Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada's Past

by Tantoo Cardinal

  “Konya’tíson ní:’i,” the being replied. “I am the one who made you.”

  “Ónhka ní:’i?” she asked. “Who am I?”

  “Sónkwe ní:se,” came the reply. “You are a human being.”

  “Oh ní:yoht takya’tíson?” she asked. “How did you make me?”

  “Enkonna’tónhahse,” the being replied. “I’ll show you.”

  With a few quick movements, the glowing being reached down, scooped up a handful of clay from the riverbank, and shaped it into the doll-like form of a man. The being then laid the doll-like figure on the riverbank next to the woman and gently blew into its mouth. Instantly, the clay doll was transformed into a human being. Hair grew out of its head, skin covered its body, and facial features appeared. The man took a quick breath, opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around.

  Like the woman, the man sat silently at first, awestruck and struggling to comprehend everything before him. The woman and the glowing being waited, saying nothing. Finally, the man began focusing his attention on the woman. He noticed that he did not have the breasts or the shape of the woman. Instead, he had the same muscles and form as the glowing figure. In spite of his physical resemblance to the glowing man he felt a greater kinship with the woman. And it was to her he spoke.

  “Ónhka ní:se?”he asked. “Who are you?”

  “Kónkwe … tenon … tenónkwe,” she replied hesitantly. “I … we … we’re human beings.”

  “Ónhka ne raónha?” the man asked. “Who is he?”

  “Shonkwaya’tíson,” she answered. “He is the one who made us.”

  “Ka’ nítewe’s?” he then asked. “Where are we? What is this place?”

  The woman, not knowing what to say, looked to the glowing being.

  “Tsyatahonhsí:yohst, keniyént’a,” he said. “Listen well, my children.” He then settled himself on the ground before them and continued. “Enkenikaratónhahse. I will now tell you the story of this place and how you’ve come to be here. It’s a long story and you must listen well.”

  The man and woman quickly nodded agreement and the glowing man began.

  “È:neken tsyatkáhtho,” he said. “Look up, into the sky.”

  The man and woman then tilted their heads back and scanned the sky.

  “You see the flying creatures, the clouds and the sun, do you not?” he asked.

  “Hén:’en,” the humans responded. “Yes. We see all those things and it is all so beautiful.”

  “It is not within your power to see beyond the deepest part of the sky,” the glowing man continued, “but I want you to know there is another world above this one, a sky-world. It is a special and beautiful place, just like here. And there are beings who live in the sky-world. They look much like you and me. And one day you and I, and many others, will all live together there.”

  The human beings did not know how to respond and sat there, silent, and the glowing manlike being continued.

  “In the sky-world, there are manlike beings and womanlike beings. After they live together for a time, the womanlike being will bear a child. This, too, will happen to you one day.”

  The man and the woman looked at each other, bewildered, but said nothing.

  “Many, many days ago, there was a womanlike being in the sky-world whose stomach grew bigger and bigger, a sign that she would soon bear a child.

  “But one day the woman became sick. She was barely able to walk. She said to her elder brother, ‘We must go to the shining tree. It is there I will find the medicine I need to make myself well again.’ So the two of them journeyed to the centre of the sky-world where the shining tree stood.

  “This tree is a giant tree,” the glowing man-being said. “Its limbs are heavy with blossoms, fruit, and nuts of every kind. It glows from within with the light of a sun that never sets.

  “At the base of the tree grow the medicine plants that the beings of the sky-world use to make themselves well. When the woman and her brother arrived at the shining tree, the brother began digging the medicine roots and the woman began gathering the medicine leaves and flowers. Soon the woman had made and taken her medicine and was resting by the edge of the hole that her brother had dug.

  “She looked into the hole but could not see its bottom. So she leaned over further and fell into the hole. She grabbed at the plants and roots at the edge of the hole but she could not stop her fall. She fell through the hole in the sky-world.

