The Creator and Crooked Nose

Mohawk Story

In my Mohawk (North American Indian) tradition, even today there is a Medicine Society, the leader of which is Crooked Nose. When we do healing there is always more than one of us there. We all wear masks, so no one knows who is wearing the Crooked Nose mask.

So here is the traditional story of the Creator and Crooked Nose :

After the Creator created Turtle Island (North America), he was happy with what he had done. He looked down from above and said : “Oh my I sure did a great job”.

He admired his work for awhile, but then after some time, he got bored and said to himself : “I think I will go down and see how my people are doing”. He took on a human form and went down.

As he was walking on the trail In the forest, this ugly looking Creature with a big head, bushy hair and bent back came towards him. The Creator said to himself : “I could not have created a being that ugly”.

So he said to the Creature : “Who are you? ”

The Creature said : “I am the Creator.”

The Creator said : “No you are not, I am”.

The Creature said : “No you’re not, I am.”

So it went back and forth, until the Creator said : “I’ll tell you what, see that huge boulder over there? If you can move it without touching it, you are the Creator. If I move it without touching it, then I am the Creator”.

The Creature said : “Okay, it is a deal”.

So the Creature concentrated again and again and the boulder rocked back and forth a little. The Creature said to the Creator : “See I moved it.”

The Creator said : “Yes you did a little, it is my turn now. If I move the boulder you are banished from this planet. If I don’t move it then you are the Creator and I am banished”.

The Creature said: “Alright it is a deal”. and they shook hands to seal it.

The Creator said : “Okay, turn your back and I will try to move it.”

The Creator concentrated very, very hard on the boulder and the boulder moved right behind the Creature.

The Creator said : “Okay, you can turn around now.”

The Creature turned around very fast and the boulder was so close that splat, he broke his nose on it.

The Creator said : “I am the Creator, a deal is a deal, get out”.

The Creature begged and begged the Creator so much saying : “Let me stay, I love your people so much”.

Finally the Creator said to him : “You can stay and be the healer of the people”.

And that is the story of Crooked Nose.

 

 

I work with Muskwa International Foundation Inc. which is an entity that was formed to assist the street children in the Philippines, mostly in Manila and Davao, the two largest cities in the Philippines.  You can find out about their projects here Street Children and Natural Disasters.

The stories I tell here I learned from the Elders and Story tellers and I am passing them on with their blessings. These stories can be anything from 4,000 to 5,000 years old.