The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Iroquois Book of Rites, by Horatio Hale Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** Title: The Iroquois Book of Rites Author: Horatio Hale Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8567] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on July 23, 2003] Edition: 10 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IROQUOIS BOOK OF RITES *** Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Thomas Hutchinson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
EDITED BY
HORATIO HALE; M.A.,
AUTHOR OF "THE ETHNOGRAPHY AND PHILOLOGY
OF THE U.S. EXPLORING EXPEDITION," ETC.
PREFACE.
The aboriginal composition now presented to the public has
some peculiar
claims on the attention of scholars. As a record, if we accept
the
chronology of its custodians,—which there is no reason to
question,—it
carries back the authentic history of Northern America to a
date
anterior by fifty years to the arrival of Columbus. Further than
this,
the plain and credible tradition of the Iroquois, confirmed by
much
other evidence, links them with the still earlier Alligewi,
or
"Moundbuilders," as conquerors with the conquered. Thus the
annals of
this portion of the continent need no longer begin with the
landing of
the first colonists, but can go back, like those of Mexico,
Yucatan and
Peru, to a storied past of singular interest.
The chief value of the Book of Rites, however, is
ethnological, and is
found in the light which it casts on the political and social
life, as
well as on the character and capacity of the people to whom
it
belongs. We see in them many of the traits which Tacitus
discerned in
our ancestors of the German forests, along with some qualities of
a
higher cast than any that he has delineated. The love of peace,
the
sentiment of human brotherhood, the strong social and
domestic
affections, the respect for law, and the reverence for
ancestral
greatness, which are apparent in this Indian record and in
the
historical events which illustrate it, will strike most readers
as new
and unexpected developments.
The circumstances attending the composition of this record and
its
recent discovery are fully detailed in the introductory chapters.
There
also, and in the Notes and Appendix, such further explanations
are given
as the various allusions and occasional obscurities of the Indian
work
have seemed to require. It is proper to state that the
particulars
comprised in the following pages respecting the traditions, the
usages,
and the language of the Iroquois (except such as are expressly
stated to
have been derived from books), have been gathered by the writer
in the
course of many visits made, during several years past, to
their
Reservations in Canada and New York. As a matter of justice, and
also as
an evidence of the authenticity of these particulars, the names
of the
informants to whom he has been principally indebted are given in
the
proper places, with suitable acknowledgment of the assistance
received
from each. He ventures to hope that in the information thus
obtained, as
well as in the Book of Rite's itself, the students of history and
of the
science of man will find some new material of permanent interest
and
value.
CONTENTS.
MAP
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. THE HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS
CHAPTER II. THE LEAGUE AND ITS FOUNDERS
CHAPTER III. THE BOOK OF RITES
CHAPTER IV. THE CONDOLING COUNCIL.—CLANS AND CLASSES
CHAPTER V. THE CONDOLENCE AND THE INSTALLATION
CHAPTER VI. THE LAWS OF THE LEAGUE
CHAPTER VII. HISTORICAL TRADITIONS
CHAPTER VIII. THE IROQUOIS CHARACTER
CHAPTER IX. THE IROQUOIS POLICY
CHAPTER X. THE IROQUOIS LANGUAGE
THE BOOK OF RITES
THE CANIENGA BOOK
THE ONONDAGA BOOK
NOTES ON THE CANIENGA BOOK
NOTES ON THE ONONDAGA BOOK
APPENDIX
NOTE A.—Names of the Huron-Iroquois Nations
NOTE B.—Meaning of Ohio, Ontario, Onontio, Rawennito
NOTE C.—The Era of the Confederacy
NOTE D.—The Hiawatha Myths
NOTE E.—The Iroquois Towns
NOTE F.—The Pre-Aryan Race in Europe and America
GLOSSARY
INDEX
[Illustration: THE HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS AND THE SURROUNDING
TRIBES.
A.D. 1535 TO 1780. ]
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
THE HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS.
At the outset of the sixteenth century, when the five tribes
or
"nations" of the Iroquois confederacy first became known to
European
explorers, they were found occupying the valleys and uplands of
northern
New York, in that picturesque and fruitful region which
stretches
westward from the head-waters of the Hudson to the Genesee. The
Mohawks,
or Caniengas—as they should properly be called—possessed the
Mohawk
River, and covered Lake George and Lake Champlain with their
flotillas
of large canoes, managed with the boldness and skill which,
hereditary
in their descendants, make them still the best boatmen of the
North
American rivers. West of the Caniengas the Oneidas held the small
river
and lake which bear their name, the first in that series of
beautiful
lakes, united by interlacing streams, which seemed to prefigure
in the
features of nature the political constitution of the tribes
who
possessed them. West of the Oneidas, the imperious Onondagas,
the
central and, in some respects, the ruling nation of the
League,
possessed the two lakes of Onondaga and Skeneateles, together
with the
common outlet of this inland lake system, the Oswego River, to
its issue
into Lake Ontario. Still proceeding westward, the lines of trail
and
river led to the long and winding stretch of Lake Cayuga, about
which
were clustered the towns of the people who gave their name to the
lake;
and beyond them, over the wide expanse of hills and dales
surrounding
Lakes Seneca and Canandaigua, were scattered the populous
villages of
the Senecas, more correctly styled Sonontowanas or Mountaineers.
Such
were the names and abodes of the allied nations, members of
the
far-famed Kanonsionni, or League of United Households, who were
destined
to become for a time the most notable and powerful community
among the
native tribes of North America. [Footnote: See Appendix, note A,
for the
origin and meaning of the names commonly given to the Iroquois
nations.]
The region which has been described was not, however, the
original seat
of those nations. They belonged to that linguistic family which
is known
to ethnologists as the Huron-Iroquois stock. This stock comprised
the
Hurons or Wyandots, the Attiwandaronks or Neutral Nation, the
Iroquois,
the Eries, the Andastes or Conestogas, the Tuscaroras, and some
smaller
bands. The tribes of this family occupied a long, irregular area
of
inland territory, stretching from Canada to North Carolina. The
northern
nations were all clustered about the great lakes; the southern
bands
held the fertile valleys bordering the head-waters of the rivers
which
flowed from the Allegheny mountains. The languages of all these
tribes
showed a close affinity. There can be no doubt that their
ancestors
formed one body, and, indeed, dwelt at one time (as has been well
said
of the ancestors of the IndoEuropean populations), under one
roof. There
was a Huron-Iroquois "family-pair," from which all these tribes
were
descended. In what part of the world this ancestral household
resided is
a question which admits of no reply, except from the merest
conjecture. But the evidence of language, so far as it has yet
been
examined, seems to show that the Huron clans were the older
members of
the group; and the clear and positive traditions of all the
surviving
tribes, Hurons, Iroquois and Tuscaroras, point to the lower St.
Lawrence
as the earliest known abode of their stock. [Footnote: See
Cusick,
History of the Six Nations, p. 16; Colden, Hist, of the
Five
Nations, p. 23; Morgan, League of the Iroquois, p.
5;
J.V.H. Clark, Onondaga, vol. I, p. 34; Peter D.
Clarke,
Hist. of the Wyandots. p. I.]
Here the first explorer, Cartier, found Indians of this stock
at
Hochelaga and Stadaconé, now the sites of Montreal and
Quebec.
Centuries before his time, according to the native tradition,
the
ancestors of the Huron-Iroquois family had dwelt in this
locality, or
still further east and nearer to the river's mouth. As their
numbers
increased, dissensions arose. The hive swarmed, and band after
band
moved off to the west and south.
As they spread, they encountered people of other stocks, with
whom they
had frequent wars. Their most constant and most dreaded enemies
were the
tribes of the Algonkin family, a fierce and restless people, of
northern
origin, who everywhere surrounded them. At one period, however,
if the
concurrent traditions of both Iroquois and Algonkins can be
believed,
these contending races for a time stayed their strife, and united
their
forces in an alliance against a common and formidable foe. This
foe was
the nation, or perhaps the confederacy, of the Alligewi or
Talligewi,
the semi-civilized "Mound-builders" of the Ohio Valley, who have
left
their name to the Allegheny river and mountains, and whose
vast
earthworks are still, after half-a-century of study, the
perplexity of
archaeologists. A desperate warfare ensued, which lasted about a
hundred
years, and ended in the complete overthrow and destruction,
or
expulsion, of the Alligewi. The survivors of the conquered people
fled
southward, and are supposed to have mingled with the tribes
which
occupied the region extending from the Gulf of Mexico northward
to the
Tennessee river and the southern spurs of the Alleghenies. Among
these
tribes, the Choctaws retained, to recent times, the custom of
raising
huge mounds of earth for religious purposes and for the sites of
their
habitations, a custom which they perhaps learned from the
Alligewi; and
the Cherokees are supposed by some to have preserved in their
name
(Tsalaki) and in their language indications of an origin derived
in part
from the same people. Their language, which shows, in its grammar
and
many of its words, clear evidence of affinity with the Iroquois,
has
drawn the greater portion of its vocabulary from some foreign
source. This source is conjectured to have been the speech of
the
Alligewi. As the Cherokee tongue is evidently a mixed language,
it is
reasonable to suppose that the Cherokees are a mixed people,
and
probably, like the English, an amalgamation of conquering and
conquered
races. [Footnote: This question has been discussed by the writer
in a
paper on "Indian Migrations as evidenced by Language," read
before the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, at their
Montreal
Meeting, in August, 1882, and published in the American
Antiquarian for
January and April, 1883.]
The time which has elapsed since the overthrow of the Alligewi
is
variously estimated. The most probable conjecture places it at a
period
about a thousand years before the present day. It was apparently
soon
after their expulsion that the tribes of the Huron-Iroquois and
the
Algonkin stocks scattered themselves over the wide region south
of the
Great Lakes, thus left open to their occupancy. Our concern at
present
is only with the first-named family. The native tradition of
their
migrations has been briefly related by a Tuscarora Indian, David
Cusick,
who had acquired a sufficient education to become a Baptist
preacher,
and has left us, in his "Sketches of Ancient History of the
Six
Nations," [Footnote: Published at Lewiston, N. Y., in 1825,
and
reprinted at Lockport, in 1848. ] a record of singular value.
His
confused and imperfect style, the English of a half-educated
foreigner,
his simple faith in the wildest legends, and his absurd
chronology, have
caused the real worth of his book, as a chronicle of native
traditions,
to be overlooked. Wherever the test of linguistic evidence, the
best of
all proofs in ethnological questions, can be applied to his
statements
relative to the origin and connection of the tribes, they are
invariably
confirmed. From his account, from the evidence of language, and
from
various corroborating indications, the course of the migrations
may, it
is believed, be traced with tolerable accuracy. Their first
station or
starting point, on the south side of the Lakes, was at the mouth
of the
Oswego river. Advancing to the southeast the emigrants struck the
Hudson
river, and, according to Cusick's story, followed its course
southward
to the ocean. Here a separation took place. A portion remained,
and kept
on their way toward the south; but the "main company," repelled
by the
uninviting soil and the turbulent waste of waves, and remembering
the
attractive region of valleys, lakes, and streams through which
they had
passed, retraced their steps northward till they reached the
Mohawk
river. Along this stream and the upper waters of the Hudson they
made
their first abode; and here they remained until, as their
historian
quaintly and truly records, "their language was altered." The
Huron
speech became the Iroquois tongue, in the form in which it is
spoken by
the Caniengas, or Mohawks. In Iroquois tradition, and in the
constitution of their league, the Canienga nation ranks as the
"eldest
brother" of the family. A comparison of the dialects proves
the
tradition to be well founded. The Canienga language approaches
nearest
to the Huron, and is undoubtedly the source from which all the
other
Iroquois dialects are derived. Cusick states positively that the
other
"families," as he styles them, of the Iroquois household, leaving
the
Mohawks in their original abode, proceeded step by step to the
westward.
The Oneidas halted at their creek, the Onondagas at their
mountain, the
Cayugas at their lake, and the Senecas or Sonontowans, the Great
Hill
people, at a lofty eminence which rises south of the
Canandaigua
lake. In due time, as he is careful to record, the same result
happened
as had occurred with the Caniengas. The language of each canton
"was
altered;" yet not so much, he might have added, but that all the
tribes
could still hold intercourse, and comprehend one another's
speech.
A wider isolation and, consequently, a somewhat greater change
of
language, befell the "sixth family." Pursuing their course to the
west
they touched Lake Erie, and thence, turning to the southeast,
came to
the Allegheny river. Cusick, however, does not know it by this
name. He
calls it the Ohio,—in his uncouth orthography and with a
locative
particle added, the Ouau-we-yo-ka,—which, he says, means "a
principal
stream, now Mississippi." This statement, unintelligible as at
the first
glance it seems, is strictly accurate. The word Ohio
undoubtedly
signified, in the ancient Iroquois speech, as it still means in
the
modern Tuscarora, not "beautiful river", but "great river."
[Footnote:
See Appendix, note B.] It was so called as being the main stream
which
receives the affluents of the Ohio valley. In the view of the
Iroquois,
this "main stream" commences with what we call the Allegheny
river,
continues in what we term the Ohio, and then flows on in what we
style
the Mississippi,—of which, in their view, the upper Mississippi
is
merely an affluent. In Iroquois hydrography, the Ohio—the great
river
of the ancient Alligewi domain—is the central stream to which
all the
rivers of the mighty West converge.
This stream the emigrants now attempted to cross. They found,
according
to the native annalist, a rude bridge in a huge grape-vine which
trailed
its length across the stream. Over this a part of the company
passed,
and then, unfortunately, the vine broke. The residue, unable to
cross,
remained on the hither side, and became afterwards the enemies of
those
who had passed over. Cusick anticipates that his story of the
grape-vine
may seem to some incredible; but he asks, with amusing
simplicity, "why
more so than that the Israelites should cross the Red Sea on dry
land?"
That the precise incident, thus frankly admitted to be of a
miraculous
character, really took place, we are not required to believe. But
that
emigrants of the Huron-Iroquois stock penetrated southward along
the
Allegheny range, and that some of them remained near the river of
that
name, is undoubted fact. Those who thus remained were known by
various
names, mostly derived from one root—Andastes, Andastogues,
Conestogas,
and the like—and bore a somewhat memorable part in Iroquois
and
Pennsylvanian history. Those who continued their course beyond
the river
found no place sufficiently inviting to arrest their march until
they
arrived at the fertile vales which spread, intersected by many
lucid
streams, between the Roanoke and the Neuse rivers. Here they
fixed their
abode, and became the ancestors of the powerful Tuscarora nation.
In the
early part of the eighteenth century, just before its disastrous
war
with the colonies, this nation, according to the Carolina
surveyor,
Lawson, numbered fifteen towns, and could set in the field a
force of
twelve hundred warriors.
The Eries, who dwelt west of the Senecas, along the southern
shore of
the lake which now retains their name, were according to Cusick,
an
offshoot of the Seneca tribe; and there is no reason for doubting
the
correctness of his statement. After their overthrow by the
Iroquois, in
1656, many of the Eries were incorporated with the ancestral
nation, and
contributed, with other accessions from the Hurons and the
Attiwandaronks, to swell its numbers far beyond those of the
other
nations of the confederacy.
To conclude this review of the Huron-Iroquois group, something
further
should be said about the fortunes of the parent tribe, or
rather
congeries of tribes,—for the Huron household, like the Iroquois,
had
become divided into several septs. Like the Iroquois, also, they
have
not lacked an annalist of their own race. A Wyandot Indian,
Peter
Doyentate Clarke, who emigrated with the main body of his people
to the
Indian Territory, and afterwards returned for a time to the
remnant of
his tribe dwelling near Amherstburg, in Canada, published in 1870
a
small volume entitled "Origin and Traditional History of the
Wyandots."
[Footnote: Printed by Hunter, Rose & Co., of Toronto.] The
English
education of the writer, like that of the Tuscarora historian,
was
defective; and it is evident that his people, in their many
wanderings,
had lost much of their legendary lore. But the fact that they
resided
in ancient times near the present site of Montreal, in close
vicinity to
the Iroquois (whom he styles, after their largest tribe, the
Senecas),
is recorded as a well-remembered portion of their history. The
flight of
the Wyandots to the northwest is declared to have been caused by
a war
which broke out between them and the Iroquois. This statement
is
opposed to the common opinion, which ascribes the expulsion of
the
Hurons from their eastern abode to the hostility of the
Algonkins. It
is, however, probably correct; for the Hurons retreated into the
midst
of the Algonkin tribes, with whom they were found by Champlain to
be on
terms of amity and even of alliance, while they were engaged in a
deadly
war with the Iroquois. The place to which they withdrew was a
nook in
the Georgian Bay, where their strongly palisaded towns and
well-cultivated fields excited the admiration of the great
French
explorer. Their object evidently was to place as wide a space
as
possible between themselves and their inveterate enemies.
Unfortunately,
as is well known, this precaution, and even the aid of their
Algonkin
and French allies, proved inadequate to save them. The story of
their
disastrous overthrow, traced by the masterly hand of Parkman, is
one of
the most dismal passages of aboriginal history.
The only people of this stock remaining to be noticed are
the
Attiwandaronks, or Neutral Nation. They dwelt south of the
Hurons, on
the northern borders of Lakes Erie and Ontario. They had, indeed,
a few
towns beyond those lakes, situated east of the Niagara river,
between
the Iroquois and the Eries. They received their name of Neutrals
from
the fact that in the war between the Iroquois and the Hurons
they
remained at peace with both parties. This policy, however, did
not save
them from the fate which overtook their Huron friends. In the
year 1650
the Iroquois set upon them, destroyed their towns, and dispersed
the
inhabitants, carrying off great numbers of them, as was their
custom, to
be incorporated with their own population. Of their language we
only
know that it differed but slightly from the Huron. [Footnote:
"Our
Hurons call the Neutral Nation Attiwandaronk, meaning thereby
'People of
a speech a little different.'"—Relation of 1641, p. 72.
Bruyas,
in his "Iroquois Root-words" gives gawenda (or
gawenna), speech, and gaRONKwestare, confusion
of
voices. ] Whether they were an offshoot from the Hurons or from
the
Iroquois is uncertain. It is not unlikely that their separation
from the
parent stock took place earlier than that of the Iroquois, and
that they
were thus enabled for a time to avoid becoming embroiled in the
quarrel
between the two great divisions of their race.
CHAPTER II.
THE LEAGUE AND ITS FOUNDERS.
How long the five kindred but independent tribes who were
afterwards to
compose the Iroquois confederacy remained isolated and apart from
one
another, is uncertain. That this condition endured for
several
centuries is a fact which cannot be questioned. Tradition here
is
confirmed by the evidence of language. We have good dictionaries
of two
of their dialects, the Canienga (or Mohawk) and the Onondaga,
compiled
two centuries ago by the Jesuit missionaries; and by comparing
them with
vocabularies of the same dialects, as spoken at the present day,
we can
ascertain the rate of change which prevails in their languages.
Judging
by this test, the difference which existed between these two
dialects in
1680 (when the Jesuit dictionaries were written) could hardly
have
arisen in less than four hundred years; and that which exists
between
them and the Tuscarora would demand a still longer time.
Their
traditions all affirm—what we should be prepared to
believe—that this
period was one of perpetual troubles. The tribes were constantly
at war,
either among themselves, or with the neighboring nations of their
own
and other stocks, Hurons, Andastes, Algonkins, Tuteloes, and even
with
the distant Cherokees.
There are reasons for believing that attempts were made during
this
period to combine the tribes, or some of them, in a federal
alliance. But if such connections were formed, they proved
only
temporary leagues, which were dissolved when the dangers that had
called
them into being had passed away. A leader of peculiar qualities,
aided
by favoring circumstances, was able at last to bring about a
more
permanent union. There is no exact chronology by which the date
of this
important event can be ascertained; but the weight of evidence
fixes it
at about the middle of the fifteenth century. [Footnote: The
evidence on
this point is given in the Appendix, note C. It should be
mentioned that
some portion of the following narrative formed part of a paper
entitled
"A Lawgiver of the Stone Age," which was read at the Cincinnati
meeting
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in
August,
1882, and was published in the Proceedings of the meeting.
The
particulars comprised in it were drawn chiefly from notes
gathered
during many visits to the Reserve of the Six Nations, on the
Grand
River, in Ontario, supplemented by information obtained in two
visits to
the Onondaga Reservation, in the State of New York, near
Syracuse. My
informants were the most experienced councillors, and especially
the
"wampum-keepers," the official annalists of their people. Their
names,
and some account of them, will be given in a subsequent chapter.
It
should be mentioned that while the histories received at the
two
localities were generally in close accord, thus furnishing a
strong
proof of the correctness with which they have been handed down,
there
were circumstances remembered at each place which had not been
preserved
at the other. The Onondagas, as was natural, retained a
fuller
recollection of the events which took place before the flight
of
Hiawatha to the Caniengas; while the annalists of the latter
tribe were
better versed in the subsequent occurrences attending the
formation of
the League. These facts should be borne in mind by any inquirer
who may
undertake to repeat or continue these investigations. When
the
narratives varied, as they sometimes did in minor particulars, I
have
followed that which seemed most in accordance with the general
tenor of
the history and with the evidence furnished by the Book of
Rites.]
At this time two great dangers, the one from without, the
other from
within, pressed upon these tribes. The Mohegans, or Mohicans, a
powerful
Algonkin people, whose settlements stretched along the Hudson
river,
south of the Mohawk, and extended thence eastward into New
England,
waged a desperate war against them. In this war the most easterly
of the
Iroquois, the Caniengas and Oneidas, bore the brunt and were
the
greatest sufferers. On the other hand, the two western nations,
the
Senecas and Cayugas, had a peril of their own to encounter. The
central
nation, the Onondagas, were then under the control of a dreaded
chief,
whose name is variously given, Atotarho (or, with a prefixed
particle,
Thatotarho), Watatotahro, Tadodaho, according to the dialect of
the
speaker and the orthography of the writer. He was a man of great
force
of character and of formidable qualities—haughty, ambitious,
crafty and
bold—a determined and successful warrior, and at home, so far as
the
constitution of an Indian tribe would allow, a stern and
remorseless
tyrant. He tolerated no equal. The chiefs who ventured to oppose
him
were taken off one after another by secret means, or were
compelled to
flee for safety to other tribes. His subtlety and artifices had
acquired
for him the reputation of a wizard. He knew, they say, what was
going on
at a distance as well as if he were present; and he could destroy
his
enemies by some magical art, while he himself was far away. In
spite of
the fear which he inspired, his domination would probably not
have been
endured by an Indian community, but for his success in war. He
had made
himself and his people a terror to the Cayugas and the
Senecas.
According to one account, he had subdued both of those tribes;
but the
record-keepers of the present day do not confirm this statement,
which
indeed is not consistent with the subsequent history of the
confederation.
