An Iroquoian story of creation

Continued from last week

And they say that because this young woman had lost her life giving birth, that there was a great force emitting from her in all directions, this life-giving force, and as the soil touched her, that it was kind of like a chain reaction. This great life-giving force went in all directions. Wherever the soil was touching it, that life force went. And, they say, right away all of that vegetation started to grow all the more. So as –I guess- a gift to her daughter, the grandmother (some of the things that she had brought from the Sky World were those seeds) and because her daughter would never see the Sky World as the being that she was, she decided to give a piece of the Sky World to her daughter in her honor. So the daughter was all covered up now with this soil. And she was buried there. And all of the energy of that life-giving force went into the soil now and everything was growing very well. And the grandmother took some seeds and she put them on her daughter’s body. And she covered them up with the soil.

Also, they say who came at that time, was the partner of this young woman and the father of these two boys. He came and gave the only gift that he could give. He brought water. And he put the water down on top of the young woman where she was there. And they say her father also came. And he cleared the air around there. He was cleaning the air and throwing his fire sticks, purifying the air. And they say also, right after that, they say that the sun came. The sun was always there and he made it really warm that day. They say all of those things all combined with this newly supercharged soil and the seeds from the Sky World and the water and the warmth. They say that this new life began to spring up from her. And they say that the grandmother would teach the two young boys as they grew to be older, about what happened that day. And they say that what came up from where that young woman was laying in the ground. Those seeds, the grandmother told these two boys, that their mother, even though she has died, she has changed from who she was, she is still providing for her two boys and she’s still giving food to them.

And what grew up, they say, were corn and beans and the squash, which have become the staple of native foods in North America and Central America and South America. Those were the first things that grew in this new soil. And the grandmother also told these two young boys how to relate to these three things. She told them that these things came from your Mothers body, just as these two young boys had done, they say, so that you refer to them as your three sisters. They’re sisters because the seeds from these three things can be replanted and they will grow again, so they’re considered to be female. So they are sisters these three things, the corn, the beans, and the squash. And that’s where we get that term from.

Also concerning the sun, she told the two young boys, that you consider the sun to be your eldest brother. “And it’s that way,” she said. “Because he provides you with light during the day, so that we can so our business and we travel about and not get hurt. We can see where we’re going and what we’re doing. Also he’s providing protection from the coldness – he gives us that blanket of warmth and makes us safe, so he’s overseeing us kind of like an older brother would do: he’s protecting us.” And that’s what these two young boys had. They had no older brothers or siblings. So that was their older brother, the eldest brother, the sun.

Some other things that grew from around where that young woman was: they say that it grew up there was- I guess- what we consider infant medicines now: all of the berries. Strawberries and blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, all of those kinds of things, they grew up there. So that came from the mother as well. They say outside of – at the edge of – where she was laying there grew- I guess in the four cardinal directions, they call them – or the north, south, east and west, there grew up four things we deem are important or to clean spiritually where we are living, and also to communicate with the natural and spirit world.

The things that grew were oionkweonwe, or what we call Indian tobacco – traditional Indian tobacco – also sage (which we use today as we do our smudge), also sweetgrass and cedar. Those four things grew. And we consider them the four sacred tools to cleanse and prepare ourselves, our spirits and our bodies and our minds. So those things grew there as well and that knowledge was passed on to these two young boys. So all of those things were given at that time.

Continued next week.