Chapter L: Part 2 (18)

152. The expression “hindered by the lake” is a veiled reference to the fact that this lake, or rather its waters, had been charged with magic power or orenda to defend its owner. The particular method by which this orenda or magic power accomplished this object was by rendering its victims unconscious, as the epithet, Ganigonhadontha Ganiodae (i.e., Găʼnigoⁿʻäʻdoⁿʼʹtʻhăʼ Ganiōʹdaeʼ), meaning, “It it-mind to-be-lost causes,” or the “delirium-causing” lake, indicates. Thus, the haunts of the allies of sorcerers were usually made impenetrable to persons who possessed a lesser measure of orenda or magic power.

153. The name Ganiagwaihegowa, written Niāʼgwaiʼhegōwā, or correctly Ganiăʼgwaiʹhegōwa, is the name of a mythic monster which was described as a huge bear, being vulnerable only in the soles of its forefeet; keen of scent, it never allowed anything to escape that crossed its circular track or path; it was represented as hairless except as to its tail, and that it had over its forequarters a large ridge or fold of flesh. These characteristics sufficed to make this fanciful creature a source of abject terror. Its reputed form may have been due to a confusion of buffalo form and that of a grizzly bear. The meaning of the sentence here is that this monster was one of the animal fetishes of the speaker. The final -gōwā, meaning “large, great,” signifies here “the well-known” or “the noted,” bear monster.

154. The word Hasʻhonyot, correctly written Hasʻhoñʹʼiot, is an epithet, meaning “His back stands out, is protuberant,” which is applied by story-tellers to the crawfish or lobster because its back ever seems turned toward the observer. The name Odjieqdah, correctly written Odjiʼeʹʻdăʼ, is the common designation of the lobster or crawfish and crab; the word signifies “The claw.”

155. The word Sʻhodieonskon, correctly written Sʻhodieʹoⁿskoⁿʼ, is the name of a fanciful creature who went about playing tricks on all kinds of people. He was reputed to be a brother of Death. He was in fact the God of Mischief.

156. The word sentence Hasdeaundyetʻha, correctly written Hăsdeauñdiēʹtʻhăʼ, is an epithet applied to Hiʹʼnoⁿʼ, the Thunderer, and signifies “He it to rain causes,” or the Rainmaker. But here it may possibly refer to a species of worm which bears this name.

157. The expression or epithet, “Complete power,” does not in the least convey the idea of a single overruling Being, but rather of a Being who possessed such exceptional power as to require no outside aid in accomplishing his purposes. In this Bloodsucker episode there is a touch of the extravaganza in story-telling.

158. The Seneca words signify “Now, it has returned, that by which he lives; so now again he shall stand upon the earth.”

159. The expression “blew into the mouth” indicates how closely life and breath were connected in the minds of the story-telling ancestors of the Seneca.

160. The expression “of stone” is probably an exaggeration of the clay or mud shelters of the crawfish or lobster.

161. See Note 149.

162. The expression “end of the earth” evidently can mean the horizon only; it could not mean aught else here. This expression perhaps strengthened the tendency to belief in a limited earth. And this is, too, a good example of the reification of an illusion.

163. The word Tsodiqgwadon, correctly written Tsodĭqʹgwãdoⁿʼ, is the name of a species of copperhead snake.

164. The question to be decided with all sorcerers is that of the potency of the orenda or magic power possessed by them.

165. The reference here is to the implied challenge in the contest just ended with the life of the loser as the conceded prize of the winner. So Doonongaes having lost in the test of the power of his orenda must make, if possible, composition for his life with his vanquisher.

166. This struggle continuing “day and night for one month” is probably a reference to the fact that the moon once a month waxes and wanes and yet is not overcome or destroyed.

167. The expression “people of orenda, or magic power,” signifies that these are people who make a business of sorcery, and so the line should begin, “We sorcerers,” etc.

168. The word Dagwanoenyent, correctly written Dagwanoʼĕñʹiĕn, is the name of the Cyclone as a personified thing. The name seems to refer to the habit of cyclones to hurl things against the heads of people. The term means apparently, “What habitually hits or knocks our heads.”

169. This term “Niagwaihe” is evidently an error for the full form “Ganiagwaihegowa.” See Note 153.

170. The word Djainosgowa, correctly written Djaiʹnosgōwā, is the name of a more or less fanciful creature. It probably received its characteristics from hearsay reports of the alligator which were transferred to the fence lizard, or swift. The native interpreters usually translate the word by the words “blue lizard.” In story and legend it is a most ferocious antagonist, because of its reputed invulnerability. The final two syllables, gōwā, signify “large, great,” while the remainder of the word means, “lizard,” so that literally the combination signifies, “The Great Lizard,” and in legend, “The Monstrous Lizard.”

171. The reference here to the power of “becoming alive again” very probably rests on the hibernating habits of reptiles, shedding their skins, indicating change of bodies.

172. The word Hanondon, correctly written Hanonʹdoⁿ, is the ordinary Seneca name for the water snake, probably the Tropidonotus sipedon.

173. The word Hawiqson(t), correctly written Hawiqʹson, is the common Seneca and Iroquoian name of the milk snake, Ophibolus doliatus.

174. The word Gasaisdowanen, correctly written Gasʻhaisʹdowănĕⁿ, is the name of a large serpent in Iroquoian mythic lore. The name signifies, “It-serpent great (is),” or “The Great Serpent.”

175. Diagoisiowanens, correctly written Diagoiʻcioʹwănĕⁿs, is a descriptive epithet applied as an appellative to the meadow lark, signifying, “Her-leggings-large (are),” or “She whose leggings (are) large.”