The name Atotarho signifies "entangled." The usual process by
which
mythology, after a few generations, makes fables out of names,
has not
been wanting here. In the legends which the Indian story-fellers
recount
in winter, about their cabin fires, Atotarho figures as a being
of
preterhuman nature, whose head, in lieu of hair, is adorned with
living
snakes. A rude pictorial representation shows him seated and
giving
audience, in horrible state, with the upper part of his person
enveloped
by these writhing and entangled reptiles. [Footnote: This picture
and
some other equally grotesque illustrations, produced in a
primitive
style of wood engraving, are prefixed to David Cusick's History
of the
Six Nations. The artist to whom we owe them was probably the
historian
himself. My accomplished friend, Mrs. E. A. Smith, whose studies
have
thrown much light upon the mythology and language of the
Iroquois
nations, and especially of the Tuscaroras, was fortunate enough
to
obtain either the originals or early copies of these
extraordinary
efforts of native art.] But the grave Councillors of the
Canadian
Reservation, who recite his history as they have heard it from
their
fathers at every installation of a high chief, do not repeat
these
inventions of marvel-loving gossips, and only smile with
good-humored
derision when they are referred to.
There was at this time among the Onondagas a chief of high
rank, whose
name, variously written—Hiawatha, Hayenwatha, Ayonhwahtha,
Taoungwatha—is rendered, "he who seeks the wampum belt." He had
made
himself greatly esteemed by his wisdom and his benevolence. He
was now
past middle age. Though many of his friends and relatives had
perished
by the machinations of Atotarho, he himself had been spared.
The
qualities which gained him general respect had, perhaps, not
been
without influence even on that redoubtable chief. Hiawatha had
long
beheld with grief the evils which afflicted not only his own
nation, but
all the other tribes about them, through the continual wars in
which
they were engaged, and the misgovernment and miseries at home
which
these wars produced. With much meditation he had elaborated in
his mind
the scheme of a vast confederation which would ensure
universal
peace. In the mere plan of a confederation there was nothing new.
There
are probably few, if any, Indian tribes which have not, at one
time or
another, been members of a league or confederacy. It may almost
be said
to be their normal condition. But the plan which Hiawatha had
evolved
differed from all others in two particulars. The system which he
devised
was to be not a loose and transitory league, but a permanent
government.
While each nation was to retain its own council and its
management of
local affairs, the general control was to be lodged in a federal
senate,
composed of representatives elected by each nation, holding
office
during good behavior, and acknowledged as ruling chiefs
throughout the
whole confederacy. Still further, and more remarkably, the
confederation was not to be a limited one. It was to be
indefinitely
expansible. The avowed design of its proposer was to abolish
war
altogether. He wished the federation to extend until all the
tribes of
men should be included in it, and peace should everywhere reign.
Such is
the positive testimony of the Iroquois themselves; and their
statement,
as will be seen, is supported by historical evidence.
Hiawatha's first endeavor was to enlist his own nation in the
cause. He
summoned a meeting of the chiefs and people of the Onondaga
towns. The
summons, proceeding from a chief of his rank and reputation,
attracted a
large concourse. "They came together," said the narrator, "along
the
creeks, from all parts, to the general council-fire." [Footnote:
The
narrator here referred to was the Onondaga chief, Philip Jones,
known in
the council as Hanesehen (in Canienga, Enneserarenh), who, in
October,
1875, with two other chiefs of high rank, and the interpreter,
Daniel La
Fort, spent an evening in explaining to me the wampum records
preserved
at "Onondaga Castle," and repeating the history of the formation
of the
confederacy. The later portions of the narrative were
obtained
principally from the chiefs of the Canadian Iroquois, as will
be
hereafter explained.] But what effect the grand projects of the
chief,
enforced by the eloquence for which he was noted, might have had
upon
his auditors, could not be known. For there appeared among them
a
well-known figure, grim, silent and forbidding, whose terrible
aspect
overawed the assemblage. The unspoken displeasure of Atotarho
was
sufficient to stifle all debate, and the meeting dispersed.
This
result, which seems a singular conclusion of an Indian
council—the most
independent and free-spoken of all gatherings—is sufficiently
explained
by the fact that Atotarho had organized, among the more
reckless
warriors of his tribe, a band of unscrupulous partisans, who did
his
bidding without question, and took off by secret murder all
persons
against whom he bore a grudge. The knowledge that his followers
were
scattered through the assembly, prepared to mark for destruction
those
who should offend him, might make the boldest orator chary of
speech. Hiawatha alone was undaunted. He summoned a second
meeting,
which was attended by a smaller number, and broke up as before,
in
confusion, on Atotarho's appearance. The unwearied reformer sent
forth
his runners a third time; but the people were disheartened. When
the
day of the council arrived, no one attended. Then, continued
the
narrator, Hiawatha seated himself on the ground in sorrow. He
enveloped
his head in his mantle of skins, and remained for a long time
bowed down
in grief and thought. At length he arose and left the town,
taking his
course toward the southeast. He had formed a bold design. As
the
councils of his own nation were closed to him, he would have
recourse to
those of other tribes. At a short distance from the town (so
minutely
are the circumstances recounted) he passed his great antagonist,
seated
near a well-known spring, stern and silent as usual. No word
passed
between the determined representatives of war and peace; but it
was
doubtless not without a sensation of triumphant pleasure that
the
ferocious war-chief saw his only rival and opponent in council
going
into what seemed to be voluntary exile. Hiawatha plunged into
the
forest; he climbed mountains; he crossed a lake; he floated down
the
Mohawk river in a canoe. Many incidents of his journey are told,
and in
this part of the narrative alone some occurrences of a marvelous
cast
are related, even by the official historians. Indeed, the flight
of
Hiawatha from Onondaga to the country of the Caniengas is to the
Five
Nations what the flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina is to
the
votaries of Islam. It is the turning point of their history.
In
embellishing the narrative at this point, their imagination has
been
allowed a free course. Leaving aside these marvels, however, we
need
only refer here to a single incident, which may well enough have
been of
actual occurrence. A lake which Hiawatha crossed had shores
abounding in
small white shells. These he gathered and strung upon strings,
which he
disposed upon his breast, as a token to all whom he should meet
that he
came as a messenger of peace. And this, according to one
authority, was
the origin of wampum, of which Hiawatha was the inventor. That
honor,
however, is one which must be denied to him. The evidence of
sepulchral
relics shows that wampum was known to the mysterious
Mound-builders, as
well as in all succeeding ages. Moreover, if the significance of
white
wampum-strings as a token of peace had not been well known in his
day,
Hiawatha would not have relied upon them as a means of
proclaiming his
pacific purpose.
Early one morning he arrived at a Canienga town, the residence
of the
noted chief Dekanawidah, whose name, in point of celebrity, ranks
in
Iroquois tradition with those of Hiawatha and Atotarho. It is
probable
that he was known by reputation to Hiawatha, and not unlikely
that they
were related. According to one account Dekanawidah was an
Onondaga,
adopted among the Caniengas. Another narrative makes him a
Canienga by
birth. The probability seems to be that he was the son of an
Onondaga
father, who had been adopted by the Caniengas, and of a
Canienga
mother. That he was not of pure Canienga blood is shown by the
fact,
which is remembered, that his father had had successively three
wives,
one belonging to each of the three clans, Bear, Wolf, and
Tortoise,
which composed the Canienga nation. If the father had been of
that
nation (Canienga), he would have belonged to one of the Canienga
clans,
and could not then (according to the Indian law) have married
into it.
He had seven sons, including Dekanawidah, who, with their
families,
dwelt together in one of the "long houses" common in that day
among the
Iroquois. These ties of kindred, together with this fraternal
strength,
and his reputation as a sagacious councillor, gave Dekanawidah
great
influence among his people. But, in the Indian sense, he was not
the
leading chief. This position belonged to Tekarihoken (better
known in
books as Tecarihoga), whose primacy as the first chief of the
eldest
among the Iroquois nations was then, and is still,
universally
admitted. Each nation has always had a head-chief, to whom
belonged the
hereditary right and duty of lighting the council fire and taking
the
first place in public meetings. But among the Indians, as in
other
communities, hereditary rank and personal influence do not
always, or
indeed, ordinarily, go together. If Hiawatha could gain over
Dekanawidah
to his views, he would have done much toward the accomplishment
of his
purposes.
In the early dawn he seated himself on a fallen trunk, near
the spring
from which the inhabitants of the long house drew their water.
Presently
the wife of one of the brothers came out with a vessel of
elm-bark, and
approached the spring. Hiawatha sat silent and motionless.
Something in
his aspect awed the woman, who feared to address him. She
returned to
the house, and said to Dekanawidah, "A man, or a figure like a
man, is
seated by the spring, having his breast covered with strings of
white
shells." "It is a guest," said the chief to one of his brothers;
"go and
bring him in. We will make him welcome." Thus Hiawatha and
Dekanawidah—first met. They found in each other kindred spirits.
The
sagacity of the Canienga chief grasped at once the advantages of
the
proposed plan, and the two worked together in perfecting it, and
in
commending it to the people. After much discussion in council,
the
adhesion of the Canienga nation was secured. Dekanawidah then
dispatched
two of his brothers as ambassadors to the nearest tribe, the
Oneidas, to
lay the project before them. The Oneida nation is deemed to be
a
comparatively recent offshoot from the Caniengas. The difference
of
language is slight, showing that their separation was much later
than
that of the Onondagas. In the figurative speech of the Iroquois,
the
Oneida is the son, and the Onondaga is the brother, of the
Canienga. Dekanawidah had good reason to expect that it would not
prove
difficult to win the consent of the Oneidas to the proposed
scheme. But
delay and deliberation mark all public acts of the Indians.
The
ambassadors found the leading chief, Odatsehte, at his town on
the
Oneida creek. He received their message in a friendly way,
but—required
time for his people to consider it in council. "Come back in
another
day," he said to the messengers. In the political speech of the
Indians,
a day is understood to mean a year. The envoys carried back the
reply to
Dekanawidah and Hiawatha, who knew that they could do nothing but
wait
the prescribed time. After the lapse of a year, they repaired to
the
place of meeting. The treaty which initiated the great league was
then
and there ratified by the representatives of the Canienga and
Oneida
nations. The name of Odatsehte means "the quiver-bearer;" and
as
Atotarho, "the entangled," is fabled to have had his head
wreathed with
snaky locks, and as Hiawatha, "the wampum-seeker," is represented
to
have wrought shells into wampum, so the Oneida chief is reputed
to have
appeared at this treaty bearing at his shoulder a quiver full of
arrows.
The Onondagas lay next to the Oneidas. To them, or rather to
their
terrible chief, the next application was made. The first meeting
of
Atotarho and Dekanawidah is a notable event in Iroquois history.
At a
later day, a native artist sought to represent it in an
historical
picture, which has been already referred to. Atotarho is seated
in
solitary and surly dignity, smoking a long pipe, his head and
body
encircled with contorted and angry serpents. Standing before him
are two
figures which cannot be mistaken. The foremost, a plumed and
cinctured
warrior, depicted as addressing the Onondaga chief, holds in his
right
hand, as a staff, his flint-headed spear, the ensign, it may
be
supposed, which marks him as the representative of the Caniengas,
or
"People of the Flint." Behind him another plumed figure bears in
his
hand a bow with arrows, and at his shoulder a quiver. Divested of
its
mythological embellishments, the picture rudely represents the
interview
which actually took place. The immediate result was unpromising.
The
Onondaga chief coldly refused to entertain the project, which he
had
already rejected when proposed by Hiawatha. The ambassadors were
not
discouraged. Beyond the Onondagas were scattered the villages of
the
Cayugas, a people described by the Jesuit missionaries, at a
later day,
as the most mild and tractable of the Iroquois. They were
considered an
offshoot of the Onondagas, to whom they bore the same filial
relation
which the Oneidas bore to the Caniengas. The journey of the
advocates of
peace through the forest to the Cayuga capital, and their
reception, are
minutely detailed in the traditionary narrative. The Cayugas, who
had
suffered from the prowess and cruelty of the Onondaga chief,
needed
little persuasion. They readily consented to come into the
league, and
their chief, Akahenyonk ("The Wary Spy"), joined the Canienga and
Oneida
representatives in a new embassy to the Onondagas. Acting
probably upon
the advice of Hiawatha, who knew better than any other the
character of
the community and the chief with whom they had to deal, they
made
proposals highly flattering to the self-esteem which was the
most
notable trait of both ruler and people. The Onondagas should be
the
leading nation of the confederacy. Their chief town should be
the
federal capital, where the great councils of the league should be
held,
and where its records should be preserved. The nation should
be
represented in the council by fourteen senators, while no other
nation
should have more than ten. And as the Onondagas should be the
leading
tribe, so Atotarho should be the leading chief. He alone should
have the
right of summoning the federal council, and no act of the council
to
which he objected should be valid. In other words, an absolute
veto was
given to him. To enhance his personal dignity, two high chiefs
were
appointed as his special aids and counselors, his "Secretaries
of
State," so to speak. Other insignia of preeminence were to be
possessed
by him; and, in view of all these distinctions, it is not
surprising
that his successor, who two centuries later retained the same
prerogatives, should have been occasionally styled by the
English
colonists "the Emperor of the Five Nations." It might seem,
indeed, at
first thought, that the founders of the confederacy had
voluntarily
placed themselves and their tribes in a position of almost
abject
subserviency to Atotarho and his followers. But they knew too
well the
qualities of their people to fear for them any political
subjection. It
was certain that when once the league was established, and
its
representatives had met in council, character and intelligence
would
assume their natural sway, and mere artificial rank and dignity
would be
little regarded. Atotarho and his people, however, yielded either
to
these specious offers, or to the pressure which the combined
urgency of
the three allied nations now brought to bear upon them. They
finally
accepted the league; and the great chief, who had originally
opposed it,
now naturally became eager to see it as widely extended as
possible. He
advised its representatives to go on at once to the westward, and
enlist
the populous Seneca towns, pointing out how this might best be
done.
This advice was followed, and the adhesion of the Senecas was
secured by
giving to their two leading chiefs, Kanya-dariyo ("Beautiful
Lake") and
Shadekaronyes ("The Equal Skies"), the offices of military
commanders of
the confederacy, with the title of doorkeepers of the
"Long-house," that
being the figure by which the league was known.
The six national leaders who have been mentioned—Dekanawidah
for the
Caniengas, Odatsehte for the Oneidas, Atotarho for the
Onondagas,
Akahenyonk for the Cayugas, Kanyadariyo and Shadekaronyes for the
two
great divisions of the Senecas—met in convention near the
Onondaga
Lake, with Hiawatha for their adviser, and a vast concourse of
their
followers, to settle the terms and rules of their confederacy,
and to
nominate its first council. Of this council, nine members (or
ten, if
Dekanawidah be included) were assigned to the Caniengas, a like
number
to the Oneidas, fourteen to the lordly Onondagas, ten to the
Cayugas,
and eight to the Senecas. Except in the way of compliment, the
number
assigned to each nation was really of little consequence;
inasmuch as,
by the rule of the league, unanimity was exacted in all their
decisions. This unanimity, however, did not require the suffrage
of
every member of the council. The representatives of each nation
first
deliberated apart upon the question proposed. In this separate
council
the majority decided; and the leading chief then expressed in the
great
council the voice of his nation. Thus the veto of Atotarho ceased
at
once to be peculiar to him, and became a right exercised by each
of the
allied nations. This requirement of unanimity, embarrassing as it
might
seem, did not prove to be so in practice. Whenever a question
arose on
which opinions were divided, its decision was either postponed,
or some
compromise was reached which left all parties contented.
The first members of the council were appointed by the
convention—under
what precise rule is unknown; but their successors came in by a
method
in which the hereditary and the elective systems were
singularly
combined, and in which female suffrage had an important place.
When a
chief died or (as sometimes happened) was deposed for incapacity
or
misconduct, some member of the same family succeeded him. Rank
followed
the female line; and this successor might be any descendant of
the late
chief's mother or grandmother—his brother, his cousin or his
nephew—but never his son. Among many persons who might thus
be
eligible, the selection was made in the first instance by a
family
council. In this council the "chief matron" of the family, a
noble dame
whose position and right were well defined, had the deciding
voice. This
remarkable fact is affirmed by the Jesuit mission-ary Lafitau,
and the
usage remains in full vigor among the Canadian Iroquois to
this
day. [Footnote: "La dignité de chef est perpetuelle et
héréditaire dans
sa Cabane, passant toujours aux enfans de ses tantes, de ses
soeurs, on
de ses nièces du côté maternel. Dès
que l'arbre est tombé, il fault,
disent ils, le relever. La matrone, qui a la principale
autorité, après
en avoir conferé avec ceux de sa Cabane, en confère
de nouveau avec ceux
de sa Tribu [clan], à qui elle fait agréer oelui
qu'elle a choisi pour
succeder, ce qui lui est assez libre. Elle n'a pas toujours
égard au
droit d'ainesse, et d'ordinaire, elle prend celui qui paroit le
plus
propre à soûtenir ce rang par ses bonnes
qualités."—Lafitau: Maurs
des Savages Ameriquains, p. 471.] If there are two or more
members
of the family who seem to have equal claims, the nominating
matron
sometimes declines to decide between them, and names them both or
all,
leaving the ultimate choice to the nation or the federal council.
The
council of the nation next considers the nomination, and, if
dissatisfied, refers it back to the family for a new designation.
If
content, the national council reports the name of the candidate
to the
federal senate, in which resides the power of ratifying or
rejecting the
choice of the nation; but the power of rejection is rarely
exercised,
though that of expulsion for good cause is not unfrequently
exerted. The
new chief inherits the name of his predecessor. In this respect,
as in
some others, the resemblance of the Great Council to the English
House
of Peers is striking. As Norfolk succeeds to Norfolk, so
Tekarihoken
succeeds Tekarihoken. The great names of Hiawatha and Atotarho
are still
borne by plain farmer-councillors on the Canadian
Reservation.
When the League was established, Hiawatha had been adopted by
the
Canienga nation as one of their chiefs. The honor in which he was
held
by them is shown by his position on the roll of councillors, as
it has
been handed down from the earliest times. As the Canienga nation
is the
"elder brother," the names of its chiefs are first recited. At
the head
of the list is the leading Canienga chief, Tekarihoken, who
represents
the noblest lineage of the Iroquois stock. Next to him, and
second on
the roll, is the name of Hiawatha. That of his great
colleague,
Dekanawidah, nowhere appears. He was a member of the first
council; but
he forbade his people to appoint a successor to him. "Let the
others
have successors," he said proudly, "for others can advise you
like
them. But I am the founder of your league, and no one else can do
what I
have done." [Footnote: In Mr. Morgan's admirable work, "The
League of
the Iroquois," the list of Councillors (whom he styles
sachems), comprises the name of Dekanawidah—in his
orthography,
Daganoweda. During my last visit to my lamented friend (in
September,
1880), when we examined together my copy of the then newly
discovered
Book of Rites, in which he was greatly interested, this point
was
considered. The original notes which he made for his work
were
examined. It appeared that in the list as it was first written by
him,
from the dictation of a well-informed Seneca chief, the name
of
Dekanawidah was not comprised. A later, but erroneous suggestion,
from
another source, led him to believe that his first informant
was
mistaken, or that he had misunderstood him, and to substitute the
name
of Dekanawidah for the somewhat similar name of Shatekariwate (in
Seneca
Sadekeiwadeh), which stands third on the roll, immediately
following
that of Hiawatha. The term sachem, it may be added, is
an
Algonkin word, and one which Iroquois speakers have a difficulty
in
pronouncing. Their own name for a member of their Senate is
Royaner, derived from the root yaner, noble, and
precisely
equivalent in meaning to the English "nobleman" or "lord," as
applied to
a member of the House of Peers. It is the word by which the
missionaries
have rendered the title "Lord" in the New Testament.]
The boast was not unwarranted. Though planned by another, the
structure
had been reared mainly by his labors. But the Five Nations,
while
yielding abundant honor to the memory of Dekanawidah, have
never
regarded him with the same affectionate reverence which has
always clung
to the name of Hiawatha. His tender and lofty wisdom, his
wide-reaching
benevolence, and his fervent appeals to their better
sentiments,
enforced by the eloquence of which he was master, touched chords
in the
popular heart which have continued to respond until this day.
Fragments
of the speeches in which he addressed the council and the people
of the
league are still remembered and repeated. The fact that the
league only
carried out a part of the grand design which he had in view
is
constantly affirmed. Yet the failure was not due to lack of
effort. In
pursuance of his original purpose, when the league was firmly
established, envoys were sent to other tribes to urge them to
join it,
or at least to become allies. One of these embassies penetrated
to the
distant Cherokees, the hereditary enemies of the Iroquois
nations. For
some reason with which we are not acquainted, perhaps the
natural
suspicion or vindictive pride of that powerful community, this
mission
was a failure. Another, dispatched to the western Algonkins, had
better
success. A strict alliance was formed with the far-spread
Ojibway
tribes, and was maintained inviolate for at least two hundred
years,
until at length the influence of the French, with the sympathy of
the
Ojibways for the conquered Hurons, undid to some extent, though
not
entirely, this portion of Hiawatha's work.
His conceptions were beyond his time, and beyond ours; but
their effect,
within a limited sphere, was very great. For more than three
centuries
the bond which he devised held together the Iroquois nations in
perfect
amity. It proved, moreover, as he intended, elastic.—The
territory of
the Iroquois, constantly extending as their united strength made
itself
felt, became the "Great Asylum" of the Indian tribes. Of the
conquered
Eries and Hurons, many hundreds were received and adopted among
their
conquerors. The Tuscaroras, expelled by the English from North
Carolina,
took refuge with the Iroquois, and became the sixth nation of
the
League. From still further south, the Tuteloes and Saponies, of
Dakota
stock, after many wars with the Iroquois, fled to them from their
other
enemies, and found a cordial welcome. A chief still sits in the
council
as a representative of the Tuteloes, though the tribe itself has
been
swept away by disease, or absorbed in the larger nations.
Many
fragments of tribes of Algonkin lineage—Delawares,
Nanticokes,
Mohegans, Mississagas—sought the same hospitable protection,
which
never failed them. Their descendants still reside on the
Canadian
Reservation, which may well be styled an aboriginal "refuge of
nations,"
affording a striking evidence in our own day of the persistent
force of
a great idea, when embodied in practical shape by the energy of a
master
mind.
The name by which their constitution or organic law is known
among them
is kayánerenh, to which the epitaph kowa,
"great," is
frequently added. This word, kayánerenh, is
sometimes rendered
"law," or "league," but its proper meaning seems to be "peace."
It is
used in this sense by the missionaries, in their translations of
the
scriptures and the prayer-book. In such expressions as the
"Prince of
Peace," "the author of peace," "give peace in our time," we
find
kayánerenh employed with this meaning. Its root is
yaner,
signifying "noble," or "excellent," which yields, among many
derivatives, kayánere, "goodness," and
kayánerenh,
"peace," or "peacefulness." The national hymn of the confederacy,
sung
whenever their "Condoling Council" meets, commences with a
verse
referring to their league, which is literally rendered, "We come
to
greet and thank the PEACE" (kayánerenh). When the
list of their
ancient chiefs, the fifty original councillors, is chanted in
the
closing litany of the meeting, there is heard from time to time,
as the
leaders of each clan are named, an outburst of praise, in the
words—
"This was the roll of you—
You that combined in the work,
You that completed the work,
The GREAT PEACE." (Kayánerenh-kowa.)
