This blog post is comprised of my notes on the headnote to "The Iroquois Creation Story" as well as the text of the story itself as found in the 7th edition of
The Norton Anthology to American Literature Volume A.
Headnote:
- The Iroquois nation was comprised of the Mohawk,
Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora (only as of the early 19th
century on the Tuscarora) Nations.
- The region inhabited by this nation extends from the area northeast
of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, the Saint Lawrence River, and the Ottawa River,
to the area south of the Great Lakes, and then continues on east almost as far as the Hudson River.
- David Cusie was the first person to transcribe
and translate these stories in the 19th century.
- He was born around 1780 and was raised
Christian.
- He was also an important leader to the Tuscarora
people and wrote Sketches, which was a notable account of the Iroquois
culture.
- Modern readers might see Creation stories of the
Native Americans as being 'myths'; however, it is referred to as a ‘history’ by
Curie.
- Part I of the myth is comprised of the
foundation and establishment of the Iroquois world.
- Parts II and III are depictions of the ancient
Iroquois winning battles against monsters and rival tribes.
- The order of the story and what each part
contains may have been carefully chosen as a means to some end. In particular, this could be true given that
the story was transcribed and translated at a time of an expanding America in
which there was already an intention to relocate Native Americans further west.
Text Summary: "The Iroquois Creation Story: A Tale of the Foundation of the Great Island, Now North America; -- the Two Infants Born, and the Creation of the Universe"
- There are two worlds of existence.
- The first is the Lower world, which is great
darkness and is possessed by a great monster.
It is later also noted as being a great lake later in the story.
- The second is the Upper world, which is
inhabited by mankind, or humans.
- The footnote tells the reader that the ‘humans’
referred to in Curie’s translation are also called ‘sky women’ and are, in
general, not to be considered synonymous with the current idea of what a ‘human’
is. I.e. these are not beings like us,
they are clearly something more.
- In the upper world, a woman conceives twins (the
foot note here tells us that the woman is, in fact, a sky woman and that this
is an asexual conception) while residing in the Upper world, but the bed in which she
lies to rest late in the pregnancy drops her into the Lower world.
- While the woman is descending, the monsters of
the Lower world create a safe spot for her to land on upon the back of a great
turtle with earth put on his shell.
- After the woman lands safely, the turtle grows
larger and appears to be an island with bushes upon it.
- Within the womb, the twins fight because one of
the two has the inclination to burst forth from the parent’s side, rather than being
birthed traditionally. The fight is
lost, and one twin bursts forth, while the other is born normally.
- The normally birthed twin is called “Enigorio,”
which means good mind, and he has a gentle disposition. Conversely, the burster twin is called “Enigonhahetgea,”
which means bad mind, and he has an insolence of character.
- The footnote that Norton provides the reader at these names states that they are not
the ones traditionally used for this Creation story. Rather, Enigorio is traditionally called
Tharonhiawagon, or Sky-Grasper, Creator, and Upholder of the Heavens. Enigonhahetgea is traditionally called
Tawiscaron, or Evil-minded, Flint, Ice, and Patron of Winter and other
Disasters.
- Enigorio acts as the primary creator on the
island by using the parent’s body. He
creates the sun from the parent’s head and the moon from the parent’s body,
then creates stars in addition in order to mark and regulate nights, seasons,
and years. He also creates animals and
bodies of water, and plants (and forests, of course) and people, which are
called Ea-gwe-howe.
- Enigonhahetgea also creates, but he creates mountains
and falls (which Enigorio goes behind and fixes). He also attempts to make people, but they
turn into apes instead.
- Upon Enigonhahetgea’s second attempt to create
people, Enigorio helps him and more people are successfully created.
- These people that Enigonhahetgea has a hand in
creating are said to be people who have the most knowledge of good and evil.
- Each twin wants to rule their creations and the
Universe, so Enigonhahetgea proposes that they have a contest in which the
winner becomes the sole ruler of the Universe.
- After a date and time are set for the contest,
Enigorio attempts to reconcile with his twin, and he mentions that he has a
weakness to being whipped with reeds/rushes, which will kill him. Enigonhahetgea goes on to say that deer
antlers are his weakness.
- The footnote mentions that it is unusual that
Curie transcribes Enigorio’s admission of weakness to rushes as a
deception. It is usually simply written
as an honest admission.
- When the contest comes to pass, Enigonhahetgea
is defeated and claims control over dead souls before he sinks down and becomes
the Evil Spirit (which a footnote mentions is an obviously Christian-influenced
translation/ideal).
- After the contest, Enigorio fixes up the battle
ground, visits with the people, and retires from Earth.
- The footnote mentions that in other versions
Enigorio teaches the people to grow corn and to pray in order to avoid ill
happenings.