  “Her brother reached out for her when he saw her begin to fall. He tried but he could not catch her. He looked down into the hole and saw her falling away into the blackness. He then went to the shining tree. He ate the fruit that hung from its limbs, and he began to glow from inside his body, just like the tree. He went back, lay down, and looked down into the hole, and his glowing face lit up the sky with the brightest of all light. He saw his sister falling further and further away.

  “When his sister looked down, she saw nothing but water—water everywhere—as far as the eye could see. She fell and she fell.”

  The human beings, even though they had no knowledge of falling or death, grew fearful. Shonkwaya’tíson then stopped his storytelling and pointed with his chin to the birds that were flying overhead. “Shé:ken ken ne thí:ken?” he asked. “Do you see them?”

  “Hén:’en. Otsi’ten’okón:’a nen né:’e,” the human beings replied. “Yes. They are flying beings.”

  “Well,” Shonkwaya’tíson continued, “the flying beings were there at that time, and they saw the woman falling and went to help her. A great flock of many different flying beings flew very close together and made a bed with their wings. They caught her and stopped her fall. But they soon grew tired. They wanted to rest but there was no place to put her down, so they called to the water creatures for help.

  “All the creatures that inhabit the waters came to the surface to help the woman who had fallen out of the sky. One of them, A’nó:wara—the shell creature—rose from the waters and told the woman that she could rest on its shell. So the flying creatures placed the woman on A’nó:wara’s back.

  “The woman looked all around and saw only the hard, bare shell, the water, the sky, the flying beings, and the water creatures. She looked at her hands and noticed that many seeds and roots had stuck to her fingers when she fell through the hole in the sky-world. This made her think of her family and her home in the sky-world, and she became sad and lonely. She knew that the flying beings could not carry her back to the sky-world. They were too small, she was too big, and it was too far away. She knew she would have to live here, on the hard, bare shell of A’nó:wara.

  “But, the woman thought, if only she had some earth, she could plant the seeds and roots that had stuck to her fingers and she could create a new life for herself on the shell creature’s back. So she called the flying beings and the water creatures together. She asked them if they knew where to find some earth. ‘There is earth at the bottom of the water,’ they said.”

  Shonkwaya’tíson then told the humans to look at one of the water creatures floating nearby, a fat and furry one with a broad flat tail and long front teeth. Tsyanì:to was the first to try. It dove for the bottom, and the woman and the other creatures waited and waited but Tsyanì:to never returned.”

  Shonkwaya’tíson then pointed to a long-bodied, short-limbed creature floating on its back nearby. “Tawí:ne was the next to try. It dove for the bottom and, like before, the woman and the other creatures waited a very long time but Tawí:ne never returned.

  “The next creature to try,” Shonkwaya’tíson said, “was that one—Anókyen,” pointing to a round, brown furry creature that had burrowed into the riverbank. Its long, thin tail had no hair and it was the smallest of all the water creatures.

  “Anókyen dove for the bottom, and the woman and the others waited. And waited. After a very long time, Anókyen finally rose to the surface. It was dead but it had a small piece of earth in its paws.

  “The woman took the earth and placed it on t
he middle of the shell creature’s back. After she planted the seeds and roots she had brought from the sky-world, she began to walk around the edge of the shell creature’s back. As she walked, the earth on the shell began to grow. The more she walked, the more the earth grew. Soon the earth had completely covered over the shell creatures back. Finally, the time came when the woman gave birth to the child she was carrying, a daughter. The daughter grew up quickly, and she and her mother continued to walk around the edge of the earth and make it grow even more.

  “One day, after she was fully grown, the daughter was lying down, asleep. As she slept, the wind from the west blew over her body. The west wind left two arrows resting on her stomach, one of them straight and sharp, the other bent and blunt. Her mother soon came and found her, woke her up, and showed her the two arrows. ‘This is a sign,’ the mother told her, ‘that soon you will have children—twins.’

  “Time passed and the daughters stomach grew bigger and bigger. She was carrying twin boys. One was right-handed and had a good mind. The other was left-handed and had an evil mind. When the time came for them to be born, they began to argue about how they should leave her body.

