Seneca Indian Myths: Turkey's Brother goes in Search of a Wife

GASYONDETHA	Meteor
OTSOON	Turkey
TÉQDOOⁿHUISHĔ	Woodchuck Leggings (the Deceiver)

AN old man had two nephews: one, perhaps, fifteen or sixteen, the other two or three years old. The three lived together in a bark house in the woods.

When the uncle went hunting, the elder brother stayed at home. When the young man was hunting, the uncle was at home, for the younger boy was too small to be left alone.

One day the elder brother said, "Uncle, if you will kill a turkey, I will make a coat for my little brother to wear."

The next day the uncle brought home a large, white turkey-gobbler. The young man took the skin off from head, legs and body, in one piece. Then he rubbed the skin and made it soft and when it was ready he put it on the little boy. It fitted him nicely, for he was the same size as the turkey. He put his feet into the skin of the legs and his arms into the wings, and then went around hunting for beechnuts. He could fly into trees and he looked exactly like a turkey so they called him OTSOON (Turkey).

nephew was old enough to marry. Then the uncle said to him, "I am tired of cooking, I want to eat food cooked by a woman. You are old enough to marry. The chief of a village far from here has three daughters. You can get one of them for the asking."

"Very well, I will go and ask for her," said the young man and he began to get ready.

Turkey wanted to go too, but his brother said, "You must stay at home with our uncle. How can we leave him alone?"

No matter how the brother and uncle coaxed or scolded Turkey insisted, and at last they told him he could go.

"Now, Nephew," said the uncle, "You must have an outfit. They must see that you are a great man, I will give you what I have."

He brought a coat of wild-cat skin and put it on the young man, then, standing back and looking at him, he said, "That is not good enough."

He brought a gasyondetha skin coat with the head for a cap, whenever the wearer was angry the head would roar. In the cap he put two loon feathers that sang all the time.

He gave the young man beautiful moccasins, with leggings to match, and a pouch of fisher-skin, whenever an enemy came near the fisher would snap at him and bite him. In the pouch was a pipe. The bowl of the pipe was a bull frog, the stem a water snake. When the young man began to smoke the bull frog croaked and the snake wriggled and tried to swallow the frog.

The uncle said, "Now, my Nephew, go straight toward the West. It is a long journey. We are the only ones left of our nation. All of our people have been captured and carried off, that is why you must go so far for a wife. When half way to the chief's village, you will see a spring

on one side of the trail. Don't stop there or touch the water. Farther on, about half way between the spring and the chief 's house, you will meet an old man. He is a great thief. Don't stop with him or listen to him."

The brothers set out at sunrise and at midday they came to the spring, though it was a year's journey for an ordinary person. As soon as the elder brother saw the spring he was thirsty and wanted to drink, but Turkey said, "Our uncle told us not to touch that water."

They were passing the spring when the elder brother looked again at the water and this time he was so thirsty that Turkey couldn't keep him from drinking. Lying down be had just touched the water with his lips when something caught him by the hair and pulled him into the spring, but he grasped the creature and, struggling hard, got out of the water bringing the creature with him. It was not a man, though it looked something like one.

It gasped and begged, "Oh, Grandson, throw me back! Oh, Grandson, throw me back!"

"No, you can stay where you are," said the young man. He lay down again to drink and a second creature caught him; he pulled that one out.

A third time he lay down to drink and this time he was undisturbed. The water was sweet and cool. When he had finished drinking, he killed the two creatures. With Turkey's help he gathered all the dry sticks to be found, put the creatures on the pile and burned them to ashes, then the two traveled on. In the middle of the afternoon they came to a place where there were many tall trees and around one of them an old man was running as fast as he could go.

When he saw the young man he called to him, "Oh, my Grandson, shoot! Look, such a nice fat, coon! Shoot him for me!"

He begged so hard that the young man shot at the coon. The arrow stuck in its body and the coon ran into a hole in the tree, as the young man thought.

"Oh, we must find the coon," said the old man, "You mustn't lose your arrow. Go into the hole and pull, him

out, but take off your clothes so as not to spoil them. You needn't be afraid, I won't touch them. I am going in too."

The young man took off his coat, leggings and moccasins and put them on the ground, then climbed the tree, the old man following him. When they came to the hole, the young man looked into it and right at hand, as he thought, saw the coon. He reached in to pull the arrow out, but that instant the old man pushed him and down he went through the hollow tree to the very bottom. There was no coon in the tree.

The old man slipped to the ground, put on the young man's coat, leggings and moccasins, and taking his pouch and bow and arrows started off westward, toward the chief's village.

Turkey cried a long time for his brother, then he flew on to a tree and sat there moaning.

The elder brother thought, "Now I am in trouble. My uncle told me not to listen to that old man."

There was no way of getting out of the hole, for the sides were as smooth as ice. On the ground, at the bottom, were the bones of people, who had been thrown in by the old man.

