BULL. 30] 



TAWISKARON 



709 



primal sea that covered the space now 

 occupied by the earth she was received 

 on the carapace of the great primal Turtle 

 who belonged to this second cosmic 

 period, on which his fellows had pre- 

 pared the nucleus of the earth. Being 

 parthenogenetically pregnant before her 

 expulsion, she in due time gave birth to 

 a daughter, who, on reaching woman's 

 estate, became pregnant while at play, 

 according to one of several differing tra- 

 ditions, by the direct act of the primal 

 man-being called Wind. In due time the 

 young woman gave birth to twins (some 

 traditions say to quadruplets), one being 

 Te'haro°'hiawa'k'ho°' (q. v.), the other 

 Taw^skaro"'. The latter destroyed his 

 mother by refusing to be born in the 

 natural way and in violently emerging 

 through his mother's armpit — some tra- 

 ditions say through her navel. This he 

 was readily fitted to do because his body 

 was composed of chert or flint and his 

 head was in the form of an arrowpoint of 

 flint. According to a variant version, one 

 of the great race of the Turtle, trans- 

 formed into a handsome young warrior, 

 sought the maiden for his wife. Having 

 refused many other man-beings under the 

 same guise by the advice of her mother, 

 she at last, through the counsel of the 

 same mentor, accepted him. Having 

 come to her lodge on the appointed night, 

 he conversed with her until the time came 

 for retiring, when the young warrior 

 placed two arrows, one plain and the 

 other tipped with flint, horizontally in 

 the bark side of the lodge just above the 

 maiden, and then departed. The next 

 day he returned for a short time, and 

 then taking his arrows withdrew. In due 

 time the twins were born, as related 

 above. It is believed that Tawi^skaro"', 

 in the substance of his body and in the 

 shape of his head, was prenatally sug- 

 gested by the flint-tipped arrow. In con- 

 cept Tawi^skaro°' is so closely identical 

 with the mythic personage called Cha- 

 kekenapok in Algonquian mythology, a 

 younger brother of Nauabozho, that they 

 may be treated together. 



In Iroquoian mythology this being is 

 known under various names indicative of 

 some function or feature attributed to 

 him. Among his Iroquoian names are 

 Tawis^karon (Te'hawis^karro°'), Tawis^- 

 kano or Tawiskarano', Saiewiskerat, Taw- 

 iskara, O'ha^a' ('Flint,' Onondaga), 

 Ot'ha^gw6°'da' ('Fhnt,' Seneca), Teho- 

 tennhiaron ('He is arrayed in flint,' 

 Mohawk), Atenenhiarhon (a corrupt 

 form of the last), of which the Tuscarora 

 form is Tungiiya'r^'he'^', meaning 'a 

 giant' only, Ro'nikorirahet^k6°' ('His 

 Mind is Evil ' ), and Hono°'hi'Mae', ( ' He 

 is Warty', Seneca). 



In Algonquian dialects this personage 

 appears, among others, under the names 



Malsum, Piponoukhe', Chakekenapok, 

 and Windigo. In one of the earliest ac- 

 counts of Algonquian cosmical myths it is 

 said that the Montagnais attributed the 

 change of seasons to two brothers — Nipi- 

 noukhe ('Summer-maker') and Pipo- 

 noukhe ( ' Winter-maker' ). Most of these 

 Indians regarded these brothers as human 

 in form, while the rest were not so cer- 

 tain on this point; all, however, were 

 agreed that they were beings who were 

 alive like themselves, for they had been 

 overheard talking and rustling, especially 

 at their return, although no one under- 

 stood their language. Far in the north 

 dwelt Piponoukhe for a stated time, while 

 his brother lived in the sunny southland. 

 At regular times the two brothers ex- 

 changed places, which brought about a 

 change of seasons. The Montagnais 

 called this exchanging of places AcJii- 

 tescatoueth. Piponoukhe brought with 

 him cold weather, frost, snow, sleet, and 

 ice, and thereby destroyed everything. 

 This myth has been developed into that 

 of Kulpojut, explained below. 



The persistence and the security of life 

 from the destructive powers of the Winter 

 god is metaphorically expressed in the 

 details of the following incident related 

 in one of the longer versions of the com- 

 mon Iroquoiangenesismyth. During the 

 creative time Te'haro°'hiawtVk^'ho°' re- 

 ceived from his father of the race of the 

 Turtle an ear of corn, with proper instruc- 

 tions as to its care and uses. In time 

 Te'haro°'hiawa,'k^'ho°' roasted an ear of 

 corn which he had himself raised, which 

 emitted an appetizing aroma. When 

 Tawis^karo'^' smelt this odor he informed 

 his grandmother, who ordered him to go 

 to the lodge of his brother to ask him to 

 share this unknown thing with them. 

 On hearingthis request Te'haro°'hiaw;Vk^- 

 'ho°' replied that he would consent on 

 condition that Tawis^karo"' surrender to 

 him "the flint whereby thou livest." 

 To this Flint replied, "What dost thou 

 mean? Dost thou mean my arrow with 

 the point of flint?" To which the reply 

 came, "No; I mean, indeed, that flint 

 which is in thy body." To this Flint 

 answered, " So be it as thou dost wish it." 

 Then, opening his mouth, he thrust out 

 the flint thing in question. His brother 

 seized it and gently pulled it; he would 

 not break it off, although Flint asked him 

 to do so. "Verily," his brother an- 

 swered, "thy life belongs to thee, so thou 

 thyself must break it off and give it to 

 me, for on no other condition can our 

 compact be fulfilled." So, reluctantly, 

 Flint performed his part of the agree- 

 ment, whereupon his brother gave him 

 two grains of the corn, one for the grand- 

 mother and one for himself. By this act 

 Tawis'karo"' lost his birthright of coequal 

 orenda (q. v.), or magic power. This is 



