It so happened in times past that three warriors left their homes for distant regions. They started away for the purpose of killing any people whom they might find in order to obtain their scalps. So they would travel for many days, and when they observed that they had arrived near a settlement they would conceal themselves, and one or more spies would be sent out by night to make a reconnaissance for the purpose of learning when, where, and how to make the attack.
It was a custom with them for the chief or leader of the little party to say: “Who will volunteer to go to investigate that light which appears in the distance?” Thereupon one of the warriors would reply: “I will go to reconnoiter that light,” and he would go, if alone, without definite instructions as to how he might find his companions in case he had to retreat; but if two decided to go, they would first agree on some point as a rendezvous in case they should have to retreat in haste. Then the spy or spies would go to the place whence the light had appeared. Having arrived there, he would [[683]]manage to crawl stealthily into the shelters or lodges he might find, and he would also find the inmates lying asleep and their garments hanging on the supports of the structures.
In making such a reconnaissance one of the spies found the inmates asleep, and he saw that their garments, which were of stone, were set up against the trees which stood near by. He was surprised by one of these sleepers arising and saying to him: “What are you doing here? What do you want?” The spy replied: “I do not want anything; I intend nothing; I want peace.” But the other person said to him: “You intend, as you know, to kill all persons who may fall into your power; so you and I shall fight. That is verily what you and your companions are doing on your way here; you come with the intention of fighting all persons whom you do not fear. To-morrow at midday you and I shall meet face to face yonder in a place not far from here, in a valley which is very deep and has very high cliffs. You shall enter it from one entrance and I from the other, and there in the valley we shall meet.” He said this and ceased speaking. The spy replied: “So let it be.”
Having returned to the camp of his companions, the spy told what he had seen, saying: “I have seen a distressing sight. I saw beings who had assumed human forms and actions but who were not human. I saw their clothes, which were stone in material,[458] set up against the trees about their camp. One of their number arose and said to me, ‘What are your intentions?’ I replied, ‘Nothing; only peace;’ but he as quickly said: ‘You desire to kill all persons who may fall into your power; so to-morrow at midday in a valley that is near here, and that is very deep, we, you and I, shall meet; you must enter it from the opposite side, and I shall enter it from this side; then you and I shall fight.’ I do not think that we have the ability to overcome and kill these people. They are numerous, forming a large body.”
The chief of the little party remained silent, thinking over the situation. Finally he said: “By means of a sacrifice we must ask Him who has made our lives to aid us in the coming battle. Moreover, we shall use in the sacrifice of prayer native tobacco, which I shall now cast on the fire.” Then he took from his pouch native tobacco, which he cast on the fire with the following words: “Thou who hast made our lives, give most attentive ear to the thing I am about to say. Now we are about to die. Do Thou aid us to the utmost of Thy power. Thou, ruler, it was Thou who gavest us this native tobacco; it is this that I am now employing. Here, take it; it is offered to Thee. Thou hast promised us that Thou wilt always be listening when we ask in prayer by sacrifice. Now, it matters not whether Thou Thyself shall stand here, or whether it shall come by the way of a dream, do Thou tell us fully what we must do in this crisis which [[684]]Thou knowest confronts us so closely. Now I finish my tale. So it is enough. Now, moreover, we will lie down to sleep.”
Then they lay down to sleep. At midnight the chief, who was awake, heard some one speak there, saying: “I have heard your prayers asking me to aid you; so now I have arrived here. In this manner you must do, to-morrow. Verily, you two have agreed to meet in the deep valley at midday. You must act in this manner. You must go along the top of the ridge at the cliff’s edge, and you must lie prone, resting on your elbows; this you must do before it is midday. You must remain perfectly still, and you must not carry out your agreement with them. Then you must watch the opposite cliff, and as soon as you see a bear on the run there you must shout Pa—ʼa p-hu-e. Then you must retreat a short distance and stop, whereupon you shall see how truly I will aid you. You will hear them when they come into the valley, for the sound tau—u which they will make will be very loud.”
