IIKWITT] INTKODt'CTroN' 139 



Onoiulai^ii version. Tlic f;ut aii<l (he idra arc niattrix of cxpcriciice 

 in all tiinos and in all lands. 



While in general outlines and in the sum of incidiints coniitriscd in 

 theiu the several versions of the cosinologic stuiy of the Iroquois sub- 

 .stan'tially accord, there are nevertheless marked divergences in both 

 .structure and matter, which in time, by further development from 

 accultural and other potent causes, would necessarily cause th(;m to be 

 regarded as quite different legends in source and meaning; and this 

 emphasizes the great and fundamental fact that all legends an> the 

 gradual re.sult of comljination from many sources by many minds in 

 many generations. 



Most of the charactfU'istic incidents related in these legends are 

 widely' provalentovei' the American continent, occurring among peoples 

 .speaking tongues of widely different linguistic stocks and dwelling in 

 widely separated hat)itats. It should not be assumed that these coin- 

 cidences are indubitablv due to accultural influences, but rather that 

 they indicate universality of the natural phenomena from which the 

 incidents embodied are drawn. Among these coincidences maj' be 

 mentioned that of the seclusion of the members of the animal world 

 in a vast cavern by one of the chief characters of the legends, Winter, 

 the man-being of frosts and snow and ice. This episode evidently 

 portrays the annual hibernation of the animals and insects and the 

 migration of the birds caused b^- the winter power, which is called 

 Tawiskaron b}- the Mohawks," Ohaii by the Onondagas, and Othii'k- 

 wenda' by the Senecas. 



The author desires to acknowledge his many ol)ligations to the 

 officers and staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology for most 

 kindly advice, wise counsel, and many valuable suggestions, especially 

 to the late Director, Major John Wesley Powell; to Profes.sor AV J 

 McGee, formerly Ethnologist in Charge; to Professor William Henry 

 Holme.s, the present Chief of the Bureau, and to Herbert Spencer 

 Wood, editor, who has also kindly performed the irksome task of cor- 

 recting the proofs of the texts and translations while thev were passing 

 through the press. 



Mphiihrf ,11,(1 ,ihhr,',-l,(tl»n>i 



a as in far. fathrr: (im. halxMi; Sp. ramo. 



Ji the same sound prolonged. 



it as in what; Gm. man. 



ji as in hat, man. 



a the .same sound prolonged. 



aThe Mohawk epithet is commonly interpreted "flint," but its literal and ori^nal meaning in 

 "crystal-clad" or "ice-clad," the two significations being normal, as crystal, flint and ice have a sim- 

 ilar aspect and fracture. The original denotation is singularly appropriate for Winter. The last two 

 name.1 do not connote ice, but simply denote flint. 



