Iroquois

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IROQUOIS .

SAMUE.L

.

P.

BY

.

.

MOULTHROP.

Illustrated and Arranged by .

.

SADIE PIERPONT BARNARD.

Copyrighted, 1901

Ernest Hart, Publisher, Rochester, N. Y.

Y

COPYRIGHT 1901, BY

ERNEST HART.

V.

I 1

^\ \

PREFACE Several

nized

was

the

not

that aboriginal history

fact

only

the writer recog-

ago

years

imperfectly taught, but

works of authority on that subject were inaccessible for reference. Having been for years,

fact since early

in

boyhood,

an interested student of Indian character, intensified

that

the

my

earliest

Menomenee

of Wisconsin

my

no doubt from the

parents

recollections in

the

territory,

lived

at

fact

were of

northern part

among whom

the time of

my

birth, led

to

a

reading of

careful

all

works of authority on the subject. My determination was to provide pupils with a

reading that

work

for

supplementary

might stimulate

further research.

I

am

them

to

deeply indebted

Lewis H. Morgan, that honored citizen of Rochester, for much that may to

be found

in the following pages.

Park-

man, Hosmer, Lockwood Doty, Peter A. Porter, Eggleston, ale's Book of

H

by D. G. Brinton the Jesuit Relations, from the New York HistorRites,

;

and

by Dr. Beauchamp, have been carefully read and studied. They are all benefactors, and ical

Collections

papers

should be so recognized by students.

To

Miss Sadie Pierepont Barnard the indebted

are

readers

work. be

and

in-

instructive features of the

mission

may

and others led to the

field

Trusting that

fulfilled

illus-

form one of the most

trations that

teresting

the

for

of investigation,

I

its

remain Sincerely yours, S.

P.

M.

IROCLUOIS

"I've threaded many

a devious

maze

And

Alpine path without a rail, Yet never felt such tipsy craze

As touched me on

IN the played so

the Indian trail."

Niagara so

frontier

important a

which part,

was so coveted, and exerted great an influence in peace and

war, on the control, growth, settlement and civilization of the country ; almost

within hearing of the mighty roar of the " Great Falls Oakinagaro," and

of their power is a spot for the erection of this Pan-American city, which por-

fully within reach fitting

magic

IROQUOIS

trays

in

Architecture,

Color, the

savage state to the

"Ireokwa"

meaning

"

man from

civilization,

gates are found

its

the

and within

the descendents of

Indian

in

The Tobacco

Fascinated by

and

Sculpture

of

transition

tongue,

People."

charm of

the

story,

myth, and legend relating the History, Life and Religion of the Indians of

New York

state

ing to search

now

so

lentless

it is

along

nearly

intensely interestthe Indian Trails

obliterated

march of

by the

civilization, for

re-

some

trace or record of the savagerv that has

paled and passed away. The hatchet has long

been buried, and the treachery and cruelty of the savage that terrorized is

well nigh forgotten,

the early settlers

and

as zealously

sought to avoid crossing the of the redman, we now seek to path discover their old battle grounds, hoard-

as they

ing every tiny bead or arrow found, as a link in the chain that binds together the days of primitive and the all absorbing

modern times. Lured along

the

in the forests

life

hurry scurry of

trail

of the Iroquois the broken out-

by discerning on a hill line of some old fortification and by finding bits of pottery, tomahawks, knives, arrows and spear points, in imagination we are led back to the time y of forests primeval, which covered the flint

Empire

State,

water and steel valley

when now

the

traversing fertile

and farm, through

town, from

city

to

highways of

city

village

teeming

and with

IROCLUOIS.

life

and industry, were

all

unknown and

unwished.

When

the song of the birds, the cry of wild animals, the rush of streams and roar of cataracts, the

through the the

sound of the wind

trees, the voice

Thunder God, among

of Henu,

the

hills

and

the war cry of the red man the true son forest, were the only sounds to

of the

break the

A

stillnes.

far cry

from that time to

this,

but

imagination knows no bounds and will take us even farther back, to the traditional origin of the

Redman

as given

by

the Oneida Sachems.

Before great and

man

existed there were three

good

was superior to

spirits,

the

of

other

whom

one

two and

emphatically called the Great and

is

Good

Spirit.

