Native legends of Little people and mythological creatures
Hello, dear friends, and thank you for sharing your time with me. I am grateful that you are here visiting my blog.
I will retell the stories that she has retold in her book in my own words, hewing as closely as I can to her original text. I wish that I could do the same for the illustrations from the book. They are beautiful.
With one or two exceptions that I will note later the stories came directly from the Iroquois people themselves. The stories were reviewed by Ga wa so wa neh, also called Arthur C. Parker.
HOW THE STORIES CAME TO BE
Out of the moons of long ago, the stories have come. Back then every tribe of the Iroquois had its storyteller.
When the Old Man of the North came out of his lodge and turned the forests and rivers of the Red Children frozen and white with his breath, the storytellers wandered from wigwam to wigwam.
They would sit on warm skins next to the fire and exclaim, “Hanio!” This meant “Come, gather round, and I will tell you a story.”
Then all the Red Children would cry, “Heh,” and draw close to the fire. This meant that they were glad to hear the story. And as the flames leaped and chased one another over the logs, they would listen to these wonder stories of the Little People, of the trees and flowers, of birds, of animals, and of men. When the storyteller had finished, he said, “Na ho.” This meant, “It is the end.”
The Earth was very young when the Red Children first learned how everything came to be and just why it is that things are as they are. They told these wonderful things to their children and their children in turn told them to their children; and those children again told them to theirs, that these things might not be forgotten.
Now, but few of the Red Children know these stories that the grandmothers and old men of the tribe used to tell. The storyteller is no longer seen wandering from wigwam to wigwam.
Iroquois Little People
Stories about "Little People" are quite often found in many collections of Iroquois folk tales. Haudenosaunee Little People are called Jo gah oh, and these fairy-like nature spirits come in several different categories.
One type are the Gahongas, which means Stone Throwers or Stone Rollers, who live in rocky places such as caves and riverbeds. Though they are only three to four feet tall, they are incredibly strong and can rip a tall tree straight out of its roots. Rockfalls, and other natural events that move the earth, are said to be caused by them.
A friendly form of nature spirit are the Gandayah. Their name means Drum Dancers, which is due to the fact that they are invisible, so the only way that the Iroquois people knew of their presence was by the sound of their drums. If the Gandayah are pleased, they will help the Iroquois farmers, and crops will grow more successfully. They are guardians of nutritious plants, such as fruit and grains.
The third type of Little People in Iroquois lore are the Ohdows. They are similar to dwarves in European folklore in that they live underground. Their job is to keep underground creatures like snakes, and more fearsome creatures of legend, under control.
This is the introduction to more posts so I will stop here for now. My next post will be about the proper time for telling stories.
Hi dear friends and followers.
I am in the process of piecing and putting together some of the histories on North American Native legends of the Little people and other mythological creatures as they were related by the old storytellers of the day.
Yesterday I posted some Native American stories about the Little People, the Jagonah, as some called them. One of the major sources for my post is a work by Mabel Powers called Stories The Iroquois Tell Their Children. Her book was copyrighted in 1917 and is now in the public domain so I do not have any qualms about presenting the stories and wisdom that she has gathered to you in this, my humble blog. This is the dedication from her book:
I am in the process of piecing and putting together some of the histories on North American Native legends of the Little people and other mythological creatures as they were related by the old storytellers of the day.
Yesterday I posted some Native American stories about the Little People, the Jagonah, as some called them. One of the major sources for my post is a work by Mabel Powers called Stories The Iroquois Tell Their Children. Her book was copyrighted in 1917 and is now in the public domain so I do not have any qualms about presenting the stories and wisdom that she has gathered to you in this, my humble blog. This is the dedication from her book:
To all the Children who ask
How and Why,
especially those Red Children
who see with wonder eyes,
and those Paleface Children
who yet believe in fairies
these stories are lovingly dedicated
I will retell the stories that she has retold in her book in my own words, hewing as closely as I can to her original text. I wish that I could do the same for the illustrations from the book. They are beautiful.
With one or two exceptions that I will note later the stories came directly from the Iroquois people themselves. The stories were reviewed by Ga wa so wa neh, also called Arthur C. Parker.
HOW THE STORIES CAME TO BE
When the Old Man of the North came out of his lodge and turned the forests and rivers of the Red Children frozen and white with his breath, the storytellers wandered from wigwam to wigwam.
Then all the Red Children would cry, “Heh,” and draw close to the fire. This meant that they were glad to hear the story. And as the flames leaped and chased one another over the logs, they would listen to these wonder stories of the Little People, of the trees and flowers, of birds, of animals, and of men. When the storyteller had finished, he said, “Na ho.” This meant, “It is the end.”
Stories about "Little People" are quite often found in many collections of Iroquois folk tales. Haudenosaunee Little People are called Jo gah oh, and these fairy-like nature spirits come in several different categories.
One type are the Gahongas, which means Stone Throwers or Stone Rollers, who live in rocky places such as caves and riverbeds. Though they are only three to four feet tall, they are incredibly strong and can rip a tall tree straight out of its roots. Rockfalls, and other natural events that move the earth, are said to be caused by them.
This is the introduction to more posts so I will stop here for now. My next post will be about the proper time for telling stories.
Again, my thanks for allowing me to share these stories with you.
Thank you very much dear friends and followers for reading this introduction. I would truly be grateful to hear some thoughts and suggestions on these new upcoming new blog posts. Thank you
With love form your Fairy Lady
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