  “They could feel their mothers body pushing them outside. But the left-handed twin wanted to go out through his mother’s side. The right-handed twin argued with his brother, trying to get him to follow him as he left. But the left-handed twin wouldn’t listen and he tore his way out through his mother’s side, and this killed her.

  “So then the woman who fell from the sky buried her daughter and her body became one with the earth. From the head of her grave grew Ó:nenhste, Ohsahè:ta, and Onon’òn:sera.”

  Shonkwaya’tíson pointed at the plant life growing nearby. “There they are,” he said. He pointed to the thin stalk that was taller than the human beings, its long leaves filled with tender kernels. He pointed as well to the vine of pointed leaves that twined up around the tall stalk bearing long, thin pods filled with seeds. He then pointed to the big-leafed vine that surrounded the stalk, shading its large gourds.

  “These three sister beings are the foods you will use above all others to keep you alive. And those there,” he said, pointing to a cluster of many different green growing things, “are Onónhkwa. They carry the medicines that you can use to make yourself well when you are sick, just as the sky-woman did before she entered this world.

  “And one of the medicines,” he added, “is that one, Niyohontéhsha, the one with a heart-shaped red fruit. It is sweet to eat and its juice is sweet to drink. Remember it well because a time will come when the plant life you see around you will stop growing and the earth will be covered by a cold white blanket for a long time. A wind from the south will bring warmth back to the land and the plant beings will grow again. Remember Niyohontéhsha, because it will be the first of the life-sustainers to appear when the cold time is over, and it will be a sign that more foods will come.

  “And that there,” Shonkwaya’tíson said, pointing to a broad-leafed plant with many small seed pods, “is Oyèn:kwa. It grew from where the heart of the daughter was buried. Its leaves are a messenger. You will need them one day to send your messages to me, because soon I will journey to the sky-world. You will put your thoughts into the dried leaves and put the leaves into a fire, and the smoke from the fire will carry your words to me.”

  The human beings sat there trying to absorb and understand it all, still saying nothing, so Shonkwaya’tíson continued.

  “The woman who fell from the sky was sad and angry over her daughter’s death and she called her grandsons to her. She named the right-handed twin Tharonhyawá:kon. She named the left-handed twin Thawíhskaron.”

  “The grandmother then asked the twins which one had killed her daughter. The left-handed one lied and said it was Tharonhyawá:kon who had killed their mother. He tricked his grandmother into believing him, so he became the twin she liked best. The grandmother then became angry with the right-handed twin, and she made him leave their lodge and live in the forest.”

  The thought of the woman sending her grandson away shocked the human beings.

  “A great wrong was done to that boy that day,” the glowing man-being said. Pausing slightly, he added, “And that boy was me.”

  The man and the woman were stunned. They looked at each other and looked at the glowing man-being, blinking, mouths open, struggling to comprehend everything that they had been told. Finally the woman said, “So you are the right-handed twin. You are Tharonhyawá:kon.”

  “Yes,” he replied, “I am the right-handed twin. I am Tharonhyawá:kon. It was my grandmother who made me live in the forest. She was the one who fell out of the hole in the sky-world. It is her elder brother who brightens the sky during the day. It is my twin brother who ripped his way out of my mother’s side and killed her. And it is my mother whose flesh we are resting on.”

  The man and woman were still speechless, so Shonkwaya’tíson—Tharonhyawá:kon—continued.

  “When my grandmother pushed me out of her lodge and into the forest that day, the same wind that had blown over my mother’s body—the west wind—my father—came up and swirled around me. He protected me from harm and whispered instructions that helped me find shelter in the forest. He helped me live and be strong. When I was fully grown, my father told me that I must make the earth ready for human beings—for you.

  “And so then I began my work of creation.”

  Pointing to the long-legged, antlered animals standing nearby, he said, “I went across the earth and made Ohskennón:ton and Ska’nyónhsa.” Pointing to the long-eared animals hopping nearby he said, “And I made Tehahonhtané:ken and Kwayén:’a. I made all these creatures so that their flesh will give you strength and their skins and fur will keep you warm.