176. Hononeowanen, correctly written Honoⁿʼeʹowanĕⁿ, is the name of a species of snake, probably the copperhead, and signifies, “His-head-large (is),” or popularly, “Big Head.”

177. One of the dominant notes of these stories is that when one of the great sorcerers, mentioned so often in them, is cornered, stress of circumstances force them to resume their true natures; so Doonongaes must do here.

178. The native word rendered “man” here is the ordinary designation for “human being.” These deities were classified with the human race of beings. See note 142.

179. The word Hostoyowanen, correctly written Hostoiōʹwănĕⁿ, is an epithet used as an appellative noun, descriptive of the buck of the deer; it signifies, “His headdress large (is),” referring to the crown of antlers.

180. This statement evidently refers in an exaggerated way to the long periods of fasting which hibernation enforces on snakes and other reptiles.

181. The expression Deyenegonsdasden, correctly written Deyenegoⁿsdăʹsdĕñʼ, is a descriptive appellative which is applied to the partridge; it signifies, “Her two wings large (are).”

182. The erection and use of a pole in this manner was quite common at great feasts or holidays. And the great wizards and sorcerers employed this means, too, for testing the orenda or magic power of visitors and guests. The statement that this one reached the clouds shows that it was an adjunct to the means of amusement and of testing out at the same time the orenda or magic power of those who came seeking the hand of the Partridge’s daughter. Shooting at an eagle on such a pole is a common incident in the stories.

183. He sent a woman in order to neutralize the malign infection given his arrow by being touched by alien wizards.

184. The usual rule among Iroquoian tribes is for the mother or some other female kin to superintend the marriage of a girl. This may be a story which has been modified by ideas of father right, or descent in the male line, possibly adopted from an alien people having this custom.

185. This reference is to the chief’s lodge.

186. The number 16 is unusual in stories of this character. It was probably a vague estimate of the size of the earth’s surface—16 days in one direction from the speaker, roughly a half month.

187. Dedyosdenhon for dedyoʻstĕñʹʼoⁿ was a place name, which signified “At the place of the fallen rock.”

188. The Partridge people are here represented as weak in sorcery.

189. Deienensowanens for Dienĕⁿsoʹwănĕⁿs signifies “Her shoulders (are) large or broad.”

190. Deanohdjes for Deanoʹʼdjes is the descriptive name of the walrus; the term signifies “His two teeth (are) long.”

191. Geia is the generic name for a walrus.

192. The time of one year here apparently refers to the period of hibernation—the absence from his ordinary home.

193. Nitgendasadieha for Nitgĕñdăʹʼsădieʹʼa signifies “At the narrow opening or clearing.”

194. The numeral “10” here and in the fourth line above appears to be simply a round number indicative of a long time.

195. Osigweon for Oʻsiʹgweon is the name of the rattlesnake, and signifies “What has a (?) spear affixed to it.”

196. The smoke from the pipe would have magically overpowered Doonongaes, and so it must not arise without protest.

197. Hinon for Hiʹʼnoⁿʼ, one of the oldest names among Iroquoian peoples for the Thunder Man-Being, was the uncompromising enemy of all serpents, and was at the same time the especial guardian of mankind.

198. Gendagwen(t) for Gĕñdăʹgwĕn is a place name, signifying “At the broad or flat clearing or field.” The final t-sound of the original is elided in modern Seneca pronunciation.

199. The meaning here is not clear, but it would seem to refer to the fact that a cyclone in a forest embraces in its sweep all manner of birds.

200. Ganos for gāʹnoʼs is the name of a species of frog.

201. This is a reference to a native notion that the earth was a flat surface not more than 16 days’ journey from the center to the edge.

202. This number “10” is probably only a round figure denoting a long time and a difficult journey. Compare Note 194.

203. This number is probably a reflex of the last number mentioned. Sixteen days were consumed in the outward journey. The use of definite numbers for these journeys is perhaps an attempt to make unhistorical dates seem probable.

204. Gaisonhe for Gaiʻsoⁿʹʻheʼ is the daddy-long-legs (harvest-man, carter, and grand-daddy-long-legs are other names for this insect).

205. Ohohwa ohnoh for Oʼoʹwāʼ Oʹʼnonʼ mean “Owl its arrow.”

206. Odjiʼeqʹdăʼ is the name of the crab and signifies “It (is) the claw.”

207. Sʻhodieonskon for sʻhodiʹoⁿskoⁿʼ is the name of a mythic character whose chief activities were to play pranks on all persons. In some tales he is represented as a brother to Death. See note 155.

208. Odauhdjah for Odauⁿʹdjăʼ is the name of a small white root.

209. Deiehnies for Deieʹʼnies is a proper name signifying “Her-two-claws-(or hands) (are) long.”

210. This was because her magic power or orenda was overcome by that of Doonongaes.

211. Dagwennigonhge for Dagwĕⁿʹʼnigoⁿʹʻge is the name of a lizard about 18 inches long; the name signifies “What deceives us,” literally, “What gives us two minds.”

212. These were cyclones, and the behavior of such phenomena perhaps gave rise to the epithet cited in Note 168.

213. Hahnyusdais for Haʼniuʻsʹdais is a proper name and denotes “His upper lip (is) long.”

214. Deagonstwihes for Deagoⁿstwiʹʼes is the name of the lobster, and signifies “His whiskers (are) long.”

215. Haunhdji for Hauⁿʹʼdji signifies “He (is) black,” possibly referring to the blacksnake, but the name of the rattlesnake in disguise is “His face black (is).”