At

time this exalted

a certain

one of the others, make a obeyed, and taking chalk

being said to

He

man.

formed a paste of the

human

shape,

it,

moulding

infused

animating principle and

into

into

it

too

after

white."

it

the

it

to

"this

is

brought

surveying He then

make

other good spirit to skill.

said,

directed

the

a trial of his

Accordingly taking charcoal he

pursued the same course and brought the result to the Great Spirit, who after " it is too black." surveying it said, " Then, said the Great Spirit, I will now try myself, and taking red earth, he formed a human being. In the same manner

"

surveying perfect

it,

man"

said,

'!

''

* it

the Great Spirit.

He,

i,

;

i

this is a proper, or

y

IROCLUOIS

And were

these

filled

redmen,

with the

whose minds

vast

solitudes

nature, whose untamed freedom utter

intolerance

harmony with the

of

control

cataracts,

of

and

were in

were stamp-

ed with a hard and stern physiognomy. Ambition, envy, revenge and jealousy were their ruling passions, and their cold temperments were little exposed to those vices that are the bane of weaker races.

Yet, in spite of their

haughty indewere devoted hero worpendence they and shipers, high achievement in war or policy,

became

a

chord to which their

nature never failed to respond. They looked up with admiring reverence to the sages and heroes of the tribe. Their love of glory was a burning passion. 6

The

Iroquois

in history

and

were a people noted

their institutions are not

They had

yet extinct.

acquired their in the

country by conquest and gloried achievement.

The Mo-he-ka-news, themselves this part

the

original

considered

inhabitants of

of North America and were

spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Lacking concentration and harmony they

who

an easy prey to the Iroquois, planted themselves in the midst of fell

The widely extended nation. Indian population of New York at its

this

highest,

was

estimated

at

7,000

to

18,000. "That they had some ideas in advance of their white brothers who are exterminating birds, beasts and fish, may be inferred from the fact that the

IROQUOIS

Iroquois once made war on the Illinois, and nearly destroyed them, because they had violated the game laws of the

hunting nations in not leaving a certain number of male and female beavers in each pond."

Their moral and mental endowments must have been of a high order to call out such an eulogium as this " Nowhere in a long career of discovery, of enterprise and extension of :

empire, have Europeans found natives soil with as many of the noblest

of the

attributes

of

humanity

physical elements which,

not

have

been

moral and

;

they could with ours,

if

blended

could have maintained a separate existence and been fostered by the proximity

of civilization and the 8

arts.

Every-

when

where, race,

first

they welcomed

onstrations

Savages

as

of

approached by our it and made dem-

friendship

were

they

and peace. called and

have been in their

savage as they may assaults and wars

upon

each

other,

no act of theirs recorded in our histories of early colonization, or wrong or outrage that was not provoked by asthere

is

saults, treachery or

deception

of the hospitalities they to

the

breaches

had extended

Whatever of the

strangers.

savage character they may have possessed, so far as our race was concerned, it was dormant until aroused to action by assaults or treachery their

soil,

treated

as

whom

of intruders upon

had met and This does not

they

friends."

bear out the theory that the only good

iRoauois

The long house Indian, is a dead one. of the Iroquois had for its eastern door the sparkling waters of the Hudson, while the rolling waves of

formed

its

Western entrance. as

it

country, comprising ent state of New York, located for

Lake Erie

their

This

did the pres-

was favorably stronghold, but their

success was due to their inherent energy wrought to the most effective action

under a

political

the Indian

fabric

well

suited to

life.

Their highways were trails leading from different points of vantage, but all converging at Onondaga Village, the Onondagas being the fire keepers of the Six Nations which

composed the

great

and strong Iroquoian Confederacy. This confederacy, called by themselves 10

Ho-de-no-sau-nee, consisted originally of five nations, Mohawks, Oneidas,

Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, augmented to six by the adoption of the From the Tuscaroras in 1714 or 15. western end of the Territory sallied forth the warlike Senecas, killing and

making prisoners from the tribes in what are now known as the Western States, east all

of the Mississippi.

under

like the

their tribute.

In

fact

they laid

They roamed

wolves that infested the forests

adopting those thus they chose, strengthening their war parties, with every raid by in-

through

the

tribes,

whom

corporating

the

flower

of the tribes

captured.

