52 MYTHS OF THE IROQUOIS. 



their deities, with attributes proportioned to the disposition or status of 

 the worshiper. 



Hi-nu", the beneficent Thunder God of the Iroquois, compares most 

 favorably with the same god as worshiped by other races. Ever ac- 

 companied by his equally powerful assistants, his mission was under- 

 stood to be only to promote the welfare of that favored people, though 

 isolated personal offenses might demand from him a just retribution. 

 It was therefore safe to make unto him, ou his near approach to earth, 

 his most acceptable offering, the burning tobacco, and so firndy rooted 

 has become that ancient custom, that the aged superstitious Iroquois 

 of to-day can often be seen making this little offering ou the near ap- 

 proach of every thunderstorm. It is not difQcult to follow the crude 

 reasoning by which was ascribed to Hi-nu" the goodness and glory of 

 having destroyed the giant monsters which either poisoned the waters 

 or infested the laud. That such had existed was evident from the bones 

 often discovered, and what power other than the crashing bolt of 

 Hi-nu° could have accomplished their destructfon ? The similarity dis- 

 covei'able in the myths of many peoples regarding the Thunder God 

 and his mission of destruction to giant animals, making this an almost 

 universal myth, is ijrobably traceable to this simple and natural expla- 

 nation, and presents no argument that the myth itself has traveled. It 

 may, then, be safely assumed that Hi-uu° was an indigenous god of the 

 Iroquois, the product of their own crude reasoning powers. 



Brother of the great Hi-nu" was the West Wind, who, with him, 

 brought from the clouds the vivifying rain, and who fiually assisted the 

 Iroquois in the extermination of the jiowerful stone giants. Therefore, 

 the West Wind ranks as a beneficent deity or spirit. 



The North Wind brought only calamity in its train, often killing the 

 unripe corn and freezing the rivers, thus depriving the people of their 

 needed sustenance, and from the mere touch of his icy fingers the be- 

 nighted hunter became stiff in death. This ranked as an evil deity 

 ever to be feared and propitiated. 



Echo, the Mars of the Iroquois, ouly exercised his power during their 

 wars with other tribes, in which, by repeating among the hills their 

 cries of Goweh, he insured their almost certain victory. He was ever 

 honored with special thanksgiving. 



Of Ta-rhu°-hyia-wah-ku° (who bore the important office of Holder of 

 the Heavens) there is little more knowu than that he brought out from 

 iheir mother earth the six tribes composing the Iroquois. 



These are some of the Iroquois gods, a knowledge of whose existence 

 is contained ouly in myths, for they belong to the charmed " mythologic 

 age." As, however, the Iroquois tribes have not entirely passed the 

 boundaries of that age, it is proper to mention some of their more mod- 

 ern diviuities, iu whose worship are intermingled many of their ancient 

 ceremonies. 



The "Great Spirit," so popularly and poetically known as the god of 