216. This was the epithet applied to the robin who had killed Doonongaes, taken from its note in flight.

217. Hatkwisʹdowanen for Hatkwisʹdowănĕⁿ is a proper name, signifying “His belly (is) large.”

218. Hushewathen for Hosʻhewāʹtʻhĕñ is a proper name, signifying “His paunch is dry.”

219. Every reputable sorcerer possessed a pouch of the entire skin of some rare beast, in which were kept all his charms, fetishes, and medicines.

220. Hagondowanen for Hagoⁿʹʼdowănĕⁿ signifies “He whose forehead is large or high.”

221. These words signify “Now all those animals which are game have returned,” which has a seasonal reference—return from hibernation.

222. Gonyahsgweont for Goniăʹʼsgweon is the descriptive epithet applied to the toad, signifying “Her throat is swollen.”

223. Nosgwais for Nosʹgwais is the common name of the toad.

224. The time of sunrise marked, in the belief of the early Iroquois, a change in the exertion of orenda or magic power; so the flint knife was withdrawn because the bewitching power was off guard at this moment—among wizards.

225. Yondekhonyatha Ganondayen for Yondekhoñniaʹtʻha Gananʹdayĕⁿʼ signifies “They use it for eating It-village-(is).”

226. This expression is not modified or influenced by European thought; the native conception requires the name of such a power.

227. Stone Coat is the name of a mythic being commonly called by the Seneca Gĕⁿnoⁿʹʼsgwāʼ. See the Introduction for an explanation.

228. Other instances occur in these stories in which basswood is employed to overcome individuals of the Stone Coat people.

229. Hinon for Hiʹʼnoⁿʼ is the name of the Thunderer; later in Iroquois thought there were four who bore this name and who were the foes of all manner of reptiles and snakes, and the friends of mankind. The word is singular in form but with a plural implication, according to the context.

230. These words, correctly written Ogwēʹnioñ dĕⁿkēʹnooñk ganioʹʼsʻhoñ ĕⁿkeʹgĕⁿʼheioĕñʹdjădeⁿʼ, signify, “It is permitted to scalp a person if it be so that I will see him here on earth.”

231. Gendagahadenyatha for Gĕⁿʼdagaādeniăʹʼtʻhăʼ is the name of the common scarabæid beetle, usually called the tumblebug.

232. These Seneca words signify, “It is not possible that I should scalp you, although I have now, indeed, entered the place where you abide.”

233. Nanisheʹonon for Neʹ hanisʻheʹonoⁿʼ signifies “He who dwells in the earth, or in the ground,” and it is the name of the muckworm, the larva of the scarabæid beetle (Ligyrus relictus). The name being that applied to the Christian concept of Satan, the story-teller here endows the larva with the character of Satan, based solely on the etymology of the term.

234. Deanoʹʼdjes, “He who has two long teeth,” is the name of the walrus.

235. Haiwanenqgwi for Hāiwăʼnĕⁿʻqʹgwĭʻ is the name of the council messenger, meaning, “He who sweeps away the affairs.”

236. Gaha Gastende for Gäʹʻhăʼ Tgaʻstĕñʹdeʼ signifies, “Wind Cliff,” literally, “It-Wind There-It-Rock-Stands.”

237. Gahsgwaa Tgawenot for Gaʼsgwāʹāʼ Tgawēʼnot signifies “It-Rock There-It-Island-Stands,” or Rock Island.

238. Othegwenhdah Tgawenot for Otʻhägwĕⁿʹʼdăʼ Tgawēʹnot signifies “It-Chert or Flint It-Island-Stands,” or Flint Island.

239. Oosah Tgawenot for Oōʹsäʼ Tgawēʹnot signifies “It-Basswood It-Island-Stands,” or Basswood Island.

240. Gaiⁿsoⁿʹheʼ is the name of the daddy-long-legs.

241. Nitgawenosatieha for Nitgawenoⁿʼ satiēʹă signifies “There at the Narrow Island.”

242. Djinonhsanon for Djinoⁿʹsănoⁿ is the name of the cricket, meaning literally “Lodge watch or guard.” The name was given because this insect cries when the lodge or house becomes silent.

243. Tgawenogwen for Tgaweʼnōʹgwĕn is a place name signifying “There, at the Broad Island.”

244. Onowehda for Oʼnoweʹʻdăʼ is the name of the angleworm.

245. Djisdaah for djisdāʹa is the name of the grasshopper. So that Djisdaah Tgawenot means “Grasshopper Island.”

246. See note 237.

247. Hoonkgowanen for Hooⁿʼkgowāʹnĕⁿ is the name of the Pelican (?) and signifies, “His throat or gullet is large.”

248. See note 239.

249. Shayades for Sʻhayăʹʼdes is the name of the blacksnake, meaning “His body (is) notedly long.”

250. Deanohsgwis for Deanoⁿʼsʹgwis is the name of a kind of grasshopper (?), meaning “His jump (trajectory) (is) long.”

251. See note 243.

252. See note 244.

253. Hononhengwen for Honoⁿʼĕⁿʹʼgwĕn is a proper name, meaning, “His head (is) broad.”

254. Ganehdaiikhon Tgahadayen Tgawenot for Ganeʻdaiikʹhoⁿʼ Tgahādāʹiēⁿʼ Tgawēʹnot is a place name, meaning, “It is green It-forest-is there-it-island-is,” or “The Island of the Green Forest.”

255. Degatengowa for Degatĕⁿʹʻgōwa is the name of the large dust-colored grasshopper, about 2 inches long. Its habit of leaping up in the air 3 or 4 feet and remaining almost stationary by a fluttering of the wings is referred to in the next line in the story.