" all is fair in Possibly they thought love and war," but not in games, of 1 1

IROQUOIS

which the Indian dition

tells

ended

in

is

very fond, for

tra-

us of a mighty war which expulsion of the Eries

the

from the

territory west

of the Gene-

about the year 1654, because of a breach of faith or treachery on the part of the Eries in a ball game to which " As they had challenged the Senecas. there is no record, we may never know

see,

umpire present on that occawhether he was smitten with a

as to the sion,

war club,

with a tomahawk, or merely transfixed with a flight of arThe Senecas were fair men, and rows. cleft

must have been some great provthat led them to wreak such vengeance on the Eries." Upon the it

ocation

whole people.

they

an

were

Had

extraordinary they enjoyed the advan12

by the Greeks and no reason to believe Romans, that they would have been at all inferior nations. Their to those celebrated minds seem to have been equal to any possessed

tages

there

is

efforts within the reach

conquests,

if

we

of man.

Their

consider their numbers

and circumstances, were Rome itself. In their

little

inferior to

harmony, the

unity of their operations, the energy of their character, the

vastness, vigor

and

of their enterprises, and the strength and sublimity of their eloquence, they may be fairly contrasted success

with

the

Each

Greeks.

nation was

divided into three tribes, The Tortoise, Bear and Wolf, each village a distinct republic,

by

its

and

its

concerns were managed

particular chief. 13

Their exterior

relations, general in-

and national

were superintended by a great council, assembled terests,

affairs

Onondaga, the central council composed of the chiefs of each republic, and eighty sachems were frequently convened at their national asat

annually

sembly. It took cognizance of the great questions of war and peace and of the affairs

of the tributary nations. All their proceedings were conducted with great deliberation and were distin-

guished for order, decorum and solemnity. They esteemed themselves as sovereigns,

God

alone,

Spirit.

No

admitted.

accountable

to

none but

whom

they called the Great hereditary distinctions were

The

office

4

of Sachem was

the reward of personal merit, great wisdom, commanding eloquence or distin-

guished exalted

in

services

most prominent spirit

or

the

field,

their

characteristic being

an

of liberty that spurned In war

domestic control.

foreign the use of stratagem was never neglectWhile they preferred to take an ed.

enemy

off his guard,

by leading him

into an ambuscade, yet when necessary to face him in an open field they fought

with a courage and contempt of death that has never been surpassed. One of the early missionaries describes

bear

and

Indian

who

and wounded him lay

Indian

"

an

Bear,

shot at a large the bear fell

;

whining and groaning. The went up to him and said

:

you

are

a coward, 's

and no war-

JROCLUOIS.

You know

rior.

mine

that

your

tribe

and

and that your's began had wounded me I would you have a not uttered sound and yet you sit here and cry and disgrace your are at war,

If

it.

;

tribe." It

said

is

that

the Iroquois had

planned mighty union, and without doubt had the coming of Europeans a

been delayed a century later the league would have included all the tribes be-

tween the Great Lakes and the Gulf of

Mexico.

The

roquoian Confederacy remained after the Eastern and Southern

long tribes this

and inal

I

had

day

lost their standing, and to keep intact their confederacy

tribal

organizations.

congress

Their orig-

was composed of 16

fifty

Sachems, and generally met

at the

On-

ondaga council house. The business of the congress was conducted in a grave and dignified manner, chiefs

their

reason and judgment

the

being appealed passions.

It

to

of the

rather

than

was considered

a

breach of decorum for a Sachem to re-

on the day of its deno and livery, question could be decided without the concurrence of every memply to a speech

ber,

thus

The

their

sole

reward being the veneration

securing unanimity. Sachems served without badge of

office,

of their people in whose interests they were meeting. Public opinion exercised a powerful influence among the Iroquois, the ablest among them having a

common

dread of the people. 17

Subor-

IROCLUOIS

dinate

of

to

chiefs,

these Sachems was an order

among whom were

Jacket, Corn

Red

Planter and Big Kettle,

who by their oratory and eloquence moved the councils or turned the braves

A

on the warpath. noticeable trait of the Iroquois was the regard paid to the opinions of women ; the sex were represented in council by chiefs known as squaw men. Thus might the women

oppose a war or aid in bringing about a bond of peace. They claimed a special right to interfere in the sale of land, their argument being that the land

belonged to the warriors

and the squaws by

who defended

whom

it

was

tilled.

