Saponi Tutelo Peoples

Hi dear friends and followers.

Today we take a brief look at two tribes who inhabited the Virginia/North Carolina region, the Saponi and Tutelo Peoples. Both were related by language, religion, and customs and they eventually joined together into one single tribe, after the arrival of the white man.

I could not locate myths or legends of either people, however, my research did find something that is, to me, at least as fascinating as any myth or legend I have read so far.

The Saponi were a Siouan-speaking people who lived in the Virginia Piedmont near present-day Charlottesville. John Smith found them there, in a region he broadly labeled Monacan, in 1607. Sometime during the next several decades they moved south, seldom remaining stationary until the mid-eighteenth century. A small group of corn farmers and hunters, the Saponi moved to find protection from more powerful enemies.

In 1670 German explorer John Lederer found the Saponi among the Nahyssan on the Staunton River in Virginia. In the 1680s, they were on the upper Roanoke River, living adjacent to the Occaneechi. When John Lawsonvisited them in 1701, the Saponi were on the Yadkin River near present-day Salisbury, along with the Tutelo andKeyauwee. The Saponi chief told Lawson that the three tribes were planning to join and move again. In 1714 the Saponi, Occaneechi, Tutelo, and other small tribes concluded a treaty with Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood to return to that colony and settle on a six-mile-square reservation laid out on the Meherrin River. Named Fort Christanna, the reservation was to be a refuge for Piedmont Indians willing to serve the Virginia settlements as frontier scouts. In 1729 the Saponi and their friends abandoned the fort and headed for the Catawba River, where the Catawba Nation offered sanctuary.

In 1728 the survey of the border between Virginia and North Carolina was undertaken. Each colony provided commissioners to see that the task was performed correctly. One of the commissioners for Virginia was William Byrd. Byrd kept a very detailed diary in contemporary English of the day in which he described much of the interaction between the survey party and one of their Saponi scouts, a man whose name was Bearskin.

From Byrd and his Saponi informant several little points in regard to Indian habit and belief are obtained. Although not always definitely so stated, the references are usually intended to apply to the Saponi, and their associated tribes – the Tutelo, Occaneechi, and others at Fort Christanna.

Fire was made by rubbing together two dry sticks of papaw wood, the process requiring about ten minutes. On the occasion of any religious ceremony new fire was always made for the purpose from two sticks which had never before been used, as it was deemed a sacrilege to use the fire already kindled. From the fiber of a kind of “silk grass” the women made a strong thread from which they wove baskets and the aprons which formed the chief part of the woman’s dress. These aprons or skirts were wrapped round the body and hung from the waist to the knee, bordered with a fringe at the bottom. Spoons were made of buffalo horn, and the Indians believed that these spoons would split and fall to pieces if poison were put into them. Skins were dressed with deer’s brains, a method which the English learned to pattern, and the skin was sometimes stretched over a smoke to dry it more speedily. 

They annointed their bodies with bear’s grease as a protection against mosquitos and all other insects. A diet of bear’s meat was supposed to increase the generative power. It was believed that venison and turkey (i. e., the flesh of birds and of quadrupeds) must never be cooked together, on penalty of provoking the anger of the hunting gods, who would drive the game away so that the offending hunter would never be able to kill anything afterward. When the party laughed at Bearskin’s fears on this score and deliberately violated the taboo to convince him that he was in error, he took the precaution afterward when he had shot a buck and a wild turkey together, of leaving the turkey behind and bringing only the deer into camp, in order to put such a sacrilege out of their power. They justified their laying of the heavier burdens on the weaker sex by a tradition that work had originally come upon the human race through some fault of the woman18.

The general statement of the Saponi belief in regard to the spirit world, as obtained from Bearskin in a Sunday night talk around the fire, is best told in the language of Byrd himself, always making liberal allowance for the preconceived notions of a white man who did not claim to be an ethnologist. The transmigration idea here set forth agrees with what Lederer says of the same people:

In the evening we examin’d our friend Bearskin, concerning the religion of his country, and he explain’d it to us, without any of that reserve to which his nation is subject, He told us he believ’d there was one supreme God, who had several sub-altern deities under him. And that this master-God made the world a long time ago. 

