IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



39 



and might return from me to the earth." And the gentle fawn 

 followed Ga-oh to his great gate which opens the south sky. 



Again Ga-oh trumpeted a shrill blast, and all the sky seemed 

 threatening; an ugly darkness crept into the clouds that sent them 

 whirling in circles of confusion; a quarrelsome, shrieking voice 

 snarled through the air, and with a sound as of great claws tearing 

 the heavens into rifts, Da-jo-ji, the Panther, sprang to the gate. 



Said Ga-oh, " You are ugly, and fierce, and can fight the strong 

 storms; you can climb the high mountains, and tear down the 

 forests; you can carry the whirlwind on your strong back, and 

 toss the great sea waves high in the air, and snarl at the tempests 

 if they stray from my gate. You shall be the West Wind. Go 

 to the west sky, where even the Sun will hurry to hide when you 

 howl your warning to the night." And Da-jo-ji, dragging his leash 

 as he stealthily crept along, followed Ga-oh to the furthermost 

 west sky. 



Yet Ga-oh rested not. The earth was flat, and in each of its 

 four corners he must have an assistant. One corner yet remained, 

 and again Ga-oh 's strong blast shook the earth. And there arose 

 a moan like the calling of a lost mate, the sky shivered in a cold 

 rain, the whole earth clouded in mist, a crackling sound as of great 

 horns crashing through the forest trees dinned the air, and O-yan- 

 do-ne, the Moose, stood stamping his hoofs at the gate. 



Said Ga-oh, as he strung a strong leash around his neck, " Your 

 breath blows the mist, and can lead the cold rains; your horns 

 spread wide, and can push back the forests to widen the path 

 for my storms as with your swift hoofs you race with my 

 winds. You shall be the East Wind, and blow your breath to chill 

 the young clouds as they float through the sky." And, said Ga-oh, 

 as he led him to the east sky, " Here you shall dwell forevermore." 



Thus, with his assistants, does Ga-oh control his storms. And 

 although he must ever remain in his sky lodge, his will is supreme, 

 and his faithful assistants will obey! 



HE-NO, THE THUNDERER 1 



As guardian of the heavens, He-no 2 is intrusted with the thunder, 

 the A r oice of admonition, which can be heard above the turmoil of 



1 Naturally one of the most universal myths is that relating to the spirit of thunder- 

 Many regarded the Thunderer as the great heaven deity and although subsequently the 

 thunder or rain god became the servant or subordinate of the greater god, he was yet feared 

 and propitiated. Thus, the rain or water god of the Aztecs, Tlaloc, who holds the thunder 

 and lightning, to the primitive mind emblems of power, was once the great heaven god of 

 the Nahuatl people. 



2 Hi"-no, Spirit of the Thunder, hates all mysteries, he despises monsters, unclean 

 beasts and witches. He pursues with relentless fury the myth monsters and strikes them 