II.

N

taking up the government of the Iroquois the position which it occupies seemed to be be-

tween the extremes of Monarchy on one hand and Democracy on the other.

They had passed out of

the

first

stages

or earliest forms of government, that of chief and mentor. It will be readily

monarchial governincompatible with hunter life.

recognized that a

ment

is

Several

tribes

first

united

into

one

nation, the people mingled by inter-marriages, and the power of the chiefs ceased

to be single

and became

joint.

This

brought out an Oligarchial form of government ; several nations were united into a confederacy or league. 1

9

Morgan

IROCLUOIS.

it was more and liberal than those perfect, systematic of antiquity; there was in the Indian

says that in

its

more of

construction

more of dependence upon the people, more of fabric

fixedness,

would be difficult to find a specimen of the government of It

vigor. fairer

the few than the Iroquois, the happy constitution of its ruling body, and in the effective security of the people from misgovernment it stands unrivalled.

The

spirit prevailing in

was that of freedom. secured

The

themselves

to

the confederacy all

people had the liberty

necessary for the united state, and fully appreciated its value ; the red man was

"His

from political bondage. limbs were never shackled."

free

always

free

The

Iroquois were entirely convinced 20

man was born

no person on earth had any right to make any attempt against his liberty, and that nothing could make amends for its loss. that

free, that

The power

of the desire for gain, that great passion of civilized man in its use

and abuse, never

his

roused

doubtedly

it

blessing and his curse, the Indian mind; un-

was the reason for

his re-

maining in the hunter state. The desire for gain is one of the earliest manof the progessive mind, and one of the most powerful incentives to which the mind is susceptible it clears

ifestations

;

the

the

forest, city, builds the in a word it has civilized merchantmen,

rears

the race.

The

creation

furnishes the

of the

class

of chiefs

clearest evidence of

the

IROQUOIS

development of the popular element.

Under

simple but beautiful fabric of Indian construction arose the power this

of the Iroquois, reaching at its full meridian, over a large portion of our republic.

It

is

perhaps the only league

of nations ever instituted among men, which can point to three centuries of uninterrupted domestic unity and peace. Their political system was necessarily

Their limited wants, absence of property in a comparative sense, and

simple.

the

of

crime, dispensed of legislation and machinery incident to the protection of

infrequency

with a vast amount

civilized society.

From

a speculative

point of view the institutions of the Iroquois assumed an interesting aspect.

Would

they naturally have emancipated 22

the people from their strange infatuation life ? It cannot be de-

for a hunter

nied that

there

are

some grounds for would have

belief that their institutions

eventually improved into civilization. The Iroquois at all times have manifested sufficient intelligence to promise a

high degree of improvement if it had once become awakened and directed into

right

pursuits,

though centuries

might have been required to

effect the

change.

But

their institutions

have a present

of what they might The Iroquois were our

value irrespective

have become. predecessors,

this

country

was once

We

should do justice to their memory by preserving their name, deeds, customs and institutions.

theirs.

We

Z3

iRoauois

should not tread ignorantly upon those extinguished council fires, whose light in the days of aboriginal occupation was visible

over half the continent.

24

or TIE PEOPI.B or

UK T.OI& sorsr.

III.

[HE

villages

of

the

were chiefly in the

Mohawks

Mohawk Val-

Around and near Oneida ley. Lake were the principal villages of the Oneidas. lished

The Onondagas were

in the valley

name and upon

On

the

estab-

of a river of that hills

adjacent.

of Cayuga Lake the to the Eastward and upon ridges In were the villages of the Cayugas. the

the East shore

center of Ontario

and

Monroe

Counties were found the principal villages of the Senecas, the most populous

of the

Confederacy. their

years during warfare with the

In

intercourse

whites

later

and

many of the

ancient settlements were abandoned and 25

IROQUOIS.

new ones

established.

order of things

town

the

ally, as

village

became necessary

for

be changed occasionor fish grew scarce, thus

course

Western

the natural

sites to

game

the

in

it

In

New

of time nearly all of York was covered with

sites.

boasted of occupying the highest part of the continent, they owned the territory from whence flowed the

They

head waters of the Mohawk, Hudson, Genesee, Deleware, Susquehanna, Ohio

and

St.

direction

Lawrence to the

gates of the country

in

flowing

sea.