Toward morning the young man remembered that in his boyhood a great spider had appeared to him in a dream, and said, "If ever you get into trouble I will help you.

That minute a great spider came to the opening and began to make a web. When the web reached the bottom of the hole the spider called out, "Now climb!"

"Oh, Spider," moaned he, "You are not strong enough to help me." Then he remembered that in his boyhood a black snake had appeared to him in a dream and had promised to help him if ever he were in trouble.

Straightway a black snake looked into the hole, then it slipped its body down till the end of it reached the ground. The young man took hold of it. The snake coiled itself up, brought him to the top, then disappeared.

When Turkey saw his brother he was glad. He flew to the ground, and said, "Now, we must go home."

"No," said the young man, "We must go t o the chief's village. I will put on the old man's clothes."

As soon as he had on the stiff leggings, the torn moccasins and the dirty blanket, his voice grew weak and he began to cough, and right away he looked and felt like an old man.

The thief meanwhile felt young and strong and could travel fast. In front of the chief's village was a broad river. When the thief came to it he shouted for some one to ferry him across.

The chief's eldest daughter rowed over in a canoe and seeing a fine looking man, she asked, "Where did you come from, and where are you going?"

"I came from the East. I am going to the chief's house, I am looking for a wife, and I have heard that he has three daughters."

She led him to her father's house and showing him a couch covered with beautiful skins, said, "That is your place."

The next evening Turkey and his brother came to the river. The old man shouted for somebody to come and row them over, but his voice was so weak and thin that for a long time he wasn't heard.

At last some one on the opposite bank said, "An old man and a turkey want to cross the river."

The chief's youngest daughter got her canoe and went over. She asked the old man who he was and where he came from.

She rowed him across the river, led him to the chief's house and pointing out a couch covered with beautiful skins, said, "That is your place." Above the couch was a smaller one, the girl said, "Your brother can have that place up there."

When the girl's family saw the husband she had chosen they were dissatisfied and tried to persuade the chief to drive him out, but he said, "Let the girl alone, she knows what she is doing."

The husband and wife lived quietly for a number of days, then the husband said, "I am sick, go to your father and ask him for his best bowl."

"Oh," said the chief when he saw the wampum, "I knew he was a great man. He is the greatest man I have ever heard of. This is beautiful wampum."

When the husband of the eldest sister heard what had happened, he said to his wife, "Ask your father for his best bowl, I am sick."

She brought the bowl, but in place of filling it with wampum he filled it with lizards and foul things.

The chief was angry and said to his daughter, "Go to the river, wash the bowl and scrape it clean."

A few days later the husband of the youngest sister said, "Go and ask your father for his bowl."

The chief was delighted, and said, "My son-in-law is a great man; he comes from the Wampum people."

for the chief's bowl, but again he filled it with lizards and foul things, and again his wife spent a whole day at the river cleaning and scouring the bowl.

Now Wildcat and Fox came to see the youngest sister's husband, for they were his friends. After a while Fox spied Turkey sitting on his shelf over his brother's couch and he said to Wildcat, "That's a nice gobbler up there, can't you get him for us?"

That night Wildcat crawled down the smoke-hole till he could reach Turkey. Turkey was sitting with his eyes wide open. He saw Wildcat and waited till he was near, then he raised his club and struck him such a heavy blow that he fell into the fire, and before he could get out his coat was so singed and burned, that to this day Wildcats have yellow, smoky coats.

"You can't have fits here!" said the eldest sister, and jumping up she pushed Wildcat out of the house.

She brought them and the next day he killed more deer than had ever been killed in that place. The game was carried to the chief's house and all the people had enough to eat, no man was left without meat, and everybody wondered at the great number of deer killed.

The chief notified the people that there would be a council at daybreak the next morning.

Every one was awake early, except the chief's eldest daughter and her husband; they were sound asleep. While they slept the young man took his coat, leggings, moccasins and pouch from the thief and put them on, then he went to the council.

"Get up," said the mother, shaking her daughter, "your husband must go to the council." Then, glancing at the

As soon as the clothes were gone, the man was old and shrunken, with a face like an owl's.

The young woman woke up and looking at her husband was frightened to see what an ugly old creature he was. She pulled him up, pushed him out of the house, and said, "I won't have you for a husband!"

When the young man went into the council house, he was fine looking and strong. He opened his pouch, took out his pipe, lighted it and began to smoke. The bull frog croaked, the snake wriggled and tried to swallow the frog.

The young man said to his father-in-law, "Now that I have my clothes, I must go back to my uncle who lives in the East."

"My brother and I will go ahead," said the young man, and, turning to Turkey he said, "Now, brother, take off your turkey skin and dress as other boys do."

The brothers went home in one day; the chief and his people were a long time on the road. The uncle was glad to see-his nephews and to welcome the chief. "This is my story."

TURKEY'S BROTHER GOES IN SEARCH OF A WIFE