Skaniatar:io Receives the Good Message
from the Four Messengers


It was not long after that one of the royaner who had become afflicted by the mind changer became sick. For four years he lived with his life spirit outside his body. He was only alive in a physical sense. Except for a spark, his spirit had died years before. This was the power of the mind changer. It made those who drank it spiritless, and, when they finally passed on, their spirits would take the road to the Punisher, wandering aimlessly craving it.

That was because everything was enhanced in the Sky World. Those who lived good lives saw and felt the immensity of its beauty. Those that committed acts against the creation saw and felt the acts of horror that they brought to others in a way that they could not in the Earth World.

For most onkwe honwe, there was still a chance for redemption, even if they had done wrong. However, for some, they could never get beyond the terrible acts that they committed, so they could never see the beauty of the Creator’s path. This was the way it was for murderers, witches and those who harmed others and fell to Sawiskera’s powers of deception on the earth and in the Sky World.

Teharonhia:wako had chosen the royaner Skaniatar:io, because he knew a royaner who had fallen to the mind changer would be despised in the worst way by the onkwe honwe. Royaner were chosen for their qualities of character by the Clan matron. There would be no pity for a royaner who had let those qualities lapse. Teharonhia:wako also knew that a royaner who redeemed himself could use the title of royaner to better the lives of others. However, by continuing to drink the mind changer, he could also destroy the hope of others. Teharonhia:wako hoped that in Skaniatar:io’s case it would be the former and not the latter.

Teharonhia:wako called the four celestial beings and said, “You must go forth to this royaner who has fallen and guide him back to me. If that occurs, others will follow him. Remember, Sawiskera will use his power to try to change the things that you show him and teach him. However, the teachings will be so great that he will only be partially successful.”

As Skaniatar:iolay in a state of expectant death in the village of Teionosa:take, he pleaded with the Creator, “If you help me, I will never drink the mind changer again.”

He had said these words many times before, but each time he said them and meant them, he would drink some more. He had seen many of his people fallen to the mind changer and never recover. It seemed hopeless to him.

However, for four years he remained vigilant in giving thanks to the Creator for another day of life, and he continually asked help for his affliction. He never lost hope that one day he would be free of this illness that destroyed the will of the most powerful of his people.

One day, Skaniatar:iowas lying on his death bed. His skin had turned yellow and pale. His daughter heard him getting up. She ran into the room as he fell to the ground. It appeared to her that he had died, and so she called her husband.

She said to her husband, “Run quickly and get Skaniatar:io’s nephew.”

Her husband ran out the door to retrieve Skaniatar:io’s nephew, Tawan:ios.

When he arrived, he told Tawan:ios, “Tell Skaniatar:io’s brother Kainatawaka that his brother has departed from the earth.”

Tawan:ios looked for Kaianta:waka and upon seeing him said, “Your brother has died. They need you at his lodge.”

Kaianta:waka replied, “Let me finish planting my field, and I will be there shortly.”

Kaianta:waka had no respect for his brother and knew that he would soon depart from the earth. In fact, he was partially happy. For four years, his brother had been a burden to him and the rest of his family. He had told himself that his brother did not deserve the title of royaner. He had pleaded with his Clan mother to dehorn his brother. She could not as she did not have the heart to do so.

Tawan:ios went back to where Skaniatar:io lay and felt his body. He said to the others, “There is still a warm spot near his heart.”

Skaniatar:io, while unconscious, heard a voice call him three times, “Skaniatar:io, come outside for awhile.”

Automatically, Skaniatar:io found himself outside. He saw three men standing in front of him. The men’s cheeks were painted red, and they wore only a few feathers in their headdresses. They seemed to be about middle-age, and they looked very much alike. They also carried bows and arrows in one hand, as well as a variety of bushes of berries in the other.

