In one version of the Iroquois Creation Story, two distinct worlds existed: Sky World, inhabited by spirit beings and centered on a great tree whose fruits and flowers radiated blue light, and beneath it an unknown boundless black sea populated by water creatures. The story tells of the birth and life of Sky Woman, who married Hodangeih, caretaker of the Sky World Tree. When he learned of her pregnancy, Hodangeih uprooted the tree, and Sky Woman slipped into the hole as she peered at the world below. As she fell, water fowl rose from the Great Black Sea to cushion her in midair and lower her safely onto the back of the Great Turtle. Muskrat then dove to the sea bottom for a pawful of earth, and when it was placed on Turtle's back, it grew until it became Great Turtle Island, upon which people stand today.