152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



In the longer Iroquois texts (Hewitt 1903: 141-169, 255-281; 1928: 

 470-479), the creation myth begins with an account of the birth and 

 marriage of the woman who was to become the grandmother of the 

 twin brothers. The basic plot of this episode is as follows: A man 

 and a girl have been "down-fended" in different parts of the same 

 longhouse. (The term "down-fended" refers to the seclusion of cer- 

 tain children until puberty, cattail down being scattered around the 

 place of concealment such that any disturbance of it indicated an in- 

 vasion of the seclusion. Children so isolated were thought to be 

 especially endowed with power.) When the others in the house have 

 left to perform their daily tasks, the girl goes every day to the man's 

 part of the house to groom his hair. As a result, the girl becomes 

 pregnant. The man (in one account, the uncle) dies and the girl gives 

 birth to a baby girl. When this girl grows older, she cries and to 

 end her depression she is taken to the place where her father's ( in one 

 account, uncle's) corpse is. After this, she goes frequently to her 

 father's (uncle's) body and converses with him. He tells her that 

 she is to be married to a chief, gives her directions for the trip to his 

 house, and tells her what she is to do there. When she arrives at the 

 house of the chief, she, naked, makes mush for him. When she 

 has finished, the chief calls two dogs which so roughly lick off the mush 

 that has splattered on her that she is covered with blood. She 

 then dresses herself and stays with the man for a few days, becoming 

 magically impregnated. She returns to her people and the cliief 

 magically sends a shower of corn to them. (This part of the story is 

 somewhat different in Hewitt 1928: 471-479.) After this visit, she 

 returns to the chief, to whom she is now married. [The girl's actions 

 when she arrives at the house of the chief are in fulfillment of his 

 dream (Hewitt 1928: 464; Cornplanter 1938: 19)— a motive that is 

 not obvious to the non- Iroquois reader.] 



The second episode in the longer versions is the core of the creation 

 myth; it is found in all longer versions and forms the basis of the 

 fragmentary ones. In the Iroquois versions (see Hewitt 1903: 171- 

 178, 221-223, 281-285 ; 1928 : 479-480) , it begins with the chief falling 

 ill. He is jealous as his wife has conceived magically and he believes 

 that she has been unfaithful (Hewitt 1928: 464r^65; Cornplanter 

 1938 : 19-20) . A number of people gather to suggest the cause of his 

 illness. Finally, one suggests, or the chief suggests, that, in order 

 to cure him (to fulfill his desire or dream), a certain tree must be up- 

 rooted. This is done and he pushes his wife down the hole. 



Although the events and the motivations of the people involved are 

 quite consistent in the longer Iroquois versions, they are not in the 

 Huron and Wyandot versions (Barbeau 1914:289). In one modern 

 Wyandot version, a medicine man advised the girl to dig at the roots of 

 the tree for the medicme to cure her; in another, the girl customarily 



