had brought from Sky World. Some say that
she found potatoes here (Hewitt, 1903, 226), although potatoes
are usually attributed to the little daughter, soon born to
her on Turtle Island. The land was full with the harvest, on
which Sky Woman lived. As the land was full of growth, so was
Sky Woman. She prepared her birthing hut and delivered herself
of an infant daughter. They were at that time, the only two
human beings on earth.
The Birth of the Twins: Sapling
& Flint
Sky Woman continually refused
the Earth Elders as consorts of her daughter until one day the
matter passed out of her hands. An engaging man-creature came
along, his bark robe tossed rakishly over his shoulder, his
black hair pulled up, and his handsome eyes gleaming. He was
so gorgeous that the Lynx forgot to ask her mother but lay with
him immediately. Some assert that the two did not engage in
coitus, but that the young man simply lay an arrow next to her
body (Hewitt, 1903, 291-292). In an Onondaga version, Sky Woman
consented to, rather than resisted, this final match (Hewitt,
1928, 384-385), but most versions showed Sky Woman was dismayed
by the Lynx's unauthorized infatuation.
Young love won out, however, and
soon the Lynx was pregnant, a fact that caused her mother to
tremble. Sky Woman was fearful of the result of a pregnancy
between two such different creatures as a Sky Girl and an earth
Man-Being. In the very oldest Keepings of Creation, the Lynx
was pregnant not with twins (the common Keeping today), but
with quadruplets, analogous to the four sacred messengers of
the Gaiwi:yo and connected with the Four Winds or cardinal directions
(Hewitt, 1928, 468). An interesting, potential echo of this
ancient Keeping is found in a Seneca version that told the puzzling
story of four children -- two male and two female -- who were
Man-Beings (Hewitt, 1903, 233). The story of the quadruplets,
however, is almost completely lost today. The four children
of the Lynx were eventually compressed to two, with the personality
traits of the four redistributed between them.
As told in modern times, the Lynx
overheard the twin sons in her womb discussing their plans for
the earth life they were about to live. One already knew that
he was to create game animals and new trees, but the other was
more vague on specifics, merely announcing that he, too, would
create in one way or another (Hewitt, 1928. 486). Labor pains
overcame the Lynx a few days before her time, and she again
overheard her sons holding forth, this time in a discussion
over how best to be born because neither precisely knew how
to do it. In an Onondaga version, one infant pointed toward
the birth canal and said, "I'll go that way, " and
he did, being first born. The elder Twin became known as Tharonhiawakon,
Odendonnia, Ioskaha (Sapling), meaning roughly the Spirit of
Life (Hewitt, 1903, 138). Sapling was perfectly formed in the
eyes of Sky Woman.
The Younger Twin protested his brother's
path. "But this other way is so near," he said, pointing
in some versions to the armpit and in others to the navel of
his mother. "I shall leave that way," he said, and
he did, killing his mother in parturition (Hewitt, 1903, 185).
Some Mohawks say that the second son, Tawiskaro (Flint) was
born with a comb of flint on his head, by which means he had
cut an exit path through his mother's armpit (ibid., 185). Some
Senecas say that he leapt forth from her navel, all covered
with warts (ibid., 231).
However it happened, by armpit or
caesarean section, when Sky Woman saw that her beloved daughter
was dead, she sat on the ground and wept inconsolably. She buried
her daughter most tenderly, and from the Lynx's grave sprang
all the plants of life: Corn, Beans, and Squash grew from her
breasts; potatoes sprang from her toes and tobacco grew from
her head (Thomas, 2000). The Lynx had transmuted into Mother
Earth, a living entity (Hewitt, 1928, 542). Despite the continued
spirit existence of her daughter, Sky Woman's grief almost undid
her. It was then that Sky Woman grew suddenly old, becoming
known in her turn as the Ancient or Grandmother. Her grief soured
into a bitterness of temperament that she had not possessed.
She became grumpy and impatient in her old age.
