Origin Myths
Why might characters in
creation myths have generic
names like “the Duck” or
“the Beaver”?
Purpose for
Reading: Cultural
Characteristics
What does the chief’s
reaction to his wife’s
dream tell you about
Onondaga beliefs?
Origin Myths
How do the opening
words of this story identify
it as an origin myth?
1. the sacred directions North, South, East, and West.
It had four white roots which stretched to each of the sacred directions,
1 and from its branches all kinds of fruits and flowers grew.
There was an ancient chief in the Skyland. His young wife was
expecting a child, and one night she dreamed that she saw the Great
Tree uprooted. The next day she told her husband the story.
He nodded as she finished telling her dream. “My wife,” he said,
“I am sad that you had this dream. It is clearly a dream of great
power and, as is our way, when one has such a powerful dream we
must do all we can to make it true. The Great Tree must be uprooted.”
Then the Ancient Chief called the young men together and told
them that they must pull up the tree. But the roots of the tree were
so deep, so strong, that they could not budge it. At last the Ancient
Chief himself came to the tree. He wrapped his arms around it, bent
his knees and strained. At last, with one great effort, he uprooted the
tree and placed it on its side. Where the tree’s roots had gone deep
into the Skyland there was now a big hole. The wife of the chief came
close and leaned over to look down, grasping the tip of one of the
Great Tree’s branches to steady her. It seemed as if she saw something
down there, far below, glittering like water. She leaned out further
to look and, as she leaned, she lost her balance and fell into the
hole. Her grasp slipped off the tip of the branch, leaving her with only
a handful of seeds as she fell, down, down, down, down.
Far below, in the waters, some of the birds and animals looked up.
“Someone is falling toward us from the sky,” said one of the birds.
“We must do something to help her,” said another. Then two
Swans flew up. They caught the Woman From The Sky between their
wide wings. Slowly, they began to bring her down toward the water,
where the birds and animals were watching.
“She is not like us,” said one of the animals. “Look, she doesn’t
have webbed feet. I don’t think she can live in the water.”
“What shall we do, then?” said another of the water animals.
“I know,” said one of the water birds. “I have heard that there is
Earth far below the waters. If we dive down and bring up Earth, then
she will have a place to stand.”
So the birds and animals decided that someone would have to
bring up Earth. One by one they tried.
The Duck dove first, some say. He swam down and down, far
beneath the surface, but could not reach the bottom and floated back
up. Then the Beaver tried. He went even deeper, so deep that it all
was dark, but he could not reach the bottom, either. The Loon tried,
swimming with his strong wings. He was gone a long long time, but
he, too, failed to bring up Earth. Soon it seemed that all had tried
and all had failed. Then a small voice spoke.
“I will bring up Earth or die trying.”
22 Beginnings–1800