The regard of Englishmen for their Magna Charta and Bill of
Rights, and
that of Americans for their national Constitution, seem weak
in
comparison with the intense gratitude and reverence of the Five
Nations
for the "Great Peace," which Hiawatha and his colleagues
established for
them. Of the subsequent life of Hiawatha, and of his death, we
have no
sure information. The records of the Iroquois are historical, and
not
biographical. As Hiawatha had been made a chief among the
Caniengas, he
doubtless continued to reside with that nation. A tradition,
which is in
itself highly probable, represents him as devoting himself to
the
congenial work of clearing away the obstructions in the streams
which
intersect the country then inhabited by the confederated nations,
and
which formed the chief means of communication between them. That
he
thus, in some measure, anticipated the plans of De Witt Clinton
and his
associates, on a smaller scale, but perhaps with a larger
statesmanship,
we may be willing enough to believe. A wild legend recorded by
some
writers, but not told of him by the Canadian Iroquois, and
apparently
belonging to their ancient mythology, gives him an apotheosis,
and makes
him ascend to heaven in a white canoe. It may be proper to dwell
for a
moment on the singular complication of mistakes which has
converted this
Indian reformer and statesman into a mythological personage.
When by the events of the Revolutionary war the original
confederacy was
broken up, the larger portion of the people followed Brant to
Canada. The refugees comprised nearly the whole of the Caniengas,
and
the greater part of the Onondagas and Cayugas, with many members
of the
other nations. In Canada their first proceeding was to
reestablish, as
far as possible, their ancient league, with all its laws and
ceremonies. The Onondagas had brought with them most of their
wampum
records, and the Caniengas jealously preserved the memories of
the
federation, in whose formation they had borne a leading part.
The
history of the league continued to be the topic of their
orators
whenever a new chief was installed into office. Thus the
remembrance of
the facts has been preserved among them with much clearness
and
precision, and with little admixture of mythological elements.
With the
fragments of the tribes which remained on the southern side of
the Great
Lakes the case was very different. A feeble pretense was made,
for a
time, of keeping up the semblance of the old confederacy; but
except
among the Senecas, who, of all the Five Nations, had had least to
do
with the formation of the league, the ancient families which
had
furnished the members of their senate, and were the conservators
of
their history, had mostly fled to Canada or the West. The result
was
that among the interminable stories with which the common people
beguile
their winter nights, the traditions of Atotarho and Hiawatha
became
intermingled with the legends of their mythology. An
accidental
similarity, in the Onondaga dialect, between the name of Hiawatha
and
that of one of their ancient divinities, led to a confusion
between the
two, which has misled some investigators. This deity bears, in
the
sonorous Canienga tongue, the name of Taronhiawagon, meaning "the
Holder
of the Heavens." The Jesuit missionaries style him "the great god
of the
Iroquois." Among the Onondagas of the present day, the name is
abridged
to Taonhiawagi, or Tahiawagi. The confusion between this name and
that
of Hiawatha (which, in another form, is pronounced Tahionwatha)
seems to
have begun more than a century ago; for Pyrteus, the Moravian
missionary, heard among the Iroquois (according to Heckewelder)
that the
person who first proposed the league was an ancient Mohawk,
named
Thannawege. Mr. J. V. H. Clarke, in his interesting History of
Onondaga,
makes the name to have been originally Ta-oun-ya-wat-ha, and
describes
the bearer as "the deity who presides over fisheries and
hunting-grounds." He came down from heaven in a white canoe, and
after
sundry adventures, which remind one of the labors of Hercules,
assumed
the name of Hiawatha (signifying, we are told, "a very wise
man"), and
dwelt for a time as an ordinary mortal among men, occupied in
works of
benevolence. Finally, after founding the confederacy and
bestowing many
prudent counsels upon the people, he returned to the skies by the
same
conveyance in which he had descended. This legend, or, rather,
congeries
of intermingled legends, was communicated by Clark to
Schoolcraft, when
the latter was compiling his "Notes on the Iroquois." Mr.
Schoolcraft,
pleased with the poetical cast of the story, and the euphonious
name,
made confusion worse confounded by transferring the hero to a
distant
region and identifying him with Manabozho, a fantastic divinity
of the
Ojibways. Schoolcraft's volume, which he chose to entitle "The
Hiawatha
Legends," has not in it a single fact or fiction relating either
to
Hiawatha himself or to the Iroquois deity Taronhiawagon. Wild
Ojibway
stories concerning Manabozho and his comrades form the staple of
its
contents. But it is to this collection that we owe the charming
poem of
Longfellow; and thus, by an extraordinary fortune, a grave
Iroquois
lawgiver of the fifteenth century has become, in modern
literature, an
Ojibway demigod, son of the West Wind, and companion of the
tricksy
Paupukkeewis, the boastful Iagoo, and the strong Kwasind. If a
Chinese
traveler, during the middle ages, inquiring into the history
and
religion of the western nations, had confounded King Alfred with
King
Arthur, and both with Odin, he would not have made a more
preposterous
confusion of names and characters than that which has hitherto
disguised
the genuine personality of the great Onondaga reformer.
[Footnote: This
subject is further discussed in the Appendix, Note D.]
About the main events of his history, and about his character
and
purposes, there can be no reasonable doubt. We have the wampum
belts
which he handled, and whose simple hieroglyphics preserve the
memory of
the public acts in which he took part. We have, also, in the
Iroquois
"Book of Rites," which in the present volume is given in its
original
form, a still more clear and convincing testimony to the
character both
of the legislator and of the people for whom his institutions
were
designed. This book, sometimes called the "Book of the
Condoling
Council," might properly enough be styled an Iroquois Veda. It
comprises
the speeches, songs, and other ceremonies, which, from the
earliest
period of the confederacy, have composed the proceedings of
their
council when a deceased chief is lamented and his successor is
installed
in office. The fundamental laws of the league, a list of their
ancient
towns, and the names of the chiefs who constituted their first
council,
chanted in a kind of litany, are also comprised in the
collection. The
contents, after being preserved in memory, like the Vedas, for
many
generations, were written down by desire of the chiefs, when
their
language was first reduced to writing; and the book is therefore
more
than a century old. Its language, archaic when written, is now
partly
obsolete, and is fully understood by only a few of the oldest
chiefs. It
is a genuine Indian composition, and must be accepted as
disclosing the
true character of its authors. The result is remarkable enough.
Instead
of a race of rude and ferocious warriors, we find in this book a
kindly
and affectionate people, full of sympathy for their friends in
distress,
considerate to their women, tender to their children, anxious for
peace,
and imbued with a profound reverence for their constitution and
its
authors. We become conscious of the fact that the aspect in which
these
Indians have presented themselves to the outside world has been
in a
large measure deceptive and factitious. The ferocity, craft and
cruelty,
which have been deemed their leading traits, have been merely
the
natural accompaniments of wars of self-preservation, and no
more
indicated their genuine character than the war-paint, plume and
tomahawk
of the warrior displayed the customary guise in which he appeared
among
his own people. The cruelties of war, when war is a struggle
for
national existence, are common to all races. The persistent
desire for
peace, pursued for centuries in federal unions, and in alliances
and
treaties with other nations, has been manifested by few as
steadily as
by the countrymen of Hiawatha. The sentiment of universal
brotherhood
which directed their policy has never been so fully developed in
any
branch of the Aryan race, unless it may be found incorporated in
the
religious quietism of Buddha and his followers.
CHAPTER III.
THE BOOK OF RITES.
For a proper appreciation of this peculiar composition, some
further
particulars respecting its origin and character will be needed.
During
my earlier visits to the Reserve of the Six Nations, near
Brantford, I
had heard of an Indian book which was used at their
"Condoling
Councils," the most important of their many public gatherings.
But it
was not until the month of September, 1879, that I had an
opportunity of
seeing the work. At that time two copies of the book were brought
to me
by the official holders, two of the principal chiefs of the
confederacy. One of these was Chief John "Smoke" Johnson, who for
many
years had held the high office of Speaker of the Great Council,
though,
of late, yielding to age and infirmity, he has withdrawn from the
public
performance of its duties. His second name is a rude rendering of
his
truly poetical Indian appellation, Sakayen-gwaraton, or
"Disappearing
Mist." It signifies properly, I was told, the haze which rises
from the
ground in an autumn morning and vanishes as the day advances.
His
English name, and, in part, his blood, Chief Johnson derives from
no
less distinguished an ancestor than Sir William Johnson, who
played so
notable a part in colonial history during the last century, and
who
exercised, perhaps, a greater influence on the destiny of the
Iroquois
than any other individual since the formation of their
confederacy. To
him, indeed, may be ascribed the distinction, such as it is,
of
destroying the work which Hiawatha and Dekanawidah had founded.
But for
the influence over the Indians which he had acquired, and was
able to
bequeath to others, it is probable that the Six Nations would
have
remained neutral during the Revolutionary War, and the disruption
of
their League would not have taken place. Yet there can be no
doubt that
he was sincerely attached to them, and desired their good.
Unfortunately
for them, they held, as was natural, only the second place in
his
affections. He was, by adoption, an Iroquois chief, but his
first
allegiance was due to his native country, to whose interests,
both in
the war with France and in the separation which he foresaw
between
England and her colonies, he did not hesitate to sacrifice the
welfare
of his red brethren. Against his subtle arts and overmastering
energy
the wisest of their statesmen, worthy successors of the great
founders
of their constitution, strove in vain, on each occasion, to
maintain
that neutrality which was evidently the true policy of their
people. [Footnote: For the confirmation of these statements see
the
excellent biographies of Sir William Johnson and Joseph Brant,
by
Wm. L. Stone, passim.]
Sakayengwaraton is not an elected chief, nor does he bear one
of the
hereditary titles of the Great Council, in which he holds so
distinguished a station. Indeed, his office is one unknown to
the
ancient constitution of the Kanonsionni. It is the creation of
the
British Government, to which he owes, with the willing consent of
his
own people, his rank and position in the Council. The
Provincial
administrators saw the need of a native official who should be,
like the
Speaker of the English House of Commons, the mouthpiece of the
Council,
and the intermediary between it and the representative of the
Crown. The
grandson of Sir William Johnson was known as a brave warrior, a
capable
leader, and an eloquent speaker. In the war of 1812, at the early
age of
twenty, he had succeeded an elder brother in the command of the
Indian
contingent, and had led his dusky followers with so much skill
and
intrepidity as to elicit high praise from the English commander.
His
eloquence was noted, even among a race of orators. I can well
believe
what I have heard of its effects, as even in his old age, when
an
occasion has for a moment aroused his spirit, I have not known
whether
most to admire the nobleness and force of his sentiments and
reasoning,
or the grace and flowing ease with which he delivered the
stately
periods of his sonorous language. He has been a worthy successor
of the
distinguished statesmen, Garagontieh, Garangula, Decanasora,
Canasatego,
Logan, and others, who in former years guided the destinies of
his
people. He is considered to have a better knowledge of the
traditions
and ancient usages of the Six Nations than any other member of
the
tribes, and is the only man now living who can tell the meaning
of every
word of the "Book of Rites."
The other chief to whom I have referred is the Onondaga
Councillor who
is known to the whites as John Buck, but who bears in council the
name
of Skanawati ("Beyond the River"), one of the fifty titular names
which
have descended from the time of Hiawatha. He is the official
keeper of
the "wampum records" of the confederacy, an important trust,
which, to
his knowledge, has been in his family for at least four
generations. His
rank, his character, and his eloquence make him now, virtually,
the
Iroquois premier—an office which among the Six Nations, as among
the
Athenians of old and the English of modern days, is both unknown
to the
constitution and essential to its working. His knowledge of the
legends
and customs of his people is only inferior to that of the more
aged
Speaker of the Council.
The account which Chief J. S. Johnson gave me of the book may
be briefly
told. The English missionaries reduced the Canienga language to
writing
in the early part of the last century. The Jesuit fathers,
indeed, had
learned and written the language—which they styled the
Iroquois—fifty
years before; but it does not appear that they had instructed any
of the
Indians in the art of writing it, as their successors in the
Eastern
Province have since done. The English missionaries took pains to
do
this. The liturgy of their church was printed in the Mohawk
tongue, at
New York, as early as the year 1714. [Footnote: This date is
given in
the preface to the Mohawk Prayer Book of 1787. This first version
of the
liturgy was printed under the direction of the Rev. Wm. Andrews,
the
missionary of the "New England Society."] By the middle of the
century
there were many members of the tribe who could write in the
well-devised
orthography of the missionaries—an orthography which anticipated
in
most points the well known "Pickering alphabet," now generally'
employed
in writing the Indian languages of North America. The chiefs of
the
Great Council, at once conservative and quick to learn, saw
the
advantages which would accrue from preserving, by this novel
method, the
forms of their most important public duty—that of creating
new
chiefs—and the traditions connected with their own body. They
caused
the ceremonies, speeches and songs, which together made up
the
proceedings of the Council when it met for the two purposes,
always
combined, of condolence and induction, to be written down in the
words
in which they had been preserved in memory for many generations.
A
Canienga chief, named David, a friend of Brant, is said to
have
accomplished the work. In Stone's Life of Sir William Johnson,
mention
is made of a Mohawk chief, "David of Schoharie," who in May,
1757, led a
troop of Indians from his town to join the forces under Sir
William, in
his expedition to Crown Point, to repel the French invaders.
[Footnote:
Life of Sir William Johnson, Vol. II. p. 29] Brant appears
to
have been in this expedition. [Footnote: Ibid., p. 174] It is
highly
probable that in Chief David of Schoharie we have the compiler,
or
rather the scribe, of this "Iroquois Veda."
The copy of this book which Chief J. S. Johnson possessed was
made by
himself under the following circumstances: During the prevalence
of the
Asiatic cholera, in 1832, the tribes on the Reserve suffered
severely. Chief Johnson, then a young man and not yet a leader in
the
Great Council, was active in attending on the sick. He was called
to
visit an aged chief, who was not expected to live. The old
chief
informed him that he had this book in his possession, and advised
him,
as he was one of the few who could write the language, to make a
copy of
it, lest by any accident the original should be lost. Johnson
followed
this advice, and copied the book on loose sheets of paper, from
which he
afterwards transcribed it into a small unbound book, resembling
a
schoolboy's copy-book. He states that the original book
contained,
besides the ceremonies of the Condoling Council, an addition by a
later
hand, comprising some account of the more recent history of the
Six
Nations, and particularly of their removal from New York to
Canada. This
portion of it he unfortunately omitted to copy, and shortly
afterwards
the book itself was destroyed, when the house of the old chief
was
accidentally burned.
The other copy which I transcribed was held by Chief John
Buck, in his
official capacity of record-keeper. It is written in a
somewhat
different orthography. The syllables are separated, as in the
usual
style of Indian hymnbooks, and some of the words, particularly
the
proper names, show by their forms that the person who copied the
book
was an Onondaga. The copy was evidently not made from that of
Chief
Johnson, as it supplies some omissions in that copy. On the other
hand,
it omits some matters, and, in particular, nearly all the
adjurations
and descriptive epithets which form the closing litany
accompanying the
list of hereditary councillors. The copy appears, from a
memorandum
written in it, to have been made by one "John Green," who, it
seems, was
formerly a pupil of the Mohawk Institute at Brantford. It bears
the
date of November, 1874. I could not learn where he found his
original.
The translation has been made from the dictation of Chief J.
S. Johnson,
who explained the meaning of the archaic words in the modern
Canienga
speech. This was interpreted in English by his son, Chief
George
H. M. Johnson, and afterwards more fully elucidated by my
esteemed
friend, the Rev. Isaac Bearfoot, who kindly came from his parish,
at
Point Edward (near Sarnia), to the Reserve, to assist me in
this
work. Mr. Bearfoot is an Onondaga by birth, but a Canienga by
adoption,
and has a thorough knowledge of the Canienga language. He
prepared the
revised edition of the hymnbook in that language, which is now
used on
the Reserve. He is a good English scholar, and, having been
educated in
Toronto for the ministry, has filled for some years, with
much
acceptance, the office of pastor to a white congregation of the
Church
of England. I am greatly indebted to him for his judicious
assistance,
and, finally, for a complete revision of the entire version of
the
Canienga portion of the book.
To my friend Chief George Johnson I am under still greater
obligations. Mr. Johnson, as has been stated, is the son of
Chief
J. S. Johnson, and is himself a high chief of the Canienga
nation. He
bears in the Great Council the name of Teyonhehkwen (otherwise
spelt
Deyonheghgonh), meaning "Double Life," one of the titular names
which
were borne by the companions of Hiawatha and Atotarho in the
first
council. He succeeded in this title, according to the rules of
the
confederacy, his maternal uncle, on the nomination of his mother,
as the
chief matron of the family. Mr. Johnson is an educated gentleman.
In
early life he was a pupil of the English missionaries. He now
holds the
position of Government Interpreter for the Six Nations, and is,
in fact,
the chief executive officer of the Canadian government on the
Reserve. His duties have several times brought him into collision
with
the white ruffians who formerly infested the Reserve, and from
whom he
has on two occasions suffered severe injuries, endangering his
life. His
courage and firmness, however, have been finally successful in
subduing
this mischief, and the Reserve is now as secure and as free
from
disorder as any part of Canada. To Chief, George Johnson's
assistance
and encouragement I owe most of the information contained in
these
pages, and I am glad to have an opportunity of paying him this
tribute
of respect and gratitude.
The second or supplementary part of the Book, which is in the
Onondaga
dialect, was found on the, small Reservation in the State of New
York,
near Syracuse, where a feeble remnant of the great Onondaga
nation still
cling to the home of their forefathers. In October, 1875, during
my
first visit to Onondaga Castle, as this Reservation is called,
I
obtained from the intelligent interpreter, Daniel La Fort—a son
of the
distinguished chief Abram La Fort (Dehatkatons), who is
commemorated in
Clark's "Onondaga"—a list of the original councillors in the
Onondaga
dialect, and also a copy, in the same dialect, of the "Condoling
Song,"
which I had heard sung on the Canadian Reserve, and which I
afterwards
found in the Canienga Book of Rites. He read them to me from a
small
manuscript book, in which, as I then supposed, he had noted them
for his
own convenience. When I afterwards discovered the Canienga book,
it
occurred to me that I might have been mistaken on this point, and
that
the manuscript from which he read was possibly a copy of the Book
of
Rites in the Onondaga dialect. To clear up this point, I again
visited
Onondaga Castle, in September, 1880. I then found, to my
great
gratification, that his book was not a copy, but a valuable
addition, or
rather an essential complement, to the Canienga book. The
last-named
book comprises the speeches which are addressed by the
representatives
of the three elder nations to the younger members of the
League,
whenever a chief who belonged to the latter is lamented. The
Onondaga
book, on the other hand, gives us the exhortations which are
addressed
by the younger nations to the elder when a chief of the latter
is
mourned. The circumstance to which it owes its preservation on
the
Onondaga Reserve is easily explained. Of late years, since
the
chieftainships among the New York Senecas and Tuscaroras have
been made
purely elective offices, the only body of Indians in that State
among
whom the original system of mingled descent and appointment has
been
retained is the remnant of the intensely conservative Onondagas.
Among
these, in spite of missionary efforts continued for two
centuries,
paganism still lingers, and chiefs are still "raised up" as
nearly as
possible after the ancient fashion. When a chief dies, the
members of
his family or clan select another, who is presented to the
national
council for induction. The ceremonies of condolence, with which
the
proceedings commence, are modeled after the primitive form. As
the
Onondagas were one of the elder nations, the addresses of
condolence
must proceed from a younger brother. Fortunately for this
purpose, a few
Oneidas reside on the Reserve, among whom is a single chief, by
name
Abram Hill. To him is committed the duty of representing the
"younger
brothers" on this occasion, and with it the charge of the
wampum
strings, which are produced occasionally as the ceremony
proceeds, each
string representing one section or topic of the condoling
address.
La Fort said that he had copied his book from a manuscript in
his
father's handwriting. This manuscript, unfortunately, was lost,
and he
could not say whether his rather had first written it down from
memory,
or had merely transcribed it from an earlier composition. However
this
may have been, the substance of the composition undoubtedly dates
from a
period preceding the disruption of the confederacy. The
language,
indeed, so far as can be judged from the very irregular
orthography, is
modern. If, as there is reason to suppose, the composition is
ancient,
it has evidently undergone a "revision" at the hands of the
later
copyists. In former times, as we know from the Jesuit
vocabularies, the
sound of r existed in the Onondaga dialect. Since their
day this
sound has disappeared from it entirely. In La Fort's manuscript
the
letter frequently occurred, but always, as his pronunciation
showed,
either as a diacritical sign following the vowel a, to
give to
that vowel the sound of a in "far," or else as
representing
itself this vowel sound. Thus the syllable which should properly
be
written sa was written by La Fort either sar or
sr.
But, though the language is modern, the speeches themselves, as I
am
assured by Chief John Buck, are precisely those which are still
in use
among his people in Canada, and which are believed to have
been
preserved in memory from the days of their forefathers.
[Footnote: The
disappearance of a vocal element from a language is a phenomenon
with
which etymologists are familiar. The loss of the Greek digamma is
a
well-known instance. The harsh guttural, resembling the German
ch.
which formerly existed in the English language, has vanished from
it,
leaving its traces in the uncouth orthography of such words
as
plough, high, though, and the like. Within
the past
three centuries the sound of I has been lost from many
words,
such as walk, talk, balm and calm.
The sound
of r is disappearing from a large portion of the language.
In
ordinary speech, arm rhymes with calm,
morning with
fanning, higher with Sophia. Modern French,
as is
well known, has attained its present euphony through the
disappearance
of consonantal elements from many words in which they formerly
existed.]
The translation of La Fort's book was procured from him and
another
educated member of his tribe; but there was not time to obtain
all the
elucidations needed to ensure precise verbal accuracy
throughout.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CONDOLING COUNCIL.—CLANS AND CLASSES.
The name usually given to the Book of Rites, or rather to its
contents,
is, in the Canienga dialect, Okayondonghsera Yondennase
(or in
the French missionary orthography, Okaiontonhstra
Iontennase),
which may be rendered "Ancient Rites of the Condoling
Council."
[Footnote: Okaionlonhsera is a substantive derived
from
akaion, old, or ancient. The termination sera gives
it an
abstract sense. "The antiquities," or rather "the ancientnesses,"
is the
nearest literal rendering which our language allows,
Iontennase
is a verbal form, derived from kitenre (in Bruyas,
gentenron), to pity, or sympathize with. It may be
rendered "they
who sympathize," or "the condolers." Both, words, however, have
acquired
a special meaning in their application to these ceremonies.]
