Indigenous Creation Stories — The Wyandot / Wendot / Huron

The Wyandot, also given the name Huron by French colonizers, are an Iroquoian speaking people of NA who lived around the north shore of Lake Ontario.

The Wyandot have a very beautiful creation mythology. For the Wyandot, creation of Earth starts when an “ill-fated woman”, daughter of a great chief, falls, along with an apple tree, from the pristine sky world above.

There is only water in the lower world into which she falls and she would have drowned but for the assistance of two Swans who, DAZZLED by the bright lightning and STARTLED by the loud crack of thunder that accompanied the woman as she fell, decided to catch her.

Realizing they could not hold her forever, the swans called a council of all the water tribes, sending each a special invitation to attend.

For a long time they discussed what to do, but the deliberations were fruitless. Finally, just as the Great Council was about to adjourn, Big Turtle suggested that if the other animals could find a little dirt from the fallen tree, he would hold it and keep the woman on his back.

Agreeing to Turtle’s proposal, the animals took turns diving to get Earth for the roots of the tree that had fallen. Unfortunately, all perished in this difficult and dangerous task without ever bringing Earth to the surface, that is until modest Grandmother toad tried and succeed where the strongest had failed.

After Grandmother toad deposited the earth on Big Turtle’s back, Little Turtle took the dirt, rubbed it carefully about the edges of Big Turtle’s shell, and from this seed the Great Island, Turtle Island was formed. Turtle Island became the home of the ill-fated woman and all the humans who later were born into this world.

Creation of the world was not complete with the formation of Turtle Island because there was no light by which to see.

The council discussed and finally little turtle agreed to go into the sky to create the sun, the moon, and the stars so there might be light in the dark lands below.

Finally, when the land and lights were complete, the woman was set down and a new phase of creation began.

This is the basic creation myth of Wyandot

You can see this view of creation is much different then the view distributed by Europe’s colonial powers.

In this Indigenous view, creation was not a top down, punitive affair where a violent and authoritarian God expels and brutally punishes you if you fail to follow his rules.

In the Indigenous view, the world came into being as a consequence of democratic agreement and the efforts and even life sacrifice of many.

In the Indigenous view, creation was egalitarian, cooperative, democratic, and supportive, built on compassion and sacrifice for others.

In the Indigenous view, each animal did what it could to help the ill-fated woman.

And note, it was not only that the Wyandot did not believe in images of white authority or a patriarchal creator God, they also did not believe in a cosmic evil.

They had no word for “hell,” no conception of a “land of punishment” where the wicked went after death, and they certainly did not believe there was a cosmic evil out to get them

These were all concepts brought by the colonists, and they were concepts criticized by Huron elders who did not believe in a central creator and who NEVER used threat to control (Irwin, 1990).

For the Wyandot “evil”, if you could call it that, came into the world when the women who fell from the sky bore two sons, twins, one who was well behaved (Tse’sta) and the other (Taweskare) who had “issues.”

While the first twin was kind, thoughtful, unselfish, and helpful, the other twin was wilful and bad, ugly towards his brother, and disrespectful.

The well behaved one helped develop the island. He created clear forests, rolling plains, flat ground, and abundant fruit and berry trees.

His work was designed to make life easy for the Wyandot.

The bad one undermined the work of the good brother. He created steep hills, huge mountains,threw boulders all over the land, and made the fruit bushes small and thorny.

Everything he did was designed to make life harder.

For the Wyandot, evil was little more than bad behaviour, the acting out of a prodigal son who made things harder for everybody.It was the consequence of actions not carefully considered.

Consider how different the Wyandot view of evil as unhelpful behaviour is from the colonial view of a cosmic evil that must be violently subjugated and destroyed.

Consider how different the cooperative, democratic, and supportive process of creation envisaged by the Wyandot is from the violent, authoritarian patriarch presented by the colonizers.

Why the difference?

Different life experiences.

Different politics.

Before the Europeans came, the Wyandots had an advanced democracy. Men and women each spoke with powerful voices. On important matters that effected everyone, everybody’s opinion counted.

Before the Europeans, the Wyandot understood that everybody made a contribution to the well being of the society.

Their life experience, their advanced democratic politics, the deeply social and connected nature of their worldview, was reflected in their creation myths, which were devoid of hierarchy, authoritarianism, and violence.

Of course, it was not a perfect world. There were hardships, even war, and this was reflected in the mythology of the twins, one who worked to make life easy and the other who threw storms, catastrophes, and hardship into the mix. But it wasn’t the all out war between good and evil characteristic of Christian theology.

On the other hand, the European experience was quite different. In Europe, Feudal authoritarians used incredible levels of violence to suppress pagans, women, and others who were “in the way” of their efforts to build an authoritarian and exploitative economic structure.

In Europe, religious beliefs and creation myths provided by elites in the Catholic church reflected and justified the violent and authoritarian hierarchies of power and control characteristic of European economic systems and European life experience.

In European society, you have an authoritarian patriarch at the top of a pyramidal hierarchy beneath which we find exploitation, submission, and abuse.

In Europeon creation myths, you have an authoritarian patriarch at the top of a pyramidal hierarchy beneath which we find exploitation, submission, and abuse.

Notably, the exploitation and abuse of the European system and European view is justifed by casting the abused as evil, wicked, or savage in some way.

If you got burned at the stake, it was because you were a witch in league with Satan.

If your land was taken by colonial powers, it was because you were a godless heathen who needed to be civilized.

Just like Wyandot beliefs reflected their democratic and supportive society, European beliefs reflected, and justified, the autocratic power structures and violent greed of the European ruling classes.

Different politics.

Different economics

Different beliefs.