The men followed the directions given them by their Creator, to whom they had appealed in their extremity, and went to the cliff and lay down just as they had been instructed to do. They had not waited long before they heard their enemies coming along in the valley, with their chief singing as they marched. The chief of the warriors was intently watching the opposite cliff, when suddenly he saw a bear running along on the edge of it. At this he shouted, as he had been instructed to do, Pa—ʼa p-hu-e, and then, quickly arising and turning back, they fled; but after going a short distance they stopped, and turning around, they looked back to see what was taking place in the valley. As they watched, the sound of the oncoming of the Genonsgwa increased in volume and intensity; and when they had all got into the valley the sound of their marching became a veritable roar, sounding like dōō-ō.
Now they saw what astonished them; they saw the earth from the sides of the valley fall into it, carrying with it the forests which grew on it in the region of the valley. At once the sounds of the marching of the Genonsgwa died out, and the only sounds they then heard were the breaking and crashing of the trees as they settled down under the mountains of earth that fell into the valley. Then they heard the voice of their Creator saying: “What you asked of me has been granted in full. I am He whom you usually call Our Master. Verily, I continue to aid you, who are called the Seneca people. I aid you in all things, in ball-playing, in foot-racing, and in warfare. Now you shall go to your homes, to the places where your dwelling-places are. Never in the future must you do what you were doing. It is much better that you shall settle all differences which you may have with all other peoples. You must stop your present course, for if you do not do so, you yourselves shall bleed in turn. So you must [[685]]make peace with all your neighbors, must bury deep in the earth the scalping-knife, the bow and the arrow, and the battle-ax. All these you must bury in the ground, and you must leave them there, and thus put them out of the world. Now I am through.”
Then the warriors started for home and soon arrived at their dwelling places. Immediately the chief assembled the people; he went through the village, and as he walked along he said to them: “We will hold a council, and we must assemble in the Long lodge; we must assemble there early in the morning as soon as the morning meal has been eaten. Everyone must be there—children and women; the entire body of this people must be there to listen to the tiding which we have brought back.”
Early the next morning the chief made a second announcement, saying: “We will hold a council to-day.” So a large body of persons gathered in the Long lodge in which was the council chamber, and when they had taken their places the chief arose and addressed them thus: “You must give strict attention to what we have to say to you. We have been absent in distant regions, where we had intended to kill any people whom we might find. There we saw people such as we had never seen before, for their garments were of stone. It is probable that we never could kill them; they were very numerous. It so happened that we encamped very near them and that when they kindled their fire we saw it in the distance. Then I, who was the chief of the band, said ‘Come, we will go to reconnoiter in the vicinity of that light.’ One of the warriors answered: ‘I will go there,’ but I went in his stead to the neighborhood of the light to investigate. Having arrived there I found persons lying around asleep, and I saw that their garments were of stone, and that they were set up against the neighboring trees. Suddenly one of the sleepers, springing up, said to me, ‘What are your intentions?’ I said in reply, ‘I do not intend to do anything,’ for I was afraid. He replied: ‘Do you not intend to kill anyone you can? Now you and I shall fight. To-morrow when the sun is at midday, there where the deep valley is, in the bottom of the valley, you must come from the one side and I, for my part, will enter the valley from the opposite side, and therein we shall meet; then you and I will fight.’ I replied to him: ‘Let it be so,’ and departed thence and returned to our camp, where I at once told my friends what I had seen. I said: ‘I have seen an astonishing condition of things. When I arrived there I found the people lying down, and near by, leaning against the trees, were their garments, which were of stone, so it is probably impossible for us to kill them. So let it be.’ I will make a sacrificial prayer to Him who has completed the structure of our lives; I will cast on the fire sacrificially native tobacco. At once I took tobacco, and holding it in my hand, I said: ‘Thou hast promised to aid those [[686]]who shall pray to Thee with an offering of this native tobacco,’ and then I cast it on the fire, and forthwith arose smoke from the burning tobacco. Thereupon I said: ‘Now aid us; tell us what we must do; perhaps You may come to us in a vision; perhaps You might send the advice to us through a dream; at all events tell us what to do. Now, we will lie down to sleep.’