1.
Iroquois
The beliefs of the Native Americans in 'the little people' who dwell in the under world is much the same as the belief of European people in such creatures. The similarities are stunning, from time to time. Though the the 'little people' of the Iroquois seem not as misschievous as their European counterparts. (Please note:These are parts from old books. I do not support all the terms which were used then to describe the people that are part the Native American people. I did not, however, clean up these terms. They're part of history, and in my opinion, history should never be cleaned up. NvL)
What follows are descriptions and tales from old sources:
he Iroquois recognize three tribes of Jogaoh, or Dwarf People:
the Gahonga, of the rocks and rivers, whom the Indians call Stone
Throwers because of their great strength and their fondness for playing
with stones as with balls; the Gandayah, who have a care for the fruitfulness
not only of the land — for they fashion dew
cup charms which attract the grains and fruits and cause them to sprout, —
but also of the water, where they release captive fish from the trap when
the fishermen too rapaciously pursue; and the Ohdowas, or underground people.
The underworld where the Ohdowas live is a dim and sunless realm containing
forests and plains, like the earth of man, peopled with many animals—all of
which are ever desirous to ascend to the sunny realm above. It is the
task of the Ohdowas to keep these underworld creatures in their proper place,
especially since many of them are venomous and noxious beasts; and though the
Ohdowas are small, they are sturdy and brave, and for the most part keep the
monstrous beings imprisoned; rarely do the latter break through to devastate
and defile the world above. As there are under earth people, so are there
underwater people who, like the Fire-People of the Eskimo, are divided into two
tribes, one helpful, one hurtful to man. These underwater beings are human in form, and have houses, like those of men, beneath the
waters; but they dress In snake's skins and wear horns. Sometimes their
beautiful daughters lure mortal men down into the depths, to do the snake-skin
costume and to be lost to their kindred forever. Of monstrous beings, inhabiting partly the earth's surface, partly
the underworld, the Iroquois recognize in particular the race of Great Heads
and the race of Stone Giants. The Great Heads are gifted with penetrating eyes
and provided with abundant hair which serves them as wings; they ride on the tempest,
and in their destructive and malevolent powers seem to be personifications of
the storm, perhaps of the tornado. In one tale, which may be the detritus of an
ancient and crude cosmogony, the Great Head obviously plays the role of a demiurge;
and a curious story tells of the destruction of one of the tribe which pursued a young woman into her lodge and seeing
her parching chestnuts concluded that coals of fire were good to eat; partaking
of the coals, it died. These bizarre creatures are well calculated to spice a
tale with terrors.
The Mythology of All
Races Vol X, North American, By Hartley Burr Alexander, 1916
Neh Jo-Ga-Oh, The Myth Dwarf People
mong the fable folk of the Iroquois, the Jo-ga-oh, or
invisible little people are beings empowered to serve nature with the same
authority as the greater spirits. These little people are divided into three
tribes, the Ga-hon-ga of the rocks and rivers, the Gan-da-yah of the fruits and
grains, and the Oh-dan-was of the under earth shadows.
he Ga-hon-ga, guardians of the streams, dwell in rock caves
beside the waters, and though dwarf in being are gigantic in strength. They can
uproot the largest tree by a twist of the hand, and hurl massive rocks into the
rivers, to lift the waters when floods
threaten. They have frequently visited Indians in awake dreams, and led them to
their dwelling places, and then challenged them to feats of strength, such as
playing ball with the rocks, often hurling them high out of sight in the air.
Because of this fondness the Indians often called them Stone Throwers.
hen a drought parches the land, the Indian, wise in mystery
ways, goes far into the forests, and searches along the mountain streams, until
he finds the signs of the Ga-hon-ga. These are little cup-shaped hollows in the
soft earth that edges the streams, and are the promise of rain. The Indian carefully scoops up these hollows
in the mud, and dries them on a fragment of bark in the sun. They are the 'dew cup charms' that, placed in a lodge, attract the
Gan-da-yah of the fruits and grains, who begin immediately their activity in
the ground of the garden.
n their province of watchfulness they instruct the
fish, directing their movements, and giving them shelter in their deep water
caves, if pursued by merciless fishermen, or confused in the whirl of the
flood. They know the twists of every trap, and will loosen them to release the
captive fish, when they deem it wise to do so. They can command a fruitful or
barren season, and, unless propitiated, frequently punish negligence with
famine.
y a legend of these Gahonga, at one time an abandoned
orphan boy 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 boat 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.
welling 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 animal 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 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.
hus has the story of the little rock people been
transmitted from generation to generation for numberless years. The fisherman
and the hunter know it; the grandmothers tell it to their children's children,
and the children tell it to their dolls; the medicine 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.
Neh Oh-Do-Was, The Underearth Myths
he Little Folk of the Darkness, the underearth dwellers,
are most wise and mysterious. Seldom do the eyes of men penetrate the gloom to
recognize them. These Oh-dlo-was are the wondrous band of elf folk that hold jurisdiction
over the sunless domain beneath the earth, where dwell the creatures of the
darkness, and the prisoners that have offended the regions of light.
n the dim world where the Oh-do-was live are deep forests
and broad plains, where roam the animals whose proper abode is there, and
though all that live there wish to escape, yet both good and bad, native and
captive, are bidden to be content and dwell where fate has placed them. Among
the mysterious underearth denizens are the white buffaloes, who are tempted
again and again to gain the earth's surface, but the paths to the light are guarded, and
the white buffalo must not climb to the sunlight, to gallop with his brown
brothers over the plains. Sometimes they try to rush up and out, and then the
Oh-do-was rally their hunters, and thin out the unruly herds with their arrows.
