Long before the world was created, there was an island in the sky inhabited by sky people. One day a pregnant sky woman drops through a hole created by an uprooted tree & begins to fall for what seems like eternity. Coming out of darkness, she eventually sees oceans.
The animals from this world congregate, trying to understand what they see in the sky. A flock of birds is sent to help her. The birds catch her and gently guide her down onto the back of Great Turtle. The water animals like otter and beaver have prepared a place for her on turtle's back.
They bring mud from the bottom of the ocean and place it on
turtle's back until solid earth begins to form and increase in size. Turtle's back becomes Sky Woman's home & the plants she's brought down with her from Skyworld, including tobacco and strawberries, are her medicine. She makes a life for herself and becomes the mother of
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) life, as we know it today.
