"The Three Sisters whom Hawenneu, who is the same to the white
man as Manitou, gave to us, the spirit of the Corn, the spirit of the
Squash and the spirit of the Bean will abide with us and give us plenty.
The spirits in the shape of beautiful young girls hover over us. We
cannot see them, but they are there."
He looked up and shadows passed over their heads. To the mystic soul of
the young Onondaga they were the spirits of the three sisters who
typified abundance, and Robert himself quivered. He still saw with the
eyes and felt with the heart of an Iroquois.
Both he and Tayoga were conscious that the spirits were everywhere about
them. All the elements and all the powers of nature were symbolized and
typified. The guardians of fire, earth, water, healing, war, the chase,
love, winter, summer and a multitude of others, floated in the air. The
trees themselves had spirits and identity and all the spirits who
together constituted the Honochenokeh were the servants and assistants
of Hawenneyu. To the eyes of Tayoga that saw not and yet saw, it was a
highly peopled world, and there was meaning in everything, even in the
fall of the leaf.
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