That he told the sun, the moon, and stars, their business in the beginning, which they, with good looking after, have faithfully perform’d ever since. That the same power that made all things at first has taken care to keep them in the same method and motion ever since. He believ’d. God had form’d many worlds before he form’d this, but that those worlds either grew old and ruinous, or were destroyed for the dishonesty of the inhabitants.

That God is very just and very good-ever well pleas’d with those men who possess those God-like qualities. That he takes good people into his safe protection, makes them very rich, fills their bellies plentifully, preserves them from sickness, and from being surpriz’d or overcome by their enemies. But all such as tell lies, and cheat those they have dealings with, he never fails to punish with sickness, poverty and hunger, and, after all that, suffers them to be knockt on the head and scalpt by those that fight against them.

He believ’d that after death both good and bad people are conducted by a strong guard into a great road, in which departed souls travel together for some time, till at a certain distance this road forks into two paths, the one extremely level, and the other stony and mountainous. Here the good are parted from the bad by a flash of lightening, the first being hurry’d away to the right, the other to the left.. 

The right hand road leads to a charming warm country, where the spring is everlasting, and every month is May; and as the year is always in its youth, so are the people, and particularly the women are bright as stars, and never scold. 

That in this happy climate there are deer, turkeys, elks, and buffaloes innumerable, perpetually fat and gentle, while the trees are loaded with delicious fruit quite throughout the four seasons. That the soil brings forth corn spontaneously, without the curse of labour, and so very wholesome, that none who have the happiness to eat of it are ever sick, grow old, or dy. Near the entrance into this blessed land sits a venerable old man on a mat richly woven, who examines strictly all that are brought before him, and if they have behav’d well, the guards are order’d to open the crystal gate, and let them enter into the land of delights.

The left hand path is very rugged and uneaven, leading to a dark and barren country, where it is always winter. The ground is the whole year round cover’d with snow, and nothing is to be seen upon the trees but icicles. All the people are hungry, yet have not a morsel of anything to eat, except a bitter kind of potato, that gives them the dry-gripes, and fills their whole body with loathsome ulcers, that stink, and are insupportably painfull. Here all the women are old and ugly, having claws like a panther, with which they fly upon the men that slight their passion. For it seems these haggard old furies are intolerably fond, and expect a vast deal of cherishing. They talk much, and exceedingly shrill, giving exquisite pain to the drum of the ear, which in that place of the torment is so tender, that every sharp note wounds it to the quick. 

At the end of this path sits a dreadful old woman on a monstrous toad-stool, whose head is cover’d with rattle-snakes instead of tresses, with glaring white eyes, that strike a terror unspeakable into all that behold her. This hag pronounces sentence of woe upon all the miserable wretches that hold up their hands at her tribunal. After this they are deliver’d over to huge turkey- buzzards, like harpys, that fly away with them to the place above mentioned. Here, after they have been tormented a certain number of years, according to their several degrees of guilt, they are again driven back into this world, to try if they will mend their manners, and merit a place the next time in the regions of bliss.

This was the substance of Bearskin’s religion, and was as much to the purpose as could be expected from a meer state of nature, without one glimps of revelation or philosophy19 .

In 1731 growing dissatisfaction with their situation caused the Saponi to fragment. A few remained with the Catawba, but most left. Some moved north to join those Tuscaroras who remained in North Carolina after the Tuscarora War (1711-13); others migrated to New York, where the Cayuga, one of the Six Nations of Iroquois, adopted them. Still others drifted toward the English settlements, where they were ultimately absorbed into the general population. By the early 2000s the Haliwa-Saponi tribe was a small, state-recognized tribe with headquarters in the town of Hollister in Halifax County.

Other interesting cultural features:

- Myth: This addition to our knowledge of the Tutelo relates that the name of the last Tutelo chief was Ka'stQ'hagq, the term referring to his "Dwelling in Stone." Legend states that he had killed a number of people; that he was the "first

Tutelo who came to the Six Nations;" and that he had formerly lived in a cave having a room perpendicular to the entry passage in which recess he lived for protection. The cave was so formed that only one invader at a time could enter and turn the corner. Entrenched in this cavern he had accounted for his enemies.

