36 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



followed with wild beasts that devour, and grim flying creatures 

 that steal life without sign, and creeping reptiles to poison the way. 



Duel of Hah-gweh-di-yu and Hah-gweh-da-et-gah 



When the earth was completed and Hah-gweh-di-yu had be- 

 stowed a protecting Spirit upon each of his creation, he besought 

 Hah-gweh-da-et-gah to reconcile his vicious existences to the 

 peacefulness of his own, but Hah-gweh-da-et-gah refused, and 

 challenged Hah-gweh-di-yu to combat, the victor to become the 

 ruler of the earth. 



Hah-gweh-da-et-gah proposed weapons which he could control, 

 poisonous roots strong as flint, monster's teeth, and fangs of ser- 

 pents. But these Hah-gweh-di-yu refused, selecting the thorns 

 of the giant crab-apple tree, which were arrow pointed and strong. 

 With the thorns they fought. The battle continued mam- 

 days, ending in the overthrow of Hah-gweh-da-et-gah. 



Hah-gweh-di-yu, having now become the ruler, banished his 

 brother to a pit 1 under the earth, whence he can not return. But 

 he still retains Servers, half human and half beast, whom he sends 

 to continue his destructive work. These Servers can assume any 

 form Hah-gweh-da-et-gah may command, and they wander all 

 over the earth. 



Hah-gweh-di-yu, faithful to the prophesy of the Great Ruler of 

 the floating island, that the earth should be peopled, 2 is continually 

 creating and protecting. 



GA-OH, SPIRIT OF THE WINDS 



Though of giant proportions, Ga-oh, 3 who governs the winds, 

 is confined in the broad north sky. 4 Were Ga-oh free, he would 

 tear the heavens into fragments. 



1 The pit is the underworld and is called the " cave." 



2 The first beings of earth were a race of gods who returned to the sky world when the 

 Good Mind created men-beings. This creation was accomplished as follows: After the 

 Good Mind had pulled up the tree of light he beheld his face in the pool of water in which 

 it had grown. This gave him the idea of molding images in red clay which he afterward 

 transformed into living beings. Thus did the human race take origin. The idea of creation 

 " in his own image " is not necessarily of biblical origin. It is a primitive idea and one that 

 might be developed independently by widely separated peoples. 



3 Ga-oh is the name of the wind spirit according to Morgan. The name for wind, how- 

 ever, is Ga-ha (Seneca). The whirlwind is called Sha-go-dio-weh'-go-wa, he defends them. 

 This is also the name of one of the False Faces. 



4 Ga-oh dwells in the west sky according to the researches of the writer, agreeing with 

 Morgan who names the western sky as the abode of the wind spirit and calls his dwelling 

 Da-yo-da-do-go-wa. Ga-oh is not an evil being, howsoever his four winds may rage, but 

 on the contrary, solicitous for the welfare of men and ever obedient to the commands of 

 the Creator. 