One of the beings said, “The Creator of the world has asked us to come to the turtle’s back once again and visit. That is because we have visited often before and are now returning. He told us to visit the one who is sick from the mind changer and who, in spite of this, continues to give him thanks. We were asked to try and help him. It is you Skaniatar:io that we have come for, because you have been chosen to deliver a message to the Creator’s children the onkwe honwe. He gave us these strawberries to give you to eat. They will give you strength and take away the craving of the mind changer, for they are sweet and will absorb and replace its effects.”

Skaniatar:io then drank the medicine.

The celestial being then said, “Tomorrow, we will arrange it so two people, a man and a woman, will prepare some dried pudding and tobacco dipped in medicine for you. When you are finished these, your craving will be gone and your strength will begin to return. You will then offer the rest of the medicine back to the forests. After that happens, many onkwe honwe will begin to visit you who are also afflicted by the mind changer. When they arrive, you will gather the strawberries and have a feast together. You will drink the juice of the berry and thank the Creator. This will also help them with their craving.”

Next, the celestial beings began to tell Skaniatar:io how things should be on Turtle Island.

One of them said, “Never think that you were chosen because you are special. This happened before, and the one chosen now lies in the valley. The Creator chooses those who will be given a message, and you should be happy enough with just being alive. There are many who are chosen and begin to think that they are prophets; then they think that they are even the Creator himself. They then go mad and destroy others. The Creator is there for the benefit of all humankind and not just for you alone.”

Another said, “It is through your celebrations and the Great Feather Dance that the spirit of your people will be elevated. Then will you and they begin to rebuild your spirits and recover. You will do this during the time when the strawberries are ripe. The juice of the strawberry will be drunk by everyone in order to keep a sober mind. That is because the strawberries are medicine that restores the health of those afflicted by the mind changer.” He continued, “We will continue to reveal things to you, and you will then tell the onkwe honwe what we have said. That is because we are four of the ancient ones who were created during the beginning of the world; our duty is to watch over humankind. The reason that you see three and not four is because the fourth has returned to tell the Creator what has occurred. We will now reveal to you the message that you must give to others.”

Just then, Kaianta:waka arrived at Skaniatar:io’s side and also felt a warm spot on his chest. Soon after they noticed it beginning to spread, and then suddenly he opened his eyes.

“How are you feeling, Uncle?” Tawan:ios asked.

“I am feeling good,” answered Skaniatar:io.

After that, Skaniatar:io began to spread the Good Message that had come from the three spiritual beings. There were many who believed and others who did not. After he departed from the earth, it was passed on to Skantoka:wati, and he passed it onto his nephew Shokentso:wane who held the royaner title. As time passed, others heard the message and began to write it down. Sawiskera found a new way to subvert the teachings of Teharonhia:wako. Through the writing system of Sawiskera’s Islanders, he would be able to change the meaning of the Kayeneren: kowa and the Kari:wiio. He would make it so that it seemed like Teharonhia:wako had sanctioned warriors and so that the Good Message would appear like the Christian message. In this way many of the onkwe honwe would become divided once again, and some would turn against both.

The first to write it down was John Jackett, who used a system of writing he had learned from a Christian minister Rev. Asher Wright. Wright was one of those who made it his life duty to Christianize onkwe honwe. However, it was Edward Cornplanter who would lose the original writings and then have to rewrite the Kari:wiio. He would be assisted by a Baptist Christian minister, William Bluesky, who would guide him in his words. This version, along with a written version of the Kayeneren: kowa would be used by Arthur Parker. The Kari:wiio, that Cornplanter had written and taken up by Parker, would be then memorized by the believers in the Good Message.

Parker would also be influential in the ascendancy of war chiefs and the division between them and the royaner. Louis “Karoniaktajeh” Hall, a Kenienkehaka Christian turned traditionalist, would use a version based on Parker’s, to establish a warrior society. Both the Kari:wiio and the Kayeneren:kowa would be set down as a set of laws like the White man has. There would be no redemption for those who did wrong in the Kari:wiio; later, it would seem to sanction the whipping of children and the subservience of women to men. The Kayeneren:kowa would be interpreted as giving the war chiefs the prominent position of handing out punishments, such as the clubbing to death of chiefs, as set in Skanawati’s Laws of War.


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