Haudenosaunee creation story text

Journal entry 1

The Haudenosaunee creation story is an incredible insight into the beliefs and mindset of the
Nations of the Haudenosaunee. In this text I'm going to talk about the 2 main things I find
interesting and different about it. Starting off with the sky people. I like the concept of the sky
people because they are like us, but they live in the sky. It also highlights the curiosity of
humans or in this case sky people because of how curious the women in the story is about the
tree of life and the different world. Despite living just like us though they seem to have some
otherworldly abilities because the daughter turns into vegetables when she dies and her
children can create things including humans as hinted at at the end of the story. My other point
of interest are the two brothers. Sawiskera is the evil brother and Teharonhiawako good brother,
Teharonhiawako would create things and Sawiskera would alter them, in certain cases this
would help them survive, for example the rose and its thorns. I think the dynamic between the
brothers is interesting and essential, and I believe this story tries to respect both the ugly and
beautiful side of things, and that's why I like it.