102 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



By a legend of these Ga-hon-ga, at one time an abandoned or- 

 phan boy 1 was playing by the side of a river where one of these 

 little people was paddling his canoe. The boy was invited to take 

 a ride but the canoe was so small that he at first refused. By 

 continual urging, however, the little rock thrower induced the boy 

 to venture in, when with a single stroke of the paddle he swept 

 the canoe high from the bosom of the river, up into the air and 

 into the side of a cliff that towered from the mouth of the river. 

 They had entered a cave filled with the old and the young of the 

 little folk who began their Joy dance in honor of their visitor, the 

 orphan boy. 



Dwelling with these people, the boy was taught their wondrous 

 ways, their mysticism, exorcisms and dances, all so efficacious in 

 coaxing the fruits to come forth to the sun. In the dark recesses 

 of the high cliff cave he learned many strange things as he saw 

 the little people at work and so marvelous was it all that his stay 

 seemed but a few days. Then suddenly they commanded him to 

 return to his people. He was given a portion of each bird and ani- 

 mal as a charm and told how to employ each with effect. The 

 corn and the beans would obey his words and the berries and 

 fruits would ripen at his bidding, the harvests would be full when 

 he sang and the flowers and leaves would unfurl as he walked 

 through the lands. Unknowing, as they were instructing him 

 he was being let down in the valley from which he had come. The 

 Ga-hon-ga had vanished and going among the people he found 

 himself a man, his captivity had been one of 40 years, and yet it 

 seemed but a visit of so many days. He was a man of gigantic 

 proportions and inspired awe when he taught to the wise the laws 

 and the charms, the dances and songs of the Ga-hon-ga. 2 



Thus has the story of the little rock people been transmitted 

 from generation to generation for numberless years. The fisher- 

 man and the hunter know it, the grandmothers tell it to their 

 children's children and the children tell it to their dolls, the medi- 

 cine men chant its songs and in their incantations for the harvests, 

 they dance for the little folk, and the dancers in darkness chant 

 the story in song. 3 



1 It is interesting to note the important part which orphans play in Iroquois mythology. 

 Most of the mystic societies were founded by orphans who had been driven from home to 

 perish and other legends set forth the great heroism and eventual success of orphans who 

 are cared for (or ill cared for) by their uncles and grandparents. The " neglected nephew 

 stories form a large portion of Iroquoian legendary lore. 



2 The youth who founded the Pygmy Society, sometimes called the Dark Dancers, bore 

 the name of Covered-with-excrement, in allusion to the filthy condition in which his uncle 

 kept him. 



* The ceremonies of the Pygmy Society are called at certain times to propitiate the elves 