-The Tutelo came up from the south. They did not have any settlements and lived in the woods and caves like wild people. They were a very timid people and were afraid of other Indians. The Tutelo scouts who went out to look for the smoke

from camp fires (settlements) would transform themselves into mice and travel under the leaves so that they would not be discovered by unfriendly Indians. When they wished to look over the country they would resume their natural form and climb to the tops of trees.

The Tutelo scouts were at last seen by the Cayuga who, being a friendly and peaceful tribe, invited them to join their settlement. They accepted and mingled with the Cayuga and learned their language. The Tutelo scouts returned to

their people and told them how they had been taken in by the Cayuga. They brought back the other Tutelo and their families to the Cayuga settlement. There they built a camp of logs. When sleeping at night they were arranged like spokes of a wheel, feet to the fire: the children first, then the women, and last, the men to guard the camp.

One night the Tutelo overheard the Cayuga talking in council with the Seneca. They could not understand all that was being said, but it sounded to the Tutelo like a plan to eat them. They thought that the Cayuga and Seneca were saying, "The Tutelo are good to eat." It proved to be that the members of the council were talking over the proposed plan for the adoption of the Tutelo [6].

6. Speck, Frank G. Siouan Tribes of the Carolinas as Known from Catawba, Tutelo, and Documentary Sources. American Anthropologist , New Series, Vol. 37, No. 2, Part 1 (Apr. - Jun., 1935), pp. 201-225

Thank you again for dropping by to read this native American legend, I hope you have enjoyed the read. I would appreciate some comments on what your thoughts are on this topic. Have a wonderful week.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Centeva the Wizard Lady

Hi dear friends and followers. Today is Sunday usually poetry day, but today I would like to present to you a short story. So take five, relax , and have a pleasant read. Hope you enjoy it.

Centeva the Wizard Lady

Centeva was riding along the trail in the Woods of Osha after having perfomed a successful show of magic for the good king of Athan. She smiled, pleased with her success. “Lady Wizards are kind of scarce in the land of Garsha, “ she reflected.

Most looked at her skeptically. She wasn't sure of just how many she had won over from their skepticism. Add to that the fact that there were not only the skeptics but also the jealous who would be magicians to contend with as well.

Suddenly, just ahead of her, appeared six mounted soldiers, all heavily armed. The foremost raised his hand and shouted, “Halt!” His voice echoed everywhere, awakening the silent forest.

The head soldier dismounted from his stallion, walked to her side and took off his helmet. "My lady, I was ordered to find you and escort you to the Kingdom of Ossar." He was a rather handsome and rugged-looking man.

Not wanting to create a disturbance, she also dismounted and spoke: "And what services would be required of me in the wonderful and mighty Kingdom of Ossar,?” she queried.

"Our queen, Madina, wishes to speak with you," Renalde declared.

"And what would her majesty wish to speak to me about, a lowly magician such as I?"

"It was not for me to question, my lady; to carry out her wishes is my only directive. Preferably to do it in a peaceful manner, but by force if necessary.”

He removed his gauntlet and offered her aid up onto her horse. Then he bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, my lady, just follow us. Macee will guard our rear flank to make certain there are no surprises.” He put his helmet back over his handsome face, re-gloved, turned on his heel, and returned to his mount.

They traveled through the forest and forded two streams. Then they began the climb to the mountaintop fortress of Ossar. The group climbed for what felt like a long time, until the trees grew thinner. As Centeva rode out of the tree line she saw a castle of granite towers and gold roofs that gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight.

Having crossed a a narrow granite bridge they came upon great brass-bound oak doors with ornamental brass hinges. A challenge was shouted from a window overlooking the bridge as while archers lined the parapets. Renalde Renalde gave the countersign. The massive doors moved as their hinges groaned like some wounded creature.