'Tis then that a messenger is sent above
to tell the sunlight elves that the chase is on, and the earth elves hang a red cloud high in the heavens, as a sign of the hunt. Ever alert
for signals the Indian reads the symbol of the red cloud, and rejoices that the
Little People are watchful and brave.
lways intent on flight, the venomous reptiles and creatures
of death slink in the deep shadows of the dim underplace, captives of the
watchful Oh-do-was. Though they are small, it is not often that they fail to
fight back the powerful monsters that rush to the door to the light world, but
sometimes one escapes and, whizzing out in the darkness of earth's night,
spreads his poisonous breath over the forests, and creates the pestilence that
sweeps all before it. Then the monsters, maddened by jealousy, search out the places
where the springs spout to the surface, and poison the waters, and, where a
deep grown root has pushed its way through the under earth in search of water,
they tear it with their fangs, and the earth tree above wilts and dies. But
such things are rare, for the Oh-do-was are vigilant, and faithful and strong,
and will not willingly let death escape to their elves and their human friends.
t certain times they visit their relatives above. At night
they hold festivals in the forests, and the circle beneath many a deep wood tree, where the grass refuses to
grow, is the ring where the dances are held. Inhabiting the darkness, the light
of the sun would blind them, but they do not fear the moon's soft rays. The
creatures of the night, the bats and birds, and the prowlers of the darkness,
know the Oh-do-was and are wary, for sometimes offensive intruding animals are
captured, and carried far beneath the fields and forests, nor may they expect
to be ransomed by their elf guardians of the light, when they visit the regions
below, for no Jo-ga-oh ever questions the act of another. Thus banded, the Jo-ga-oh of the earth, above and below, guard,
guide and advise all living nature, and protect the Indians from unseen foes.
The Indian, grateful for this unselfish service, reveres the Little Folk, and
sings their praises in ceremonies and dedicates dances to them.
Neh Gan-Da-Yah of the Fruits and Grains
n the divisions of the Jo-ga-oh the Gan-da-yah are the most
beloved by the Indians. The office of these elves is to protect and advise the
fruits and grains. They are the little people of the sunshine, who bring joy
and brightness to the Indian's heart. In the springtime these 'Little People' hide in dark, sheltered
places, and whisper to the earth as they listen to the complaints of the
growing seeds. When the sun bestows its full summer glow they wander over the
fields, tinting the grains and ripening the fruits, and bidding all growing things
to look to the sun. Their labor commences with the strawberry plant, whose
fruit is a special gift to mankind. When the earth softens from the frost, the
'Little People' loosen the earth around each strawberry root, that its shoots may better push through to the light. They shape
its leaves to the sun, turning the blossoms upward to its touches and guiding
the runners to new growing places. Assisting the timid fruit buds at nightfall,
they direct them from the west sky, where they had followed the sun, back to
the east and the morning's glow. When the full fruit first blushes on the vine,
these guardian elves protect it from the ravages of evil insects and the mildew
of the damp.
he ripening of the strawberry is the signal for a thanksgiving
by the entire people. The fruit, the first grown of the year, is greeted with
songs of joy and gratitude. The Priestesses hold meetings of praise in the darkness of the night. In their Dark dances the berry had
its own Joy dance, and there is an especial dance and song for the Jo-ya-oh, by
whose fostering care the fruit has come to perfection. The strawberry wine is
made on these occasions and distributed among the people, a separate portion
being reserved for the singers who officiate at the Berry dance.
here is an ancient folk tale that when the fruits were first
coming to earth, an evil spirit stole the strawberry plant, hiding it under the
ground for centuries, until it was finally released by a spy sunbeam, who
carried it back to the sunny fields of earth, where it has lived and thrived ever
since, but fearing another captivity, the 'Little People' maintain special
guard over their favorite fruit. These elf folk are ever vigilant in the fields during the season
of ripening, and vigorous are their wars with the blights and diseases that
threaten to infect and destroy the corn and the beans. The universal friends of
the red man, they assume various forms for protection and guidance, frequently
visiting the lodges of the Indian in the guise of birds. If they come as a
robin they carry good tidings; if as an owl, watchful and wise, their mission
is one of warning, an enemy is coming who will deceive; if as a bat, that
winged animal, the symbol of the union of light and darkness, it denotes some
life and death struggle close at hand. The most minute harmless insect or worm may
be the bearer of important 'talk' from the 'Little People,' and is not
destroyed, for the 'trail is broad enough for all.'
ccording to a law enacted by these guardian elves, a true
Indian should not relate the myth tales of his people during the summer. No one
could tell, they thought, when some bug or bird might be listening and report
the offence to the elves, who, in turn, would send a watcher to enforce silence
on the part of the breaker of the law. They dread that some creature of animate
nature may overhear these tales, and entranced by them, forget to go back to
winter homes when the snow falls. Even the vine that crept over the lodge door,
may listen so eagerly that it will forget to let down its sap before the frost
comes, and die. The bird singing on the tree's limb, which leafs above the
door, may, in his wonder and bewilderment, forget the sun way to the south, and
fall a victim to the first snow. The ground animals may stop to listen, with
their heads half out of their burrows, and, marveling over the story, tarry
till the winter seals them there, to perish in the ice breath of the north
blast. Knowing these things, the Indian reserves his myth tales until the winter time comes and his
fireplace glows.
hen the leaves have strewn the barren earth, and the snow
has covered the leaves and built its mounds high in the lowlands, the 'Little
People' are safe folded in their shadow slumbers, and the earth knows them no
more until the melting snows, and the swollen streams and the leafing trees
summon them to the season of springtime.
The three sections of the above interesting paper seem to
have been written at different times, and united without revision.
Iroquois Folk Lore, Gathered from the Six Nations of New York. Selected
and Arranged by the
Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, 1922
Nico
Nico
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