256. Henhgadji for Hĕⁿʹʻgädji signifies, “His tail (is) black,” referring to the marking of the tail.

257. See note 245.

258. The use of the pipe was to fortify himself against any evil influence that might be employed by the stranger.

259. Hodehondasiowanen for Hodeʻon dăsiōʹwănĕⁿ signifies “His quid (is) large.”

260. Gaasyendietʻha for Gaăʻsioñdieʹtʻhăʼ is the name of the meteor or so-called firedragon, and signifies, “He emits or casts out flames of fire.”

261. Gaonhiahge Tgastendeh for Gäoⁿʻiăʹʼgeʻ Tgaʻstĕñʹdeʼ signify “On the Sky, or in the Sky, there It-Rock-Island Stands forth,” or freely, “The Rock Cliff or Peak in the Sky.”

262. Tkwendahen Niohsiowesiohden for Tkwĕⁿʻdäʼʹĕñʼ Nioʻciowecioʹʼdĕñ signify “His jacket (is) red.”

263. Gaahgwa Tgawenot for Gääʹʻgwāʼ Tgawēʼnot signify, “Sun there-it-island,” or “Island of the Sun.”

264. Djahgwiyu for Djăʹʼgwiyu is the name of the tanager.

265. Ohnonqgon(t) Tgawenot for Oʼnoⁿʹʻgon Tgawēʹnot signify, “Bumblebee There-It-Island,” or “Bumblebee Island.”

266. Djihtkwahen Niothwahasyohʹden for Djiʼtkwäʹʼĕñʼ Niʻotʻwahăʻcioʹʼdĕⁿ signify, “His belt is yellow”, which is the name of a kind of bee.

267. Gainhdoya Tgawenot for Gaiⁿʼdoʹʼiăʼ Tgawēʹnot signify “At Blanket (or perhaps better Robe) Island,” i.e., “It-Robe There-It-Island.”

268. Djihtkwahen Haos for Djiʼtwăʹʼĕñʼ Hāós signify “His robe or blanket is yellow,” the name of a kind of bee.

269. Hahnowa Tgawenot for Haʼnōʹwa Tgawēʹnot signify “At the Turtle Island.”

270. Honoʼtsăgagiʹyĭt, the correct form, signifies “His teeth (are) sharp;” but it may signify “His tooth (is) sharp.”

271. Ohneqsah Tgawenot for Oʼneʹʻsăʼ Tgawēʹnot signify “At Sand Island,” or “It-Sand There-It-Island.”

272. Sowek-shohon for Sōʹwĕk-sʻhoʼoⁿ, the plural form of Sōʹwĕk, signifies “Ducks,” but sometimes meaning “All kinds of ducks.”

273. Hahnyahses for Hāniăʹʼses signifies “His neck (is) long.”

274. Awaeh for Awäʹʼeʼ denotes “the Swan.”

275. See note 264.

276. See note 262.

277. This was done by means of sorcery. A reed was a usual means for “shooting” a person by sorcery.

278. Goanyahge Diyoendjadeh for Gäoⁿiăʹʼgeʻ Diioʻĕñʹdjădeʼ signify “It Sky-On There-it-Land-Stands.”

279. Sʻhadahgeah for Oʻsʻhāʹdăʼgeāʼ signifies “Pertaining to the region of the clouds,” or, perhaps, “On or against the clouds.”

280. Odahnoqgwiyah Haos for Odäʼnoⁿʻgwiʹiäʼ Hāʹos signify “His Robe (is) of down.”

281. The number “7” is sometimes used, while at other times the number “4” is latterly used, to represent the number of people who are called Hinon or the Thunder People. See note 229.

282. Shedwaqsot for Shedwăʹʻsot signifies “Our grandfather.”

283. Hahasdensyowanen for Hăʼsʻhasdĕⁿsʹiowanĕⁿ signifies “He whose power (is) great.”

284. Odonseh for Odoⁿʹseʼ is the name of a kind of worm.

285. Shagoewatha for Sʻhagoewatʹʻhăʼ signifies “He punishes them (mankind)” and is the name of the muckworm. This peculiar office is probably due to the identification of this worm with Satan.

286. Sʻhagodiyoweqgowa for Shagadiioweq gowa is the name of the Wind, or Whirlwind.

287. Ganiagwaihegowa for Ganăiʼgwaihēʼgōwā is explained in Note 153.

288. Oqtchihgah Ongwe for Oqtciʹʼgäʼ Oñʹgweʻ signify “It-Cloud Human Being”, or “Cloud Man”, i.e., a personified cloud.

289. Sadjāʹwĭskĭ is the name of the thousand-legged worm.

290. See note 285.

291. The word “man” here signifies “human beings” of the “first people.”

292. Odjisdanohgwah for Odjisdanoʹʻgwăʼ is the name of a star.

293. Gaaqgwaah for Gääʹʻgwāā is the name of the orb of the sun. But as its derivation shows that it is the name of anything that is present to view, the word is also applied to the orb of the moon. Strictly used, it requires the limiting term, “daytime,” to denote the sun, and “nighttime,” to denote the moon. So the expressions, “day sun” and “night sun,” which are sometimes heard or seen, are inaccurate, as the word simply means “What is present to view.”

294. See note 169. Niagwaihegowa of this line differs from that cited in Note 169 by having the adjective gōwā “great, large, monstrous,” suffixed to it.