Within the walls of the castle, a crowd of townspeople moved about, doing their daily work. Centeva shivered as though from the cold, but this feeling had always manifested within her as she was about to enter crowded places.

After dismounting, she was was escorted to a grand hall filled with what appeared to be nobles and other people of the court. This did not help to quell uneasiness she had felt since her arrival.

“An auditorium filed with spectators. Was this to be just a meeting with the queen or an inquisition? Centeva began to wonder.

The soldier who had brought her sat beside her, gauntlets and helmet upon his lap. He looked pensive.

She said he had done nothing wrong. He did not understand, then suddenly said, “I never said there was going to be anything wrong. I only said that I was carrying out orders.”

There was silence as the queen stepped out from a doorway. She climbed a short set of steps, escorted by two aides. After helping her to be seated on her throne of marble and gold, the two aides positioned themselves to either side.

"Young lady," she began, "I have heard of your magical work, and I am in need of you and your gifts. I need your magic to defeat the Odions."
There was a minute of silence as Centeva considered what manner of services the queen wanted of her. The queen spoke and brought things to light.

"No! I cannot do that!" Centeva responded firmly. “Even if I could, I would not, your majesty. I will not take the lives of others with magic, I am but an apprentice magician. I do not possess the power of the sorcerer."

The queen leaned forward on her heavily ornamented staff and said, “You are telling me that you refuse to help me?” There was a murmur among the spectators as Centeva looked around the room. She was acutely aware that she was in deep trouble.

It would not matter whether she lied of not. Either way would most likely bring the same result: beheading, or being burned at the stake. Either way, it was not her choice. She did not completely hear what the queen had said, except for the word “dungeon,” as in “never to see light again.” But beheading would have been her choice over life in a dungeon of darkness, pain, and constant hunger.

The charge, for the records: there was none for failure to act as a magician on the books, so the queen made one up. “You are hereby charged with insolence, failing to bow to her majesty in courtesy, before the assembled court. And so you have broken our law!" the queen declared.

The same soldier, Renalde, walked her down the corridor leading to the dungeons. He held his helmet under his left arm and said, “This isn’t fair, my lady. I had never anticipated this. I tought you would do her bidding then just be on your way"

"If I had such magic, do you not think I would not have tried to devise a way to settle it without bloodshed? My dear warrior prince, or whatever you are,the truth is I am only but a novice who uses tricks, more than magic, to mystify and mesmerize my customers. I do not even possess enough magic to spell myself out of an unbound sack.”

Renalde closed the dungeon door behind her with a slam. A chain rattled and a lock could be heard snapping into place. Centeva sat on a wooden cot thinking. They had taken her bag. She didn't even have the benefit of her few magic tricks at her disposal. She laid on the hard boards of the cot and slipped into vigilant sleep, devising ways to escape. She refused to remain there until she withered and wasted away to death.

That night she dreamed she had possession of great magic, and when she awakened next morning, it was to Renalde's persistent shaking of her right shoulder. She recalled every detail of her dream. She knew how to make the magic work.

Raising her hands up over her head she whipped them down. There was a loud snapping sound, like that made when one strokes a cat's back on a dry day, or the sound of dry twigs being broken for kindling. A ball of blue energy materialized in the palm of her hands! Renald was transfixed by what he had just seen.

Centeva caused the blue energy sphere to rise above her head, then she threw it to the stone floor of her cell. The stone commenced to turn soft, then bubbly as the sphere melted its way through the floor. 

She leaned over and saw exactly what she had witnessed in her dream: another world, full of colors, predominantly with beautiful green and blue.

and all the beautiful colors of a pristine world.

Centeva stopped at the edge of the hole from which emenated a green glow of energy and looked at Renalde. She spoke softly, "Will you come with me?"
In less than a 

heartbeat she had a reply. A scream broke the silence! Centeva turned to look towards the doorway as Queen Madina rushed towards her with a sword that she had taken from one of the guards.

Centeva somersaulted into the glowing green aperture, followed closely by Renalde, who, unfortunately, did not escape unscathed. His arm had been slashed deeply and he was bleeding profusely.

