Teharonhia:wako had seen his children war against one another and lose their land. He felt sad inside but knew that he could not return any longer. If he appeared in full form, then so would his brother. They would then fight one another and destroy the world. The onkwe honwe were falling like leaves to the mind changer. They seemed to have no purpose in life. Many of them were no longer practicing the ceremonies given to them by Teharonhia:wako. Sawiskera seemed to be in control of their beliefs. Almost all the Kenienke haka and Oneota haka were Christian. There were still some Onontaka haka, Kaokwa haka and Sonontowa haka who were still doing the four ceremonies.

Teharonhia:wako said to himself, “My children are becoming further and further apart from me than ever before. They bring the mind changer into their ceremonies and all-night feasts, and then they kill one another. I have brought them the four ceremonies, a clan system and a Peacemaker to help them live. What more can I do for them?”

He continued, “I will send the four spiritual beings who live in the direction of the four winds to visit them. They will tell the onkwe honwe how they should conduct their lives. Their territory for the ceremonies will be confined to the size of a longhouse from now on. There, they will continue their way of life. I will choose an onkwe honwe who is beyond redemption to be visited by the four messengers, so that the onkwe honwe will know that anyone can be redeemed if they choose to follow my teachings once again.”

There was a Kenienke haka onkwe honwe who seemed to be the ideal person to pass the message. He was a person afflicted by the mind changer. He began to have visitations by three of the messengers. Soon he was preaching about the things that he saw. It seemed that wherever he went, no one would listen to him. They thought he was crazy. The man then began to take the mind changer again, and he died in the winter walking in the valley of the Kenienke haka. He was alone when he died, for there were no more Kenienke haka living in the valley. It was said that you could see steam coming from his body that was left in the cold in the valley. From that time on, it would be hard for the Kenienke haka to receive the message. Only a few would ever accept it. Sawiskera would make sure that the original good message would be influenced by him, and this would turn the Kenienke haka and others away from it.

The four messengers had tried the eastern door of the Kenienke haka first; now they would enter through the western door, the entrance to the territory of the Longhouse of One Family. The Sonontowa haka, however, were being pushed further and further west, and there were now few left.

Like the other onkwe honwe of the Rotinonshonni, their spirits were broken. Many had accepted the deceptive powers of the fire water which they called the mind changer. Since Sawiskera’s Islanders had invaded their country, they could neither live in peace or go to war. They lived without purpose. The Clan matrons no longer had any land to look after and therefore could no longer grow the three sisters. The men could not hunt, for many of the game animals had been destroyed. Their lands were forcefully given away in treaties by the warriors. The royaner had lost their influence among the people. Sawiskera’s Islanders traveled down the ancient pathways of their country, bringing the fiddle, cards and mind changer. The Islanders would then drink the mind changer and take the onkwe honwe women, knowing that the laws in cases of murder or rape were made to protect them alone.

Next, Christians came and preached against the mind changer, saying that they were the only hope for the onkwe honwe who were suffering from broken spirits. In fact, until they were broken in spirit they had little effect on the onkwe honwe. Once that happened, the Christians would then claim for themselves the land on which the onkwe honwe lived, saying that it was a fair exchange for the gift of Christianity and sobriety.

During this time, the onkwe honwe began to kill one another. They blamed each other for witchcraft. As soon as one fell to the mind changer or to disease, another was accused of witchcraft, blamed and then sometimes murdered.

Teharonhia:wako saw all this, and he said, “My children are forgetting the things I taught them. My brother has so deceived their minds. Even those that continue my teachings bring the mind changer into their ceremonies. Then, they commit the worst deeds upon one another from which there is no return once committed.”

He continued, “I can no longer interfere in the creation. However, I must find a way to direct my children back on the right path so that, when they depart from the world, they may see me again.”

He continued, “Before Sawiskera’s Islanders arrived, there was sometimes evil that existed, but not sin. In fact, I have not even given the onkwe honwe a word for sin. From now on those things that pertain to the misdeeds that have come from the Whites will be called sin.”

He continued, “Today, now that they have learned about sin from the White man, the onkwe honwe partake in sin. They drink the mind changer and murder one another, and that is a sin.”

He continued, “If they leave their children alone and beat their wives. That is a sin. If they kill one another in wars that they don’t belong in, that is a sin. If they gamble all of their possessions away and then don’t feed their children, that is a sin. Those who communicate with the ancient ones now commit witchcraft and use the ancient ones to harm others. That is a sin. They accept the teachings of the ones who brought them and showed them how to sin over the teachings I have given them. That is a sin. Sin will remain with them until they put away those things that they have learned from Sawiskera’s Islanders.”

Finally, he said, “I will send four messengers to restore the cosmic order that existed from the beginning of time. Because they have lost the territory that belonged to all the Longhouse of One Family by warring against one another, their territory will be reduced to a longhouse. That is where I will restore the order of the universe. There, they will continue to be thankful to me and the other beings in the creation until the time when the world will go through another change. If they are vigilant in this, they will see me once again. Those who do not will go to other places, for the order of creation is vast. Those who continue to commit sins and other evil acts will take the road to Sawiskera’s, who will be waiting for them as the Punisher. There, they will find acknowledgement of their sins that they believed in and practiced.”