295. Tgawenosdenh for Tgawēnōsʹdĕñʼ signifies “At the broad island,” or “At the great island.”

296. Othowege for Otʻhowēʹgeʻ signifies “At or in the north,” literally “At or in the place of cold.”

297. Hathogowa for Hatʻhoʹʼgōwā signifies “He is the Great Cold,” which is evidently the name of the Winter Power (God).

298. Otho for Otʹʻhoʼ signifies “It is cold.”

299. Onenonhge for Onēʹnaⁿʼgeʻ signifies “At the place of sunshine.”

300. Dedioshwineqdon for Dedioʻsʻhwineqʹdoⁿ is the name of the “Warm spring wind.”

301. Ongwe Honwe for Oñgweʹ-ʻHoñweʻ signifies “real, or native, people,” people in contrast with pseudohuman beings, or beings that assume or have had the human form and attributes belonging to the myth-making epoch. In modern times, the name was applied to the native Indian person in contrast with the European person.

302. Gaasyendietʻha for Gaăʻsioñdieʹtʻhăʼ is the name of the firedragon, or the meteor. See note 260.

303. Stone Coats is the legendary name of the sons of the Winter God. This brood of harmful fictitious creatures owe their being to an erroneous folk-etymology of the word Tawiskaroⁿʼ, the name of the Winter God. Cf. Introduction.

304. Ongwe Hanyos for Oñʹgweʻ Hāʹnioʻs signify “He is in the habit of killing human beings,” sometimes meaning a cannibal.

305. There is a well-known Wyandot tradition that in some former country of their ancestors the winters were very severe and the snows fell excessively deep—so deep sometimes that the poor people had to dig their way out of their wigwams in quest of sustenance. Consequently, food was often scarce and famine rife, because the hunters were unable to go out on account of the great depth of the snow. And, in some instances, it is said, the pangs of hunger were so pressing that some famishing persons were driven to kill and devour some of their own neighbors and friends. Others, more fortunate, learning of these cannibalistic acts, decided to leave the country at once. So, digging their way out through the drifted snows, they finally reached, southward from their former homes, a river which they crossed and, continuing their journey some time, they at last reached a land in which they found a much milder climate. But those who remained became monsters—man-eaters, giants, stone coats, stone giants—and were very strong in body. This is the popular explanation of a lost myth incident—the activity of the Winter God.

In later times, it is said, one of these Stone Coats found his way to the river which the fugitives had crossed and stood on the farther bank, where he was seen by one of the fugitive hunters. The Stone Coat would not attempt to cross the river for he was afraid of water, but he called out across the river to the hunter, who had escaped from the northern country, saying, “Cousin, come over here.” It is held that he wanted to eat the hunter, who, however, did not obey his summons. But, in a canoe, he went close to the opposite shore of the river, carrying with him a quantity of hot deer fat, which he gave to the Stone Coat, telling him to drink it. When the Stone Coat drank it his coat or skin of stone fell off from him, and he ceased being a man-eater, and he then was willing to cross the river with the hunter, whom he called his cousin. In the course of time the shows melted in that northern country and the Stone Coats dispersed in various directions.

Afterwards, an old Stone Coat woman came to the village of the fugitives on the south side of the river (which is said to be the St. Lawrence River), and the people dwelling there at once surmised that she came there with the desire of eating some one of its inhabitants. But a young man and his wife took a basswood paddle (basswood is reputed in legendary lore as having the power of depriving a Stone Coat of strength and life) and they beat the old Stone Coat woman until she fell, exclaiming, “The Little Turtles are killing me.” Then the Stone Coat woman arose and fled northward and escaped. The other Stone Coats also departed northward, going to their native home, which was in the far northland.

306. In addition to these striking characteristics this peculiar monster was said to have only a single rib on either rib, which filled the space occupied by the normal number.

307. It is said that this monster was vulnerable only in the soles of its feet.

308. This statement that a warrior’s courage was in inverse ratio to the size of the shield he carried is true to-day among the shield-bearing tribes of the United States.

309. The notion expressed here that the members of the human or other animate body, possessing marked orenda or magic power, have the uncanny potency to fly back into place when dismembered, unless prevented from doing so until cold, is not uncommon among people having strong faith in sorcery.

310. Protest is here made against the abuse or mutilation of the dead.

311. See Note 52.

312. Turkey.

313. This use of a horn to pierce the foot of a competitor is not uncommon in these stories.

314. This statement is probably only a waggish addition of some relator rather than the expression of a belief that the sun may be pushed back by any means.

315. This is another instance of the use of the eyes of living birds instead of the usual plum pits in this game.

316. This incident occurs in another story of this collection. See Note 118.

317. This statement gives this incident a cosmical implication.

318. This implies plainly that the so-called “naked dance” was a fetish of this person.

319. This term signifies, “He, the Cold One.” It is a name of Winter.

320. This is a story of the Wind-Beings or Gods.

321. The number 10 is connected with certain rites pertaining to the lifting of the period of mourning.

322. This is not the historical origin of the “Mask” societies among the Iroquois.

323. There is here also a vague cosmical implication.

324. This shows that the Iroquois and the Seneca believed that the personality was different from the flesh of the body.

325. This term with the suffix -gowa signifies, “Great Whirlwind or Cyclone,” and is here used to awe the Genonsgwa or Stone Coat kidnaper.

326. This is the plural, or rather distributive plural, form that is added to the noun Genonsgwa, making it signify “all kinds of Stone Coats.”

327. The meaning of this title is “Thunder, His Son and his Grandmother.”

328. This title means “He, the Chief, and Flint.”

329. These two words signify “At the high rock.”

330. He spears fish.

331. Turtle.

332. The meanings of the names of these ten sons of the Chief who married Hongak, the Wild Goose woman, are, in their order, as follows: (a) Red-headed; (b) Long-headed; (c) Long-billed; (d) Long-mandibled; (e) Long-footed; (f) Bow-legged; (g) Long-clawed; (h) Large-clawed; (i) Fat-headed; and (j) Flint. With the possible exception of the last, these names are not inappropriate for goslings.

