Origins

The Arikara tell this story of origin.^[1]

All living creatures began as one, bonded together as blood in the womb of Mother Earth. Neshanu Natchitak had grown them from seeds of corn placed below the earth for their protection. It is in this womb, a symbol of both birth and beginnings, where humanity grew into existence underground, bound in the womb of the earth. Those inside this womb wanted freedom. They wanted to escape and see what life was like on the outside. How they knew there was an outside was not clear to them. They simply knew. And they only wanted out.

On the outside, Neshanu was engaged in battle with the people he created, a people whom he nurtured but turned against him. After long striving with them and receiving nothing but rebellion from them, Neshanu decided to wipe them out. He began by planting seeds for their replacements deep below in the earth’s womb. These seeds were those above who acknowledged Neshanu and didn’t fight him, taken and transformed back into seeds underground. He replanted them to protect them from what he would do next. Neshanu opened the waterways above and let the rushing rapids flow into the world, flooding it and drowning those who ignored him and his ways, ridding the world of the violent ones. After some time of rain and struggle, the earth on the outside grew quiet and still, water resting on the surface and no life existing.

Yet below the water, life flourished as the corn grew. Over time their frustration over their situation grew, and their impatience became too much to bear. They knew Mother Earth was keeping something from them. They shared stories about the light outside, never having seen it but knowing it existed. They dreamt of their freedom, walking the surface of the earth, free from the womb they viewed as their prison.

All living creatures existed only in Mother Earth’s womb. At the same time, her lap remained empty, a watery landscape that Mother Earth soon remedied by shifting the waters and opening up some land as she bore her children inside. All life resided inside Mother Earth. She would sing to her children and hum songs to bring them peace. However, the rumbling inside her never ceased, and she knew the children inside her would soon gain their freedom.

Some of the living beings began attempting to get out. They would move about inside and pray to their Creator Neshanu Natchitak – The Chief Above – and grasp Mother Earth’s insides, making her uncomfortable as they searched for any exit from their prison. They explored new areas and pressed at every surface they came across to find a way out.

Soon all of the living beings joined together, jumping, running, and yelling in their attempt to get out. The life inside Mother Earth began to create pressure in the soil through which their actions dug deep into their mother’s womb. Every creature below sought to help each other escape. And Mother Earth kept singing and humming her songs in delight and pain. She still delighted in the children as they were causing her struggle and grief.

Neshanu paid attention to his children and their struggle, knowing now was an excellent time to assist. He reached into his heavenly garden of golden corn and picked an ear of it, gently placing the ear on the land Mother Earth cleared for the children and forming it into the shape of a woman, mixing it with dirt from Mother Earth and water from the heavens. Once he created this woman, an extension of Mother Earth, he explained to her, “You are Mother. Find your children and lead them. Protect them and care for them.” She then began to search, walking across the land and singing to her children. She moved eastward across the world until she finally reached the area where she knew her children would prosper. As she settled on the place, Neshanu transformed her into corn and placed her below with her children.

Once inside, she found there was no easy way out. The children inside were frustrated and angry, all doing what they could individually to fight against the womb but not making a concerted effort to escape. So this woman gathered the children together and began to form a plan. She called for the best diggers for help. Mouse came forward and offered his skills. He began to dig and worked furiously until he grew exhausted. After him, Badger stepped up and continued digging until he was exhausted. Mole then came and took charge, digging until he could do so no longer. Mouse was resting the whole time the other two were digging and felt energized by their progress. Mother embraced him, and he went to work once more, digging energetically. He was about to give up when the tip of his nose finally opened a small window to the outside. Excited, Mouse scurried down the hole back to the rest to tell the news.

Everyone was equally excited that a way out had been found. Mole ran up the tunnel to see. Mole soon found his way through the dirt and womb and rushed toward the pinhole light above, which immediately enveloped him as he burst his head through. None of the children had seen the light since they were transformed into seeds. As a result, Mole became blinded by the intense sunlight and retreated into the hole where he knew it was safe. Badger then went through the hole and made it bigger as he exited the womb and stood on the land. The sun was bright and hot. His fur covered his eyes to protect them, but the sun’s heat scorched the fur on his legs and face, darkening them. He turned around and ran back to the group below.

There was now a way out. Mother gathered the children below and told them, “Come, we will make the hole big enough for all of us to leave.” They found the hole that led out and began to work together to make it bigger so all of them could escape. They dug and dug, and Mother Earth above groaned in pain, her voice no longer forming beautiful melodies but painful laments and sorrowful moans. The children inside would tire and stop for a while, giving Mother Earth some reprieve from the pain, but then they would continue to dig just as ferociously as before, not letting Mother Earth fully catch her breath. Light began to trickle in as they progressed closer to their exit. Their eyes began to capture the light and adapt slowly but effectively as they neared freedom. At every stop along the way, they looked around and saw new things and saw each other and the differences in themselves from one another. Yet, they never stopped for too long as their goal lay just ahead.

The pains grew so intense for Mother Earth that she could no longer bear them. She began to shake and quiver, her womb shaking inside her. The elements within, the rocks, the stalactites, the stalagmites, and the children who brought her so much pain struggled to maintain their balance and direction. But there were enough of them that they all decided to give one final push from within, Mother herself leading the way out. They saw the light ahead. They knew they were coming ever so close to their freedom. So the children pushed forward with Mother at the lead while the womb quaked around them, and Mother Earth screamed outside of them as Mother inside exited up to her shoulders. She then forced her way out of the womb with a fierce yell bringing her to her waist. Still struggling, she began thinking of the children below her and fought to get out to her knees. She was the largest of the living beings below, so the children started to pour out of the womb once she freed her knees and stood upon the dry ground above.

The children held their arms to their eyes, trying to shade the sunlight from them so they could see fully. As they exited, they could see their complete transformations. Some came out and found they could fly. Others made their escape and discovered their unique abilities. But it took too long for every child to escape, and Mother’s womb began to collapse around the last living beings inside her. Many escaped, but some were caught inside. Badger and Gopher and others like them were caught in the landslide. They now make their home inside the earth but eventually find their way out again to play and enjoy their freedom on Mother’s lap.

After the quake, vegetation and plant life began forming and growing out of Mother Earth’s pores. New life sprung up all around Mother’s lap, and she delighted in her children who ran freely before her. The children were also ecstatic at their freedom and marveled at this new world as their eyes adjusted to the light and seeing for the first time. However, Mole never left Mother Earth’s womb again, choosing to live inside her sorry that he ever attempted to leave in the first place, losing his sight as a result. There were others too, who were afraid to leave and now never make their way out of her womb. It was much safer, they all thought, in Mother’s womb.

Mother Earth had succumbed to the pain and birthed her children. Despite the pain, she was happy as she knew she could no longer contain them. She wanted to keep them close; now, they were free and roamed across her lap. So she watched over them and cared for them, allowing vegetation to grow and provide for them. She loved her children despite the pain they caused her, and she was sorrowful knowing that she would now have to let them experience the pain of life in the same way she had. Mother Corn, who had led the children out of the womb, laughed and played with them as they explored their new home.

Finally, a voice from above called them, “Children, follow the sun as it sets to the land Mother and I have prepared for you. Mother Corn will show the way.” So the children gathered around the woman before them who led them out of the womb and stood beautifully in their midst. “Come, let’s go home,” she said.