This story comes from the Iroquois people in North America. In the 1400s CE, they formed a federation of five separate tribes in what is now New York state. Today, over 100,000 descendants of the Iroquois nations continue to live on reservations in New York state and Ontario, Canada. In the fifteenth century, the Iroquois did not use writing. Instead, they told this story orally, passing it from generation to generation, until colonizers from Europe wrote it down.

The Great Turtle

The first people lived beyond the sky because there was no Earth beneath. The chief’s daughter became ill, and no cure could be found. A wise old man told them to dig up a tree and lay the girl beside the hole. People began to dig, but as they did, the tree fell right through the hole, dragging the girl with it.

Below lay an endless sheet of water where two swans floated. As the swans looked up, they saw the sky break and a strange tree fall down into the water. Then they saw the girl fall after it. They swam to her and supported her because she was so beautiful they couldn’t allow her to drown. Then they swam to the Great Turtle, master of all the animals, who at once called a council.

When all the animals had arrived, the Great Turtle told them that the appearance of a woman from the sky was a sign of good fortune. Since the tree had Earth on its roots, he asked them to find where it had sunk and to bring up some of the earth to put on his back, to make an island for the woman to live on.

The swans led the animals to the place where the tree had fallen. First otter, then muskrat, and then beaver dived. As each one came up from the great depths, he rolled over and died from exhaustion. Many other animals tried, but they experienced the same fate.

Then, the old lady toad volunteered. She was under so long that the others thought she had been lost. But at last, she returned to the surface, and before dying, she managed to spit out a mouthful of dirt on the back of the Great Turtle.

It was magical earth that had the power of growth. Soon, it was as big as an island, and the woman was set down on it. The two white swans circled the island as it continued to grow. It became the world island, as it is today, supported in the great waters on the back of the Great Turtle.

The woman sprinkled dust in the air to create stars. Then she created the Moon and Sun. The woman gave birth to twin sons, named Sapling and Flint. The twins grew quickly and filled the Earth with their creations. Sapling created all that is good—the animals that are useful to humans, rivers with fish, and plants that people could eat. Flint destroyed Sapling’s work and created all that is bad. The twins eventually warred with each other, and finally Flint was beaten and forced to remain on the Great Turtle’s back. Sometimes his anger causes volcanoes to erupt.