122. The Legend of Man’s Acquisition of Corn
(A SENECA-TUTELO LEGEND)
In ancient times there was a village situated on the banks of a river. The chief source of subsistence of the people was the natural products of forest and stream—that is to say, game and fish, berries and various edible roots and tubers.
There came a day when the people dwelling in this village were told by an old woman that she heard the voice of a woman singing on the river; and she told them further that the words used by this strange singer were: “Luxuriant and fine are the planted fields where I dwell, going to and fro. Luxuriant and fine are the planted fields which we have planted. My grandmother and my ancestors have planted them.”
After hearing this singing for 10 nights the old woman said to her family and neighbors: “Let us go out to see what this singing means; perhaps some woman has fallen into the water, and it may be she who is singing in the middle of the river.” They did go to the river bank, but saw nothing, and they returned much chagrined at their failure to discover the singer.
On the tenth night following, the woman again began to sing, seemingly from the middle of the river not very far from the village. Again she sang: “Luxuriant and fine are the planted fields (of corn) where I dwell, going to and fro. Luxuriant and fine are the planted fields (of corn) which we have planted. My grandmother and my ancestors have planted them.” Then the women of the village, going to the river bank for three nights, sang songs of welcome and recognition, and on the third night these women perceived that the singer on the river had drawn nearer to them. On the fourth night the women watching with their children on the river bank, and singing in response to the singing on the river, were surprised to see coming toward them a large number of women. Thereupon one of the girls exclaimed: “Oh, grandmother, do not let these women seize us,” and the children fled from the place. But the spokeswoman, who was the eldest person present, said: “I alone shall remain here to await whatever may befall me, and I do so because my granddaughter, who is coming, is in need of pity and aid.” [[643]]
At this the woman, the midstream singer, exclaimed: “Oh, my grandmother! take me hence. I am not able to go there (where you now are).” Then the grandmother (so called by the courtesy of clan kinship) placed her canoe of birch bark in the stream and soon by rapid paddling reached the side of the young woman who had been singing in midstream. She found her granddaughter lying on the back of a beaver, which mysteriously held her above the water. The granddaughter was the first to speak, saying: “Oh, my grandmother! take me hence.” The grandmother, replying: “Oh, my grandchild! your wish shall be fulfilled,” at once proceeded to place her granddaughter in the canoe, after which she headed for the shore of the stream, paddling to the landing place in a short time. When they had landed, the young woman said: “Oh, grandmother! now leave me here. I will remain here, and you must come after me in the morning. Nothing shall happen me in the meantime.” The grandmother at once returned to her own lodge, where, of course, she related in detail what had taken place.
Early the next morning she returned to the landing place where she had left her granddaughter (by courtesy). There she saw only the growing stalk of a plant. Drawing near to this she found growing on the stalk an ear of corn, and breaking it off she carried it back to her lodge, where she hung it up on a roof-supporting pole hard by the fireplace.
It came to pass during the following night that the grandmother, so called, had a dream or vision, in which the young woman who had been singing in midstream said to her, “Oh, my grandmother, you should unhang me from this place, for it is indeed too hot here. You should place me in the ground—plant me—and then leave me there; for I will provide for you and your people, you human beings. So kindly place me under the ground.” This dream came to the old woman three nights in succession. So she took down the ear of corn, and after shelling it she planted the grains of corn in the ground just as she had been instructed to do by the dream.
But on the following night the grandmother again dreamed, and the young woman in the dream said to her, “You and your people must care for me. You must not permit weeds to kill me. You shall see me sprout and grow to maturity; and it is a truth that in the future all the people who shall be born will see that I will provide for their welfare. So you must take great care of me. You will see, you and your people, a great multitude of people who are about to arrive here. You will see, I say, that I will provide for all during the time the earth shall be in existence. You shall now learn what is a well-known truth—that is, that I am corn; I am native corn; I am sweet corn. I am the first corn that came or was delivered to this earth.” For three successive nights the grandmother, [[644]]so called, had this same dream or vision, hence she came to regard it as a direct intimation to her regarding the disposition to be made of the corn on the ear which she had found on the bank of the river. So forcibly did the injunctions impress her that she planted the corn in the ground as directed; and she carefully followed the directions of the Corn Maiden as to the care required by the growing corn to enable it to mature and to prevent it being choked to death by weeds.
