like those of the Iroquois, at the end of the earth, and they often come
to feasts and dances in the Indian villages. Jouskeha raises corn for
himself, and makes plentiful harvests for mankind. Sometimes he is seen,
thin as a skeleton, with a spike of shrivelled corn in his hand, or
greedily gnawing a human limb; and then the Indians know that a grievous
famine awaits them. He constantly interposes between mankind and the
malice of his wicked grandmother, whom, at times, he soundly cudgels.
It was he who made lakes and streams: for once the earth was parched and
barren, all the water being gathered under the armpit of a colossal frog;
but Jouskeha pierced the armpit, and let out the water. No prayers were
offered to him, his benevolent nature rendering them superfluous.

[ Compare Brebeuf, as before cited, and Sagard, Voyage des Hurons,
p. 228. ]

The early writers call Jouskeha the creator of the world, and speak of
him as corresponding to the vague Algonquin deity, Atahocan. Another
deity appears in Iroquois mythology, with equal claims to be regarded as
supreme. He is called Areskoui, or Agreskoui, and his most prominent
attributes are those of a god of war. He was often invoked, and the
flesh of animals and of captive enemies was burned in his honor.
[ Father Jogues saw a female prisoner burned to Areskoui, and two bears
offered to him to atone for the sin of not burning more captives.--Lettre
de Jogues, 6 Aug., 1643. ] Like Jouskeha, he was identified with the
sun; and he is perhaps to be regarded as the same being, under different
attributes. Among the Iroquois proper, or Five Nations, there was also a
divinity called Tarenyowagon, or Teharonhiawagon, [ 1 ] whose place and
character it is very difficult to determine. In some traditions he
appears as the son of Jouskeha. He had a prodigious influence; for it
was he who spoke to men in dreams. The Five Nations recognized still