14 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



THE DEKANAWIDA LEGEND 1 

 DEKANAWIDA'S BIRTH AND JOURNEY 



North of the beautiful lake (Ontario) in the land of the Crooked 

 Tongues, was a long winding bay and at a certain spot was the 

 Huron town, Ka-ha-nah-yenh. Near by was the great hill, Ti-ro- 

 nat-ha-ra-da-donh. In the village lived a good woman who had a 

 virgin daughter. Now strangely this virgin conceived and her 

 mother knew that she. was about to bear a child. The daughter 

 about this time went into a long sleep and dreamed that her child 

 should be a son whom she should name Dekanawida. The mes- 

 senger in the dream told her that he should become a great man 

 and that he should go among the Flint people to live and that he 

 should also go to the Many Hill Nation and there raise up the Great 

 Tree of Peace. It was true as had been said the virgin gave birth 

 to a boy and the grandmother greatly disliked him and she rebuked 

 her daughter. 



" You refuse to tell me the father of the child," she said, " and 

 now bow do you know that great calamity will not befall us, and 

 our nation? You must drown the child." 



So then the mother took the child to the bay and chopped a hole 

 in the ice where she customarily drew water and thrust him in, but 

 when night came the child was found at his mother's bosom. So 

 then the mother took the child again and threw him in the bay 

 but at night the child returned. Then the third time the grand- 

 mother herself took the child and drowned him but in the morning 

 the child nestled as before on its mother's own bosom. 



So the grandmother marveled that the child, her grandson, could 

 not be drowned. Then she said to her daughter : 



" Mother, now nurse your child for he may become an important 

 man. He can not be drowned, we know, and you have borne him 

 without having marriage with any man. Now I have never heard 

 of such an occurrence nor has the world known of it before." 



Beginning with that time the mother took great care of her child 

 and nursed him. She named him Dekanawida in accord with the 

 instruction of her dream. 



The child rapidly grew and was remarkably strong and healthy. 

 His appearance was noticed for its good aspect and his face was 

 most handsome. 



When Dekanawida had grown to manhood he was greatly abused 



1 From the Newhouse version. 