Among the
many councils, civil and religious, tribal and federal, in which
the
public spirit and social temper of the Iroquois found their
most
congenial and most popular mode of display, the Yondennase,
the
Condoling (or Mourning) Council, held the highest rank. It was,
in a
certain way, typical of the whole, and comprised the elements of
all the
other councils. In its earlier form this council was not peculiar
to the
Iroquois. We know, from the Jesuit reports, that it was the
custom of
the Hurons to hold a public lamentation for the death of a chief,
and at
the same time to appoint another who should take his place and
assume
his name. But that which among the Hurons was merely a tribal
custom
became, in the Iroquois form of government, an important
institution,
essential to the maintenance of their state. By the ordinances of
their
League, it was required that the number of their federal senate
should
be maintained undiminished. On the death of one of its members,
it was
the duty of the nation to which he belonged to notify the other
nations
of the event, and of the time and place at which he would be
lamented
and his successor installed. The notice was given in the usual
manner,
by official messengers, who bore for credentials certain strings
of
wampum, appropriate to the occasion. The place of meeting was
commonly
the chief town of the nation which had suffered the loss. In this
nation
a family council, under the presidency, and subject, indeed (as
has been
shown), to the controlling decision, of the chief matron of the
deceased
senator's kindred—usually his mother, if she survived him—was
in the
meantime convened to select his successor. The selection must
be
approved both by his clan and by his nation; but as their
sentiments
were generally known beforehand, this approval was rarely
withheld. Indeed, the mischief resulting from an unsuitable
choice was
always likely to be slight; for both the national council and
the
federal senate had the right of deposing any member who was
found
unqualified for the office.
At the appointed day the chiefs of the other nations
approached the
place of meeting. A multitude of their people, men and women,
usually
accompanied them, prepared to take part both in the exhibitions
of grief
and in the festivities which always followed the installation of
the new
councillor. The approaching chiefs halted when they reached the
border
of the "opening," or cleared space surrounding the town. Here
took place
the "preliminary ceremony," styled in the Book of Rites,
"Deyughnyonkwarakda," a word which means simply "at the
edge of
the woods." At this point a fire was kindled, a pipe was lighted
and
passed around with much formality, and an address of welcome was
made by
the principal chief of the inviting nation. The topics of this
address
comprised a singular mixture of congratulation and condolence,
and seem
to have been prescribed forms, which had come down from
immemorial
antiquity, as appropriate to the occasion.
The guests were then formally conducted—"led by the hand," as
the Book
recites—to the Council House of the town. They seem, anciently
at
least, to have advanced in the order of their clans. The towns
belonging
to the Wolf clan were first enumerated—probably as the chiefs
belonging
to them took their places—then the towns of the Tortoise clan
(or
double clan, as it is styled), and finally those of the Bear
clan. In
all, twenty-three towns are named. Five of them are expressly
stated to
have been "added lately." The residue are supposed to be the
names of
the towns in which the people of the Five Nations resided at the
time
when the confederacy was formed, though this point is uncertain.
That
few of these can now be identified, is what would naturally
be
expected. It is well known that the Indians had the custom of
removing
their towns from time to time, at intervals varying from ten to
twenty
years, as the fuel in their neighborhood became exhausted, and as
the
diminished crops under their primitive mode of agriculture showed
the
need of fresher soil. Only those villages would be permanent
whose
localities offered some special advantages, as fortresses,
fishing
places, or harbors. [Footnote: See Appendix, note E.]
This list of towns has another peculiarity which arrests
the
attention. It apparently comprises all the towns of the League,
but
these are divided among only three clans, those of the Wolf,
the
Tortoise and the Bear. The other clans of the confederacy are not
once
named in the book. Yet there are indications which show that when
the
list of chiefs which concludes the book was written, at a date
long
after this list of towns was first recited, other clans existed
in three
of the nations. This is an important point, which merits
further
consideration. Those who have read the admirable account of the
"League
of the Iroquois," by Morgan, and his philosophic work on
"Ancient
Society," are aware that he has brought out and elucidated with
much
clearness and force the nature and results of the remarkable clan
system
which prevails among the North American Indians. It is not
universal, as
it does not seem to be known among the widely scattered bands of
the
Crees and the Athapascans, or among the Indians of Oregon.
[Footnote:
See Ancient Society, pp. 167, 175, 177.] It was found,
however,
among the great majority of tribes in the region north of Mexico
and
east of the Rocky Mountains, and was sufficiently alike in all
to
indicate a common origin. Mr. Morgan finds this origin in a
kinship,
real or supposed, among the members of each clan. He considers
the clan,
or gens, and not the single family, to be the natural unit of
primitive
society. It is, in his view, a stage through which the human race
passes
in its progress from the savage state to civilization. It is
difficult,
however, to reconcile this theory with the fact that among some
races,
as for example, the Polynesian and Feejeean, which are in
precisely the
same stage of social advancement as the North American Indians,
this
institution is unknown; and even among the Indians, as has been
said, it
is not everywhere found. There are many indications which seem to
show
that the system is merely an artificial arrangement, instituted
for
social convenience. It is natural, in the sense that the desire
for
association is natural to man. The sentiment is one which
manifests
itself alike in all stages of society. The guilds of the middle
ages,
the masonic and other secret brotherhoods, religious
organizations,
trade unions, clubs, and even political parties, are all
manifestations
of this associative instinct. The Indian clan was simply a
brotherhood,
an aggregate of persons united by a common tie, sometimes of
origin,
sometimes merely of locality. These brotherhoods were not
permanent, but
were constantly undergoing changes, forming, dividing,
coalescing,
vanishing. The names of many of them show their recent origin.
The
Chicasas have a "Spanish clan." [Footnote: Ancient
Society,
p. 163.] The Shawnees had a "Horse clan." [Footnote: Ibid, p.
168.] The
Iroquois, of Eastern Canada, made up of fragments of all the
Five
Nations, had an "Onondaga clan," and an "Oneida clan."
[Footnote:
Rotisennakete, and Rotinenhiotronon. See J. A. Cuoq, Lexique
de la
Langut Iroquoise, p. 154. The proper meaning of these names
will be
hereafter shown.] It is a curious fact that, as Mr. Morgan
states, "the
Iroquois claim to have originated a division of the people into
tribes
[clans or gentes] as a means of creating new relationships, to
bind the
people more firmly together. It is further asserted by them that
they
forced or introduced this social organization among the
Cherokees, the
Chippeways (Massasaugas) and several other Indian nations, with
whom, in
ancient times, they were in constant intercourse." "The fact," he
adds,
"that this division of the people of the same nation into tribes
does
not prevail generally among our Indian races, favors the
assertions of
the Iroquois." [Footnote: League of the Iroquois, p.
91.]
Further inquiry and reflection led this distinguished
investigator to
take a totally different view, and to go to what may be deemed
the
opposite extreme of regarding this clan system as an essential
stage in
the growth of human society.
There can be no question that an idea of kinship pervaded the
clan
system, and was its ruling element. It may, in many instances,
have been
purely imaginary and, so to speak, figurative, like the
"brotherhood" of
our secret associations; but it was none the less efficacious
and
binding. As the members of a clan regarded themselves as brothers
and
sisters, marriages among them were not allowed. This led, of
course, to
constant intermarriages between members of the different clans of
which
a nation was composed, thus binding the whole nation together.
What the
founders of the Iroquois League did was to extend this system of
social
alliances through the entire confederacy. The Wolf clansman of
the
Caniengas was deemed a brother of the Wolf clansman of the
Senecas,
though originally there may have been no special connection
between
them. It was a tie apparently artificial in its origin, as much
so as
the tie which binds a freemason of Berlin to a freemason of
New
Orleans. But it came to have all the strength of a tie of
kindred. Mr. Morgan has well pointed out the wisdom shown by
the
Iroquois founders, in availing themselves of this powerful
element of
strength in the formation of their federal constitution.
[Footnote:
League of the Iroquois, p. 82, et seq.] Their
government,
though politically a league of nations, was socially a
combination of
clans. In this way Hiawatha and Dekanawidah may be deemed to have
given
to the system of clan-ship an extension and a force which it had
not
previously possessed; and it is by no means unlikely that this
example
may, as the Iroquois assert, have acted upon neighboring nations,
and
led to a gradual increase in the number and influence of
these
brotherhoods.
But here a discrepancy presents itself in the Iroquois system,
which has
perplexed all who have written on the subject. Two of the Six
Nations,
the Caniengas and Oneidas, had only three clans, the Wolf, the
Tortoise
and the Bear; while the others had, or at least have, each eight
or
nine, and these variously styled in the different nations. The
three
which have been named are, indeed, found in all; but besides
these
three, the Onondagas have five, Deer, Eel, Beaver, Ball and
Snipe. The
Cayugas and Senecas have also eight clans, which are similar to
those of
the Onondagas, except that among the Cayugas the Ball clan is
replaced
by the Hawk, and among the Senecas both Ball and Eel disappear,
and are
replaced by Hawk and Heron. The Tuscaroras have likewise eight
clans,
but among these are neither the Hawk, the Heron or the Ball. In
lieu of
them the Wolf clan is divided into two, the Gray Wolf and the
Yellow
Wolf, and the Tortoise furnishes two, the Great Tortoise and the
Little
Tortoise; [Footnote: It is deserving of notice that this division
of the
Tortoise clan seems to exist in a nascent form among the
Onondagas. The
name of this clan is Hahnowa, which is the general word for
tortoise;
but the clan is divided into two septs or subdivisions, the
Hanyatengona, or Great Tortoise, and the Nikahnowaksa, or
Little
Tortoise, which together are held to constitute but one clan. How
or why
the distinction is kept up I did not learn. In the Book of Rites
the
Tortoise clan is also spoken of in the dual number—"the two
clans of
the Tortoise." It is probable, therefore, that this partial
subdivision
extended throughout the original Five Nations, and became
complete among
the Tuscaroras.] the Bear, the Beaver, the Eel and the Snipe
remain, as
among the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas.
We are naturally led to ask how it happens that only three
clans are
found among the Caniengas and Oneidas, while the other nations
have
eight. Mr. Morgan was inclined to think that the other five once
existed
among the two former nations, and had become extinct.
[Footnote:
League of the Iroquois, p. 81. Ancient Society, p. 92.]
The
native annalists of those nations, however, affirm that no more
than
three clans ever existed among them. This assertion is now
confirmed,
indirectly but strongly, by the testimony of the Book of Rites,
which
seems to show that only three clans were recognized in the
whole
confederacy when the League was formed. All the towns of the
united
nations were distributed among the three primary clans of the
Wolf, the
Tortoise and the Bear. If the other clans existed, it was
probably
merely as septs or divisions of these three. [Footnote: "The
Turtle
family, or the Anowara, was the most noble of the whole League;
next
came the Ochquari, or clan of the Bear, and the Oquacho, or that
of the
Wolf. These three were so prominent that Zeisberger hardly
recognizes
the others."—De Sckweinitz's Life of Zeisberger,
p.79. Zeisberger had been adopted into the nation of the
Onondagas and
the clan of the Tortoise. His knowledge of the laws and usages of
the
Kanonsionni was acquired chiefly in that nation. Charlevoix makes
the
Bear the leading clan of the Iroquois. It would seem that the
relative
rank of the clans varied in the different nations. The chiefs of
the
Wolf clan come first in the list of Oneida councillors.] It is
more
likely, however, that these additional clans were of later
creation or
introduction. Their origin, as well as their restriction to the
three
western nations, may be easily explained. The successive
conquests
achieved by the Iroquois in the early part of the seventeenth
century
had the result of incorporating with their people great numbers
of
Hurons, Eries, Attiwandaronks, Andastes, and other captives
belonging to
tribes of the same stock, speaking similar dialects, and having
usages
closely resembling those of their captors. Of these captives,
some were
directly adopted into the Iroquois families and clans; but a
larger
number remained for a time in separate towns, retaining their
own
usages. They were regarded, however, and they regarded
themselves, as
Iroquois. Constant intercourse and frequent intermarriages
soon
abolished all distinctions of national origin. But the
distinction of
clan-ship would remain. The Hurons (or, at least, the
Tionontates, or
Tobacco Nation) had clans of the Deer and the Hawk, and they had
a Snake
clan bearing a name (yagonirunon) not unlike the name of
the
Onondaga Eel clan (ogontena), and evidently derived from
the same
root. The other conquered nations had doubtless some peculiar
clans; for
these brotherhoods, as has been shown, were constantly in process
of
formation and change among the Indian tribes. Almost all the
captives
were incorporated with the three western nations of the League,
to whom
the conquered tribes were mostly nearer than to the Caniengas
and
Oneidas. The origin of the additional clans among the Onondagas,
Cayugas
and Senecas is thus readily understood.
One fact, important in its connection with the structure of
the federal
council, remains to be noted, and if possible, elucidated.
The
councillors of each nation were divided into classes, whose part
in the
deliberations of the councils bore a certain resemblance to that
held by
the committees of our legislatures. The operation of this system
cannot
be better described than in the words of Morgan: "The founders of
the
confederacy, seeking to obviate, as far as possible, altercation
in
council, and to facilitate their progress to unanimity, divided
the
sachems of each nation into classes, usually of two or three
each, as
will be seen by referring to the table of sachemships. No sachem
was
permitted to express an opinion in council, until he had agreed
with the
other sachem or sachems of his class upon the opinion to be
expressed,
and had received an appointment to act as speaker for the class.
Thus
the eight Seneca sachems, being in four classes, could have but
four
opinions, the ten Cayuga sachems but four. In this manner each
class was
brought to unanimity within itself. A cross-consultation was then
held
between the four sachems who represented the four classes; and
when they
had agreed, they appointed one of their number to express
their
resulting opinion, which was the answer of their nation. The
several
nations having, by this ingenious method, become of 'one
mind'
separately, it only remained to compare their several opinions to
arrive
at the final sentiment of all the sachems of the League. This
was
effected by a conference between the individual representatives
of the
several nations; and when they had arrived at unanimity, the
answer of
the League was determined." [Footnote: League of the
Iroquois,
p, 112.]
A careful consideration of the facts, in the light cast upon
them by the
evidence of the "Book of Rites" and the testimony of the
Canadian
Iroquois, leaves no doubt that these classes were originally
identical
with the clans. Among the Caniengas and Oneidas this identity
still
exists. Each of these nations received nine representatives in
the
federal council. These were—and still are—divided into three
each
composed of three members, and each class representing a clan. In
the
Canienga tribe the members of the first class are all of the
Tortoise
clan, those of the second class are of the Wolf clan, and those
of the
third class of the Bear clan. Among the Oneidas, the councillors
of the
first class belong to the Wolf clan, those of the second class to
the
Tortoise clan, and those of the third class to the Bear clan.
Such was
the information which Mr. Morgan received from his Seneca
friends, and
such I found to be the fact among the Iroquois now in Canada.
When we
come to the other nations we find a wholly different state of
things. No
correspondence now exists between the classes and the clans. The
Cayugas
have now, as has been shown, eight clans; but of these only
six,
according to the list given by Morgan, and only five in that
furnished
to me by the Canadian chiefs, are represented in the council.
These are
distributed in three classes, which do not correspond to the
clans. In
Morgan's list the first class has five members, the first of
whom
belongs to the Deer clan, the second to that of the Heron, the
third and
fourth to that of the Bear, and the fifth to that of the
Tortoise. In my
list this class also comprises five chiefs, of whom the first
two
(identical in name with the first two of Morgan) belong to the
Deer
clan, while the third (who bears the same name as Mr. Morgan's
third)
is of the Bear clan. In the "Book of Rites" the first Cayuga
class
comprises only two chiefs, but their clans (which were supposed
to be
known to the hearers) are not indicated. The fourteen
Onondaga
councillors are divided into five classes, according to Morgan,
and also
in the modern Canadian list. The "Book of Rites" seems to give
only
four, but none of these—according to the evidence of the
Canadian
chiefs—correspond with the modern clans; and the same
councillor, in
lists received from different sources, is found to belong to
different
classes and different clans. Thus the distinguished title of
Skanawati
is borne, in Mr. Morgan's list, by a chief of the fifth class and
of
the third clan. In the list obtained by me at Onondaga Castle
this chief
is of the fourth class and of the Ball clan. The great Seneca
chief
Kanyadariyo is, in Mr. Morgan's list, a member of the Tortoise
clan,
while among the Canadian Senecas he belongs to the Wolf clan. In
short,
it is evident that the introduction of the new clans among the
western
nations has thrown this part of their constitutional system
into
confusion. The probability is that when the confederacy was
established
only three clans, Bear, Wolf and Tortoise, existed among the
Iroquois,
as only three clans, Bear, Wolf and Turkey, existed in recent
times
among their Algonkin neighbors, the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares.
Thus the
classes of their Council grew spontaneously out of their clan
system, as
the senators of each clan would naturally consult together.
Afterwards
new clans arose; but it seems probable that when the list of
councillors
comprised in the "Book of Rites" was written—that is, about the
middle
of the last century—the correspondence of classes and clans was
still
maintained. The number of both was increased in the western
tribes, but
each class was still composed of chiefs of the same clan. The
written
book fixed the classes to a certain extent, but the clans to
which their
members belonged continued to vary, under the influence of
political and
social changes. If, at the death of a councillor, no member of
his clan
was found qualified to succeed him, a successor would be elected
from
another clan which was deemed to be in some way connected with
him. I
was assured by the Onondaga chiefs of the New York Reservation
that this
was their rule at present; and it is quite sufficient to account
for the
departure, in the western nations, from the ancient system. It
is
evident that after the nations and clans were rent to fragments
by the
dissensions and emigration caused by the American Revolution,
these
changes would, for a time, be necessarily frequent. And thus it
happens
that chiefs are found in the duplicate confederacies which after
this
disruption were established in Canada and New York, who bear the
same
titular designation, but differ both in the clans and in the
classes to
which they belong.
CHAPTER V.
THE CONDOLENCE AND THE INSTALLATION.
With the arrival at the Council House the "opening ceremony"
is
concluded. In the house the members of the Council were seated in
the
usual array, on opposite sides of the house. On one side were the
three
elder nations, the Caniengas, Onondagas, and Senecas, and on the
other
the younger, who were deemed, and styled in Council, the
offspring of
the former. These younger members, originally two in number, the
Oneidas
and Cayugas, had afterwards an important accession in the
Tuscarora
nation; and in later years several smaller tribes, or, as they
were
styled, additional braces of the Extended House, were
received;—Tuteloes, Nanticokes, Delawares and others. In the
Onondaga
portion of the book the younger tribes speak as "we three
brothers."
The earliest of the later accessions seems to have taken place
about the
year 1753, when the Tuteloes and Nanticokes were admitted.
[Footnote:
N. Y. Hist. Col., Vol. 6, p. 811. Stone's Life of Sir
William
Johnson, p. 414.] These circumstances afford additional
evidence
that the Book was originally written prior to that date and
subsequent
to the year 1714, when the Tuscaroras were received into the
League.
If the deceased chief belonged to one of the three older
nations, the
duty of conducting the condoling ceremony which followed was
performed
by the younger nations, who mourned for him as for a father or
an
uncle. If he were a chief of one of the younger nations, the
others
lamented him as a son or a nephew. The mourning nations selected
as
their representative a high chief, usually a distinguished
orator,
familiar with the usages and laws of the League, to conduct
these
ceremonies. The lamentations followed a prescribed routine,
each
successive topic of condolence being indicated by a string of
wampum,
which, by the arrangement of its beads, recalled the words to the
memory
of the officiating chief. In the "Book of Rites" we have these
addresses
of condolence in a twofold form. The Canienga book gives us the
form
used by the elder nations; and the Onondaga supplement adds the
form
employed by the younger brothers. The former is more ancient,
and
apparently more dignified and formal. The speaker addresses the
mourners
as his children (konyennetaghkwen, "my offspring,") and
recites
each commonplace of condolence in a curt and perfunctory style.
He wipes
away their tears that they may see clearly; he opens their ears
that
they may hear readily. He removes from their throats the
obstruction
with which their grief is choking them, so that they may ease
their
burdened minds by speaking freely to their friends. And finally,
as the
loss of their lamented chief may have occurred in war—and at all
events
many of their friends have thus perished—he cleans the mats on
which
they are sitting from the figurative bloodstains, so that they
may for a
time cease to be reminded of their losses, and may regain their
former
cheerfulness.
The condolence of the younger brothers, expressed in the
Onondaga book,
is more expansive and more sympathetic. Though apparently
disfigured
and mutilated by repeated transcriptions, it bears marks of
having been
originally the composition of a superior mind. All such topics
of
consolation as would occur to a speaker ignorant or regardless of
a
future life are skillfully presented, and the whole address is
imbued
with a sentiment of cordial tenderness and affection. Those who
have
been accustomed to regard the Indians as a cold-hearted people
will find
it difficult to reconcile that view of their character with the
contrary
evidence afforded by this genuine expression of their feelings,
and,
indeed, by the whole tenor of the Book.
This address concludes with the emphatic words, "I have
finished; now
point me the man;" or, as the words were paraphrased by the
interpreter,
"Now show me the warrior who is to be the new chief." The
candidate for
senatorial honors, who is to take the place and name of the
deceased
councillor, is then brought forward by his nation. His admission
by the
assembled Council, at this stage of the proceedings, is a matter
of
course; for his nation had taken care to ascertain, before the
meeting,
that the object of their choice would be acceptable to the
councillors
of the other nations. The ceremony of induction consisted in the
formal
bestowal of the new name by which he was henceforth to be known.
A
chief placed himself on each side of the candidate, and, grasping
his
arms, marched him to and fro in the Council house, between the
lines of
the assembled senators. As they walked they proclaimed his new
name and
office, and recited, in a measured chant, the duties to which he
was now
called, the audience responding at every pause with the usual
chorus of
assent.
When this ceremony was finished, and the new councillor had
taken his
proper seat among the nobles of his nation, the wampum belts,
which
comprised the historical records of the federation, were
produced, and
the officiating chief proceeded to explain them, one by one, to
the
assemblage. This was called "reading the archives." In this way
a
knowledge of the events signified by the wampum was fastened,
by
repeated iteration, in the minds of the listeners. Those who
doubt
whether events which occurred four centuries ago can be
remembered as
clearly and minutely as they are now recited, will probably have
their
doubts removed when they consider the necessary operation of
this
custom. The orator's narrative is repeated in the presence of
many
auditors who have often heard it before, and who would be prompt
to
remark and to correct any departure from the well-known
history.
This narrative is not recorded in the Book of Rites. At the
time when
that was written, the annals of the confederacy were doubtless
supposed
to be sufficiently preserved by the wampum records. The speeches
and
ceremonies which followed, and which were of equal, if not
greater
importance, had no such evidences to recall them. From this
statement,
however, the "hymn" should be excepted; to each line of it,
except the
last, a wampum string was devoted. With this exception, all was
left to
the memory of the orator. The Homeric poems, the hymns of the
Vedas, the
Kalewala, the Polynesian genealogies, and many other examples,
show the
exactness with which a composition that interests a whole nation
may be
handed down; but it is not surprising that when the chiefs became
aware
of the superior advantages of a written record, they should have
had
recourse to it. We need not doubt that Chief David of Schoharie,
or
whoever else was the scribe appointed to this duty, has
faithfully
preserved the substance, and, for the most part, the very words,
of the
speeches and chants which he had often heard under such
impressive
circumstances.