333. The Dagwanoenyent is the Cyclone or Whirlwind which is here represented as striking the vault of the sky with a crash, as the sky was regarded as a solid body.

334. This whirlwind of snakes is a weird conception, like some other incidents of the story.

335. These two native terms signify, respectively, “At the deep lake” and “There where it has passed through the earth.” The last meaning is that the water is so deep that it protrudes on the other side of the earth.

336. Blue Jay people.

337. “At the Mountains.”

338. Partridge.

339. This is not a Seneca word.

340. Mosquito.

341. “Having roots” and “He who plants.”

341a. In the Odyssey Odysseus constructed his dwelling place in a similar way and place.

342. This is a name of Winter = “He, the Cold.”

342a. This name signifies, “They (fem.) are clouds going about from place to place.”

343. This trail is the dramatizing of the sun’s rays in the morning or in the evening passing through broken clouds and casting rays and shadows across the sky. An illusion arising from regarding what is visible as having a solid surface.

344. One of Okteondon’s men had just paid the penalty of disobedience of his leader’s order.

345. This name seems to mean “He has lost his leggings.” Hoisʻhäʻtoñʹniʻ is the correct form.

346. This is the name of a large bird which soars so high that it has won the name “pertaining to the clouds.”

347. This is evidently reminiscent of an earlier age when human pelts were regarded as trophies of cannibal hunters.

348. The Seneca terms signify, “Human beings, they, both men and women, eat,” i.e., both men and women were cannibals.

349. This method of bringing dry bones to life again, so frequent in these stories, is not, of course, peculiar to the Seneca.

350. Blood and the color red appear to be signs of ill omen in the belief of the early story-tellers.

351. The method of the dream testing is virtually identical with that in legend No. 70, even to the words used.

352. This method of destroying the lodges of vanquished sorcerers is frequently employed in these tales.

353. “He whose body is bright” and “Thousand-legged worm.”

354. This word signifies “He who tortures them.” According to the following line he belonged to the Toad people.

355. Here there is implied a mythic reference in the use of the number 7.

356. Blue Jay.

357. Crow.

358. The superheated flint lodge to destroy evil-minded wizards by some hero is a common device in these stories.

359. This native term is very broad in its extension, as it includes the Man-Beings of the first cosmic period, the first people, the ancients, as well as mankind of the last cosmic period of these tales.

360. This statement that blood and pain were given the body for its protection is singular, to say the least.

361. This story resembles No. 11, “The Snake with Two Heads,” in some of its details.

362. Raccoon.

363. Deer.

364. The Great Heads were the Dagwanoenyent.

365. The Arrow.

366. This term signifies “People of the Land of Reeds.” It Is not at all certain that the name applied to any place in the southland, for the modern Iroquois apply it to certain people coming from Ononʻhoʻgwaʹʼgeʻ near Binghamton, N. Y.

367. The Roué.

368. These two words signify “‘Cherokee’; there they dwell.” That is, it was the country of the Cherokee.

369. The words “Ne Hononhsot” signify “the lodge tenant,” but “Endekha Gaahgwa” signify “the sun,” i.e., “Diurnal It-Orb-of-Light.”

370. This is an official title; it denotes “the chiefess”; that is, the woman chief, who is such by election, and not by being a wife of a chief.

371. This conception of a river of land is picturesque, to say the least.

372. This is a protest against prevalent cannibalism.

373. Hăʼdegaunʹdăgeʻ, i.e., “All kinds of trees,” and the Dwarf Man, respectively.

374. “She, the Proud One.”

375. This story is identical with one published by Lafitau in his “Moeurs, etc.”

376. Thunder or the Thunder Man-Being.

377. This is the statement of an early form of anthropic parthenogenesis; its enduring implication is that air (wind)—that is, breath—is the source of life. In later development it becomes an immaculate conception.

378. The Wind Man-Being and Winter Man-Being.

379. The use of the epithet “cannibal” is justified only by the thought that persons are killed to be eaten; a natural inference to cannibalistic peoples.

380. The name is not easily translatable; it was probably partly misunderstood.

381. A Fishhawk.

382. Flint-worker or Flint-maker, i.e., Arrow-head-maker.

383. Net-Maker.

384. He, the Eunuch.

385. Corn soup.

386. The Thunderers = They whose voices go about.

387. Crow and “The Other Side,” sometimes Left-handed.

388. Cyclone and Meteor.

389. This is the descriptive epithet applied to a dark or black cyclonic wind cloud.

390. A Hawk.

391. A cloud or fog.

392. The Great Blue Lizard, a mythic being.

393. The Mother or Eldest Woman of the Whirlwind People and She, the Stone Coat.

394. This is a very good definition of faith.

395. “The Lake Where the Stone Giants Lie Buried.”

396. This is the usual description.

397. The Great Head is only another name of Dagwanoenyent, who is the Tornado or Cyclone.

398. This particular method of raising the dead is common to a large number of other stories. They differ only in minor details; in this a number of trees is mentioned, while in other stories only a single tree is mentioned.

399. These two words together signify “He eats human beings as a habit;” i.e., he is a cannibal.

400. This name is sometimes applied to a person who after being in a long swoon regains consciousness.

401. This refers to the grinding of the rocks and stones by the force of cyclonic winds.

402. This signifies “the small dose.” It is the name of a famous medicine, and it is so called because only a very small dose is required. Erroneously it has been commonly rendered “the small water.”