Centeva persuaded him to lay in the thick foliage. There she compressed his wounded arm with her two hands. A green glow appeared around her hands and Renalde's wound began to heal.

To Be Continued At Another Time

Composed by Cynthia©

Thank you again for dropping by to read my short story and hope you have enjoyed the read. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on this topic. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Frizzy Lizzy's Halloween

Hi dear friends and followers. Today, Saturday is, Yes Its Frizzy Lizzy's Halloween time story. Hope you enjoy it.

Frizzy Lizzy moves slowly about the kitchen. The door opens and in walks her neighbor, all smiles and full of pep. Lizzy takes note of her cheerfulness with some disdain.

“My, but you're here early! What do you mean, it's quarter after two in the afternoon? I just got out of bed and I haven't even made the coffee yet! Yes, you're still welcome here, just help me get some coffee on, OK?”

“Where was I last night? Charley and I went to a Halloween party at the country club. Were we in costume? Is a bluebird blue? Sure, we were!

“If Charley had given me a few more days' notice I would have been able to dream up a great costume but I think I did well given the short time that I had to prepare. What did I go as? Well, I took out the best outfit that I used to wear to work and had it dry cleaned, wore it with a nice, white blouse; low, black heels, and a flag pin on the lapel. I carried a small brief case and scared the hell out of everyone. How did I do that? I told them that I was a tax collector!

“Charley? He went as a college professor. For him, all he had to do was to wear a suit and carry a book and no one recognized him!”

“We got there at about seven, well in-time for the cocktail hour. It didn't take very long for that bunch to get loose, let me tell you! Charley and his pals were three sheets to the wind before they served the soup for supper!

“We ate an hour later than we were supposed to because no one wanted to leave the bar! No, no one was wearing a lampshade on their head but one of the men got oiled-up enough to go hang by his heels in the coat room until he collected his bets that he could do it without getting sick. Typical man stuff, right?”

“So we got through supper without any major mishaps. Sure, there were some spilled drinks but nothing catastrophic. We finished eating and then the drinking began again in earnest.

“There was a five-piece band that played music for dancing and the longer we drank, the more of us danced, even Charley. He danced with Joanne before he asked me!

“As if that wasn't bad enough, some fool went into the janitor's closet instead of the men's room and he came out with a mop stick in his hand and wet pants! Well, anyway, he asked the band if they could play some music so we could do the limbo.”

“What? You don't remember the limbo? Oh, you know, it's that dance where you bend over backwards and go under a bar and the one who can go down lowest without falling down on the floor wins the adulation of all lesser mortals!

So I know my limits and there is no way in hell that I am going to bend over backwards in a business outfit, with nylons on, just to get a round of applause and I tell Charley that he's on his own.”

“Now with Charley, when the liquor's in, the common sense is out. He waited for his turn in the line, took off his shoes, and started to move with the music. As he was bending over backwards we heard a snap! It sure wasn't his fingers making that noise! Charley hit the floor, howling like a banshee!

Well, let me tell you, the party carried on. All they did was to call the paramedics because Charley couldn't move without screaming in pain. And they moved the limbo bar about 10 feet to the left so the paramedics could get to Charley.”

“They came and put him on a backboard and hauled him off to the hospital. Not only did he not win the contest, he didn't even get honorable mention for his efforts, but his costume came in as the most original of the night.

Where is he? Last I looked he was in the hospital and as far as I'm concerned Joanne can go visit him first!

I hope that you had a happy Halloween!”

Composed by Cynthia

Thank you again for dropping in to visit with Frizzy Lizzy. I hope you have enjoyed. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on this topic. Thank you and have a wonderful week.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

WHY THE INDIANS HAVE SO MANY TRIBES

Hi Dear friends and followers, for today's Native American legend we visit the Powhatan. 

Earlier, we looked at the Iroquois Confederacy and how its Five Nations, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, made peace with one another and mutually worked for their prosperity. Their articles of confederation and concepts of self-government are the basis for the United States Constitution.

At about the same time, maybe 250 miles (400 kilometres) to the south, on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, another confederation was holding sway. It came to be known as the Powhatan Confederacy.  They also controlled what is now known as the Tidewater Area of Virginia, and north to Washington, DC.