The hymn, or karenna, deserves a special notice. In
every
important council of the Iroquois a song or chant is considered a
proper
and almost essential part of the proceedings. Such official songs
are
mentioned in many reports of treaty councils held with them by
the
French and English authorities. In this greatest of all councils
the
song must, of course, have a distinguished place. It follows
immediately
upon the address of greeting and condolence, and is, in fact,
regarded
as the completion of it, and the introduction to the equally
important
ceremony which is to follow, viz., the repetition of the ancient
laws of
the confederacy. This particular hymn is of great antiquity. Some
of the
chiefs expressed to me the opinion that it was composed by
Dekana-widah
or Hiawatha. Its tenor, however, as well as that of the whole
book,
shows that it belongs to a later period. The ceremonies of the
council
were doubtless prescribed by the founders of the League; but
the
speeches of the Book, and this hymn, all refer to the League as
the work
of a past age. The speakers appeal to the wisdom of their
forefathers
(literally, their grandsires), and lament the degeneracy of the
later
times. They expressly declare that those who established the
"great
peace" were in their graves, and had taken their work with them
and
placed it as a pillow under them. This is the language of men
who
remembered the founders, and to whom the burial of the last of
them was
a comparatively recent event. If the league was formed, as
seems
probable, about the year 1450, the speeches and hymn, in their
present
form, may reasonably be referred to the early part of the next
century.
There is reason to believe that the formation of the confederacy
was
followed by wars with the Hurons and Algonkin tribes, in which,
as
usual, many changes of fortune took place. If the Hurons, as has
been
shown, were expelled from their abode on the northern shore of
the
St. Lawrence, the Mohegans, on the other hand, inflicted some
serious
blows upon the eastern nations of the confederacy. [Footnote: See
the
Jesuit Relation for 1660, p. 6.] The Delawares were not
conquered
and reduced to subjection without a long and sanguinary struggle.
In a
Condoling Council we might expect that the tone of feeling would
be
lugubrious; but the sense of loss and of danger is too marked in
all the
speeches of the Canienga Book to be merely a formal utterance. It
does
not appear in those of the Onondaga Book, which is seemingly of
later
composition.
The "karenna," or chant of the Condoling Council, may be
styled the
National Hymn of the Iroquois. A comparison between it and
other
national hymns, whose chief characteristics are
self-glorification and
defiance, might afford room for some instructive inferences. This
hymn,
it should be remarked, brief as it is, is regarded by the Indians
as a
collection of songs. Each line, in fact, is, in their view, a
song by
itself, and is brought to mind by its own special wampum string.
In
singing, each line is twice repeated, and is introduced and
followed by
many long-drawn repetitions of the exclamation aihaigh (or
rather
haihaih) which is rendered "hail!" and from which the
hymn
derives its designation. In the first line the speaker salutes
the
"Peace," or the league, whose blessings they enjoy. In the next
he
greets the kindred of the deceased chief, who are the special
objects of
the public sympathy. Then he salutes the oyenkondonh, a
term
which has been rendered "warriors." This rendering, however, may
have a
misleading effect. The word has nothing to do with war, unless in
the
sense that every grown man in an Indian community is supposed to
be a
soldier. Except in this hymn, the word in question is now
disused. An
elderly chief assured me that he had sung it for years without
knowing
its precise meaning. Some of his fellow-councillors were
better
informed. The word is apparently derived from ankwe, man,
which
in the Onondaga dialect becomes yenkwe. It comprises all
the men
(the "manhood" or mankind) of the nation—as, in the following
verse,
the word wakonnyh, which is also obsolete, signifies
the
"womanhood," or all the women of the people with whom the
singer
condoles. In the next line he invokes the laws which their
forefathers
established; and he concludes by calling upon his hearers to
listen to
the wisdom of their forefathers, which he is about to recite. As
a
whole, the hymn may be described as an expression of reverence
for the
laws and for the dead, and of sympathy with the living. Such is
the
"national anthem,"—the Marseillaise,—of the ferocious
Iroquois.
The regard for women which is apparent in this hymn, and in
other
passages of the Book, is deserving of notice. The common notion
that
women among the Indians were treated as inferiors, and made
"beasts of
burden," is unfounded so far as the Iroquois are concerned, and
among
all other tribes of which I have any knowledge. With them, as
with
civilized nations, the work of the community and the cares of the
family
are fairly divided. Among the Iroquois the hunting and fishing,
the
house-building and canoe-making, fell to the men. The women
cooked, made
the dresses, scratched the ground with their light hoes, planted
and
gathered the crops, and took care of the children. The household
goods
belonged to the woman. On her death, her relatives, and not her
husband,
claimed them. The children were also hers; they belonged to her
clan,
and in case of a separation they went with her. She was really
the head
of the household; and in this capacity her right, when she
chanced to be
the oldest matron of a noble family, to select the successor of
a
deceased chief of that family, was recognized by the highest law
of the
confederacy. That this rank and position were greatly prized is
shown by
a remarkable passage in the Jesuit Relations. A Canienga
matron,
becoming a Christian, left her country, with two of her children,
to
enjoy greater freedom in her devotions among the French. The act,
writes
the missionary, so offended her family that, in a public meeting
of the
town, "they degraded her from the rank of the nobility, and took
from
her the title of Oyander, that is, honorable
(considerable)—a
title which they esteem highly, and which she had inherited from
her
ancestors, and deserved by her good judgment, her prudence, and
her
excellent conduct; and at the same time they installed another in
her
place." [Footnote: Relation of 1671, p. 6. The word
oyander in modern pronunciation becomes oyaner. It
is
derived from the root yaner, noble, and is the feminine
form of
the word royaner, lord, or nobleman,—the title applied to
the
members of the federal council.]
The complete equality of the sexes in social estimation and
influence is
apparent in all the narratives of the early missionaries, who
were the
best possible judges on this point. Casual observers have been
misled
by the absence of those artificial expressions of courtesy which
have
descended to us from the time of chivalry, and which, however
gracious
and pleasing to witness, are, after all, merely signs of
condescension
and protection from the strong to the weak. The Iroquois does not
give
up his seat to a woman, or yield her precedence on leaving a
room; but
he secures her in the possession of her property, he recognizes
her
right to the children she has borne, and he submits to her
decision the
choice of his future rulers.
CHAPTER VI.
THE LAWS OF THE LEAGUE.
It is the custom of the officiating orator, while the chant is
going on,
to walk to and fro in the council-house. When the hymn is
finished, he
breaks out into a passionate invocation to their forefathers, and
a
lament over the degeneracy of the times. This, as the French
missionaries inform us, was a favorite topic of Indian
speakers. [Footnote: See the Relation of 1659, p. 57:
"C'est la
plainte ordinaire des Capitaines [of the Hurons] que tout se va
perdant,
a faute de garder les formes et coustoumes de leurs ancestres."]
Among
the Iroquois, who could look back to an era of genuine statesmen
and
heroes, the authors of their constitution, this complaint must
have had
a peculiar force and sincerity. After this appeal to the founders
of
their state, there naturally followed an address to the Council
and the
people, reciting "all the rules they decided on, which they
thought
would strengthen the house." By "the house" was meant, of course,
the
house of many hearths, to which they likened their confederacy.
The
"rules" or laws which follow require some explanation, that their
full
value may be understood.
The first law prescribes that when a chief dies his office
shall not
perish with him. This is expressed, in their metaphorical style,
by an
injunction that the "horns," or insignia of office, shall not be
buried
with the deceased chief, but shall be taken off at his death, to
be
transferred to his successor. This rule is laid down in the most
urgent
and impressive terms. "We should perhaps all perish if his office
is
buried with him in his grave." This systematic transmission of
official
rank was, in fact, the vital principle of their government. It
was in
this system that their federal union differed from the frequent
and
transitory confederacies common among the Indian tribes. In
general,
among nearly all the tribes, the rank of a chief was personal. It
was
gained by the character and achievements of the individual, and
it died
with him. Hence their government and policy, so far as they can
be said
to have had any, were always uncertain and fluctuating. No
person
understood the Indian usages better than Zeisberger. His
biographer has
well described the difference which existed in this respect
between the
Iroquois and their neighbors. "The Algonkins," he writes, "knew
nothing
of regular government. They had no system of polity; there was no
unity
of action among them. The affairs even of a single tribe were
managed in
the loosest manner." After briefly, but accurately, delineating
the
Iroquois system of councils, he adds: "Thus they became both a
political
and a military power among the aborigines; the influence of their
league
was felt everywhere, and their conquests extended in every
direction."
[Footnote: De Schweinitz: Life of Zeisberger, p. 39.] The
principle
that "the chief dies but the office survives,"—the regular
transmission
of rank, title and authority, by a method partly hereditary and
partly
elective,—was the principle on which the life and strength of
the
Iroquois constitution depended.
Next followed a provision of hardly less importance. The
wars among the
Indian tribes arise almost always from individual murders. The
killing
of a tribesman by the members of another community concerns his
whole
people. If satisfaction is not promptly made, war follows, as a
matter
of course. [Footnote: Relation, of 1636, p. 119. "C'est de la
que naissent les guerres, et c'est un sujet plus que suffisant
de
prendre les armes contre quelque Village quand il refuse de
satisfaire
par les presents ordonnez, pour celuy qui vous aurait tue
quelq'un des
vostres."—Brebeuf, on the Hurons.] The founders of the
Iroquois
commonwealth decreed that wars for this cause should not be
allowed to
rise between any of their cantons. On this point a special charge
was
given to the members of the Great Council. They were enjoined (in
the
figurative language employed throughout the Book) not to allow
the
murder to be discussed in a national assembly, where the
exasperation of
the young men might lead to mischief, but to reserve it for their
own
consideration; and they were required as soon as possible to bury
all
animosities that might arise from it. The figure employed is
impressive.
They were to uproot a huge pine-tree—the well-known emblem of
their
League—disclosing a deep cavity, below which an underground
stream
would be swiftly flowing. Into this current they were to cast the
cause
of trouble, and then, replacing the tree, hide the mischief
forever from
their people.
How strictly in spirit these injunctions were followed, and
with what
good effect, their whole history shows. A notable instance of
the
readiness and ingenuity of their statesmen in finding the means
of
public reconciliation in such cases is given in the Jesuit
narrative. On
the 24th of July, 1657, a great council was held at Onondaga to
consider
three matters, all of special import. First in order was the
necessity
of appeasing a threatened quarrel between two of the leading
nations,
the Senecas and the Caniengas, caused by a misadventure in which
a
Seneca "captain" had been killed by some warriors of the
eastern
nation. Next in importance was the reception of a large party
of
Frenchmen, headed by Father Francis le Mercier, the Superior of
the
Jesuit missionaries in Canada, who had come to form a settlement
among
the Iroquois. And, finally, they had to prepare the plan and the
means
for an expedition against some hostile tribes. Before the meeting
of
the Council the Frenchmen had paid a formal visit to the
Seneca
delegates, whom they found "filling the air with songs of
mourning" for
their slaughtered chief, and had manifested their sympathy by a
present,
"to alleviate the grief" of the mourners. This incident seems to
have
suggested to the assembled councillors a method of effecting—or
at
least of announcing—the desired accommodation, and of paying at
the
same time a happy compliment to their reverend visitors. By
common
consent the affair was referred to the arbitrament of the
Father
Superior, by whom the difference was promptly settled. [Footnote:
On
tim* ce grand conseil le 24 du mois de Juillet, ou toutes les
Nations
remisent entre les mains d'Achiendase qui est nostre Père
Superieur le
diffrend* Centre les Sonnontoüeronnons et les Agnieronnons,
qui fait
bien et terminé.—Relation of 1657, p. 16.] It was
not necessary
for the politic senators to inform their gratified visitors that
the
performance in which they thus took part was merely a formality
which
ratified, or rather proclaimed, a foregone conclusion. The
reconciliation which was prescribed by their constitution had
undoubtedly been arranged by previous conferences, after their
custom in
such matters, before the meeting of the Council. [Footnote: For
a
curious instance of the manner in which questions to be
apparently
decided by a Council were previously settled between the parties,
see
the Life of Zeisberger, p. 190: "Gietterowane was the
speaker on
one side, Zeisberger on the other. These two consulted
together
privately,—Zeisberger unfolding the import of the strings [of
wampum
which he had brought as ambassador] and Gietterowane committing
to
memory what he said."] So effective was this provision of
their
constitution that for more than three centuries this main cause
of
Indian wars was rendered innocuous, and the "Great Peace"
remained
undisturbed. This proud averment of their annalists, confirmed as
it is
for more than half the period by the evidence of their white
neighbors,
cannot reasonably be questioned. What nation or confederacy
of
civilized Europe can show an exemption from domestic strife for
so long
a term?
The third rule or ordinance which the founders enacted "to
strengthen
the house" is of a remarkable character. It relates to the
mortuary
usages of the people; and when these are understood, the
great
importance of this law becomes apparent. Among the Indians of
the
Huron-Iroquois family the ordinary mourning for the dead
became
exaggerated into customs of the most extravagant character,
exhausting
the time and strength of the warriors, and devouring their
substance.
The French missionaries have left us an account of these singular
usages
among the Hurons, some of which excited their respect, and others
their
astonishment. "Our savages," they wrote, "are in no way savage
as
regards the duties which nature herself requires us to render to
the
dead. You would say that their efforts, their toils and their
commerce
had no other end than to amass the means of honoring the
departed. They
have nothing too precious for this object. To this they devote
their
robes of skins, their hatchets and wampum, in such profusion that
you
would fancy they made nothing of them; and yet these are the
riches of
their country. Often in midwinter you will see them going almost
naked,
while they have at home, laid up in store, good and handsome
robes,
which they keep in reverence for the dead. This is their point
of
honor. In this, above all, they seek to show themselves
magnificent."
[Footnote: Brebeuf, Relation of 1636, p. 128.]
During the three days that preceded the burial of the dead, or
the
removal of his remains to the scaffold, the wails, groans and
lamentations of the relatives and neighbors resounded in the
cabin where
he lay. All the stored riches were brought forth and lavished in
gifts
"to comfort the mourners." The mourning did not end with the
burial; in
fact, it may be said to have then only begun. The "great
mourning," as
the missionaries term it, lasted for six days longer, during
which the
mourners lay, face downward, upon their mats, and enveloped in
their
robes, speechless, or replying only by an ejaculation to those
who
addressed them. During this period they had no fire in the house,
even
in winter; they ate their food cold, and left the cabin only at
night,
and as secretly as possible. The "lesser mourning" lasted for a
year,
during which they refrained from oiling their hair, attended
public
festivals rarely, and only (in the case of women) when their
mothers
ordered, and were forbidden to marry again.
This, however, was not all. Once in twelve years was held a
great
ceremony of re-interment,—a solemn "feast of the dead," as it
was
called. Until the day of this feast arrived, funeral rites in
honor of
the departed were repeated from time to time, and feasts were
held, at
which, as the expression was, their names were revived, while
presents
were distributed, as at the time of their death. The great Feast
of the
Dead, however, was the most important of all their ceremonies.
The
bodies of all who had died in the nation during the preceding
twelve
years were then exhumed, or removed from the scaffolds on which
they had
been laid, and the festering corpses or cleansed bones were all
interred
together in a vast pit lined with robes of beaver skins, the
most
precious of all their furs. Wampum, copper implements,
earthenware, the
most valued of their possessions, were cast into the pit, which
was then
solemnly closed with earth. While the ceremony was going on,
rich
presents of all descriptions, the accumulations of the past
twelve
years, were distributed by the relatives of the deceased among
the
people. In this distribution, strange to say, valuable fur robes
were
frequently cut and torn to pieces, so as to be rendered
worthless. A
lavish display and reckless destruction of wealth were deemed
honors due
to the shades of the departed. [Footnote: See the Relation
for
1636, p. 131. A most vivid and graphic description of these
extraordinary ceremonies is given in Parkman's admirable work,
The
Jesuits in North America, Chapter 7.]
The Attiwandaronks, or Neutrals, who were the nearest
neighbors of the
Iroquois, were still more extravagant in their demonstrations
of
affection for their lost friends. They, too, had their feasts of
the
dead, at regular intervals. In the meantime the bodies were kept
in
their houses as long as possible—"until the stench became
intolerable."
Then, when this proximity could no longer be borne, the remains
were
left for a period to decay on a scaffold in the open air. After a
time
the remaining flesh was removed from the bones, which were
arranged on
the sides of their cabins, in full view of the inmates, until the
great
day of general interment. With these mournful objects before
their
eyes, renewing constantly the sense of their loss, the women of
the
household were excited to frequent outbursts of grief, expressed
in
wailing chants. [Footnote: "Cet object qu'ils ont devant les
yeux, leur
renouvellant continuellement le resentiment de leurs pertes, leur
fait
ordinairement letter des cris, et faire des lamentations tout
à fait
lugubres, le tout en chanson. Mais cela ne se fait que par
les
femmes."—Relation of 1641, p. 73.]
That the Iroquois in ancient times had funeral customs similar
to those
of their sister nations, and not less revolting, cannot be
doubted. How
these shocking and pernicious usages were abolished at one swoop
is
shown by the brief passage in the Book of Rites now under
discussion. The injunctions are laconic, but full of meaning.
When a
death occurs, the people are told, "this shall be done." A
delegation of
persons, officially appointed for the purpose, shall repair to
the
dwelling of the deceased, bearing in a pouch some strands of
mourning
wampum. The leader, holding these strands, and standing by the
hearth,
shall address, in the name of the whole people, a few words of
comfort
to the mourners. And then "they shall be comforted," and shall go
on
with their usual duties. To this simple ceremony—supplemented,
in the
case of a high chief, by the rites of the "Condoling
Council,"—the
preposterous funeral usages, which pervaded the lives and wasted
the
wealth of the other nations of this stock, were reduced, by the
wisdom
of the Iroquois legislators.
In considering these remarkable laws, it becomes evident that
the work
which Hiawatha and Dekanawidah accomplished was really a
Great
Reformation, not merely political, but also social and religious.
They
desired not only to establish peace among the nations, but also
to
abolish or modify such usages and beliefs as in their opinion
were
injurious to their people. It is deserving of notice that a
divinity
unknown, at least in name, to the Hurons, received special
reverence
among the Iroquois. The chief characters of the Huron pantheon
were a
female deity, Ataensic, a sort of Hecate, whom they sometimes
identified
with the moon, and her grandson, Juskeha, who was sometimes
regarded as
the sun, and as a benevolent spirit, but most commonly in their
stories
appears as a fantastic and capricious goblin, with no moral
attributes
whatever. In the Iroquois mythology these deities are replaced by
a
personage of a much higher character. Taronhiawagon, the Holder
of the
Heavens, was with them the Master of Life. He declared his will
to them
in dreams, and in like manner disclosed future events,
particularly such
as were important to the public welfare. He was, in fact, the
national
god of the Iroquois. It was he who guided their fathers in their
early
wanderings, when they were seeking for a place of abode. He
visited them
from time to time, in person, to protect them from their enemies
and to
instruct them in useful arts.
It is possible that the Iroquois Taronhiawagon may have been
originally
the same as the Huron Juskeha. Some eminent authorities on
Indian
mythology are inclined to this opinion. On the other hand, the
earlier
Jesuit missionaries give no hint of such identity, and the
Tuscarora
historian, Cusick, seems to distinguish between these divine
personages. But whether we accept this view or seek for any
other
origin, there seems reason to suppose that the more exalted
conception
of this deity, who is certainly, in character and attributes, one
of the
noblest creations of the North American mythologies, dates from
the era
of the confederacy, when he became more especially the chief
divinity
and protector of the Kanonsionni. [Footnote: See for
Taronhiawagon the
Jesuit Relations for 1670, pp. 47, 66, and for 1671, p.
17: also
Cusick, pp. 20, 22, 24, 34. For Juskeha, see the Relation
for
1635, p. 34; 1636, pp. 101-103; 1640, p. 92. Lafitau in one place
makes
Tharonhiawagon a deified man, and in another the grandson of
Ataensic.—Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, Vol. 1. p. 146
and
p. 244.]
CHAPTER VII.
HISTORICAL TRADITIONS.
After the declaration of the laws of the League, there follows
a passage
of great historical importance. The speaker recites the names of
the
chiefs who represented the Five Nations in the conference by
which the
work of devising their laws and establishing their government
was
accomplished. The native name of the confederacy is here for the
first
time mentioned. In the guttural and rather irregular orthography
of the
Book it is spelt Kanonghsyonny. The Roman Catholic
missionaries,
neglecting the aspirate, which in the Iroquois pronunciation
appears and
disappears as capriciously as in the spoken dialects of the south
of
England, write the word Kanonsionni. It is usually rendered
by
interpreters the "Long House," but this is not precisely its
meaning. The ordinary word for "long house" is kanonses
or
kanonsis,—the termination es or is being
the
adjective suffix which signifies long. Kanonsionni
is a
compound word, formed of kanonsa, house, and
ionni,
extended, or drawn out. The confederacy was compared to a
dwelling which
was extended by additions made to the end, in the manner in which
their
bark-built houses were lengthened,—sometimes to an extent
exceeding two
hundred feet. When the number of families inhabiting these
long
dwellings was increased by marriage or adoption, and a new hearth
was
required, the end-wall,—if this term may be applied to the
slight frame
of poles and bark which closed the house,—was removed, an
addition of
the required size was made to the edifice, and the closing wall
was
restored. Such was the figure by which the founders of the
confederacy
represented their political structure, a figure which was in
itself a
description and an invitation. It declared that the united
nations were
not distinct tribes, associated by a temporary league, but one
great
family, clustered for convenience about separate hearths in a
common
dwelling; and it proclaimed their readiness to receive new
members into
the general household. [Footnote: The people of the confederacy
were
known as Rotinonsionni, "They of the Extended House." In
the
Seneca dialect this was altered and abridged to Hotinonsonni, the
n
having the French nasal sound. This word is written by Mr.
Morgan,
"Hodenosaunee."]
The names of the six great chiefs who, as representatives of
their
several nations, formed the confederacy, are in this narrative
linked
together in a manner which declares their political kinship. The
first
rulers or heads of the combined households were the Canienga
Dekanawidah
with his "joint-ruler" and political son, the Oneida Otatsehte
(or
Odadsheghte), whose union with Dekanawidah was the commencement
of the
League. Next follows Otatsehte's uncle (and Dekanawidah's
brother), the
Onondaga Wathadodarho (Atotarho), who is accompanied by his son,
the
Cayuga Akahenyonh. The uncle of the Cayuga representative, the
Seneca
chief Kanadariyu, and his cousin, Shadekaronyes, represent the
two
sections into which the great Seneca nation was divided. The name
of
Hiawatha does not appear in this enumeration. According to the
uniform
tradition of the Five Nations, he was not merely present in
the
convention, but was the leading spirit in its deliberations. But
he did
not officially represent any nation. By birth a high chief of
the
Onondagas, he had been but newly adopted among the Caniengas.