  “But when I had finished, my twin brother, Thawíhskaron, came along behind me and made other creatures to eat the creatures I had made.” And here Shonkwaya’tíson pointed to Okwáho and Kén:reks—large, snarling, long-tailed creatures with big teeth and long claws that crouched nearby.

  “I went across the land,” Shonkwaya’tíson continued, “and laid down the waters. These are the waters you will use to sustain yourselves when you are thirsty. These are the waters you will use to travel about on this earth. I made these waters flow in two directions so that it would be easy for you to make your way.

  “But again,” he said, “my twin brother came along behind me and worked to undo what I had made. He spoiled some of the waters, making them undrinkable. He placed rocks in some of the waterways and made them flow in just one direction so that it will be hard and dangerous for you to travel.

  “I then went to the waters and made Kéntsyonk.” Pointing to the swimming creatures drifting in the river, Shonkwaya’tíson said, “I filled the waters with Kéntsyonk so that you could use their flesh to make you strong.

  “And again,” he said, “my twin brother came along after and undid what I had done. He made more creatures to eat the Kéntsyonk I made for you.

  “I made many more foods grow from the earth. I made small crawling and flying creatures to help them grow. And again my brother came along after and spoiled what I had made. He made more crawling creatures to eat the foods I had made. He made growing things that will sicken you if you eat them. He made growing things that sicken the foods I had made. He made crawling creatures to eat the foods I had made. And he made crawling, flying, biting creatures to sicken you and all the creatures I had made.

  “Everything I tried to make, he tried to spoil. Even those things I had no hand in doing, he tried to undo.” Looking up at the sun, which was now approaching the horizon, Shonkwaya’tíson said, “With some of his power he made the sun fall from the sky every day.

  “Thawíhskaron then told me that since he had the power to move the sun, he would be the master of everything on earth. He demanded that I go to the underworld while the sun was in the sky but I refused. We argued for a long time, and finally we decided to settle it with a contest. Whoeve
r won the contest would go to the underworld.

  “We began by playing Kayentowá:nen.” The man and woman exchanged quizzical glances and Shonkwaya’tíson explained. “It is a game played with a large wooden bowl holding stones that are blackened on one side. I tossed the bowl and tried to get all the dark sides of the stones to land face up but I couldn’t. Then my brother tried and he couldn’t. We played the game for many days but no one won.

  “So then we played Tehonttsihkwá:’eks.” Again the man and woman looked confused and Shonkwaya’tíson explained. “We each took a long stick, bent the end and laced it back together so that it would hold a small round stone. We then used these sticks and the stone and struggled against each other. I tried to move the stone past my brother and couldn’t. He tried to move the stone past me and he couldn’t. We battled for many days but no one won.

  “And then we began to fight. I grabbed my brother and pushed him to the ground. He grabbed me and pulled me down. He tried to hold me down but I broke free. I tried to hold him down but he broke free. Neither one of us was stronger than the other. One moment I was on top, the next moment he was. We fought for many days.

  “All the creatures that Thawíhskaron and I had created had long stopped what they were doing and had come to watch us fight. After we had been fighting for many days I saw one of them, Ohskennón:ton, the long-legged, sharp-antlered one, lower its head to the ground and drop its antlers. I picked them up and used them to push my brother back. Their power helped me pushed my brother over the edge of the earth.”

  At this, Tharonhyawá:kon sat quietly for several moments before continuing. “My brother still lives in the underworld. He is there right now and he wants to come back and spoil more things on earth. But now that I have created you,” he said, looking squarely at the man and woman, “he wants to come back and create mischief and trouble for you.”

  The human beings exchanged worried glances.

  “Do not be afraid,” he said, “I will watch over you and protect you. I have asked my grandfather—the husband of the woman who fell from the sky—to come down from his home in the sky-world to help you. He is Rawé:ras and he lives with the west wind. From time to time he will come with the west wind and bring the rains that will replenish the waters on earth that will sustain you. He will use his loud voice and his bright fire spears to keep my brother in the underworld. So now the only time my brother can leave the world below is at night. And because the sun is no longer in the sky, he has no power when he is here on earth. He can only prowl about.”