When I was brought into existence, New York as we know it didn't exist. It was the land of the Great League of Peace, a group of five Native American nations stretching from what is now Canada into the Ohio Valley. The people I knew best were the Haudenosaunee, the People of the Long House, who European settlers later named the Iroquois.
The Haudenosaunee collectively named us - all elementals - the Jogah. We devas were called the Gandayah, the Drum Dancers. We were, of course, the guardians of plants and grains. There were also the Gahongas, the Stone Throwers, who sometimes caused rockfalls and earthquakes while moving things around and the Ohdows, who tended to those creatures who dwell underground.
It still amazes me just how much has changed in not quite two hundred and forty years.
Unlike the devas Zephyr first met, I'm not bitter toward humans. Yes, I watched the humans who came from Europe do great, sometimes irreparable, harm. But I have also seen humans do great good, acting to repair what they can and right the wrongs done by those who came before. Humans are strange. They have far more power than they realize. And the ones who would use that power well are many times the ones who distrust power most, because they've seen what happens when others misuse it. Or they don't realize the power even a small act has. But, to borrow a line from a book that Caroline's human loves, it's not always with the mightiest or most powerful that the fate of the Universe lies.
If you'd like to learn more about the Great League of Peace and the nations that were part of it, here's a good place to start: The Iroquois Nation.
And this link includes a tale the People of the Long House told of us. (Might I add that it really did happen. I was so glad we were able to do something.): The Jogah.
Swan, you have a fascinating story. I've been away from blogging for awhile, so I have a lot of catching up to do on Hitty Caroline's world, but I am glad to have "met" you. :)
ReplyDelete- Wendy