Each of
these nations had entrusted its interests to its own most
influential
chief. But the respect with which Hiawatha was regarded is
indicated, as
has been already remarked, by his place in the list of fifty
councillors, with whose names the Book concludes. Though so
recently
received among the haughty Caniengas, whose proud and jealous
temper is
often noticed by the missionaries and other early observers, his
name is
placed second in the list of their representatives,
immediately
following that of Tekarihoken, the chief who stood highest in
titular
rank among the nobles of the Kanonsionni, and whose lineage was
perhaps
derived from the leader of their primitive migrations.
The tradition runs that when the political frame of their
confederacy
had been arranged by the members of this convention, and the
number of
senators who should represent each nation in the federal council
had
been determined, the six delegates, with Hiawatha and some
other
advisers, went through all the nations, selecting—doubtless with
the
aid of a national council in each case—the chiefs who were
to
constitute the first council. In designating these,—or
rather,
probably, in the ceremonies of their installation,—it is said
that some
peculiar prerogative was conceded to the Onondagas,—that is,
to
Atotarho and his attendant chiefs. It was probably given as a
mark of
respect, rather than as conferring any real authority; but from
this
circumstance the Onondagas were afterwards known in the council
by the
title of "the nominators." The word is, in the Canienga
dialect,
Rotisennakehte,—in Onondaga, Hotisennakehte. It
means
literally, "the name-carriers,"—as if, said one of my
informants, they
bore a parcel of names in a bag slung upon the back.
Each of the other nations had also its peculiar name in the
Council,
distinct from the mere local designation by which it was
commonly
called. Thus the Caniengas had for their "Council name" the
term
Tehadirihoken. This is the plural form of the name of
their
leading chief, Tekarihoken. Opinions differ much among the
Indians as
to the meaning of this name. Cusick, the Tuscarora historian,
defines it
"a speech divided," and apparently refers it to the division of
the
Iroquois language into dialects. Chief George Johnson, the
interpreter,
rendered it "two statements together," or "two pieces of news
together."
Another native informant thought it meant "one word in two
divisions,"
while a third defined it as meaning "between two words." The
root-word
of the name is the Canienga orihwa, or karihwa,
(properly
karihoa), which is defined "thing, affair, speech,
news."
[Footnote: See Bruyas, sub voce Gorihoa. Mr. Morgan
(League of
the Iroquois, p. 97), who derived his information from the
Senecas,
says that the name "was a term of respect, and signifies
'neutral,' or,
as it may be rendered, the shield." He adds, "its origin is lost
in
obscurity."] It also apparently means office; thus we have
the
derivatives garihont, "to give some charge of duty to some
one,"
and atrihont, "to be an officer, or captain." The name is
in the
peculiar dual or rather duplicative form which is indicated by
the
prefix te and the affix ken or ke. It may
possibly,
therefore, mean "holding two offices," and would thus be
specially
applicable to the great Canienga noble, who, unlike most of his
order,
was both a civil ruler and a war-chief. But whether he gave his
name to
his people, or received it from them, is uncertain. In other
instances
the Council name of a nation appears to have been applied in
the
singular number to the leading chief of the nation. Thus the
head-chief
of the Onondagas was often known by the title of
Sakosennakehte,
"the Name-carrier." [Footnote: "Il y avait en cette bande un
Capitaine
qui porte'le nom le plus considerable de toute sa Nation,
Sagochiendagehte."—Relation of 1654, p. 8. Elsewhere, as
in the
Relation for 1657, p. 17, this name is spelt
Agochiendaguete.]
The name of the Oneida nation in the Council was
Nihatirontakowa—or, in the Onondaga dialect,
Nihatientakona—usually rendered the "Great-Tree
People,"—literally, "those of the great log." It is derived
from
karonta, a fallen tree or piece of timber, with the
suffix
kowa or kona, great, added, and the verb-forming
pronoun
prefixed. In the singular number it becomes Niharontakowa,
which
would be understood to mean "He is an Oneida." The name, it is
said, was
given to the nation because when Dekanawidah and Hiawatha first
went to
meet its chief, they crossed the Oneida creek on a bridge
composed of an
immense tree which had fallen or been laid across it, and noted
that the
Council fire at which the treaty was concluded was kindled
against
another huge log. These, however, may be merely explanations
invented in
later times.
The Cayugas bore in Council the name of
Sotinonnawentona, meaning
"the Great-Pipe People." In the singular it is
Sononnawentona. The root of the word is kanonnawen,
which
in composition becomes kanonnawenta, meaning pipe, or
calumet. It
is said that the chief who in the first Council represented the
Cayugas
smoked a pipe of unusual size, which attracted the notice of
the
"name-givers."
Finally the Seneca mountaineers, the Sonnontowanas,
bore the
title, in the Canienga speech, of Ronaninhohonti, "the
Door-keepers," or literally, "they who are at the doorway." In
the
singular this becomes Roninhohonti. In the Onondaga
dialect it is
Honinhohonta. It is a verbal form, derived from
Kanhoha,
door, and ont, to be. This name is undoubtedly coeval with
the
formation of the League, and was bestowed as a title of honor.
The
Senecas, at the western end of the "extended mansion," guarded
the
entrance against the wild tribes in that quarter, whose hostility
was
most to be dreaded.
The enumeration of the chiefs who formed the confederacy is
closed by
the significant words, "and then, in later times, additions were
made to
the great edifice." This is sufficient evidence that the Canienga
"Book
of Rites" was composed in its present form after the Tuscaroras,
and
possibly after the Nanticokes and Tuteloes, were received into
the
League. The Tuscaroras were admitted in 1714; the two other
nations
were received about the year 1753. [Footnote: The former date is
well
known; for the latter, see N. Y. Hist. Col., Vol. 6, p.
311;
Stone's Life of Sir William Johnson, p. 434.]
An outburst of lamentation follows. The speaker has recited
the names of
the heroes and statesmen to whom the united nations were indebted
for
the Great Peace which had so long prevailed among them. He has
recalled
the wise laws which they established; and he is about to chant
the
closing litany, commemorating the fifty chiefs who composed the
first
federal council, and whose names have remained as the official
titles of
their successors. In recalling these memories of departed
greatness his
mind is filled with grief and humiliation at the contrast
presented by
the degeneracy of his own days. It is a common complaint of
all
countries and all times; but the sentiment was always, according
to the
missionaries, especially strong among the Indians, who are a
conservative race. The orator appeals to the shades of their
ancestors,
in words which, in the baldest of literal versions, are full
of
eloquence and pathos. The "great law" has become old, and has
lost its
force. Its authors have passed away, and have carried it with
them into
their graves. They have placed it as a pillow under their heads.
Their
degenerate successors have inherited their names, but not their
mighty
intellects; and in the flourishing region which they left, naught
but a
desert remains. A trace, and not a slight one, of the mournful
sublimity
which we admire in the Hebrew prophets, with a similar cadence
of
"parallelism" in the style, will be noticed in this forest
lament.
The same characteristics mark the chanted litany which closes
the
address. There is not merely parallelism and cadence, but
occasionally
rhyme, in the stanzas which are interspersed among the names, as
is seen
in the oft-repeated chorus which follows the names composing each
clan
or "class":—
Etho natejonhne,
Sewaterihwakhaonghkwe,
Sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
Kayaterenhkowa. [Footnote: For the translation, see ante,
p. 33.]
This litany is sung in the usual style of their mourning or
religious
chants, with many long-drawn repetitions of the customary
ejaculation
haihhaih,—an exclamation which, like the Greek "ai! ai!"
belongs
to the wailing style appropriate to such a monody. The
expressions of
the chant, like those of a Greek chorus, are abrupt, elliptical,
and
occasionally obscure. It is probable that this chant, like the
condoling
Hymn in the former part of the Book, is of earlier style than the
other
portions of the work, their rhythmical form having preserved
the
original words with greater accuracy. Such explanations of the
doubtful
passages as could be obtained from the chiefs and the
interpreters will
be found in the notes.
The chant and the Book end abruptly with the mournful
exclamation, "Now
we are dejected in *mind." The lament which precedes the litany,
and
which is interrupted by it, may be said to close with these
words. As
the council is held, nominally at least, for the purpose of
condolence,
and as it necessarily revives the memory of the departed worthies
of
their republic, it is natural that the ceremonies throughout
should be
of a melancholy cast. They were doubtless so from the beginning,
and
before there was any occasion to deplore the decay of their
commonwealth
or the degeneracy of the age. In fact, when we consider that
the
founders of the League, with remarkable skill and judgment,
managed to
compress into a single day the protracted and wasteful
obsequies
customary among other tribes of the same race, we shall not be
surprised
to find that they sought to make the ceremonies of the day as
solemn and
impressive as possible.
But there are other characteristics of the "Book of Rites,"
prominent in
the Canienga section, and still more marked in the Onondaga
portion,
which may well excite our astonishment. They have been already
noticed,
but seem to deserve fuller consideration. It will be observed
that, from
beginning to end, the Book breathes nothing but sentiments of
kindness
and sympathy for the living, and of reverence for the
departed,—not
merely for the chief whom they have come to mourn, but also for
the
great men who have preceded him, and especially for the founders
of
their commonwealth. Combined with these sentiments, and
harmonizing
with them, is an earnest desire for peace, along with a profound
respect
for the laws under which they lived. The work in which these
feelings
are expressed is a genuine composition of the Indians themselves,
framed
long before they were affected by any influences from abroad,
and
repeated among them for centuries, with the entire assent of
the
hearers. It affords unquestionable evidence of the true character
both
of those who composed and of those who received it.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE IROQUOIS CHARACTER.
The popular opinion of the Indian, and more especially of the
Iroquois,
who, as Mr. Parkman well observes, is an "Indian of the
Indians,"
represents him as a sanguinary, treacherous and vindictive
being,
somewhat cold in his affections, haughty and reserved toward
his
friends, merciless to his enemies, fond of strife, and averse
to
industry and the pursuits of peace. Some magnanimous traits
are
occasionally allowed to him; and poetry and romance have
sometimes
thrown a glamour about his character, which popular opinion, not
without
reason, energetically repudiates and resents. The truth is that
the
circumstances under which the red and white races have
encountered in
North America have been such as necessarily to give rise to a
wholly
false impression in regard to the character of the aborigines.
The
European colonists, superior in civilization and in the arts of
war,
landed on the coast with the deliberate intention of taking
possession
of the country and displacing the natives. The Indians were at
once
thrown on the defensive. From the very beginning they fought, not
merely
for their land, but for their lives; for it was from their land
that
they drew the means of living. All wars between the whites and
the
Indians, whatever the color or pretence on either side, have been
on
both sides wars of extermination. They have been carried on as
such wars
always have been and always will be carried on. On the side of
the
stronger there have been constant encroachments, effected now by
menace
and now by cajolery, but always prefaced by the display and
the
insolence of superior power. On the side of the weaker there have
been
alternations of sullen acquiescence and of fierce and
fruitless
resistance. It is not surprising that under such circumstances
the
character of each party has been presented to the other in the
most
forbidding light.
The Indians must be judged, like every other people, not by
the traits
which they display in the fury of a desperate warfare, but by
their
ordinary demeanor in time of peace, and especially by the
character of
their social and domestic life. On this point the testimony
of
missionaries and of other competent observers who have lived
among them
is uniform. At home the Indians are the most kindly and generous
of
men. Constant good humor, unfailing courtesy, ready sympathy
with
distress, and a truly lavish liberality, mark their intercourse
with one
another. The Jesuit missionaries among the Hurons knew them
before
intercourse with the whites and the use of ardent spirits had
embittered
and debased them. The testimony which they have left on record is
very
remarkable. The missionary Brebeuf, protesting against the
ignorant
prejudice which would place the Indians on a level with the
brutes,
gives the result of his observation in emphatic terms. "In my
opinion,"
he writes, "it is no small matter to say of them that they live
united
in towns, sometimes of fifty, sixty, or a hundred dwellings, that
is, of
three or four hundred households; that they cultivate the fields,
from
which they derive their food for the whole year; and that they
maintain
peace and friendship with one another." He doubts "if there is
another
nation under heaven more commendable in this respect" than the
Huron
"nation of the Bear," among whom he resided. "They have," he
declares,
"a gentleness and an affability almost incredible for
barbarians." They
keep up "this perfect goodwill," as he terms it, "by frequent
visits, by
the aid which they give one another in sickness, and by their
festivals
and social gatherings, whenever they are not occupied by their
fields
and fisheries, or in hunting or trade." "They are," he continues,
"less
in their own cabins than in those of their friends. If any one
falls
sick, and wants something which may benefit him, everybody is
eager to
furnish it. Whenever one of them has something specially good to
eat, he
invites his friends and makes a feast. Indeed, they hardly ever
eat
alone." [Footnote: Relation for 1636, p. 117.]
The Iroquois, who had seemed little better than demons to
the
missionaries while they knew them only as enemies to the French
or their
Huron allies, astonished them, on a nearer acquaintance, by
the
development of similar traits of natural goodness. "You will find
in
them," declares one of these fair-minded and cultivated
observers,
"virtues which might well put to blush the majority of
Christians. There
is no need of hospitals among them, because there are no beggars
among
them, and indeed, none who are poor, so long as any of them
are
rich. Their kindness, humanity and courtesy not merely make them
liberal
in giving, but almost lead them to live as though everything
they
possess were held in common. No one can want food while there is
corn
anywhere in the town." It is true that the missionaries often
accuse the
Iroquois of cruelty and perfidy; but the narrative shows that
these
qualities were only displayed in their wars, and apparently only
against
enemies whose cruelty and perfidy they had experienced.
We can now see that the plan of universal federation and
general peace
which Hiawatha devised had nothing in itself so surprising as to
excite
our incredulity. It was, indeed, entirely in accordance with the
genius
of his people. Its essence was the extension to all nations of
the
methods of social and civil life which prevailed in his own
nation. If
the people of a town of four hundred families could live in
constant
"peace and friendship," why should not all the tribes of men
dwell
together in the same manner? The idea is one which might readily
have
occurred to any man of benevolent feelings and thoughtful
temperament. The project in itself is not so remarkable as the
energy
and skill with which it was carried into effect. It is deserving
of
notice, however, that according to the Indian tradition, Hiawatha
was
impelled to action mainly by experience of the mischiefs which
were
caused in his own nation through a departure from their ordinary
system
of social life. The missionaries, in describing the general
harmony
which prevailed among the Hurons, admit that it was sometimes
disturbed. There were "bad spirits" among them, as everywhere
else, who
could not always be controlled. [Footnote: Relation of
1636,
p. 118: "Ostez quelques mauvais esprits, qui se rencontrent
quasi
partout," etc.] Atotarho, among the Onondagas, was one of these
bad
spirits; and in his case, unfortunately, an evil disposition
was
reinforced by a keen intellect and a powerful will. His history
for a
time offered a rare instance of something approaching to
despotism, or
the Greek "tyranny," exercised in an Indian tribe. A fact so
strange,
and conduct so extraordinary, seemed in after-times to
require
explanation. A legend is preserved among the Onondagas, which
was
apparently devised to account for a prodigy so far out of the
common
order of events. I give it in the words in which it is recorded
in my
journal. [Footnote: This story was related to me in March, 1882,
by my
intelligent friend, Chief John Buck, who was inclined to give
it
credence,—sharing in this, as in other things, the sentiments of
the
best among his people.]
"Another legend, of which I have not before heard, professed
to give the
origin both of the abnormal ferocity and of the preterhuman
powers of
Atotarho. He was already noted as a chief and a warrior, when he
had the
misfortune to kill a peculiar bird, resembling a sea-gull, which
is
reputed to possess poisonous qualities of singular virulence. By
his
contact with the dead bird his mind was affected. He became
morose and
cruel, and at the same time obtained the power of destroying men
and
other creatures at a distance. Three sons of Hiawatha were among
his
victims. He attended the Councils which were held, and made
confusion in
them, and brought all the people into disturbance and terror. His
bodily
appearance was changed at the same time, and his aspect became
so
terrible that the story spread, and was believed, that his head
was
encircled by living snakes."
The only importance of this story is in the evidence it
affords that
conduct so anti-social as that of Atotarho was deemed to be the
result
of a disordered mind. In his case, as in that of the Scottish
tyrant and
murderer, "the insane root that took the reason prisoner," was
doubtless
an unbridled ambition. It is interesting to remark that even his
fierce
temper and determined will were forced to yield at last to the
pressure
of public opinion, which compelled him to range himself on the
side of
peace and union. In the whimsical imagery of the narrative, which
some
of the story-tellers, after their usual fashion, have converted
from a
metaphor to a fact, Hiawatha "combed the snakes out of the head"
of his
great antagonist, and presented him to the Council changed and
restored
to his right mind.
CHAPTER IX.
THE IROQUOIS POLICY.
Few popular notions, it may be affirmed, are so far from the
truth as
that which makes the Iroquois a band of treacherous and
ferocious
ravagers, whose career was marked everywhere by cruelty and
devastation. The clear and positive evidence of historical facts
leads
to a widely different conclusion. It is not going too far to
assert
that among all uncivilized races the Iroquois have shown
themselves to
be the most faithful of allies, the most placable of enemies, and
the
most clement of conquerors. It will be proper, in justice to
them, as
well as in the interest of political and social science, to
present
briefly the principles and methods which guided them in their
intercourse with other communities. Their system, as finally
developed,
comprised four distinct forms of connection with other nations,
all
tending directly to the establishment of universal peace.
1. As has been already said, the primary object of the
founders of their
League was the creation of a confederacy which should comprise
all the
nations and tribes of men that were known to them. Experience,
however,
quickly showed that this project, admirable in idea, was
impossible of
execution. Distance, differences of language, and difficulties
of
communication, presented obstacles which could not be overcome.
But the
plan was kept in view as one of the cardinal principles of
their
policy. They were always eager to receive new members into
their
League. The Tuscaroras, the Nanticokes, the Tuteloes, and a band
of the
Delawares, were thus successively admitted, and all of them still
retain
representative in the Council of the Canadian branch of the
confederacy.
2. When this complete political union could not be achieved,
the
Iroquois sought to accomplish the same end, as far as possible,
by a
treaty of alliance. Two notable examples will show how earnestly
this
purpose was pursued, and how firmly it was maintained. When the
Dutch
established their trading settlements on the Hudson River, one of
their
first proceedings was to send an embassy to the Five Nations,
with
proposals for a treaty. The overture was promptly accepted. A
strict
alliance was formed, and was ratified in the usual manner by an
exchange
of wampum belts. When the English took the place of the Dutch,
the
treaty was renewed with them, and was confirmed in the same
manner. The
wampum-belts then received by the Confederates are still
preserved on
their Canadian Reservation, and are still brought forth and
expounded by
the older chiefs to the younger generation, in their great
Councils. History records with what unbroken faith, through
many
changes, and despite many provocations from their allies and
many
enticements from the French rulers and missionaries, this
alliance was
maintained to the last.
If it be suggested that this fidelity was strengthened by
motives of
policy, the same cannot be affirmed of the alliance with the
Ojibways,
which dates from a still earlier period. The annalists of the
Kanonsionni affirm that their first treaty with this widespread
people
of the northwest was made soon after the formation of their
League, and
that it was strictly maintained on both sides for more than two
hundred
years. The Ojibways then occupied both shores of Lake Superior,
and the
northern part of the peninsula of Michigan. The point at which
they came
chiefly in contact with the adventurous Iroquois voyagers was at
the
great fishing station of St. Mary's Falls, on the strait which
unites
Lake Superior with Lake Huron; and here, it is believed, the
first
alliance was consummated. After more than two centuries had
elapsed, the
broken bands of the defeated Hurons, fleeing from their ravaged
homes on
the Georgian Bay, took refuge among the Ojibways, with whom they,
too,
had always maintained a friendly understanding. Their presence
and the
story of their sufferings naturally awakened the sympathy of
their
hosts. The rapid spread of the Iroquois empire created alarm. A
great
agitation ensued among the far-dispersed bands of the Ojibway
name. Occasional meetings between hunting-parties of the
younger
warriors of the two peoples,—the Iroquois arrogant in the
consciousness
of their recent conquests, the Ojibways sullen and
suspicious,—led to
bitter words, and sometimes to actual strife. On two occasions
several
Ojibway warriors were slain, under what provocation is uncertain.
But
the reparation demanded by the Ojibway chiefs was promptly
conceded by
the Iroquois Council. The amplest apology was made, and for every
slain
warrior a pack of furs was delivered. The ancient treaty was at
the same
time renewed, with every formality. Nothing could more clearly
show the
anxiety of the Iroquois rulers to maintain their national faith
than
this apology and reparation, so readily made by them, at the time
when
their people were at the height of their power and in the full
flush of
conquest. [Footnote: The Ojibway historian, Copway, in his
"Traditional History of the Ojibway Nation" (p. 84), gives
the
particulars of this event, as preserved by the Ojibways
themselves. Even
the strong national prejudice of the narrator, which has
evidently
colored his statement, leaves the evidence of the magnanimity
and
prudence of the Iroquois elders clearly apparent.] These
efforts,
however, to preserve the ancient amity proved unavailing. Through
whose
fault it was that the final outbreak occurred is a question which
the
annalists of the two parties differ. But the events just
recounted, and,
indeed, all the circumstances, speak strongly in favor of the
Iroquois.
They had shown their anxiety to maintain the peace, and they had
nothing
to gain by war. The bleak northern home of the Ojibways offered
no
temptation to the most greedy conqueror. To the Ojibways, on the
other
hand, the broad expanse of western Canada, now lying deserted,
and
stretching before them its wealth of forests full of deer, its
lakes and
rivers swarming with fish, its lovely glades and fertile plains,
where
the corn harvests of the Hurons and Neutrals had lately
glistened, were
an allurement which they could not resist. They assumed at once
the
wrongs and the territories of their exiled Huron friends, and
plunged
into the long-meditated strife with their ancient allies. The
contest
was desperate and destructive. Many sanguinary battles took
place, and
great numbers of warriors fell on both sides. On the whole the
balance
inclined against the Iroquois. In this war they were a southern
people,
contending against a hardier race from the far north. They fought
at a
distance from their homes, while the Ojibways, migrating in
bands,
pitched their habitations in the disputed region.
Finally, both sides became weary of the strife. Old sentiments
of
fellowship revived. Peace was declared, and a new treaty was
made. The
territory for which they had fought was divided between them.
The
southwestern portion, which had been the home of the
Attiwandaronks,
remained as the hunting-ground of the Iroquois. North and east of
this
section the Ojibways possessed the land. The new treaty,
confirmed by
the exchange of wampum-belts and by a peculiar interlocking of
the right
arms, which has ever since been the special sign of amity between
the
Iroquois and the Ojibways, was understood to make them not merely
allies
but brothers. As the symbol on one of the belts which is still
preserved
indicates, they were to be as relatives who are so nearly akin
that they
eat from the same dish. This treaty, made two centuries ago, has
ever
since been religiously maintained. Its effects are felt to
this
day. Less than forty years ago a band of the Ojibways, the
Missisagas,
forced to relinquish their reserved lands on the River Credit,
sought a
refuge with the Iroquois of the Grand River Reservation. They
appealed
to this treaty, and to the evidence of the wampum-belts. Their
appeal
was effectual. A large tract of valuable land was granted to them
by the
Six Nations. Here, maintaining their distinct tribal
organization, they
still reside, a living evidence of the constancy and liberality
with
which the Iroquois uphold their treaty obligations.