Its members were Native North Americans belonging to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Their area embraced most of tidewater Virginia and the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay. Wahunsonacock, or Powhatan, as the English called him, was the leader of the confederacy when Jamestown was settled in 1607.

The Powhatan are said to have been driven north to Virginia by the Spanish, where their chief, Powhatan's father, subjugated five other Virginia tribes. With Powhatan's own conquests, the empire included, among some 30 peoples. The Pamunkey, Mattapony, Chickahominy, and others are likewise commemorated in the names of the streams and rivers of eastern Virginia.

The tribes of the confederacy provided mutual military support and paid taxes to Powhatan in the form of food, pelts, copper, and pearls. Many of the confederacy’s villages, which consisted of long dwellings covered with bark or reed mats, were palisaded; they were situated near fields in which women cultivated corn (maize), beans, squash, and other vegetables. Men were occupied with hunting and warfare.

They were a sedentary people, with some 200 settlements, many of them protected by palisades when the English arrived. They cultivated corn, fished, and hunted. Of his many capitals, Powhatan favored Werowocomoco, on the left bank of the York River near modern Purtan Bay, where Capt. John Smith first met him in 1608.

The English soon seized the best lands, and Powhatan quickly retaliated. To appease him, he was given a crown, and a coronation ceremony was formally performed by Christopher Newport in 1609. Peace with Powhatan was secured when his daughter Pocahontas married (1614) John Rolfe.

On Powhatan's death in 1618, Opechancanough, chief of the Pamunkey, became the central power in the confederacy, and he organized the general attack (1622) in which some 350 settlers were killed. English reprisals were equally violent, but there was no further fighting on a large scale until 1644, when Opechancanough led the last uprising, in which he was captured and murdered at Jamestown.

In 1646 the confederacy yielded much of its territory, and beginning in 1665 its chiefs were appointed by the governor of Virginia. After the Iroquois, traditional enemies of the confederacy, agreed to cease their attacks in the Treaty of Albany (1722), the tribes scattered, mixed with the settlers, and all semblance of the confederacy disappeared. In 1990 there were about 800 Powhatan in the United States, most of them in eastern Virginia.

Here is the only legend that I could find that is at all attributable to the Powhatan People:

WHY THE INDIANS HAVE SO MANY TRIBES

So many moons ago that one cannot count them, all of our people lived underground. We lived in total darkness. Our animals lived with us.

One of our animals was very brave! This was a ground mole. One day the mole crawled far, far away from all of us. It crawled up and up. After a long time, it saw a hole. The mole crawled through that hole and saw light! It saw trees and rivers and sky! Here there was no darkness. Here there was beauty and light all around.

The mole crawled back through the hole as fast as it could. The mole told our people of the wonders it had seen. Alas, the light had made it blind. (That is why all moles are blind to this very day.)

Our people were so excited! There was light out there! There was beauty! We could hardly wait to climb out and see for ourselves!

And that is just what we did. Person after person climbed through that hole.

Our people saw the world and all of its beauty for the first time.
More and more people came out of the hole into the wonderful world.

But then a terrible thing happened! A very fat person got stuck in the hole! Our people tried pushing. Our people tried pulling. Push, pull, push, pull-push and pull some more!

But that fat person was stuck for good!

So, all of our people did not leave the darkness. But we who did kept walking on and on.

Soon, we came to a river. A beautiful bird flapped its wings three times. The waters of the river parted. We walked across the dry path of the river.

Many, many of us crossed the river. But lo! After a while the bird flew away. The waters came back together. Some of our people could not get across.

After several moons, we came to a very high mountain. Some kindly deer led us across the rocky, high mountain. But pretty soon, some eagles chased the deer away. Many of my people did not cross the mountain.

Those of us who did make it across the mountain soon found ourselves in the thickest forest in the world! We could not even see each other because of all the trees! We tried to stay together, but we could not. A few of us went this way. A few of us went that way. All over the 

place we were scattered. And that is why to this very day we all live in different places.

