Eskeilay the Grasshopper Goddess

11 x 14 print 

grasshopper goddess whose name means “mother of the unliving”. Eskeilay was human in form but with antennae . She sat with her limbs in the odd position that her grasshopper subjects imitated. This goddess ruled over the underground world, or Earth- womb, where the Choctaw people lived before emerging from the Earth at Nanih Waiya.  

Eskeilay’s subterranean domain wasn’t so much an afterlife, like that ruled over by Nanishta, but was more a realm of “pre-birth” where spirits came from to be born. The Choctaws lived in the world below with Eskeilay, her grasshopper subjects and the other life forms of the day. When that world became too crowded the life forms began emerging from this Earth-womb at Nanih Waiya.

In the rush of the evacuation to the world above humans accidentally trampled and crushed many grasshoppers, including the grasshopper goddess’ own mother. Infuriated, Eskeilay called out to the chief deity Nanishta, who blocked the opening at Nanih Waiya to end the mad stampede. Many human beings were trapped in the underground world and the still-angry grasshopper goddess transformed them into ants, which is why ants also emerge from holes in the ground. In some traditions locusts are also among Eskeilay’s subjects for the same reason. 

The Crawfish band of people were also inhabitants of the grasshopper goddess’ realm. They started out living on the surface world and were a species of humanoid crawfish. The Choctaws removed their shells and hair, taught them to walk upright and tried to assimilate them into the Choctaw culture. The Crawfish people rebelled against this and longed for a return to their more primitive lifestyle, so they went to live underground, where  Eskeilay permitted them to live as they wished.