403. The term hochinagen is the name commonly applied to the native healer and exorcist.

404. A maid or woman during the period of her catamenia became sacred or taboo to all men and ill persons; it was therefore dangerous to have her around; her sacredness or taboo was infectious.

405. This is an abbreviated form of the name Ganyăʼgwaiʻheʹgōwā, the great monster-bear.

406. This denotes the spike of a flowering plant.

407. This was an underhanded method of ascertaining whether a person lying near a fire was sound asleep or not; it was practiced chiefly by wicked persons in order to injure other persons.

408. These perils barring a path are employed in a number of other stories. The same monsters are not always mentioned, but their common provenance seems to be indicated, nevertheless.

409. This human skin flayed off whole is an example of the methods of torture practiced by the ancestors of the story tellers. It was believed that wizards and sorcerers could remove the flesh-body from the skin without destroying the life of the victim, which then was supposed to animate the empty skin. These skins retained the powers of the body and were usually called “a pouch.” This retaining of life by these skins, flayed whole, is mentioned in the Odyssey of Homer, where he speaks of the slaughter of the cows of the Sun. In the native conception this was regarded as a refined species of slavery.

410. It was customary in some families making pretensions to sorcery to conceal the child who had been born with a caul. This was done in such manner that no one other than one of the nearest of the child’s kin should be charged with the wardship of the hidden child, and so should have access exclusively to the initiate. One of the means employed in shielding the initiate from the view of other persons was to strew carefully about the place of concealment cat-tail flag down in such wise that any displacement of it would indicate intrusion by some unauthorized person. Thus is derived the epithet “down-fended,” or “warded by down.” Secondarily, it may have meant “mat-warded,” because mats were in some instances made from this kind of flag. (See 21st Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 127.)

411. This is literally what the native term signifies.

412. It was believed, and so reported traditionally, that usually the arrow of a sorcerer could not be removed from a wound except by its owner without injuring the arrow.

413. This is the literal meaning of the native term, and was the name of a ceremonial feast, the virtues of which were believed to be rooted in the fact of the complete consumption of the food offered by those who had been invited to eat up what was set before them. It was permissible for such a guest, however, to pay another to eat up what he himself or herself was not able to devour, for if anything of the feast should be left over the purpose of the feast would be defeated—by the malign influence of hostile sorcerers.

414. See note 409.

414a. This is one form of what is commonly called kinnikinic, a term which signifies “a mixture,” although it is also applied to the several plants which commonly form the ingredients in the mixture.

415. The native term here rendered “amulet” has a number of meanings, another being the dried spike of a plant—that of the mullein, for example. So this might be translated “The Spike-Hitter.” It also is applied to any black object or toy.

416. This feature of the shrinking path is interesting.

417. The rendering of the native term by “owls” is literal, but the word “owl” is taken in the sense of any nondescript bird of ill omen.

418. The Seneca for this name is Hotkwĕⁿʼdadegĕⁿʼʹăʻ, i.e., “He, the Burnt Belly, Small.” Otherwise, “Small Mr. Burnt Belly.”

419. It was a common belief among the Seneca and the other Iroquoian people that a sorcerer was usually aware of what another was doing, even though they might dwell far apart.

420. This returning of human life to the body of a simulated animal is also quite common in stories recounting the fanciful exploits of sorcerers.

421. This is the name of a woman who belonged to a class of ferocious women who gained notoriety by seeking to destroy their sons-in-law on their wedding nights. This name denotes the habit of these women of casting themselves into the fire as a challenge. The name signifies, “She who is burned in many places.”

422. See note 410. This is the masculine form of the Seneca expression.

423. This is the indefinite form of the expression cited in the preceding note.

424. This is the Seneca form of the name for a human skin, flayed off whole, which was made to serve as a warder for some noted sorcerer or sorceress. See note 409.

425. This method of heating and hardening wooden instruments was employed by Ulysses. See Homer’s Odyssey.

426. This expression is the nearest approximation in sense to the native term which signifies, literally, “He who has achieved or perfected our faculties.”

427. This description recalls the Homeric contests for prizes between the Greek warriors before Troy.

428. The following recital of the obstacles along this mysterious path, occurring in slightly varying versions elsewhere, reminds one of the seven guarded passageways along the path of Ishtar’s descent to the regions of the dead.

429. The term rendered “mother” denotes in the vernacular the “matron” or head woman, although “mother” is better.

430. The Partridge.

431. The Seneca name is Oʻsoʹon(t). The “t” sound is obsolescent.

432. These are offerings to the genii of the place.

433. He is the last remaining person.

434. This is the method formerly used to “guess” the meaning of one’s dream.

435. It will be noted that most of the proper names in this story indicate reference to some process or object of nature.

436. This rising and falling of the sky appears as an incident in a number of other tales of this character.

437. This term is used as both noun and adjective; here it is used as a noun; it signifies, “What customarily uses its orenda or magic power destructively.”

438. This term refers to the Wind God whose activities earned for him the epithet, “Evil-minded.”

439. This form of the generic noun oñʹgweʻ signifies “The male Man-Being.”

440. This address is made as a part of the ceremonies at the harvest festival, commonly called the “Green Corn dance.” In this expression the word “green” stands for “new,” i.e., newly harvested corn.

441. This woman in the original story is Mother Earth. Here she has become the representative of the expression of Mother Earth—the offspring of her life-giving powers.

442. This appears to be a sort of parable teaching the virtue of gratefulness for what one receives of the bounties of nature on earth.

443. The evil of one man is visited on the members of the community to which he belongs; this represents the method of avenging a wrong by the early Iroquoian people.

