The Huron Creation: Aataentsic and the Earth Diver
In the beginning, the Wyandot people lived in the Sky Land. The shaman told the people to dig around the roots of the wild apple tree by the chief's lodge. As they dug, they broke through the floor of the Sky Land, and the tree and the chief's daughter Aataentsic fell through. Below was only water. Swans swimming on the water heard a thunderclap — the first thunder ever heard — and looked up to see the woman falling. They swam together so she could land on their backs. The animals held a council called by the Great Turtle. One by one the divers went down — Otter, Muskrat, Beaver — seeking eart