3. When a neighboring people would neither join the
confederacy nor
enter into a treaty of alliance with it, the almost inevitable
result
would be, sooner or later, a deadly war. Among the nomadic or
unsettled
Indian tribes, especially the Algonkins and Sioux, the young men
are
expected to display their bravery by taking scalps; and a race
of
farmers, hunters, and fishermen, like the Iroquois, would be
tempting
victims. Before the confederacy was formed, some of its
members,
particularly the Caniengas and Oneidas, had suffered greatly from
wars
with the wilder tribes about them. The new strength derived from
the
League enabled them to turn the tables upon their adversaries.
But they
made a magnanimous use of their superiority. An enemy who
submitted was
at once spared. When the great Delaware nation, the Lenapes,
known as
the head of the Algonkin stock, yielded to the arms of the
Kanonsionni,
they were allowed to retain their territory and nearly all
their
property. They were simply required to acknowledge themselves
the
subjects of the Iroquois, to pay a moderate tribute in wampum and
furs,
and to refrain thenceforth from taking any part in war. In
the
expressive Indian phrase, they were "made women." This phrase did
not
even imply, according to Iroquois ideas, any serious humiliation;
for
among them, as the French missionaries tell us, women had
much
authority. [Footnote: "Les femmes ayant beaucoup
d'autorité parmi ces
peuples, leur vertu y fait d'autant plus de fruit qu'autre
part."—Relation of 1657, p. 48.] Their special office in
war was
that of peace-makers. It was deemed to be their right and duty,
when in
their opinion the strife had lasted long enough, to interfere and
bring
about a reconciliation. The knowledge of this fact led the
Lenapes, in
aftertimes, to put forward a whimsical claim to dignity, which
was
accepted by their worthy but credulous historian, Heckewelder.
They
asserted that while their nation was at the height of power,
their
ancestors were persuaded by the insidious wiles of the Iroquois
to lay
aside their arms, for the purpose of assuming the lofty position
of
universal mediators and arbiters among the Indian nations.
[Footnote:
Heckewelder's History of the Indian Nations, p. 56.] That
this
preposterous story should have found credence is surprising
enough. A
single fact suffices to disprove it, and to show the terms on
which the
Delawares stood with the great northern confederacy. Golden
has
preserved for us the official record of the Council which was
held in
Philadelphia, in July, 1742, between the provincial authorities
and the
deputies of the Six Nations, headed by their noted orator and
statesman,
the great Onondaga chief, Canasatego. The Delawares, whose claim
to
certain lands was to be decided, attended the conference. The
Onondaga
leader, after reciting the evidence which had been laid before
him to
show that these lands had been sold to the colonists by the
Delawares,
and severely rebuking the latter for their breach of faith in
repudiating the bargain, continued: "But how came you to take
upon you
to sell land at all? We conquered you. We made women of you. You
know
you are women, and can no more sell land than women. Nor is it
fit that
you should have the power of selling lands, since you would
abuse
it. This very land that you now claim has been consumed by you.
You have
had it in meat and drink and clothes, and now you want it again,
like
children, as you are. But what makes you sell land in the dark?
Did you
ever tell us that you had sold this land? Did we ever receive any
part
of the price, even the value of a pipe-stem from you? You have
told us a
blind story—that you sent a messenger to inform us of the sale;
but he
never came among us, nor have we ever heard anything about it.
And for
all these reasons we charge you to remove instantly. We don't
give you
the liberty to think about it. We assign you two places to go,
either to
Wyoming or Shamokin. You may go to either of those places, and
then we
shall have you more under our eyes, and shall see how you behave.
Don't
deliberate, but remove away; and take this belt of wampum."
[Footnote:
Golden: History of the Five Nations, Vol. II, p. 36
(2d
Edition).]
This imperious allocution, such as a Cinna or a Cornelius
might have
delivered to a crowd of trembling and sullen Greeks, shows
plainly
enough the relation in which the two communities stood to one
another. It proves also that the rule under which the
conquered
Delawares were held was anything but oppressive. They seem to
have been
allowed almost entire freedom, except only in making war and
in
disposing of their lands without the consent of the Six Nations.
In
fact, the Iroquois, in dealing with them, anticipated the
very
regulations which the enlightened governments of the United
States and
England now enforce in that benevolent treatment of the Indian
tribes
for which they justly claim high credit. Can they refuse a like
credit
to their dusky predecessors and exemplars, or deny them the
praise of
being, as has been already said, the most clement of
conquerors?
4. Finally, when a tribe within what may be called "striking
distance"
of the Confederacy would neither join the League, nor enter into
an
alliance with its members, nor come under their protection,
there
remained nothing but a chronic state of warfare, which destroyed
all
sense of security and comfort. The Iroquois hunter, fisherman,
or
trader, returning home after a brief absence, could never be sure
that
he would not find his dwelling a heap of embers, smoldering over
the
mangled remains of his wife and children. The plainest dictates
of
policy taught the Confederates that the only safe method in
dealing with
such persistent and unappeasable foes was to crush them utterly.
Among
the most dangerous of their enemies were the Hurons and the
eastern
Algonkins, sustained and encouraged by the French colonists. It
is from
them and their historians chiefly that the complaints of
Iroquois
cruelties have descended to us; but the same historians have not
omitted
to inform us that the first acquaintance of the Iroquois with
triese
colonists was through two most wanton and butcherly assaults
which
Champlain and his soldiers, in company with their Indian allies,
made
upon their unoffending neighbors. No milder epithets can justly
describe
these unprovoked invasions, in which the Iroquois bowmen,
defending
their homes, were shot down mercilessly with firearms, by
strangers whom
they had never before seen or perhaps even heard of. This stroke
of evil
policy, which tarnished an illustrious name, left
far-reaching
consequences, affecting the future of half a continent. Its first
result
was the destruction of the Hurons, the special allies and
instigators of
the colonists in their hostilities. The Attiwandaronks, or
Neutrals,
with whom, till this time, the Iroquois had maintained
peaceful
relations, shared the same fate; for they were the friends of the
Hurons
and the French. The Eries perished in a war provoked, as the
French
missionaries in their always trustworthy accounts inform us, by
a
perverse freak of cruelty on their own part.
Yet, in all these destructive wars, the Iroquois never for a
moment
forgot the principles which lay at the foundation of their
League, and
which taught them to "strengthen their house" by converting
enemies into
friends. On the instant that resistance ceased, slaughter ceased
with
it. The warriors who were willing to unite their fortunes with
the
Confederates were at once welcomed among them. Some were adopted
into
the families of those who had lost children or brothers. Others
had
lands allotted to them, on which they were allowed to live by
themselves, under their own chiefs and their native laws, until
in two
or three generations, by friendly intercourse, frequent
intermarriages,
and community of interests, they became gradually absorbed into
the
society about them. Those who suppose that the Hurons only
survive in a
few Wyandots, and that the Eries, Attiwandaronks, and Andastes
have
utterly perished, are greatly mistaken. It is absolutely certain
that of
the twelve thousand Indians who now, in the United States and
Canada,
preserve the Iroquois name, the greater portion derive their
descent, in
whole or in part, from those conquered nations. [Footnote: "Ces
victoires
lear caasant presque autant de perte qu'a leurs ennemis, elles
ont
tellement depeuplé leurs Bourgs, qu'on y compte plus
d'Estfangers que de
naturels du pays. Onnontaghe a sept nations differentes qut s'y
sont
venues establir, et il s'en trouve jusqu'a onze dans
Sonnontoiian."
Relation of 1657, p. 34. "Qui feroit la supputation des
francs
Iroquois, auroit de la peine d'en trouver plus de douze cents
(i. e. combattans) en toutes les cinq Nations, parce que le plus
grand
nombre n'est compose que d'un ramas de divers peuples qu'ils
ont
conquestez, commes des Hurons, des Tionnontateronnons, autrement
Nation
du Petun; des Attiwendaronk, qu'on appelloit Neutres, quand ils
estoient
sur pied; des Riquehronnons, qui sont ceux de la Nation des
Chats; des
Ontwaganha, ou Nation du Feu; des Trakwaehronnons, et autres,
qui, tout
estrangers qu'ils sont, font sans doute la plus grande et la
meilleure
parties des Iroquois." Ret. de 1660, p. 7. Yet, it was
this
"conglomeration of divers peoples" that, under the discipline
of
Iroquois institutions and the guidance of Iroquois statesmen
and
commanders, held high the name of the Kanonsionni, and made
the
Confederacy a great power on the continent for more than a
century after
this time; who again and again measured arms and intellects with
French
generals and diplomatists, and came off at least with equal
fortune; who
smote their Abenaki enemies in the far east, punished the
Illinois
marauders in the far west, and thrust back the intruding
Cherokees into
their southern mountains; who were a wall of defence to the
English
colonies, and a strong protection to the many broken bands of
Indians
which from every quarter clustered round the shadow of the "great
pine
tree" of Onondaga.] No other Indian community, so far as we know,
has
ever pursued this policy of incorporation to anything near the
same
extent, or carried it out with anything like the same humanity.
Even
towards the most determined and the most savage of their foes,
the
Kanonsionni, when finally victorious, showed themselves ever
magnanimous
and placable.
The common opinion of the cruelty of the Iroquois has arisen
mainly from
the custom which they occasionally practiced, like some other
Indians,
of burning prisoners at the stake. Out of the multitude of
their
captives, the number subjected to this torture was really
very
small,—probably not nearly as large in proportion as the number
of
criminals and political prisoners who, in some countries of
Europe, at
about the same time, were subjected to the equally cruel torments
of the
rack and the wheel. These criminals and other prisoners were so
tortured
because they were regarded as the enemies of society. The motives
which
actuated the Iroquois were precisely the same. As has been
before
remarked, the mode in which their enemies carried on their
warfare with
them was chiefly by stealthy and sudden inroads. The prowling
warrior
lurked in the woods near the Iroquois village through the day,
and at
night fell with hatchet and club upon his unsuspecting victims.
The
Iroquois lawgivers deemed it essential for the safety of their
people
that the men who were guilty of such murderous attacks should
have
reason to apprehend, if caught, a direful fate.
If the comparatively few instances of these political tortures
which
occurred among the Iroquois are compared with the awful list of
similar
and worse inflictions which stain the annals of the most
enlightened
nations of Europe and Asia, ancient and modern,—the
crucifixions, the
impalements, the dreadful mutilations—lopping of hands and
feet,
tearing out of eyes—the tortures of the rack and wheel, the
red-hot
pincers, the burning crown, the noisome dungeon, the slow
starvation,
the lingering death in the Siberian mines,—it will become
evident that
these barbarians were far inferior to their civilized
contemporaries in
the temper and arts of inhumanity. Even in the very method of
punishment
which they adopted the Indians were outdone in Europe, and
that,
strangely enough, by the two great colonizing and conquering
nations,
heirs of all modern enlightenment, who came to displace
them,—the
English and the Spaniards. The Iroquois never burnt women at
the
stake. To put either men or women to death for a difference of
creed had
not occurred to them. It may justly be affirmed that in the
horrors of
Smithfield and the Campo Santo, the innate barbarism of the
Aryan,
breaking through his thin varnish of civilization, was found,
far
transcending the utmost barbarism of the Indian. [Footnote: The
Aryans
of Europe are undoubtedly superior in humanity, courage and
independence, to those of Asia. It is possible that the finer
qualities
which distinguish the western branch of this stock may have been
derived
from admixture with an earlier population of Europe, identical in
race
and character with the aborigines of America. See Appendix, Note
F. ]
CHAPTER X.
THE IROQUOIS LANGUAGE.
As the mental faculties of a people are reflected in their
speech, we
should naturally expect that the language of a race manifesting
such
unusual powers as the Iroquois nations have displayed would be of
a
remarkable character. In this expectation we are not
disappointed. The
languages of the Huron-Iroquois family belong to what has been
termed
the polysynthetic class, and are distinguished, even in that
class, by a
more than ordinary endowment of that variety of forms and
fullness of
expression for which languages of that type are noted. The
best-qualified judges have been the most struck with this
peculiar
excellence. "The variety of compounds," wrote the
accomplished
missionary, Brebeuf, concerning the Huron tongue, "is very great;
it is
the key to the secret of their language. They have as many
genders as
ourselves, as many numbers as the Greeks." Recurring to the
same
comparison, he remarks of the Huron verb that it has as many
tenses and
numbers as the Greek, with certain discriminations which the
latter did
not possess. [Footnote: Relation of 1636, pp 99,100.] A
great
living authority has added the weight of his name to these
opinions of
the scholarly Jesuit. Professor Max Muller, who took the
opportunity
afforded by the presence of a Mohawk undergraduate at Oxford to
study
his language, writes of it in emphatic terms: "To my mind the
structure
of such a language as the Mohawk is quite sufficient evidence
that those
who worked out such a work of art were powerful reasoners and
accurate
classifiers." [Footnote: In a letter to the author, dated Feb.
14,
1882. In a subsequent letter Prof. Muller writes, in regard to
the study
of the aboriginal languages of this continent: "It has long been
a
puzzle to me why this most tempting and promising field of
philological
research has been allowed to lie almost fallow in America,—as if
these
languages could not tell us quite as much of the growth of the
human
mind as Chinese, or Hebrew, or Sanscrit." I have Prof. Max
Miller's
permission to publish these extracts, and gladly do so, in the
hope that
they may serve to stimulate that growing interest which the
efforts of
scholars like Trumbull, Shea, Cuoq, Brinton, and, more recently,
Major
Powell and his able collaborators of the Ethnological Bureau, are
at
length beginning to awaken among us, in the investigation of
this
important and almost unexplored province of linguistic
science.]
It is a fact somewhat surprising, as well as unfortunate, that
no
complete grammar of any language of the Huron-Iroquois stock has
ever
been published. Many learned and zealous missionaries, Catholic
and
Protestant, have labored among the tribes of this stock for more
than
two centuries. Portions of the Scriptures, as well as some other
works,
have been translated into several of these languages. Some small
books,
including biographies and hymn-books, have been composed and
printed in
two of them; and the late devoted and indefatigable missionary
among the
Senecas, the Rev. Asher Wright, conducted for several years a
periodical, the "Mental Elevator" (Ne Jaguhnigoageswatha),
in
their language. Several grammars are known to have been composed,
but
none have as yet been printed in a complete form. One reason of
this
unwillingness to publish was, undoubtedly, the sense which the
compilers
felt of the insufficiency of their work; Such is the
extraordinary
complexity of the language, such the multiplicity of its forms
and the
subtlety of its distinctions, that years of study are required to
master
it; and indeed it may be said that the abler the investigator and
the
more careful his study, the more likely he is to be dissatisfied
with
his success. This dissatisfaction was frankly expressed and
practically
exhibited by Mr. Wright himself, certainly one of the best
endowed and
most industrious of these inquirers. After residing for several
years
among the Senecas, forming an alphabet remarkable for its
precise
discrimination of sounds, and even publishing several
translations in
their language, he undertook to give some account of its
grammatical
forms. A little work printed in 1842, with the modest title of
"A
Spelling-book of the Seneca Language," comprises the
variations of
nouns, adjectives and pronouns, given with much minuteness. Those
of the
verbs are promised, but the book closes abruptly without them,
for the
reason—as the author afterwards explained to a
correspondent—that he
had not as yet been able to obtain such a complete knowledge of
them as
he desired. This difficulty is further exemplified by a work
purporting
to be a "Grammar of the Huron Language, by a Missionary of
the
Village of Huron Indians, near Quebec, found amongst the papers
of the
Mission, and translated from the Latin, by the Rev. John
Wilkie."
This translation is published in the "Transactions of the
Literary
and Historical Society of Quebec," for 1831, and fills more
than a
hundred octavo pages. It is a work evidently of great labor, and
is
devoted chiefly to the variations of the verbs; yet its lack
of
completeness may be judged from the single fact that the
"transitions,"
or in other words, the combinations of the double pronouns,
nominative
and objective, with the transitive verb, which form such an
important
feature of the language, are hardly noticed; and, it may be
added,
though the conjugations are mentioned, they are not explained.
The work,
indeed, would rather perplex than aid an investigator, and gives
no
proper idea of the character and richness of the language. The
same may
be said of the grammatical notices comprised in the Latin
"Proemium" to
Bruyas' Iroquois dictionary. These notices are apparently modeled
to
some extent on this anonymous grammar of the Huron
language,—unless,
indeed, the latter may have been copied from Bruyas; the rules
which
they give being in several instances couched in the same
words.
Some useful grammatical explanations are found in the
anonymous Onondaga
dictionary of the seventeenth century, published by Dr. Shea in
his
"Library of American Linguistics." But by far the most
valuable
contribution to our knowledge of the structure of this remarkable
group
of languages is found in the works of a distinguished writer of
our own
day, the Rev. J. A. Cuoq, of Montreal, eminent both as a
missionary and
as a philologist. After twenty years of labor among the Iroquois
and
Algonkin tribes in the Province of Quebec, M. Cuoq was led to
appear as
an author by his desire to defend his charges against the
injurious
effect of a judgment which had been pronounced by a noted
authority.
M. Renan had put forth, among the many theories which distinguish
his
celebrated work on the Semitic languages, one which seemed to M.
Cuoq as
mischievous as it was unfounded. M. Renan held that no races
were
capable of civilization except such as have now attained it; and
that
these comprised only the Aryan, the Semitic, and the Chinese.
This
opinion was enforced by a reference to the languages spoken by
the
members of those races. "To imagine a barbarous race speaking a
Semitic
or an Indo-European language is," he declares, "an impossible
supposition (une fiction, conradictoire), which no person
can
entertain who is familiar with the laws of comparative philology,
and
with the general theory of the human intellect." To one who
remembers
that every nation of the Indo-European race traces its descent
from a
barbarous ancestry, and especially that the Germans in the days
of
Tacitus were in precisely the same social stage as that of the
Iroquois
in the days of Champlain, this opinion of the brilliant
French
philologist and historian will seem erratic and unaccountable. M.
Cuoq
sought to refute it, not merely by argument, but by the logic
of
facts. In two works, published successively in 1864 and 1866, he
showed,
by many and various examples, that the Iroquois and Algonkin
languages
possessed all the excellences which M. Renan admired in the
Indo-European languages, and surpassed in almost every respect
the
Semitic and Chinese tongues. [Footnote: See Jugement
Erroné de
M. Ernest Renan sur les Langues Sauvages: (2d edit.)
Dawson
Brothers, Montreal: 1870; and Etudes Philologiques sur
quelques
Langues Sauvages de r Amerique. Par N. O., Ancien
Missionaire. Ibid:
1866. Also Lexique de la Langue Iroquoise, avec notes et
appendices. Par J. A. Cuoq, Prétre de St. Sulpice. J.
Chapleau &
Fils, Montreal: 1882. These are all works indispensable to the
student
of Indian languages.] The resemblances of these Indian languages
to the
Greek struck him, as it had struck his illustrious predecessor,
the
martyred Brebeuf, two hundred years before. M. Cuoq is also the
author
of a valuable Iroquois lexicon, with notes and appendices, in
which he
discusses some interesting points in the philology of the
language. This
lexicon is important, also, for comparison with that of the
Jesuit
missionary, Bruyas, as showing how little the language has varied
in the
course of two centuries. [Footnote: Radices Verborum
Iroquaeorum.
Auctore R. P. Jacopo Bruyas, Societatis Jesu. Published in
Shea's
"Library of American Linguistics" For the works in
this
invaluable Library, American scholars owe a debt of gratitude
to
Dr. Shea's enlightened zeal in the cause of science and
humanity.] The
following particulars respecting the Iroquois tongues are mainly
derived
from the works of M. Cuoq, of Bruyas, and of Mr. Wright,
supplemented
by the researches of the author, pursued at intervals during
several
years, among the tribes of Western Canada and New York. Only a
very
brief sketch of the subject can here be given. It is not too much
to
say that a complete grammar of any Iroquois language would be at
least
as extensive as the best Greek or Sanscrit grammar. For such a
work
neither the writer, nor perhaps any other person now living,
except M.
Cuoq himself, would be competent.
The phonology of the language is at once simple and
perplexing. According to M. Cuoq, twelve letters suffice to
represent
it: a, c, f, h, i, k, n, o, r, s, t, w. Mr. Wright employs
for
the Seneca seventeen, with diacritical marks, which raise the
number to
twenty-one. The English missionaries among the Mohawks found
sixteen
letters sufficient, a, d, e, g, h, i, j, k, n, o, r, s, t, u,
w,
y. There are no labial sounds, unless the f, which
rarely
occurs, and appears to be merely an aspirated w, may
be
considered one. No definite distinction is maintained between the
vowel
sounds o and u, and one of these letters may be
dispensed
with. The distinction between hard and soft (or surd and sonant)
mutes
is not preserved. The sounds of d and t, and those
of
k and g, are interchangeable. So also are those of
l
and r, the former sound being heard more frequently in the
Oneida
dialect and the latter in the Canienga. From the Western
dialects,—the
Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca,—this l or r sound
has, in
modern times, disappeared altogether. The Canienga
konoronkwa, I
esteem him (in Oneida usually sounded konolonkwa), has
become
konoenkwa in Onondaga,—and in Cayuga and Seneca is
contracted to
kononkwa. Aspirates and aspirated gutturals abound, and
have
been variously represented by h, hh, kh, and gh,
and
sometimes (in the works of the early French missionaries) by the
Greek
[Greek: chi] and the spiritus asper. Yet no permanent
distinction
appears to be maintained among the sounds thus represented, and
M. Cuoq
reduces them all to the simple h. The French nasal
sound
abounds. M. Cuoq and the earlier English missionaries have
expressed it,
as in French, simply by the n when terminating a syllable.
When
it does not close a syllable, a diaeresis above the n, or else
the
Spanish tilde (n) indicates the sound. Mr. Wright denotes
it by a
line under the vowel. The later English missionaries express it
by a
diphthong: ken becomes kea; nonwa becomes
noewa;
onghwentsya is written oughweatsya.
A strict analysis would probably reduce the sounds of the
Canienga
language to seven consonants, h, k, n, r, s, t, and
w, and
four vowels, a, e, i, and o, of which three, a,
e, and
o, may receive a nasal sound. This nasalizing makes them, in
fact,
distinct elements; and the primary sounds of the language may
therefore
be reckoned at fourteen. [Footnote: A dental t, which the
French
missionaries represent sometimes by the Greek theta and
sometimes
by th, and which the English have also occasionally
expressed by
the latter method, may possibly furnish an additional element.