Like Sky Woman and the Lynx before
them, the Twins grew rapidly, showing their great spirit power.
They soon began to complete the process of creation, although
there were many disagreements between the brothers as to what
final creation should look like. While Sapling was bringing
forth his trademark strawberries, Flint was littering the landscape
with brambles and briars. If Sapling created peaceful game animals,
Flint responded with a spate of roaring, clawing, dangerous
beasts.
Creation of Sun, Moon & Stars
The creation of the sun,
moon and stars is variously attributed to Sky Woman and Sapling.
The oldest Wyandot and Onondaga versions give Sky Woman or the
Elder Earth animals credit for creating the sun, moon, and stars,
especially the Milky Way (Barbeau, 1915, 41). A Seneca version
has Sky Woman creating the heavens almost immediately after
her arrival on earth (Hewitt, 1903, 226-227). Hewitt also recorded
a Mohawk story of Grandmother using dead Lynx's body parts as
the material of the heavens (ibid., 295-296), but the Lynx is
emphatically Mother Earth in all versions and the Moon is Grandmother,
leaving the origin of this version vague and questionable. Yet
other versions, following the post-missionary trend of giving
Saplin sole credit for creation, showed him hanging the heavens
after the fashion of the Christian god (Hewitt, 1903, 208; 1928,
542-543).
One thing became immediately apparent
in nearly every version of Creation: Flint was not nearly as
skillful a creator as his brother. This was apparent not only
in the animals that each brought forth, but also in their attempts
at creating humanity. Some say that whereas Sapling created
humankind, Flint in a rival bout of creation only managed to
bring forth monkeys (Barbeau, 1915, 51). Others contend that
one day Flint noticed that Sapling had made human beings. Marveling
at the feat, he sought to replicate it, going through inferior
and unworkable models before he managed a viable version, with
the kindly advice of Sapling, who stopped by periodically to
check on his little brother's progress.
Flint's first human was mostly made
of water and therefore failed to breathe. On his second try,
Flint added samples of his own mind, blood, spirit, and breath
and finally succeeded in creating a living being, although his
creation still lacked luster compared to Sapling's model. It
is uncertain just what this creature was intended to have been
in the older traditions -- perhaps a bear --- but post-contact,
the Iroquois quickly realized that Flint's water man was the
European. By contrast, Sapling had created the True Humans or
Native Americans (Hewitt, 1928, 523-525; for a late version
of Flint's creation of Europeans, see Parker, 1913, 16-19).
An older Mohawk version ended the
creation story by engaging the brothers in a tit-for-tat spat
that escalated into a lethal confrontation. The two lived together
in a lean-to, one with a side taller than the other. Flint dwelled
at the shorter end and Sapling at the taller. One day, Sapling
stoked their shared fire to perilous intensity until it began
to chip the chert from Flint's flinty legs. When his complaints
did not persuade Sapling to lessen the flames, Flint saw that
his brother meant him harm. He ran outside swiftly, looking
for a cutting reed and a cattail spear, both of which he knew
were harmful to his brother. The fight then spiraled out of
control, with the two furiously chasing each other across Turtle
Island, leaving huge chasms and water-filled depressions where
their feet landed in their hurry. In this version, Sapling killed
Flint, whose prone body transmuted into the Rocky Mountains.
His spirit dwells to this day inside those mountains (Hewitt,
1903, 328-332).
Flint was not permanently dead, however
(Hewitt, 1928, 547). All spirits continue to live, often in
renewed bodies (Hewitt, 1903, 218-219). Throughout Iroquoian
history, Sapling continued reincarnating, most notably as the
Peacemaker, creator of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,
to aid his favorite creations, human beings; the Lynx became
Mother Earth, and Grandmother became the smiling face of the
Moon.
Excerpted from "The Native
Peoples of North America: A History" by Bruce E. Johansen,
Rutgers University Press, 2005.
Skywoman on Turtle's back. (Courtesy
of John Kahionhes Fadden)
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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