Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/134

 i j j journal of American Folk-Lore.

Much discussion was had by the Great Council. But it seemed for a long time that the deliberations would be fruitless. No plan for the disposition of the Woman could be agreed upon. When the Great Council was about to adjourn without coming to a conclusion, the Big Turtle said : —

" If you can get a little of the earth which, with the Woman and the Tree, fell down from heaven, I will hold it."

So the animals took it by turns to try to get the earth. They dived down into the deep where the Tree had fallen. But they could get none of the earth, which, so the Wyandots claim, shone with a brilliant light to guide them. In this search many of the ani- mals were drowned, and came to the surface dead. When it seemed that none of the earth could be obtained, the Toad volunteered to go down and try and see what success she-might have.

The Toad was gone a long time. The Great Council despaired of her coming back again. Finally she came up, with her mouth full of the earth ; but she was dead when she reached the surface.

There was very little of the earth, — too little, it was supposed, — and the Great Council was discouraged. But the Little Turtle urged that it be used. She rubbed it carefully about the edges of the Big Turtle's shell. And from this small amount soon there was the Great Island upon the Big Turtle's back.

The Woman was removed from the backs of the Swans to the Great Island, which was, from that time, her home.

The Toad was the only swimmer that could get the earth. This is why the Toad has always been called Mah'-shooh-tah'-ah — Our Grandmother — by the Wyandots. The Toad is held in reverence by the Wyandots, and none of them will harm her to this day.

Yodh'>z'-tsah»-dch'-kdh-reh'-zhooh, or The Great Island. The Island grew to be a great land, — all of North America, which, to the Wyandot, was all the earth. The Wyandot name for the Great Island is Yooh n g'-tsah n -deh'-koh-reh'-zhooh. It means, literally, " The Land which stands up from the Great Water ; " but it is correctly rendered "The Great Island." It rests yet on the back of the Big Turtle. He stands deep down in the Yooh n s'-tsah n -reh'- zhooh, or the Great Water, in which the Swans were swimming when they saw the Woman fall from heaven. Sometimes he becomes weary of remaining so long in one position. Then he shifts his tit, and moves (changes) his feet. And then the Great Island trembles, and the Wyandots cry out, « Hah'-kah-shah-tehn'-dih ! Hah'-kah-shah-tehn'-dlh ! He moves the earth ! He moves the earth ! "

Thus does the Wyandot account for the OOh'-toh-mehn-sah-zhaht', the Earthquake.

�� �