The World on Turtle's Back

An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, historical event, artistic work, etc. Creation stories often share similar elements without overt allusions; the culture that produced a given cosmogony might not even be aware of the existence of one with a similar creation myth. However, Cusick’s version of the Haudenosaunee creation story postdates the introduction of many Indigenous Americans to Christian stories and ideas, making explicit references more likely. In fact, Cusick’s own Christianity is evident at several points in the text—most notably, the description of Enigorio breathing a soul into the “nostrils” of the first man and woman, which directly parallels the Genesis account of God creating Adam. There are also several suggestive phrasings, including the reference to humans with “knowledge of good and evil” (20); in the Bible, Adam and Eve are forbidden from eating from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9), and their defiance of this rule results in their expulsion from Eden. Cusick’s adoption of the phrase seems to locate humanity’s propensity for evil—a result of their fall, in Christianity—in their partial creation by Enigonhahetgea. Enigorio’s desire to “create a great light in the dark world” may also be an allusion, as it recalls Matthew 4:16: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,” a reference to Jesus.