In the autumn the old woman[444] harvested her corn, and taking it into her lodge she divided it into as many portions as there were families in the village of her people. Then she gave a portion to the chief matron in each lodge, telling each that the corn should be used in the spring for seed and also how it should be planted and cultivated. Afterward she returned to her own lodge. She was greatly rejoiced at the prospect of her people having something which would supply them with a staple food, if they would only properly care for it.
In a short time after reaching her own lodge she lay down on her couch to rest for the night; but she had hardly fallen asleep before she had another dream, or vision, of the Corn Maiden. In this dream the Corn Maiden said to her: “You must tell my children (the human beings) that they must not waste in any manner the corn which shall grow to maturity in the future. It is well known that those who do not honor and properly care for me invariably come to want and destitution; for unless they act so toward me when I leave I shall take all the corn and other seed away. And, grandmother, you must tell all these things to your people and kindred.”
Some time after this event the old woman said to her nephew (?): “Do not travel around from place to place, for it is a well-known fact that there are beings roaming about which have the disposition to overcome and destroy men by the exercise of their orenda.” But the nephew (?) replied: “Oh! there is nothing going about from place to place which has the power to kill men.”
Then there came a time many days after this that the Corn Maiden saw her brother arrive there. He was a human being, tall beyond measure, and in other respects of corresponding size. He said to her: “Do you now come forth (out of the lodge).” She obeyed him by leaving her lodge, whereupon he took her up in his arms. He saw there a stone ax and an arrowhead of flint. After carefully examining these he asked: “Have these things, simple as they are, the power to kill a person?” She made no reply to this question, and the giant departed, carrying away captive his youngest sister. On the way she began to sing: “Oh, elder brother! have you not been in the habit of saying that there is nothing that roams about which has the power to kill persons? How do you explain this?” Now the name of the person who stole this woman is Doōdĕⁿnĕñyāʹhoⁿʼ[445] (Ga-mĕñdji-dāʻ-kăʻ [[645]]is the Tutelo name), (The refrain of the song she sang was the Tutelo words, Daʻhĕñgeʻ, daʻhĕñgeʻ, wāʻhoyăʼ ĕñ gi lo yot.)
Another brother of the Corn Maiden (of the lodge of the old woman) taking a stone ax and a bow and arrows, and asking his grandmother to follow him, said: “Let us two go fetch home my younger sister.” So saying, he started in pursuit of Doōdĕⁿnĕñyāʹhoⁿʼ, the so-called Stone Giant, and his grandmother followed him on the perilous journey. His pursuit was vigorous and tireless, and he was not long in overtaking Doōdĕⁿnĕñyāʹhoⁿʼ. Coming up to him, he shot him with a flint arrow, saying at the same time: “I have come to bring back home my younger sister.” Doōdĕⁿnĕñyāʹhoⁿʼ, weeping with pain, said: “I confess my guilt. I did a great wrong in stealing this maiden from her home.” Then he surrendered her to her brother, who, taking his sister by the hand, started with his grandmother for their home.
When they had arrived at their own lodge the young woman who had been kidnaped by Doōdĕⁿnĕñyāʹhoⁿʼ said to her grandmother: “You will now prepare some food (bread). You will take one grain of corn from the cob and pound it into meal. This alone will suffice, it is well known, to provide us (all human beings living) with food enough to satisfy our appetites at this banquet held in celebration of the return of the Maiden captured by Doōdĕⁿnĕñyāʹhoⁿʼ, the Stone Giant.” When the corn had been procured and prepared, the Maiden again spoke, saying: “I am about to give a feast, which shall be held in my honor, and in which you women shall dance the Corn dances.”
The feast was held in accordance with her wishes, and the women danced the Corn dances as she directed them, and all the people rejoiced with her. When the feast of thanksgiving was ended the Maiden said: “Now, as for me, I am starting on my return to my home. I shall go back to the place whence I came. It shall be an established thing in the future forever that corn shall exist, and that mankind shall never again die from starvation. I now go to my home.”
Thereupon she started away, going back on the river on which she had come; and as she went along she sang a song, the words of which were “We, the varieties of corn, beans, and squashes, are the mothers of the peoples of the whole world.” These words she sang to teach the people what to sing in their Corn dances.