Copyright 1983, Commonwealth Studies Program, Virginia Department of Education

Thank you again for dropping in to read this Native American legend. I hope you have enjoyed it. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on this topic. Thank you and have a wonderful week.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

The Nanticoke People's legend.

The Nanticoke People's legend.

Hi dear friends and followers, we begin another Native American legend as told by the Nanticoke People.  

The Nanticoke People were the original inhabitants of the western shore of the Delaware Bay and that part of the State of Maryland known as the Eastern Shore. 

They lived off the land as hunters, fishermen, trappers and, to some extent, farmers.

The Nanticoke enjoyed the best of native lifestyles. They were proficient farmers, planting corn and beans, and drying them for later use. Women and children cared for lush gardens of corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, and tobacco. They gathered nuts, berries, birds' eggs, and edible plants in season. As they lived close to the rivers, in warmer months, they dined on delicious seafood, including clams, oysters, mussels, crabs, eels, and fish. Nets, snares, baskets, weirs, and spears were fashioned by the men to harvest the water's bounty. The men hunted the forests and meadows of the Eastern Shore for squirrels, turkeys, deer, opossums, rabbits, bear, partridges, ducks and geese.

Food was roasted over open fires or boiled in clay pots as a stew. Bows, arrows, and spears were used for larger game and snares or traps were set for smaller animals. All parts of the animals and sea creatures were utilized. Shells were used for spoons, bowls, wampum, and ornate decorations. Porcupine quills, furs, skins, sinew, and bones were used for clothing and tool implements.

Nanticoke housing was a wigwam that was made very much like those made by the Iroquois or other northeastern peoples. Groups lived in a longhouse. They established villages as well.

I searched many sources for legends told by the Nanticoke People, and found but one that was called “reliable” by its source. It is a Creation Mythology that might seem familiar to you. I can only guess that there was some sort of Great Flood and Native American diaspora because of the similarity of creation myths.
This retelling, which is one of the versions currently told among the Nanticoke-Lenape tribal communities of the Delaware Bay region, also includes the role of Muskrat, which is recorded to have traditionally been an animal of some mythological significance among the Nanticoke, as documented by James Athearn Jones [Traditions of the North American Indians: Tales of an Indian Camp, vol.II. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. pp. 49-91].

After the Great Spirit and creator of all, “He-Who-Creates-Us-By-Thought,” brought the world into being, there came a time very long ago when the animals were living in deep water with no dry land. They grew weary of being wet and wanted to find a way to bring up the mud from under the water.

From the greatest to the least, each one dove under the water. One by one they tried to dive deep enough to bring up some of the mud. And, one by one, they failed, being unable to dive so deep and so long. It seemed as though none could bring up the mud from the bottom. All came back to the surface, gasping for air. It seemed an impossible task, for none was willing to risk their life to bring up the mud.

Finally, after all the others had tried and failed, humble Muskrat took his turn. Muskrat dove deep and was under the water for a very long, long time. The other animals feared that Muskrat had drowned, for he stayed below the water much longer than any of them had. When Muskrat finally came back up to the surface, he was exhausted and close to death. The animals saw that there was a clump of mud scraped from the bottom in Muskrat’s paw. Humble Muskrat had risked his life to dive deeper than any of them had in order to bring the mud up from the bottom.

“He-Who-Creates-Us-By-Thought” summoned Turtle to the surface of the water and placed the mud from Muskrat’s paw upon the back of Turtle. “He-Who-Creates-Us-By-Thought” caused the mud to grow, covering Turtle’s back. As Turtle continued to raise his back, more water drained off and the mud that grew and grew became dry, becoming the land. And the animals had dry land to live upon.

One day, in the middle of the land upon Turtle’s back, there grew a tree. From that tree grew a shoot. And, from that shoot sprouted a man. The man would have been all alone, but then the tree grew another shoot. And, from that shoot sprouted a woman. This was the first man and the first woman. They are the ancestors of us all.

Thank you again for dropping in to read this Native American legend. I hope you have enjoyed. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on this topic. Thank you and have a wonderful week.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