The Iroquois; or, the bright side of Indian characterJohnson, Anna C. (Anna Cummings)
History
The Iroquois; or, the bright side of Indian character
Johnson, Anna C. (Anna Cummings)
Iroquois Indians -- Social life and customs
And when you have learned all that language can convey, there are still
a thousand images, suggestions and associations recurring to the
Indian, which can strike no chord in your heart. The myriad voices of
nature are dumb to you, but to him they are full of life and power.
LEGEND OF THE SENECAS CONCERNING THEIR ORIGIN.
All the legends when related by different people, have slight
variations, but the general features are the same, and are preserved
with remarkable exactness, considering that they have been handed down
for centuries in this oral way. The following is all the account the
Senecas can give concerning their origin.
They grew out of the crest of a mountain, at the head of Canandaigua
Lake. The mountain which gave them birth is Ge-nun-de-wah-gauh, or the
Great Hill. Hence they are called the Great Hill People.
A little boy during his rambles in the woods, found a pretty serpent,
which he carried home for a plaything. In the course of time the
serpent grew to be very large, and so voracious that he devoured all
who came within the reach of his monstrous jaws. At length he coiled
himself around the base of the mountain, so that none could pass to and
fro, without falling victims to his ravenous appetite, and besides, the
atmosphere was poisoned by his fetid breath. But starvation stared them
in the face, and the people determined upon a sally, hoping to destroy
the monster and escape unharmed. The serpent was so large that there
was no hope of leaping over his body, and there was no way but to
attempt a passage where the head and tail met. In a body all the people
rushed down, determined on victory or death, and were all destroyed,
except a little boy and his sister, who were left alone to defy the
monster. Then came a pleasant dream to the boy, which directed him to
string his bow with the silken tresses of his sister, and shoot the
serpent in the eye, or underneath a scale. The child obeyed, and the
arrow performed the work of death. In the convulsive throes of the
serpent, the heads of the multitudes which he had devoured, were thrown
upon the earth, and when he uncoiled, they rolled with him into the
lake, where being petrified by the water, they still remain in the form
of round stones, which cover the bed of the lake to this day!
This is about as marvellous as the preservation of Romulus and Remus,
and exhibits the same kind of propensity to account for what is
unaccountable, and give themselves “a local habitation and a name.” It
is also quite as credible as many of the stories concerning the early
history of the heroes of ancient history and fable, which are thought
worth recording by every author who writes of Greece and Rome, and are
read by every child with wonder.
MEDICINE LEGENDS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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