FIRST HOUSE STORIES

MYTHS OF THE FIRST HOUSE ARE A PART OF MOST NATIVE AMERICAN TRADITIONS. MOST INDIAN MYTHS ARE SET IN THE BEGINNING OF TIME WHEN WHEN ANIMALS TALKED OR WERE ANTHROPOMORPHIC. THEY ALSO HELPED TO BUILD THE FIRST HOUSES. THEY ALSO HELPED TO BUILD THE FIRST HOUSES. MOST OF THE FIRST HOUSE STORIES HAVE DISAPPEARED. STORIES TOLD AS MYTHS REFLECT BASIC TRUTHS AND BELIEFS OF A TRIBE.







LONGHOUSE PEOPLE IN NEW YORK SATE PROSPERED AND THRIVED. THEY INCLUDED IROQUOIS, CAYUGA, MOHAWK, SENECA, ONEIDA AND ONONDAGA. LONG HOUSES WERE WHAT UNIFIED THEIR TRIBE DURING ALL SEASONS, ESPECIALLY WINTERTIME. THEY WERE 15 - 20 FEET TALL AND ABOUT TWENTY FEET WIDE. WOMEN PLANTED CROPS - CORN, BEANS, SQUASH, AND COLLECTED NUTS AND FRUITS. MEN FISHED AND HUNTED. THEIR MYTHOLOGIES PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN THE BELIEFS. NEARLY EVERYTHING WAS SACRED. ELM TREES PROVIDED WOOD FOR THE LONGHOUSE AND BARK FOR HOUSE SHINGLES, CANOES AND BASKETS. ELMS WERE THOUGHT OF AS A SYMBOL OF UNITING THE WORLD. ELMS WERE COSMIC. CORN WAS IMPORTANT AS THE CENTER OF THEIR KEY RELIGIOUS CEREMONY. THE IROQUOIS HONOR THE CORN MOTHER IN AUGUST WHEN IT RIPENS. SOME OF THESE TRADITIONS ARE CARRIED FORTH. THEIR VILLAGES HAD 10 TO 20 HOUSES 50 TO 150 FEET LONG. EACH HOUSE HAD A WOODEN CARVING ABOVE THE DOOR OF THEIR ANCESTRAL ANIMAL. OUTSIDE THEY DRIED FISH AND CORN.





THE IROQUOIS FALSE FACE SOCIETY USES THE LONG HOUSES FOR CEREMONIAL REASONS. THEY ALSO HAVE HEALING CEREMONIES. THEIR MASKS REPRESENT HEALING SPIRITS. MALE MEMBERS OF THE MEDICINE SOCIETY PUT ON SACRED MASKS WHICH HAVE THE POWER TO CURE ILLNESS. IN SPRING AND FALL THEY VISIT HOUSES AND SWEEP DISEASES FROM THEIR HOUSES. THEIR GIFT IS TOBACCO. THEN ALL HAVE A FEAST AT THE LONGHOUSE.


THE FOLLOWING IS THE ORIGIN MYTH OF THE FALSE FACE SOCIETY. AFTER CREATION OF ALL THINGS, HAWENNIHYOH ADMIRED ALL THAT HE HAD MADE. HE CAME FACE TO FACE WITH ANOTHER BEING WHO WAS THE WIND SPIRIT. HE ASKED HAWENNIHYOH WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE. HE TOLD HIM THAT HE HAD MADE ALL THINGS ON EARTH. SAGODYOWEHGOWEH CHALLENGED HIM. THEY DECIDED TO HAVE A CONTEST. WHICH EVER OF US CAN MAKE THE MOUNTASIN MOVE IS THE MOST POWERFUL. THEY COULD NOT LOOK AT THE MOUNTAIN. SAGODYOWEH ASKED THE MOUNTAIN TO TO WALK TOWARD THEM. THE MOUNTAIN GROANED AND MOVED A LITTLE. THE HAWENNIHYOH ALSO ASKED THE MOUNTAIN TO WALK TOWARD THEM. THE MOUNTAIN MOVED JUST BEHIND THEM. HE SAID SEE I AM THE ONE WHO IS THE MASTER OF ALL THINGS.


SAGODYOWEHGOWAH TOLD HIM THAT HE COULD CURE SICKNESS, INTERPRET DREAMS, AND CONTROL MIGHTY WINDS. MY HELPERS WILL DRIVE SICKNESS AND DISEASES AWAY. HAWENNIHYOH AGREED AND HE WOULD INCREASE HIS POWER.



JEAN MONROE AND RAY WILLIAMSON