After she had returned to her home she received a proposal of marriage from Oʻstawĕⁿʼsĕñʹtoⁿʼ (Sumac Tree?). She accepted his suit and the two were married. When they were together the Corn Maiden said to her husband, “You must love me (that is, regard me [[646]]as a precious thing);” and her husband assured her that he would indeed comply with her request and his duty.
Then they returned to the lodge of Mother Bean, which they reached by traveling on the river a long distance. Mother Bean said to them: “You two must carry back with you some beans, which you must take to that distant land, where you shall leave them.” On their return to their own lodge the bridegroom carried the beans to that other land in which his wife had left seeding corn, and after performing his mission returned to his own wife and lodge.
Afterward the bride wife heard her sister singing beside a planted field: “Is there perhaps anyone who will marry me again? Let him ask me.” She had not been singing long when Tʻhăʻhyoñʹnĭʻ (Wolf) replied: “I will marry you if you will accept me.” To this she answered: “If I marry you, what will be my usual food?” Tʻhăʻhyoñʹnĭʻ replied: “You shall have meat for your usual food.” Her answer was: “I shall die if I am compelled to eat that kind of food.”
Thereupon the maiden resumed her singing: “Is there perhaps some one who will marry me again? Let him ask me to do so.” Nyāʹgwaiʼ (Bear) answered her: “I will marry you if you will accept me.” The maiden answered: “If I marry you what will be my usual food?” Nyāʹgwaiʼ said in reply: “Your usual food will be various kinds of nuts.” She said: “In the event that I am compelled to eat that kind of food I shall surely die.”
Again she began to sing: “Is there perhaps anyone who will marry me again? Let him ask me.” While she sang Neʹogĕⁿʼ (Deer) answered her: “I will marry you if you will accept me.” The maiden said in reply: “If I should marry you what would be my usual food?” Neʹogĕⁿʼ replied: “Your food would be buds and sprouts and the moss growing on trees.” The maiden’s response was: “In the event that I am compelled to eat that kind of food I shall surely die.”
After thus refusing each of these proposals of marriage, once again she began to sing: “Is there perhaps anyone who will again marry me? If there be one such, let him ask me.” While she sang, expressing the impulses of her heart, a man named Corn answered her challenge, saying: “I will marry you if you will accept me, for I know that you are circumspect in making your selection of a husband.” In reply the maiden asked: “If I should marry you what shall be my usual food?” Corn answered: “If you will marry me your food shall be corn; corn shall be your sustenance.” The maiden replied: “I accept you, and I am thankful for my good fortune in finding just what I want. For a long time I have been lonely, for I desired to see a human being, to be in a position to mingle [[647]]with mankind.” With these words she ran forward, and throwing her arms around him fondly embraced him, saying: “I will share with you your fortune or misfortune, whichever it be, wherever mankind shall have charge of your welfare and needs, for my grandmother has appointed me to care for mankind during the time that this earth shall endure. So it shall be that they shall plant us always in one place. So from one place you and I together shall depart when the time during which we shall provide (food) for mankind, as has been appointed for us, shall expire. We must teach them our songs and dances, so that mankind may express their gratitude when they shall gather in their harvests of corn and beans and squashes.”
Continuing, she said to her husband: “We must instruct mankind with care in this matter, so that they shall do the essential things and sing the essential songs of the Aʻkoñwiʹʻsĕⁿʼ,[446] (the ceremony of the Corn dances). The women and the young maidens of both the Father and the Mother side in beginning this ceremony shall stand on their respective sides of the fire, forming in orderly lines with the matrons of their several clans as leaders. One side shall first sing the song which is in order, and then the other side shall sing that song; then they shall sing it alternately, while the several leaders in taking the lead must carry the turtle-shell rattle. It is important that this shall be done in order, and that the rhythm of the songs be not broken. When the song has been sung by both sides then the two lines of women shall encircle the fire and dance around it three times. This shall be done in the case of each song of the Aʻkoñwiʹʻsĕⁿʼ.
“Now, the words of the essential songs are as follows:
“(a) ‘Coming hither I heard them; I heard them sing and dance the Aʻkoñwiʹʻsĕⁿʼ.’
