Chafe] SENECA THANKSGIVING RITUALS 41 



on the earth. (155) And indeed they also have the added responsi- 

 bility of keeping watch over those of his helpers called the Four 

 Groups.*" (156) They will continue to look after us whom he left 

 on the earth, and will bring us contentment. (157) And we believe 

 that they too are performing their obligation, the assignment they 

 were given, those who are called the Four Beings, our protectors. 

 (158) And therefore let there be gratitude, for we beheve that we are 

 happy. Give it your thought, that with one mind we may now give 

 thanks for his helpers, the Four Beings, our protectors. And our 

 minds will continue to be so. 



15, Handsome Lake 



(159) And now this is what Our Creator did. (160) He did indeed 

 decide it, and it must happen according to his wUl. (161) Indeed he ^ 

 was among us who moved about on the earth, (162) lUness took 

 hold of him, and he was confined to bed. (163) For a number of 

 years he lay helpless. (164) And the way things were, he had to be 

 thanlvful during the nights and the days, and he thought that there 

 must be someone there who made all the things that he was seeing.*^ 

 (165) And thereupon he repented everything, aU the things he thought 

 he had done wrong when he moved about on the earth. (166) And 

 indeed he was thankful each day for each new thing that he saw. 

 (167) And now it happened that the Creator saw well how the people 

 on the earth were acting. (168) It seemed that nowhere was there 

 any longer any guidance for the minds of those who moved about. 



« See p. 9. 



« The reference shifts here to Handsome Lake, who is not regarded as an Incarnation of the Creator as 

 the translation might be taken to imply. 

 « The wording here Is reminiscent of the Good Message. 



