The Singing Scoutmaster: Woman Who Fell from the Sky, The

In the beginning, there was no earth as we know it today—only a vast, endless watery abyss. High above, in the Great Blue, there existed a world called the Sky World. It was a place of light and peace, where beings lived and dreamed. Among them was a woman who often dreamed of things yet to come.

One night, the woman had a powerful dream about the great tree that stood at the center of the Sky World, a tree that was the source of all light. In her dream, she saw the tree being uprooted and the light disappearing, leaving only darkness behind. The dream troubled her greatly, and when she awoke, she told the men of the Sky World about it. They decided to follow her dream and dig around the roots of the great tree to make more space for the light to shine through.

But as they dug deeper and deeper, the tree began to tremble. With a great shudder, it fell through the hole they had made and disappeared into the abyss below. The light of the Sky World vanished, and only darkness remained. Frightened and confused, the people blamed the woman for what had happened. In their panic, they pushed her through the hole after the tree, sending her plummeting into the dark abyss.

The woman fell through the darkness, tumbling and spinning, with nothing to stop her descent. She would have been lost forever had not a fish hawk seen her falling. The fish hawk swooped down and spread his wings beneath her, using his feathers to break her fall and keep her from sinking into the abyss. But the fish hawk could not hold her up for long, so he called out to the other creatures of the water to help create a place for the woman to rest.

A helldiver, a brave bird of the deep, dove down to the bottom of the watery abyss. He scooped up a beakful of mud and returned to the surface. Seeing a great turtle swimming nearby, the helldiver smeared the mud onto the turtle's shell. Then he dove down again for more. Other birds, such as ducks, followed his lead, bringing back more mud and spreading it over the turtle's back.

The beavers joined in, building up the terrain with their strong paws, making the turtle's shell larger and larger. Gradually, the mud and soil began to spread and grow, until it formed the first land—the land that would become the Earth. The woman was safely placed on the turtle's back, and she sat there, watching as the creatures of the water and sky worked together to create a world around her.

Over time, the birds and animals built up the continents, shaping hills, valleys, and mountains, until the whole round Earth was formed. And to this day, it is said that the turtle still carries the Earth on its back, supporting it through the ages.

When the Earth was complete, one of the Spirits of the Sky World looked down and saw the new land. He descended from the sky and walked across it, marveling at its beauty. The Spirit saw that the Earth needed life to fill it, so he created people to live on the land and gave each tribe of the Iroquois Nation a special skill and purpose.

Each tribe received a unique gift to share with the world—wisdom, courage, and the ability to nurture the land. And so, the tribes spread across the Earth, carrying the blessings of the Sky World with them, living in harmony with the land that had been born from the waters and held up by the Great Turtle's back.

This is why the Iroquois people honor the Turtle, for he carries the world and the story of their creation. It is a story of courage, sacrifice, and the strength of the spirits that shaped the Earth and the people who walk upon it today.