As she was falling, the birds of the water saw her and flew underneath her.
They slowly placed her onto a large turtle floating in the endless ocean
The man was tasked with caring for the tree, and prevented his wife from taking its bark, which she craved deeply.
In the beginning,
In this sky world lived a man and his wife, who was to bear a child
In due time, the woman bore her child, a daughter. With her, they continued circling the soil, expanding the turtle's back.
With earth from the Sky world, the woman placed on the turtle's back. She walked in circles, resembling the sun's direction, creating the earth.
The daughter soon became pregnant, and gave birth to twins, right-handed and left-handed.
The right was born naturally, while the left came from the daughter's armpit and had killed her.
The twins buried their mother and from her grave grew corn, squash, and beans.
From her heart, tobacco was made.
In the middle of this world, stood a tree, which bore many kinds of fruit.
There was no land or people, but the world was only ocean and high above it, was a Sky world
The man dug a deep ring around the tree, exposing its roots. The wife was tempted and reached for the tree, but fell through the hole around the tree, entering the world below
Citations
The twins grew older, becoming men, and soon waged in battle.
How did this affect their creation story?
The woman, who was now their grandmother, watched the twins grow
What time period does your culture date back to?
The grandmother grew angry at the right-handed twin. He grew tired of her and had cut off her head, throwing it towards the sky world above.
Hertzberg, Hazel W.. The great tree and the
longhouse: the culture of the Iroquois. New York: Macmillan, 1966. Print.
The Mohawk tribe dates back to 900 A.D.
Since they were part of the Iroquois Confederacy, the different tribes all shared the same foundation for this story, with minor tweaks differing from each tribe.
Porter, Tom. "Four Directions Teachings.com -
Aboriginal Online Teachings and Resource Centre - © 2006 All Rights Reserved 4D Interactive Inc.." Four Directions Teachings.com - Aboriginal Online Teachings and Resource Centre - © 2006 All Rights Reserved 4D Interactive Inc.. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014. <http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/t
The right-handed twin created medicines and harmless animals. The left-handed twin created poisons, thorns, and predatory beasts
"Native American Netroots." Native American Netroots. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014. <http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/t
Where did they live?
The right-handed twin resided in the world above, while the left stays on the earth below, enjoying humanity fighting amongst each other
How does it relate to other myths?
"Native Dance - Haudenosaunee - Our Dance Stories."
Native Dance - Haudenosaunee - Our Dance Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014. <http://www.native-dance.ca/index.php/Haudenosaunee/Our_Dance_Stories?tp=z&bg=6&ln=e&gfx=l&wd=>.
- Similar to the Norse and Mesopotamian myths, a person is killed and from their body, creates other things that are present today.
- The Norse and Mesopotamian myths created the world from a dead ancestor, while the Mohawk tribe myth created corn, beans, squash, and tobacco, which are crops for farming
The left-handed twin was killed, with his spirit lingering in the earth below
Mohawk Creation Story
By Jaime Martinez