Creation of the Earth for the Iroquois

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A long time ago, there was no land, just sea. One day, a woman fell down from the sky and two loons rescued her and landed her on the back of the Great Turtle. The Great Turtle knew this woman needed land to live so she asked all the sea animals to bring a little bit of sand back from the bottom of the sea. Then the Great Turtle gave the sand to the woman and she created the land, with the trees. Later she gave birth to twins : one was a good brother and the other a bad brother who wanted to live so quickly that he was born from his mother's belly and killed her by doing so. Where she was buried, the three sisters grew : the squash, the corn and the peas. Then the good brother went on his way and created the good animals, and the bad brother went on his own way and created monsters. The good brother realized what his brother did, and made the monsters smaller to diminish their power, and provoked his brother in a duel. They fought during a long time. During their battle, they hit a mountain and a rock fell down and broke the bad brother's nose. Finally, the good brother won the battle and became the God of the Day and of the Livings. The bad brother became the God of the Night and of the Dead. Then the God of the Day created six human couples who are the ancestors of the six nations : Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneica, Seneca, Cayuga and Tuscarora.

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