“(b) ‘We have now arrived—we who are about to sing and dance the Aʻkoñwiʹʻsĕⁿʼ.’
“(c) ‘Among living, growing, unplucked flowers I am walking reverently (silently, slowly).’
“(d) ‘I am now dancing among living, growing, unplucked flowers (blossoms).’
“(e) ‘We have now returned—we who are corn dancers and singers—we who are women.’
“(f) ‘You two cousins,[447] do you now get the bark bowl (for sprouting the seed corn). You two cousins, do you now get the bark bowl.’
“(g) ‘Oh! the berries have ripened. Oh! the berries have ripened—on stalk and stem.’ [[648]]
“(h) ‘I see (in vision) a beautiful Spring season.
“ ‘I see a fine field of growing corn.
“ ‘In the middle of this field of corn there stands a lodge of bark.
“ ‘There I see a profusion of drying poles and racks.
“ ‘Thereon I see fine fat strings of corn hanging.
“ ‘On these fine fat strings of corn I see rich lively seed corn.’
“(i) ‘Now, I am walking along. I am walking along giving thanks to the Life God.’
“These are the essential songs which mankind shall sing.”
123. The Bean Woman[448]
(A FRAGMENT)
In ancient times a people dwelling near a river bank were startled by the sound of singing, which came apparently from downstream. The voice was that of a woman, and tradition says that it was indeed the Bean-Woman who was singing.
The Bean-Woman sang, it is said, “Who shall marry me again? Let him ask me in marriage.” The Panther-Man, answering this challenge, said: “I will marry you if you will accept me for your husband.” Pausing in her singing, the Bean-Woman asked: “If I marry you what shall be the food which I shall regularly receive from you to eat?” The Panther-Man replied: “You shall always have meat in great plenty to eat.” The Bean-Woman answered: “In that case it is very probable I should die, for I do not eat that kind of food under any circumstances.”
Thereupon the Bean-Woman resumed her singing: “Who will marry me again? Is there one who is willing to marry me again? If so, let him ask me.” Then the Deer-Man approached the Bean-Woman and said: “I will marry you if you will accept me for your husband.” The Bean-Woman asked him: “What food will you regularly provide for me to eat?” The Deer-Man replied: “Browse and buds and the tender bark of trees, for these are the things which I regularly eat.” The Bean-Woman answered: “Such a marriage would not bring good fortune to me, because I have never eaten that kind of food.” So the Deer-Man departed.
Then the Bean-Woman resumed her song: “Is there not some one who is willing to marry me? If there be, let him ask me.” As she sang she heard the Bear-Man say to her: “I will marry you if you will accept me.” Whereupon she asked him: “What kind of food will you regularly provide for me to eat?” He replied: “I will provide you with nuts of various kinds, for even now I have many bark receptacles filled with nuts for food.” The Bean-Woman replied: “In this event I should most certainly die, for I have never [[649]]been in the habit of eating that kind of food; so I can not accept you.”
Without feeling disappointed she resumed her singing: “Is there not some one who will marry me again? If so, let him ask me.” Then the Wolf-Man approached her, saying: “I am willing to marry you if you will accept me.” Once again the Bean-Woman asked: “If I should marry you what kind of food would you regularly provide for me to eat?” The Wolf-Man answered: “I will provide you with meat and venison.” At this the Bean-Woman said with scorn: “It is, indeed, quite proper for you to offer me meat and venison for food, but I have never had the desire to eat meat which has been stolen.” Thereupon the Wolf-Man departed.
The Bean-Woman resumed singing, as before: “Is there any one who is willing to marry me again? If there is, then let him ask me.” Then the Corn-Man, drawing near, said: “I am willing to marry you if you will accept me.” In reply she asked: “If I should marry you what will you give me for my regular food?” The Corn-Man’s answer was: “You shall have sweet corn to eat at all times.” In reply the Bean-Woman said: “I pray that it may so come to pass. I am, indeed, thankful for this offer, for it is a well-known fact that I am in need of it.” When the Corn-Man had heard her answer, he said to her: “Come to me.” Rushing forward, she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him, saying: “This is, indeed, a condition established by Him who sent us, by Him who created our bodies, beginning with the time when the earth was new.” They dwelt together contented and happy.
This is the reason that the bean vine is at all times found entwined around the cornstalk.