Note 413 — SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS

Having arrived at their lodge, they laid their packs of venison and pelts at the feet of their mother, who wept for the great joy she had in receiving so much venison, saying: “I am very thankful to my son-in-law for this bounty, and on my part I will fulfill my duty in providing the feast of the ‘eat-all-up,’413 which shall take place tomorrow.” So the next morning they put the kettles over the fire in the early dawn, and the daughters set to work industriously to prepare food for the approaching feast. Suddenly the old woman, Godwĕñniăʹʻdănĭʻ, went out of the lodge and ran through the village, saying to the people: “The feast of eat-all-up is to be held at my lodge. Let all go directly to the place whence I have come, and start at once.” This she said as she went through the village, and then she returned to her own home. Then her daughters and sons removed the kettles from the fire; and they placed the corn-meal mush and the venison, cooked in pieces, in bark trays and bowls which they had ready to receive the prepared food.