Mitos y Leyendas: The Origin of Medicine among the Seneca Indians

Gerry de Bernardo tells in Mitos y Leyendas the story of the origin medicine Seneca Indians.

A story where corn is very important.

Listen to this story that started the history of a group.

A long time ago, in a place where the Seneca Indians lived, something happened that led to a strong medicine.

The story starts with a hunter who went alone into the woods to sleep outdoors. As he slept, he was woken up by a song and a noise like the sound of a drum in the night.

Because he couldn’t sleep with these strange noises, the man chose to get up and find where the song and drum were coming from.

Following the noise, he got to a spot that looked like people lived there. On one side, he saw some grains, and on the other, a big pumpkin with three smaller ones on it. Also, there were three corns placed nearby.

What the corns meant

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Wondering about what he saw, the hunter thought these things were important, but he didn’t know why.

Wanting to know more, the man decided to look around more and planned to come back to the strange spot later.

The next night, the hunter was woken up again by the same song and noise. When he looked, he saw a man looking hard at him, with many people around him.

The strange man told him that what he saw last night was very important, and it was wrong for him to see it without asking.

Origin of Medicine on Seneca Indians

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But, some people there said good things about the man and said they should let him live if he promised to learn their secret.

The strange man agreed and told that the grain and the pumpkin he saw were parts of a strong medicine to fix cuts. He asked the man to learn how to make this medicine and how to use it.

The man said yes and was shown a place with a fire and a plant that looked very strong. Around this spot, many people danced, sang, and touched the pumpkin skins.

The strange man showed the man how to use this medicine, putting it on cuts made by sticks on the man’s body.

Medicine for many days

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Amazingly, the cuts got better very fast, and during this, people sang a special song, which they also taught him.

After learning how to make and use the medicine, the man went back home with this new skill and started helping many people. Before he passed away, the man made a lot of medicine that could be used for many days, starting the important medicine of the Seneca Indians.

Every time they had to make this medicine, they sang the song the man heard, and when using the medicine, they always used the song and the pumpkin skins. This medicine became a big part of the life and health of the Seneca Indians.

We hope you liked this story. Gerry de Bernardo says goodbye and hopes to tell you another story soon.