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Delahoyde & Hughes
Orpheus
THE IROQUOIS
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As recorded early in the 20th century, the Iroquois creation story
conceives of the world as a "floating island," originally a sort of
"cloud sea" (37), implying a certain lack of form, but not "chaos" or
"void." Animals already inhabit this cloud sea.
Various animals dive to the bottom of the waters to bring earth so that
the upper realm will not fall upon them. The muskrat succeeds in bringing
back some muck and they decide to have the turtle bear it on his back
since it will grow and become heavy.
This inclusion of the turtle is a good example of that certain
"mythological sense" these stories display -- not a scientific
explanation but a logical one nevertheless that at least engages the
imagination and usually contains a degree of wisdom. Why does it make
"mythological sense" to choose the turtle as the bearer of the earth?
(How are earthquakes explained etiologically?)
Derived ultimately from the actions of the Great Ruler, this creation
myth tells us that we come from the sky and also from earth. The seeming
duality of existence (good and bad, convenience and annoyance, light and
dark, creation and destruction) is explained in the personifications of
Hah-gweh-di-yu and Hah-gweh-da-et-gah, and note that these two are
brothers. Though banished "to a pit under the earth" (39), the bad
brother still has operatives in the world. The good brother is an active
and positive god, "continually creating and protecting" (39).
"The Creation." The Portable North American Indian Reader. Ed.
Frederick Turner. NY: Penguin Books, 1977. 36-39.