They

every held the

and through them

Lake could descend upon any point. Ontario and the mountains on the north and

the

Alleghanies

afforded ample

on

the

south

protection from marau26

ders and migratory bands. Lakes and streams in a remarkable manner intersected every part of the

Long House;

whose head waters were separated only by short portages, and its continuous valleys divided by no mountain barriers offered

unequaled

facilities

for in-

ter-communication.

Indian geographers had little trouble with boundary lines. Their custom of settling or establishing themselves on

both sides of a river or taking in the entire circuit of a lake enabled each nation

to

know

their

made near

The

its

Having no knowledge of

territories.

wells,

the boundaries of

settlements

were always

natural water courses.

Tuscaroras when expelled from

their possessions in 27

North Carolina,

in

iRoauois

1712, sought

the

Hodenosaunee.

of the

protection

They were admitted

into the Confederacy as the sixth nation and afterwards regarded as constituent

members of the League, although never admitted to a

full

equality.

In 1785

the Tuscaroras were

among

partially scattered the other nations although they

continued to preserve their nationality.

They had some

settlements at a later

day near Oneida Lake, a village west of Cayuga and one in the valley of the

Avon. the Senecas gave them Genesee below

Subsequently a tract

on the

Niagara River to which they removed, their descendants still occupying a portion of this land near Lewiston.

There were two other remnants of tribes located within the territory 28

of the

Oneidas.

The Mo-he-ke-nuks,

a few

miles south of Oneida Castle, and Dele-

wares

They

a

few miles

south of Clinton.

asked the Oneidas for a place to

spread their blankets, their possessions being subsequently secured to them by their foreign hunting which were numerous either grounds, nation was at liberty to encamp, but treaty.

Upon

by the establishment of

territorial limits

the political individuality of each tribe was maintained.

The most

interesting feature of aboriginal geography is the location of the trails,

and singularly enough

if

we

take

of the great railway lines now extending through our state, we are either

following one or the other of the leading trails that Lewis H. Morgan has traced 29

'IROQUOIS.

as being

used in

1732

;

usually following the line sistance.

from east

the

Indians

of

least re-

The

central trail, extending to west, intersected by cross

which passed along lakes or the banks of rivers, is commenced at the trails

point where Albany now is, touched the Mohawk at Schenectady, following the river to the carrying place at Rome,

from thence west, crossing Onondaga Valley, the foot of Cayuga and Seneca Lakes, and

coming

out

at

Buffalo

Creek, the present site of Buffalo. This trail was later the route taken, with a few exceptions, by settlers in building a This route connected the turnpike. principal

and

villages,

established a

Canada on west, and over the Hudson on the line

of travel

into

3

the east.

THOMAS

LA FORTE.

SHO-HEH-DO-NAH.

ALBERT CUSICK.

ORRIS FARMER.

SA-GO-NEH-QUAH-DEH.

HO-DE-GWEH.

ON-ON-DA-GA.

the banks of the Susquehanna

Upon

which have their its branches, source near the Mohawk, and upon the

and

banks of the Chemung, which has its source near the Genesee, were other of 'which

trails,

all

Tioga

at the junction

cipal

rivers,

thus

converged upon of these two prin-

forming the great

Southern route into Pennsylvania and

For century upon century, and by race after race these old and deeply worn trails have been used by Virginia.

the

red

man from

Mississippi.

curately laid

the Atlantic to the

These trails were as acout and judiciously planned

On our own great thoroughfares. many of these foot paths the Iroquois

as

had conducted war well

parties

and become

versed in the geography of the 31

IROQUOIS.

country.

were

they

our

With

their

immediate country

familiar

as

books

maps,

aids.

Lakes,

had a

significant

as

we,

with

and teachers as and streams each

hills

name, and

in

many

instances if the aboriginal names could be given such lakes and rivers, we

should in time come better.

The

to

like

them

nations spoke a different

common language ; alunderstood by all, the distincthough tion was decisive. This was probably dialect

of a

why geographical names much in spelling.

the reason

vary so

Buffalo in the Seneca

Buffalo in the

dialect

Cayuga

Buffalo in the

Onondaga

Buffalo in the

Oneida

Buffalo in the

Mohawk

Buffalo in the Tuscarora

" *'

" " " 32

*

was,

" " " f