Air Date: Week of December 19, 2025

The Haudenosaunee story known as the Seven Star Brothers legend explains the origin of the Pleiades constellation (pictured above). The Pleiades is an open cluster of approximately 3,000 stars in the constellation of Taurus and becomes a prominent part of the winter night sky around the Winter Solstice. (Photo: NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

In many cultures, stories passed down through the generations explain how the world got to be the way it is. The Haudenosaunee people of Northeastern North America have a story about how the star cluster known as the Pleiades came to be, told by Perry Ground, Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee.

Transcript

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I’m Steve Curwood.

[MUSIC: Margot Chamberlain and Tom Megan, “Waiting for Snow” by Julie King on The Winter Solstice in Story and Song]

CURWOOD: As the northern half of Earth tilts the furthest away from the sun, we like to lean away from the relentless news cycle for a moment, to bring you stories and songs that help ground us in the endless cycles of our planet. In many cultures, stories passed down through the generations explain how the world got to be the way it is. And the Haudenosaunee people of Northeastern North America have a story about how the star cluster known as the Pleiades came to be, told now by Perry Ground, Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee.

GROUND: This is the Haudenosaunee story of the seven dancing brothers. Well, we say this story happened a long, long time ago, back when the great Turtle Island was brand new. Great Turtle Island is what the Haudenosaunee people historically known as the Iroquois Confederacy. Great Turtle Island is what we call this place that we live on. Most people call it Earth, but great Turtle Island comes from our story of how the whole world was created. Back when the great Turtle Island was new, there was a group of seven brothers who would go out into the woods each and every day, and they would dance and sing and give thanks for everything in the world around them, but one day, the oldest brother started to sing a song that was different, a magical song, and the boys loved singing and dancing this new song. But when they went home, they were very, very hungry, so they asked their mother for food that they could take out with them into the forest the next day, while they were singing and dancing, but their mother said, "no," that the food needed to be saved so that the people could eat throughout the winter.

The boys were disappointed, but the next day, they returned to the woods and once again, started to sing and dance and give thanksgivings for everything in the world around them. As they were dancing, their feet felt lighter and lighter as if they were lifting off of the Turtle Island up towards the sky. Well, they went home again that night, and they asked their mother once again for some food for the next day so that they could spend more time singing and dancing. But again, their mother said, "No, the food is for everyone. We must save it so that we can eat through the winter." Well, the boys went out for the third day of dancing, and this time the oldest brother was upset, and he said, "I can't believe that our mother will not give us this food so that we can sing and dance. I think I am going to sing a different song, a magical, powerful song." Well, the oldest brother started to sing, and as he was singing, his brothers started to dance, and as they were singing and dancing to this magical song, their feet felt lighter and lighter and lighter, and soon they realized that they were lifting off of the ground. They were dancing up towards the sky. "Don't look down!" yelled the oldest brother, "keep on singing and dancing and we'll go higher and higher." Well, the oldest brother continued to beat his drum, and the brothers lifted higher and higher into the air. Soon they were above the trees and above the long houses that made up their village. The people of the village heard the singing, and they came out and looked up into the sky. They saw that the brothers were going higher and higher. The mother called out, "Come back, come back! Please, don't leave! I'll give you some food so that you can sing and dance!" But the oldest brother said, "Brothers, keep on dancing. Do not look down. We must go higher." And he continued to sing his powerful song. The brothers continued to dance higher and higher up into the sky, but their mother called out one more time, asking them to come back down.

Youngest brother, he was very sad to leave his family, and so he looked down for one final glance at his mother. But when he looked down, he broke the magical spell, and he started to fall down through the sky. He became a shooting star. Well, those other brothers continued higher and higher and higher into the sky, above the clouds and into the sky world. There they were transformed into stars, a group of stars still dancing up above us to this day. When the Haudenosaunee see those brothers dancing up in the wintertime sky, after the solstice, those brothers reach the highest point above us, and the Haudenosaunee know that it is time to begin the new year. It is the signal for our mid-winter ceremony where we cover last year's fire and begin a new year. And we tell that story of the seven dancing brothers to this day, what many people call the constellation of Pleiades, which we see after the winter solstice.

 

Links

Follow Perry Ground on Facebook

Rochester Institute of Technology | “Newsletter September 2021 Meet Perry Ground – The 2021-2022 Minett Professor”

Learn more about the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

Learn more about Haudenosonee culture through the Iroquois Museum.

Learn more about Haudenosonee culture through the Ganondagan State Historic Site.

Learn more about Haudenosonee culture through the Woodland Cultural Center.