444. This old woman was the matron of the family, or ohwachira.

445. This is the Winter God, but here he is called “He who is robed in flint.”

446. This has reference to the dances of the women and maids in which they dramatize the waving of the stalks of standing corn.

447. The expression “You two cousins” denotes the two symbolic sides of the tribe—the two phratries, or, rather, sisterhoods, of clans.

448. It will be noted that the framework of this story is in some respects exactly like that of the next preceding.

449. This is a fine example of the native regard for all living things; even the plants find a place in their sympathy.

450. This story has a number of interesting weather signs.

450a. This is a very interesting statement, because it connects this mythic porcupine with Sunlight. The porcupine, the mythic being, is usually connected with sunlight in American myths, especially the quivering or dancing spring sunlight.

451. This is the act of exorcism by blowing up the evil persons.

452. The native word literally means, “One—it one’s word uses to make,” i.e., “One uses it to make one’s word”; briefly, it is one’s pledge, the token of a vow.

453. The imitative sounds or utterances which certain activities were thought to emit are no small part of the interest these stories have for the students of the origin of words and sentences. The recorder was at all times careful to write down these very naïve but most expressive sounds.

454. The remainder of this incident belongs to the story of Sʻhodieonskon; this version, however, is much longer.

455. This circumstance gave rise to the name of this hero, Hahadodagwatʻha, i.e., “He who pulls out the branch customarily.”

456. This name signifies “Standing Rock” or “Projecting Rock.”

457. This native word is usually rendered variously in popular translations as “Stone Coat,” “Stone Shirt,” “Stone Giant,” “Giant,” “Monster Man.” Its real significance and correct translation has been given in the introduction to these stories.

458. As explained in the introduction, this represents poetic license, i.e., the use of the word for flint or chert for ice.

459. The foregoing recital details certain customs pertaining to ambassadors to hostile tribes, which are of marked interest.

460. The matter of this symbol is fully carried out in the dedicatory language of the League or Federation of the Iroquois.

461. The following incident on the island is found in other stories, especially in that of Hayanoweh.

462. This incident shows that the story-tellers believed that the so-called dead were really not dead, and that these well knew what was transpiring on earth among mankind.

463. This is the psychological counterpart of the familiar “Fear not” of the Sacred Scriptures.

464. This is the slavery or servitude imposed by the evil use of orenda (or magic power) by a hostile person; in its original sense the English “spellbound” had this signification.

FOOT-NOTES

[1] The manuscript of this Journal was discovered in Amsterdam in 1895 by the late Gen. James Grant Wilson, who published it in the Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the year 1895, under the caption “Arent Van Curler And His Journal of 1634–35.” But the Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts, edited by the learned Mr. A. J. F. van Laer, show that van Curler could not have made the journey, as he did not reach Rensselaerswyck until 1637, then a youth of only eighteen. It seems probable that Marmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert, the surgeon of the fort, was the author of the Journal. Consult the Introduction to this same Journal as published in “Narratives of New Netherland, 1609–1664,” ed. by J. Franklin Jameson, in Original Narratives of Early American History (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1909).

[2] This village of Ongniaahra (Ongiara, Onguiaara, and Ondgiara are other forms found in the literature of the Jesuit Fathers) was situated very probably on or near the site of the village of Youngstown, New York. It is the present Iroquoian name of this village, but not of the river nor of the Falls of Niagara.

[3] The Aondironnon probably dwelt at or near the present Moraviantown, Ontario, Canada, although some Iroquois apply the name to St. Thomas, some distance eastward. Another form of the name is Ahondihronnon. The nominal part that is distinctive is thus Aondi or Ahondin, as written in the Jesuit Relations. The modern Iroquoian form is ĕⁿʻ.tiʹhĕⁿ, ‘The middle or center of the peninsula.’

[4] Curtin, Jeremiah, Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars, p. vii, Boston, 1890.

[5] Ibid., p. x.

[6] Ibid., pp. x–xi.

[7] Curtin, Jeremiah, Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars, p. ix, Boston, 1890.

[8] Ibid., p. xvii.

[9] Curtin, Jeremiah, Hero-Tales of Ireland, pp. ix, x, Boston, 1894.

[10] Curtin, Jeremiah, Hero-Tales of Ireland, pp. x, xi, Boston, 1894.

[11] Ibid., p. xi.

[12] Ibid., pp. xii, xiii.

[13] Ibid., p. xiii.

[14] Curtin, Jeremiah, Hero-Tales of Ireland, p. xiv, Boston, 1894.

[15] Ibid., p. xv.

[16] Ibid., p. xvi.

[17] Ibid., pp. xlix-l.

[18] Curtin, Jeremiah, Hero-Tales of Ireland, p. xlviii, Boston, 1894.

[19] Ibid., pp. xlvi, xlvii.

[20] Curtin, Jeremiah, Creation Myths of Primitive America, pp. xxxi–xxxii, Boston, 1898.

[21] Ibid., p. xxxii.

[22] Curtin, Jeremiah, Creation Myths of Primitive America, pp. xxxvii–xxxviii, Boston, 1898.

[23] Ibid., pp. xxxviii–xxxix.

[24] Curtin, Jeremiah Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland, pp. 22–27, Boston, 1890.

[25] Ibid., p. 22.

[26] For an extended etymologic demonstration of the facts stated in the text, consult articles Tawiskaron and Nanabozho by the editor in the Handbook of American Indians (Bulletin 30 of the Bureau of American Ethnology).

[27] Handbook of American Indians, pt. 2, p. 720.

[28] The superior figures refer to notes on pages 791–812.

[29] Woodworker and Long-Tooth.

[30] Small-dose medicine.