Skywoman, First Woman and the Three Sisters
After Skywoman prepared the soil around the turtle's back, she gave birth to her child, The first child born on this earth was a female, First Woman. As First Woman grew to adolescence, her mother had a dream. In it, she was told that there would be a young man who would come from the west, and have her daughter as his wife.
As time went on, First Woman had a dream, and in this dream she was approached by a handsome young man. He was the spirit of West Wind. In that dream they fell in love. For three nights West Wind came to the young woman. Each night their bond became stronger and they agreed to be together for all time.
Soon after that, First Woman had a dream. She saw her daughter sleeping and there on her belly were two arrows crossed over each other. She knew that this meant she would give birth to twins. When she awoke, she saw a mark on her daughter's belly that looked like the two arrows from her dream.
As time went on, the young woman's pregnancy developed and she had a very hard time with these two boys, even in the womb. Teharonhiawako, the holder of the skies, was born first. Sawiskera, the mischievious one, was so upset that his brother was going to be born first, that as his brother was being born, he forced his way out through his mother's side, killing the young woman.
The grandmother, Sky Woman, never seeing human death before, wasn't sure what to do with her daughter. She took the soil she had spread about the turtle and covered her daughter up with it. From First Woman's grave grew three sacred plants—corn, beans, and squash. "These plants", she told her grandsons " would provide food for them and for all the human beings."
Another version of the story goes like this …
Corn, Beans, and Squash. were three sisters who very close. They did not live in the community with everyone else, they lived far away in the bush.
The oldest sister was Corn. She was very tall with long, yellow hair. As the oldest, she always took care of her sisters and was very protective over them. The second sister was Beans. She was very shy and always hung on to her oldest sister. Her beautiful hair was short and curly and worn tight around her head. The third sister was short and stout. She always wore a colorful dress of orange and loved staying close to her sisters. Corn and Beans always took great care of the youngest sister.
One day a a Mohawk boy came to the lodge of the Three Sisters. He told them that he was lost and could not find his way home. Corn said that she would help this young boy, but Beans and Squash were very upset and begged her to stay. Corn went off with the boy and was gone for so long that the two sisters began to get worried.
"I must go and search for our sister" said Beans.
"No sister" said Squash. "Please do not leave me!".
"I must go, but I will return with her and we'll be together again". Beans went off and she too was gone for a long time.
"My sisters are gone and I do not like living alone" Said Squash. "I will go and look for them." She too went off now.
After a while she came up to a clearing. She could hear giggles that she recognized, but she searched and searched and couldn't see anyone. Finally she went to where the sounds were coming from. She looked down to the ground were the laughter was coming from and there she saw 2 green sprouts coming from the earth.
There she could hear her sisters "Our sister, come and join us" they said.
"But how can I ?" said Squash. With that, her legs began to sink into the earth and she found herself once more re-united with her sisters.
From that day on, the 3 sisters have been back together again, happily looking after eachother. Corn growing strong and straight, Beans winding herself around her eldest sister and Squash in the safety of their shadow.
Since then the Human Beings have always planted Corn, Beans and Squash together and they became a staple food of Haudenosaunee communities.
Rosa John is passionate about using performance as a teaching tool for Native culture and history. She is excited about the opportunity to reach a game playing audiene with her traditional stories.
