INTERPRETATIONS OF SKYWOMAN

‘INTERPRETATIONS OF

SKYWOMAN’ art exhibit now open at the Native North American Travelling College until Jan. 2, 2015. A themed art exhibition showcasing ways that traditional and contemporary artist render Skywoman into an art form. For information call 613-932-9452

THE CREATION STORY

From the book LEGENDS OF THE NATIONS

Produced by the North American Indian Travelling College

THE CREATION STORY

The Story comes from the earliest time in our Language - a time when our Language, symbols, beliefs, the world we saw around us, and life as we understand it- were completely different from the way we understand them now. We lived in a complete world. This Story expresses our understanding of how we came to this complete world.

THE SKY-WORLD

The story says that there was another place not of this world where people lived. The life of that world was very similar to the life of this world. The Beings that walked about up there were very similar to ourselves and enjoyed many of the same things that we enjoy, such as the birds and all other creatures.

There were various kinds of trees up there, but in the center of that place grew a special kind of tree. The best way to describe that tree in English is by calling it “the tree of life.’’ It was in the center of their world. There was a man living there who was given the task of protecting that tree, looking out for it and caring for it. The “tree of life” was not supposed to be marked or disturbed by any of the beings who lived in that world. From that tree grew all kinds of branches and all sorts of fruit. In that world, the man who was taking care of that sacred tree got married. Not long after, his wife became pregnant, so she and her husband made plans to prepare for a family. The man soon found out that his wife was very demanding and hard to please. He would go out of his way to make her happy but was seldom successful.

The woman soon developed a yearning for strange foods, as women often do when they are expecting a child. She enticed her husband into bringing her various delicacies to eat. As days turned into months, this woman became curious about the tree with its various fruits. The woman suddenly decided that she wanted some of the bark, roots and fruit from the ‘’tree of life’’ to help satisfy her appetite, but her husband would not hear of it. This, however, did not stop her curiosity.

There were times when she dreamed that there was something beneath the tree, that there was something beyond . . . below that world . . . that there was some other place, some other life. She kept considering this, wondering about it. She kept asking her husband what he knew about it. He didn’t know anything about it, because he never dug around that tree or tampered with it. She kept after her husband until she finally convinced him to dig around the area of the tree’s roots.

When they uprooted the tree, they saw beneath, a huge hole. She looked inside that hole, and she couldn’t see anything, for it was dark as far as she could see. She leaned further into the hole and started to fall from her world. Then, she reached around quickly and tried to grab something so as to save herself, but she couldn’t. As she fell, with one hand, she grabbed a strawberry plant. With the other hand, she grabbed tobacco leaves.

The story tells us that she fell through the hole for a very long time. She fell into blackness and kept falling. Around her, she could hear a whooshing sound, a sound that was very similar to the bird rattle. This was the sound she heard as she fell.

After a long period of falling, she saw beneath her a great body of water. On that water, there were all kinds of water fowl living, and when they saw this being falling from the sky, they flew up together to see what it was. They got very close together and caught her.

While they were bringing her down, they were wondering where this woman came from. Close to the water, a giant sea turtle was beginning to surface. They called down to him and asked him if it was possible to put this woman being on his back.

The turtle said it would be okay. So, the being of this world gathered around her and began talking to her.

They asked her who she was and where she was from. She told them how she missed her home, and that she was lonely.

They asked her what they could do to make her more comfortable and happy now that she was in their home. She saw what was missing - “What I don’t see here that is in my world is land. All there is here is water. ‘’ The water beings told her, “Underneath the water there is land. If that will make you happy, we will try to go down and get some for you.” The different beings started trying to dive down to get what land they could, but one after the other, they failed.

The beaver tried first and failed; then the loon, the duck, seagull, etc. They all experienced the same fate.

The land was so far beneath the water that many of them couldn’t get to it. They would come to the surface belly up. Finally, the otter offered to try. He went down deep and got a little bit of earth. When he hit the surface, he died - but in his paws was a little bit of earth. They took the dirt and put it on the back of the giant sea turtle.

Once this was done, a strange transformation began to take place. The earth and the turtle began to grow and spread. To keep the earth growing, the woman walked in a circle, following the direction of the sun. It wasn’t long before she had a very large place to stand. All around here was land. This land began to develop and take shape. Not long after the land formed, the woman gave birth to a baby girl. This new world was now their home.

As years passed, the woman and her daughter did their best to adapt to their new surroundings. One night, after her daughter had developed to maturity, she was visited by a spirit of the “west wind.

Continued next week