whs to create the Sun out of the head of his dead
mother, and. the moon and the stars out of other
parts of the body. The light these g&yp, drove
the monsters into the deep water, to hide theim,
selves. He then prepared the surface; of the
continent, and fitted it for human habitation, by
diverifying it with creeks, rivers, lakes and
plains, and by filling thèse with the various
species.of the animal and vegetable kingdoms,
He then formed a man and woman out of the
earth, gave them life, and called them -Eçc-gwe-
ho-we^.Qz, as it is more generally known to Indian
archaeologists, Ong^we-Hon-^s; ; that is to say, a
reàl-peoplè.
Meanwhile the Bad Mind created mountains,
waterfalls, and steeps, and morasses, reptiles,
serpents, apes, and other objécts' supposed to be
injurious to, or in mockery of mankind. He
made attempts also to conceal the land animals
ip the ground, so as to deprive man of the means
of subsistence. This continued-opposition to
the wishes of the Good Mind, who was perpetually
busied, in restoring the effects of tiré' displacements
and wicked devices of the other, at
length led to a personal combat, of which the
time and instruments of the battle were agreed
on. They fought for two days, the one using
deer’s horns, and the other flag roots, as arms.*
* By reference to. the Algonquin, story of the combat be*
tween Manabozho and his father, the West Wind, as given in
Algiç Researches, to}, i,, j . 134, it will he; seen that the
weapons chosen by the parties were the* sanie as t-ho.se em-
ployed by Inigorio andlnigohatea, namely,deer’s horns and
flag roots.
Inigorio, who had chosen horns, finally prevailed; i
his antagonist sunk down to a region of darkness,
and became the Evil Spirit, ordGuneolux,*
of .the world of despair. Inigorio having obtained
this triumph, retired from the earth.
This pipee of ingenuity, u r. philosophy of the
Indian mind, much of which is pure allegory,
under wh|bh ^h|hs are hid, standstill the remote
iVista of Iroquois tradition, and it seemed necessary
to n o tic e ^ in preparing to take up their
more sober traditions. It is picked out of a mass
of/incongruous detail®,/ published by a native,
whiph only 'serve,' peradyenture, to denote its
genuinenessfor divested of absurdity/ in the
original, tye.should not ascribe, much antiquity
to it, or he prone to attribute it to an ignorant,
superstitious^>pagan ’ people, living in all their
earlier times without arts; letters or civilization.
Futile as it is, it will be found veritable philosophy,
‘.compared with most, of the earlier theories
of the renowned nations of antiquity. Take, as
an instance, the account Sanchoniathus gives of
the' theology of the Phoenieians.f
The Iroquois believe, with the Algonquins,
that the earth is a plain with four corners ; and
that, the sky, or visible heavens,* that is, hemisphere,
resting pn,, this plain, is of a substance
which can be indented or broke through. They
believe that the planets shine through this hemi-
* Oneida.
f Growan’s Ancient Fragments, 2 vol. 8voM N. Y., 1835.