From this time the Corn dances and Corn songs were known and used, and these are the songs that are in use at this day on the anniversaries of the various seasons, beginning with the time the people plant the corn grains and ending when the strings of ears of corn are stored in the lodges—the corn harvest. This ceremony is called Goñdăʻgoñwiʹsas.
125. The Origin of White Corn, or Kanĕñhagĕñät
In ancient times there lived a community of people at the foot of a very high, steep, and rugged cliff. There came a day when they heard the plaintive singing of a woman, who seemed to be on the top of this almost inaccessible mountain. The mysterious woman directed the words of her songs to a very old but highly respected man of this small community. The burden of the songs was expressed by the words: “Oh! kinsman of my father’s brother, come up here; I indeed desire greatly to become your wife.” These words gave much anxiety to the people who heard them, but the old man paid no attention to them.
The woman, seemingly on the mountain top, continued to sing daily, however, and finally some of the people urged the old man to go up to the summit to learn the designs of the persistent singer. But he excused himself, saying: “The mountain is so steep and rugged, and I am now become so aged that I do not feel able to make the attempt to climb its side.”
But the woman on the height, continuing her singing from day to day, and the anxiety of the people becoming very marked, the chiefs of the community in council finally requested the old man, whom they highly respected, to go to the mountain top to unravel, if possible, the meaning of the mysterious singing. They represented to him the importance of this mission, since the persistent singing might have some relation to the welfare of the community at large.
After long meditation he replied to the request of the council, “Oh, my chiefs! at your request I will go to the mountain top to learn, if it be possible, the meaning of this woman’s singing.” [[653]]
Having made the necessary preparations the old man started, and after overcoming many difficulties he finally reached the summit of the mountain. There he saw a young, fine-looking woman, who stood not far from the brink of the cliff. She had been standing in that position while he was painfully wending his way up the mountain side and urged him to have patience and courage to persist in his attempt to climb the mountain. Seeing that he had reached the top of the mountain, the young woman beckoned him to her side, at the same time saying: “Do thou come to me, Oh, my friend! I desire to share my mat with thee.” Drawing near to the young woman, the aged man said kindly to her: “I am unfortunately past the age when it might have been in my power to comply with your request.” But the young woman replied: “Fear not, but draw near me. I will endow thee with the power which will enable thee to comply with my desire. So come close to me. Now, mark my words and carefully cherish them. Out of the ground at the spot whereon I have lain a plant shall sprout and grow. Care tenderly for this, for it shall be a boon to your people, a chief source of food to them; and it shall be called Kanĕñhagĕñät; that is to say, White Corn. In five days from now you must return to care for what you will find growing out of the ground, as I have already told you. As for me, I shall die.” The aged man drew near the woman and embraced her. Time passed and he swooned. When he finally recovered his senses he discovered that the young woman had disappeared—vanished into thin air—and he believed that he had embraced a vision. Arising from the ground, he returned to his people at the foot of the mountain.
Remembering the words of the young woman to the effect that he must return to the mountain top to obtain a mysterious plant, at the end of five days the old man returned to the summit. There he found on the spot whereon the young woman had lain a growing corn plant. He carefully pruned away from it all weeds and placed rich, fine earth around its rootlets, and also watered it from a neighboring spring.
Taking great delight in caring for this corn plant, the aged man came frequently to the mountain top to attend to it. In course of time it had grown to maturity, bearing three ripened ears of white corn. These he carefully husked and carried back to his lodge. In the spring he assembled all the people of the community and divided the corn among them equally, a few grains to each family; and he instructed them in the method of planting and caring for the corn, telling them that in time it would become one of their staple food plants. Such is, it is said, the manner in which the white corn originated among the Tuscarora, who have generously shared the seed with neighboring tribes and kindred. [[654]]