Blocks 3 & 6 – 8/28/12
Fact Outline
Story Title: The Earth on Turtle’s Back
Author(s): Onondaga-Northeast Woodlands Tribe
1. Sky Woman-wife of the Chief has a dream depicting the uprooting of the great tree.
2. Chief sees importance in the dream and demands that the tree be uprooted.
3. The tree leaves a large hole that the wife falls down, taking seeds of the great tree with her.
4. The animals living in the hole, while not familiar with humans, decide to help the Sky Woman.
5. Two swans catch her and carry her down to the bottom of the hole.
6. The animals realize that she does not have the characteristics of a water animal and wonder what to do
with her.
7. They decide to dive down into the waters and pull up the Earth.
8. Many animals try and fail to bring up the Earth.
9. The last animal to try is a small muskrat, who vows to bring up the Earth or die trying.
10. The muskrat nearly dies, but manages to bring up the Earth.
11. The animals do not know where to place the Earth, until the Great Turtle volunteers his back.
12. The animals place the paw of the muskrat on the Turtle’s back (hence why Turtles have shell markings),
allowing the Earth to fall down upon it.
13. The Earth begins to grow larger, forming on the Turtle’s back.
14. The Sky Woman is placed on the Earth and drops seeds to the soil, creating life.
Summary
The Earth on Turtle’s Back illustrates the origin myth of the Onondaga tribe. This myth begins with the Sky
Woman, who is the Chief’s wife, awakening from a dream in which the Great Tree is uprooted. The Chief,
not being one to take the messages sent through dreams lightly, demands that the tree be uprooted
immediately. After the tree is uprooted, a gaping hole filled with water is left within the ground and as the
Sky Woman leans over to look down it, she falls, taking the seeds of the great tree with her. As the Sky
Woman is falling, animals who are living in the hole discuss what they should do, eventually deciding to
help this strange woman. Two swans catch the falling woman and carry her down to the bottom of the hole
safely. However, as the woman gets closer to the bottom of the hole, the animals realize that she is lacking
the characteristics of a water animal and decide that she must live on Earth. The animals vow to swim deep
beneath the water, until they reach the Earth and bring it up. Although many animals tried to retrieve the
Earth, they all failed, until the small muskrat stepped forward and vowed to retrieve the Earth or die trying.
Although the muskrat was a much smaller animal she swam deeper than all of the other animals, almost
losing her life in the process. However, the sacrifice made by the small muskrat paid off when she was
indeed able to retrieve the Earth. When the muskrat resurfaced, the animals realized that they had no where
to place the Earth, but the Great Turtle told them to place it on his back. The animals placed the muskrat
claw on the back of the turtle, which, according to the Onondaga tribe, explains why turtle shells have so
many markings upon them. As the Earth fell to the Turtle’s back, it began to grow; soon the Sky Woman
was placed on the Earth, where she dropped some seeds from the Great Tree. With this, vegetation began to
grow, and life was created.