SENECA MYTHS AND LEGENDS

The Seneca Creation Myth: How the World Began (Notes)

• Context

  • Source: Seneca myths as narrated by Arthur C. Parker (Seneca).
  • Section: IV. 1. HOW THE WORLD BEGAN.
  • Opening scene references a notable Seneca leader, Delos Big Kittle-Sainowa, and a photograph credit; the myth text itself follows a cosmological creation story.

• The Upper World (the sky-world)

  • Existence beyond the dome of the sky: a different, ancient world inhabited by celestial beings led by the great chief of the up-above-world.
  • The great chief has a wife who is very aged and has survived many seasons.
  • The upper world is described as a floating realm, moving where the chief desires.
  • The crust of this world is not thick; its interior beneath the surface is unknown to the beings.
  • Central to the upper world is a great tree with fruits and flowers and a luminous blossom at its top that lights the world and fills the air with a wonderful perfume, especially a scent resembling sacred tobacco smoke (incense loved by the great chief).
  • Roots of the tree are white and extend in four directions; they run deep into the earth, providing support for the tree.
  • The people gather daily around the tree where the Great Chief has his lodge.
  • The Great Chief desires to take as wife a certain maiden named Awĕha'i (often called Iagĕ"tci').
  • The union with Awĕha'i results in a pregnancy, causing the chief’s anger and a sense of deception, though Awĕha'i loves the unborn child.
  • The chief has a dream commanding the uprooting of the celestial tree as punishment and relief for his troubled spirit.

• The Uprooting of the Tree and the Descent of Sky Woman

  • The Sky-Woman’s uprooting of the tree is carried out after the chief proclaims his dream to Awĕha'i, who agrees to the action.
  • The uprooting disturbs the upper world; the Sky-Woman falls through the hole created by the uprooting.
  • As she falls, she encounters a Fire-Beast named Gaǎs'ioñdie't'hǎ' (Gahashondietoh), who provides her with a corn mortar, pestle, marrow bone, and an ear of corn, telling her she will eat these and that there will be nothing below, and all who eat shall see him once and it will be the last.
  • Fire-Beast’s visibility and nature are described as elusive: “of the color of the wind,” sometimes said to be pure white; whether visible depends on context.
  • Below the surface, hovering over troubled waters are various creatures, including beings like Gä'ha’ and S’hagodiiowe