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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



APPENDIX A 



ESQUIRE JOHNSON'S ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF GOOD AND EVIL 

 AS IT WAS TOLD HIM BY THE OLD MEN 1 



The old times among the Non-do-wat-gaah 



Dated, Oct. 25, 1875 



When there was yet no land, but all was one extensive lake there 

 were multitudes of ducks and geese, one, Gwi-yuh-gee, looked up and 

 saw something dark in the sky above them, and called out to the 

 rest that something was coming down to the earth. He immedi- 

 ately called a council of the waterfowls as to what they should do 

 for a place for the being, whoever she might be, to rest upon. One 

 duck offered to dive to see if there might be some bottom to their 

 lake which might be brought up for that purpose. After some time 

 she came up but was dead, the struggle having been too great for 

 her strength. She shot up into the air and dropped back lifeless 

 to the surface of the water. 2 Several others made the attempt with 

 like results until at last a muskrat made the attempt in a like 

 manner and came up dead but with a little earth in his claw which 

 when the others saw they commenced their efforts anew and many 

 were successful in bringing up a small quantity which they placed, 

 at the suggestion of their chief, on the back of an immense turtle 

 who was willing to become the foundation of an island for them. 



At length the dark object which was all this time becoming plainer 

 to their vision, reached their view, reached the island and was found 

 to be a woman with child. The waterfowls received her and pro - 

 vided for her wants, feeding her with crabs and other small fish to 

 keep her alive. When the woman was taken in labor, they discovered 

 that there were twins and that they were already endowed with 

 the gift of speech, and were heard to converse together. One 

 declared that he thought he saw a light under his mother's arm, 

 which he thought must be the way of egress into the world. The 

 other said no, that he felt attracted in the opposite direction. But 

 one at last burst through his mother's side which caused her death 

 immediately, while the other was born the natural way. The last 

 born was God, the first was the Devil. 



God immediately said, " I will take my mother's face and make 

 the sun, and her bright and beautiful eyes shall give light to the 

 whole world. Of her body and limbs I will make the moon to give 



1 Verbatim from a manuscript by Mrs Asher Wright. 



2 The duck's name Gwi-yuh-gee, means "shot up out of the water." 



