The World on the Turtle's Back by the Iroquois

Background

• The U.S. Constitution and the founding charter of the United Nations are based on the Iroquois constitution: "The Great Binding Law."
• The World on the Turtle's Back is an Iroquois creation story filled with conflict and compelling characters.
• The Iroquois passed down this story from one generation to the next by telling it in elaborate performances.
• In the 1800s, David Cusick, an Iroquois author, recorded one version of the story in print.
• The Iroquois are six Native American groups: Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Mohawk and Tuscarora from New York.
• Today, they fight for environmental protection and increased recognition from the US gov.

Summary

• In the beginning, there was only a great ocean inhabited by fish. Above the ocean, air inhabited by birds. Above all this, Sky-World, inhabited by gods who were like people (like Iroquois).
• In the middle of Sky-World, there was a Great Tree that had grown there forever, with enormous roots and many kinds of leaves, fruits, and flowers.
• The tree was sacred because it stood at the center of the universe. It shouldn't be mutilated.
• A pregnant woman wanted some bark from the Great Tree (we don't know for what, maybe food or medicine) and told her husband, who she always sent to get her cravings, but he didn't like the idea (knew it was wrong).
• His wife convinced him, so he dug up some roots but accidentally opened a hole on the floor.
• He didn't expect there was empty space below Sky-World.
• He said he wouldn't get the roots.
• His wife set to get the roots herself, leaned and peaked below the hole, and then fell.
• Some say she slipped, others say her husband pushed her (we don't know).
• As she fell, she grabbed frantically at the tree, getting bits of things that grew in Sky-World and its of root tips from the Great Tree between her fingers.
• The birds of the sea supported her on their wings, and put her on a turtle that agreed to receive her on its back.
• The people of Sky-World ignored this.
• The woman looked around her after recovering from the shock and terror and thought that she would die, as she only saw birds and sea creatures.
• The creatures agreed to help her find soil so she could plant the roots.
• No one had been to the bottom of the sea, but they thought there might be soil down there.
• It was very deep, animals went down and failed.
• The muskrat ("Earth-Diver") finally got soil, but he almost died.
• The woman got the dirt, placed it on the center of the turtle, and walked around it in the direction of the Sun (this is how the earth grew).
• When the Earth grew enough, she planted the roots. The plants grew and she kept walking.
• People still move in a circle towards the Sun in rituals because of this.
• She gathered roots and built a hut.
• The woman eventually gave birth to a daughter, who kept walking, making Earth grow, and eating from the land.
• When the girl was a woman, a man appeared (from above, the Gods, maybe West Wind) that made the girl faint (filled with terror, amazement, and warmth).
• The man put two arrows across her body and left quietly.
• One was sharp, another blunt. This indicated she'd have twins, but they'd be very different.
• The twins argued from inside their mother.
• The right-handed twin wanted to be born the normal way.
• The left-handed twin wanted to go out another opening through which he saw light.
• The right-handed twin said he'd kill their mother, but the left-handed twin was stubborn.
• The left-handed twin went upwards, but couldn't come out the nose or mouth, so he was born through the armpit and killed her.
• The grandmother told them to stop fighting and they buried the mother of the twins.
• Out of her head grew corn, beans, and squash (the three sisters).
• Out of her heart grew the sacred tobacco.
• The grandmother favored the left-handed twin, and this made the right-handed twin angry because he did everything as he should.
• Right-handed twin:
• said what he meant, and meant what he said
• always told the truth
• always tried to accomplish what seemed to be right and reasonable
• "straight mind"
• "upright man"
• "Sapling" (smooth, young, green, fresh, innocent, straightforward, straight-growing, soft, pliable, teachable, trainable)
• "He Holds Up the Skies"
• "Master of Life"
• "Great Creator"
• Left-handed twin:
• never said what he meant or meant what he said
• always lied
• always did things backwards
• "crooked mind"
• "devious man"
• "Flint"
• "the one covered with boils"
• "the devious one"
• "Old Warty" (stubborn, dark in color)
• The twins were not good and bad, they just created a necessary balance.
• The Indians didn't say right/wrong, they said straight/crooked mind, upright/devious man, and right/left.
• The twins had creative powers, taking clay and making animals.
• Right-handed twin made herbivores like deer, ground squirrels, and porcupines.
• Left-handed twin made animals that preyed on the right's, like mountain lions, weasels, and bears.
• The right-handed twin made berried and fruits, while the left-handed twin made poison ivy, briars, and poisonous plants like baneberry, dogberry, and suicide root.
• The right-handed twin made man.
• Made by clay and baked in the fire.
• It's not known how much the left-handed twin was involved.
• The twins made a balanced and orderly world.
• As the twins turned into adults, the conflict grew because no one had "won."
• They started dueling:
• First, gambling (wooden owl, put wild plum pits, one side was burned black, tossed and bet on how they would fall), but neither won in the whole day.
• Then, a lacrosse game for a whole day, but no one won.
• Afterwards, battled with clubs, but no one won.
• They tried to find each other's weakness.
• Finally, came the death duel.
• The left-handed twin's weapon was a mere stick, but the right-handed twin's was a deer antler that destroyed his brother with one touch.
• The left-handed twin didn't really die, as the right-handed twin just tossed him off the edge of earth, so he now reigns the underworld and the fearful realm of night (right-handed twin ruled day).
• His grandmother, back at the house, called him a murderer and threw his food on the ground. He grabbed her by the throat, cut her head off, threw her body into the ocean, and her head into the sky (her head = the moon).
• The two twins ruled the world and kept an eye on the affairs of men.
• Right-handed twin lived in Sky-World, content with his favorite creation (humans).
• Scent of tobacco came to him from below.
• Left-handed twin lived in the world below, and knew the world of men, finding contentment in it.
• Found the sounds of warfare and torture good.
• In daytime, people honor right-handed twin. In nighttime, people dance for left-handed twin.