The Greek
theta of the former is simply the English w.] The
absence
of labials and the frequent aspirated gutturals give to the
utterance of
the best speakers a deep and sonorous character which reminds the
hearer
of the stately Castilian speech.
The "Book of Rites," or, rather, the Canienga portion of it,
is written
in the orthography first employed by the English missionaries.
The
d is frequently used, and must be regarded merely as a
variant of
the t sound. The g is sometimes, though rarely,
employed
as a variant of the k. The digraph gh is common
and
represents the guttural aspirate, which in German is indicated
by
ch and in Spanish by j. The French missionaries
write it
now simply h, and consider it merely a harsh pronunciation
of the
aspirate. The j is sounded as in English; it usually
represents a
complex sound, which might be analysed into ts or
tsi;
jathondek is properly tsiatontek. The x,
which
occasionally appears, is to be pronounced ks, as in
English. An, en, on, when not followed by a vowel, have a
nasal
sound, as in French. This sound is heard even when those
syllables are
followed by another n. Thus Kanonsionni is
pronounced as
if written Kanonsionni and yondennase as if
written
yondennase. The vowels have usually the same sound as in
German
and Italian; but in the nasal en the vowel has an obscure
sound,
nearly like that of the short u in but. Thus
yondennase sounds almost as if written yondunnase,
and
kanienke is pronounced nearly like kaniunke.
The nouns in Iroquois are varied, but with accidence differing
from the
Aryan and Semitic variations, some of the distinctions being
more
subtle, and, so to speak, metaphysical. The dual is expressed
by
prefixing the particle te, and suffixing ke to the
noun;
thus, from kanonsa, house, we have tekanonsake,
two
houses. These syllables, or at least the first, are supposed to
be
derived from tekeni, two. The plural, when it follows
an
adjective expressive of number, is indicated by the syllable
ni
prefixed to the noun, and ke suffixed; as, eso
nikanonsake, many houses. In other cases the plural is
sometimes
expressed by one of the words okon (or hokon)
okonha, son and sonha, following the noun.
In
general, however, the plural significance of nouns is left to
be
inferred from the context, the verb always and the adjective
frequently
indicating it.
All beings are divided into two classes, which do not
correspond either
with the Aryan genders or with the distinctions of animate and
inanimate
which prevail in the Algonkin tongues. These classes have been
styled
noble and common. To the noble belong male human beings and
deities. The other class comprises women and all other objects.
It seems
probable, however, that the distinction in the first instance was
merely
that of sex,—that it was, in fact, a true gender. Deities,
being
regarded as male, were included in the masculine gender. There
being no
neuter form, the feminine gender was extended, and made to
comprise all
other beings. These classes, however, are not indicated by any
change
in the noun, but merely by the forms of the pronoun and the
verb.
The local relations of nouns are expressed by affixed
particles, such as
ke, ne, kon, akon, akta. Thus,
from
onónta mountain, we have onontáke, at
(or to) the
mountain; from akéhrat, dish,
akehrátne, in (or on) the
dish; from kanónsa, house,
kanonsákon, or
kanónskon, in the house, kanonsókon,
under the house, and
kanonsákta, near the house. These locative
particles, it will be
seen, usually, though not always, draw the accent towards
them.
The most peculiar and perplexing variation is that made by
what is
termed the "crement," affixed to many (though not all) nouns.
This
crement in the Canienga takes various forms, ta, sera,
tsera,
kwa. Onkwe, man, becomes onkwéta;
otkon,
spirit, otkónsera; akáwe, oar,
akawétsera;
ahta, shoe, ahhtákwa. The crement is
employed when the noun
is used with numeral adjectives, when it has adjective or other
affixes,
and generally when it enters into composition with other words.
Thus
onkwe, man, combined with the adjective termination
iyo
(from the obsolete wiyo, good) becomes onkwetiyo,
good
man. Wenni, day, becomes in the plural niate
niwenniserake, many days, etc. The change, however, is
not
grammatical merely, but conveys a peculiar shade of meaning
difficult to
define. The noun, according to M. Cuoq, passes from a general
and
determinate to a special and restricted sense. Onkwe means
man in
general; asen nionkwetake, three men (in particular.)
One
interpreter rendered akawétsera, "the oar itself."
The affix
sera or tsera seems to be employed to form what we
should
term abstract nouns, though to the Iroquois mind they apparently
present
themselves as possessing a restricted or specialized sense. Thus
from
iotarihen, it is warm, we have otarihénsera,
heat; from
wakeriat, to be brave, ateriatitsera, courage.
So
kakweniátsera, authority; kanaiésera,
pride;
kanakwénsera, anger. Words of this class abound in
the Iroquois;
so little ground is there for the common opinion that the
language is
destitute of abstract nouns. [Footnote: See, on this point, the
remarks
of Dr Brinton to the same effect, in regard to the Aztec,
Qquichua, and
other languages, with interesting illustrations, in his
"American
Hero Myths", p. 25]
The adjective, when employed in an isolated form, follows
the
substantive; as kanonsa kowa, large house; onkwe
honwe (or
onwe) a real man. But, in general, the substantive and
the
adjective coalesce in one word. Ase signifies new, and
added to
kanonsa gives us kanonsáse, new house.
Karonta, tree, and
kowa, or kowanen, great, make together
karontowánen, great tree. Frequently the affixed
adjective is
never employed as an isolated word. The termination iyo
(or
iio) expresses good or beautiful, and aksen, bad or
ugly;
thus kanonsiyo, fine house, kanonsasken, ugly
house. These
compound forms frequently make their plural by adding s,
as
kanonsiyos, kanonsaksens.
The pronouns are more numerous than in any European language,
and show
clearer distinctions in meaning. Thus, in the singular, besides
the
ordinary pronouns, I, thou, he and she, the language possesses
an
indeterminate form, which answers very nearly to the French
on. The first person of the dual has two forms, the
one
including, the other excluding, the person addressed, and
signifying,
therefore, respectively, "thou and I," and "he and I." The first
person
plural has the same twofold form. The third persons dual and
plural have
masculine and feminine forms. Thus the language has fifteen
personal
pronouns, all in common use, and all, it may be added, useful
in
expressing distinctions which the English can only indicate
by
circumlocutions. These pronouns are best shown in the form in
which they
are prefixed to a verb. The following are examples of the
verb
katkahtos, I see (root atkahto) and
kenonwes, I
love (root nonwe), as conjugated in the present
tense:—
katkahtos, I see.
satkahtos, thou seest.
ratkahtos, he sees.
watkahtos, she sees,
iontkahtos, one sees.
tiatkahtos, we two see (thou and I.)
iakiatkahtos, we two see (he and I.)
tsiatkahtos, ye two see.
hiatkahtos, they two see (masc.)
kiatkahtos, they two see (fem.)
tewatkahtos, we see (ye and I.)
iakwatkahtos, we see (they and I.)
sewatkahtos, ye see.
rontkahtos, they see (masc.)
kontkahtos, they see (fem.)
kenonwes, I love.
senonwes, thou lovest.
rononwes, he loves.
kanonwes, she loves.
icnonwes, one loves.
teninonwes, we two love (thou and I)
iakeninonwes, we two love (he and I)
seninonwes, ye two love.
hninonwes, they two love (masc.)
keninonwes, they two love (fem.)
tewanonwes, we love (ye and I.)
iakwanonwes, we love (they and I.)
sewanonwes, ye love.
ratinonwes, they love (masc.)
kontinonwes, they love (fem.)
It will be observed that in these examples the prefixed
pronouns differ
considerably in some cases. These differences determine (or
are
determined by) the conjugation of the verbs. Katkahtos
belongs to
the first conjugation, and kenonwes to the second. There
are
three other conjugations, each of which shows some peculiarity in
the
prefixed pronouns, though, in the main, a general resemblance
runs
through them all. There are other variations of the pronouns,
according
to the "paradigm," as it is called, to which the verb belongs. Of
these
paradigms there are two, named in the modern Iroquois grammars
paradigms
K and A, from the first or characteristic letter of the first
personal
pronoun. The particular conjugation and paradigm to which any
verb
belongs can only be learned by practice, or from the
dictionaries.
The same prefixed pronouns are used, with some slight
variations, as
possessives, when prefixed to a substantive; as, from
sita, foot,
we have (in Paradigm A) akasita, my foot, sasita,
thy
foot, raosita, his foot. Thus nouns, like verbs, have the
five
conjugations and the two paradigms.
Iroquois verbs have three moods, indicative, imperative,
and
subjunctive; and they have, in the indicative, seven tenses,
the
present, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, aorist, future, and
paulo-post
future. These moods and tenses are indicated either by changes
of
termination, or by prefixed particles, or by both conjoined.
One
authority makes six other tenses, but M. Cuoq prefers to include
them
among the special forms of the verb, of which mention will
presently be
made.
To give examples of these tenses, and the rules for their
formation,
would require more space than can be devoted to the subject in
the
present volume. The reader who desires to pursue the study is
referred
to the works of M. Cuoq already mentioned.
The verb takes a passive form by inserting the syllable
at
between the prefixed pronoun and the verb; and a reciprocal sense
by
inserting atat. Thus, kiatatas, I put in;
katiatatas, I am put in; katatiatatas, I put myself
in;
konnis, I make; katonnis, I am made;
katatonnis, I
make myself. This syllable at is probably derived from the
word
oyala, body, which is used in the sense of "self," like
the
corresponding word hakty in the Delaware language.
The "transitions," or the pronominal forms which indicate the
passage of
the action of a transitive verb from the agent to the object,
play an
important part in the Iroquois language. In the Algonkin tongues
these
transitions are indicated partly by prefixed pronouns, and partly
by
terminal inflections. In the Iroquois the subjective and
objective
pronouns are both prefixed, as in French. In that language "il
me
voit" corresponds precisely with RAKAthatos, "he-me-sees."
Here the
pronouns, ra, of the third person, and ka of the
first,
are evident enough. In other cases the two pronouns have been
combined
in a form which shows no clear trace of either of the simple
pronouns;
as in helsenonwes, thou lovest him, and hianonwes,
he
loves thee. These combined pronouns are very numerous, and vary,
like
the simple pronouns, in the five conjugations.
The peculiar forms of the verb, analogous to the Semitic
conjugations
are very numerous. Much of the force and richness of the
language
depends on them. M. Caoq enumerates—
1. The diminutive form, which affixes ha; as
knekirhaHA, I
drink a little; konkweHA (from onkwe, man), I am a
man,
but hardly one (i.e., I am a little of a man).
2. The augmentative, of which tsi is the affixed sign;
as,
knekirhaTSI, I drink much. This is sometimes lengthened
to
tsihon; as wakatonteTSIHON, I understand
perfectly.
3 and 4. The cislocative, expressing motion towards the
speaker, and the
translocative, indicating motion tending from him. The former
has
t, the latter ie or ia, before the verb,
as
tasataweiat, come in; iasataweiat, go in.
5. The duplicative, which prefixes te, expresses an
action which
affects two or more agents or objects, as in betting, marrying,
joining,
separating. Thus, from ikiaks, I cut, we have
tekiaks, I
cut in two, where the prefix te corresponds to the Latin
bi in
"bisect". The same form is used in speaking of acts done by those
organs
of the body, such as the eyes and the hands, which nature has
made
double. Thus tekasenthos, I weep, is never used except in
this
form.
6 The reiterative is expressed by the sound of s
prefixed to the
verb. It sometimes replaces the cislocative sign; thus,
tkahtenties, I come from yonder; skahtenties, I
come
again.
7. The motional is a form which by some is considered a
special future
tense. Thus, from khiatons, I write, we have
khiatonnes, I
am going to write; from katerios, I fight,
katerioseres, I
am going to the war; from kesaks, I seek, kesakhes,
I am
going to seek. These forms are irregular, and can only be learned
by
practice.
8. The causative suffix is tha; as from
k'kowanen, I am
great, we have k'kowanaTHA, I make great, I aggrandize.
With
at inserted we have a simulative or pretentious form,
as
katkowanaTHA, I make myself great, I pretend to be great.
The
same affix is used to give an instrumental sense; as from
keriios, I kill, we have keriiohTHA, I kill him
with such
a weapon or instrument.
9. The progressive, which ends in tie (sometimes taking
the forms
atie, hatie, tatie), is much used to give
the sense
of becoming, proceeding, continuing, and the like; as
wakhiatontie, I go on writing; wakatrorihatie, I
keep on
talking; wakeriwaientatie, I am attending to the business.
The
addition of an s to this form adds the idea of plurality
or
diversity of acts; thus, wakhiatonties, I go on writing
at
different times and places; wakatrorihaties, I keep on
telling
the thing, i. e., going from house to house.
10. The attributive has various forms, which can only be
learned by
practice or from the dictionaries. It expresses an action done
for some
other person; as, from wakiote, I work, we have
kiotense,
I work for some one; from katatis, I speak,
katatiase, I
speak in favor of some one.
11. The habitual ends in kon. From katontats, I
hear, I
consent, we have wakatontatskon, I am docile; from
katatis, I speak, wakatatiatskon, I am
talkative.
12. The frequentative has many forms, but usually ends in
on, or
ons. From khiatons, I write, we have in this
form
khiatonnions, I write many things; from katkahtos,
I look,
katkahtonnions, I look on all sides.
These are not all the forms of the Iroquois verb; but enough
have been
enumerated to give some idea of the wealth of the language in
such
derivatives, and the power of varied expression which it derives
from
this source.
The Iroquois has many particles which, like those of the Greek
and
French languages, help to give clearness to the style, though
their
precise meaning cannot always be gathered by one not perfectly
familiar
with the language. Ne and nene are frequently used
as
substitutes for the article and the relative pronouns.
Onenh,
now; kati, then, therefore; ok, nok, and
neok, and; oni and neoni, also; toka
and
tokat, if, perhaps; tsi, when; kento,
here;
akwah, indeed, very; etho, thus, so;
are,
sometimes, again; ken, an interrogative particle, like the
Latin
ne—these and some others will be found in the Book of
Rites,
employed in the manner in which they are still used by the
best
speakers.
It must be understood that the foregoing sketch affords only
the barest
outline of the formation of the Iroquois language. As has been
before
remarked, a complete grammar of this speech, as full and minute
as the
best Sanscrit or Greek grammars, would probably equal and
perhaps
surpass those grammars in extent. The unconscious forces of
memory and
of discrimination required to maintain this complicated
intellectual
machine, and to preserve it constantly exact and in good working
order,
must be prodigious. Yet a comparison of Bruyas' work with the
language
of the present day shows that this purpose has been accomplished;
and,
what is still more remarkable, a comparison of the Iroquois with
the
Huron grammar shows that after a separation which must have
exceeded
five hundred years, and has probably covered twice that term, the
two
languages differ less from one another than the French of the
twelfth
century differed from the Italian, or than the Anglo-Saxon of
King
Alfred differed from the contemporary Low German speech. The
forms of
the Huron-Iroquois languages, numerous and complicated as they
are,
appear to be certainly not less persistent, and probably
better
maintained, than those of the written Aryan tongues.
ANCIENT RITES OF THE CONDOLING COUNCIL.
[*** Originally presented as one page Iroquois, followed by one
page
English translation. This is confusing in electronic texts, so
have
changed it here to be the complete Iroquois text followed by
the
complete English translation.]
OKAYONDONGHSERA YONDENNASE.
OGHENTONH KARIGHWATEGHKWENH:
DEYUGHNYOXKWARAKTA, RATIYATS.
1. Onenh weghniserade wakatyerenkowa desawennawenrate ne
kenteyurhoton. Desahahishonne donwenghratstanyonne ne
kentekaghronghwanyon. Tesatkaghtoghserontye
ronatennossendonghkwe
yonkwanikonghtaghkwenne, konyennetaghkwen. Ne katykcnh
nayoyaneratye ne
sanikonra? Daghsatkaghthoghseronne ratiyanarenyon
onkwaghsotsherashonkenhha; neok detkanoron ne shekonh
ayuyenkwaroghthake
jiratighrotonghkwakwe. Ne katykenh nayuyaneratye ne sanikonra
desakaghserentonyonne?
2. Niyawehkowa katy nonwa onenh skennenji thisayatirhehon.
Onenh nonwa
oghseronnih denighroghkwayen. Hasekenh thiwakwekonh
deyunennyatenyon
nene konnerhonyon, "Ie henskerighwaghfonte."
Kenyutnyonkwaratonnyon,
neony kenyotdakarahon, neony kenkontifaghsoton. Nedens
aesayatyenenghdon, konyennedaghkwen, neony kenkaghnekdnyon
nedens
aesayatyenenghdon, konyennethaghkwen, neony
kenwaseraketotanese
kentewaghsatayenha kanonghsakdatye. Niyateweghniserakeh
yonkwakaronny;
onidatkon yaghdekakonghsonde oghsonteraghkowa nedens
aesayatyenenghdon,
konyennethaghkwen.
3. Niyawenhkowa kady nonwa onenh skennenjy thadesarhadiyakonh.
Hasekenh
kanoron jinayawenhon nene aesahhahiyenenhon, nene
ayakotyerenhon
ayakawen, "Issy tyeyadakeron, akwah deyakonakorondon!"
Ayakaweron
oghnonnekenh niyuiterenhhatye, ne konyennedaghkwen.
4. Rotirighwison onkwaghsotshera, ne ronenh,
"Kenhenyondatsjistayenhaghse. Kendeyughnyonkwarakda
eghtenyontatitenranyon orighokonha." Kensane yeshotiriwayen
orighwakwekonh yatenkarighwentaseron, nene akwah
denyontatyadoghseronko. Neony ne ronenh, "Ethononweh
yenyontatenonshine,
kanakdakwenniyukeh yenyontatideron."
5. Onenh kady iese seweryenghskwe sathaghyonnighshon:
Karhatyonni.
Oghskawaserenhon.
Gentiyo.
Onenyute.
Deserokenh.
Deghhodijinharakwenh.
Oghrekyonny.
Deyuyewenton.
Etho ne niwa ne akotthaghyonnishon.
6. Onenh nene shehhawah deyakodarakeh ranyaghdenghshon:
Kaneghsadakeh.
Onkwehieyede.
Waghkerhon.
Kahhendohhon.
Dhogvvenyoh.
Kayyhekwarakeh.
Etho ne niwa ne ranyaghdenshon.
7. Onenh nene jadadeken roskerewake:
Deyaokenh.
Jonondese.
Otskwirakeron.
Onaweron.
8. Onenh nene onghwa kehaghshonha:
Karhawenghradongh.
Karakenh.
Deyuhhero.
Deyughsweken.
Oxdenkeh.
Etho ne niwa roghskerewake. Eghnikatarakeghne orighwakayongh.
9. Ne kaghyaton jinikawennakeh ne dewadadenonweronh,
"ohhendonh
karighwadeghkwenh" radiyats. Doka enyairon, "Konyennedaghkwen;
onenh
weghniserade yonkwatkennison. Rawenniyo raweghniseronnyh. Ne
onwa
konwende yonkwatkennison nene jiniyuneghrakwah jinisayadawen.
Onenh
oaghwenjakonh niyonsakahhawe jinonweh nadekakaghneronnyonghkwe.
Akwah
kady okaghserakonh thadetyatroghkwanekenh."
10. "Onenh kady yakwenronh, wakwennyonkoghde okaghsery, akwah
kady ok
skennen thadenseghsatkaghthonnyonhheke."
11. "Nok ony kanekhere deyughsihharaonh ne sahondakon. Onenh
kady
watyakwaghsiharako waahkwadeweyendonh tsisaronkatah, kady
nayawenh ne
skennen thensathondeke enhtyewenninekenneh."
12. "Nok ony kanekhere deyughsihharaonh desanyatokenh. Onenh
kady hone
yakwenronh watyakwaghsihharanko, akwah kady ok skennen
deghsewenninekenne dendewadatenonghweradon."
13. Onenh are oya, konyennethaghkwen. Nene kadon
yuneghrakwah
jinesadawen. Niyadeweghniserakeh sanekherenhonh
ratikowanenghskwe. Onghwenjakonh niyeskahhaghs; ken-ony
rodighskenrakeghdethaghkwe, ken-ony sanheghtyensera, ken-ony
saderesera. Akwagh kady ok onekwenghdarihengh
thisennekwakenry.
14. Onenh kady yakwenronh wakwanekwenghdarokewanyon
jisanakdade, ogh
kady nenyawenne seweghniserathagh ne akwah ok skennen then
kanakdiyuhake
ji enghsitskodake denghsatkaghdonnyonheke.
15. Onenh nene Karenna,
Yondonghs "Aihaigh."
Kayanerenh dcskenonghweronne;
Kheyadawenh deskenonghweronne;
Oyenkondonh deskenonghweronne;
Wakonnyh deskenonghweronne.
Ronkeghsotah rotirighwane,—
Ronkeghsota jiyathondek.
16. Enskat ok enjerennokden nakwah oghnaken nyare
enyonghdentyonko
kanonghsakonghshon, enyairon.
17. "A-i Raxhottahyh! Onenh kajatthondek onenh enyontsdaren
ne
yetshiyadare! Ne ji onenh wakarighwakayonne ne
sewarighwisahnonghkwe ne
kayarenghkowah. Ayawenhenstokenghske daondayakotthondeke."
18. "Na-i Raxhottahyh! Ne kenne iesewenh enyakodenghthe nene
noghnaken
enyakaonkodaghkwe."
19. "Na-i Raxhottahyh! Onenh nonwa kathonghnonweh
dhatkonkoghdaghkwanyon
jidenghnonhon nitthatirighwayerathaghkwe."
20. "Na-i Raxbottahyh! Nene ji onenh wakarighwakayonne ne
sewarighwisahnonghkwe, ne Kayarenghkowa.
Yejisewatkonseraghkwanyon
onghwenjakonshon yejisewayadakeron, sewarighwisahnhonkwe ne
Kayanerenhkowah. Ne sanekenh ne seweghne aerengh niyenghhenwe
enyurighwadatye Kayanerenghkowah."
* * * * *
21. Eghnikonh enyerighwawetharho kenthoh, are enjonderennoden
enskat
enjerenokden, onenh ethone enyakohetsde onenh are
enjondentyonko
kanonghsakonghshon, enyairon wahhy:
22. "A-i Raxhotthahyh! Onenh jatthondek kady nonwa
jinihhotiyerenh,—orighwakwekonh natehaotiya-doreghtonh, nene
roneronh
ne enyononghsaghniratston. A-i Raxhotthahyh! nene ronenh: 'Onen
nonwa
wetewayennendane; wetewennakeraghdanyon;
watidewenna-karondonnyon.'"
23. "Onenh are oya eghdeshotiyadoreghdonh, nene ronenh:
'Kenkisenh
nenyawenne. Aghsonh thiyenjide-watyenghsaeke, onok
enjonkwanckheren.'
Nene ronenh: 'Kenkine nenyawenne. Aghsonh
denyakokwanentonghsaeke, onok
denjontadenakarondako. Nene doka ok yadayakonakarondatye
onghwenjakonh
niyaonsakahawe, A-i Raxhottahyh,' none ronenh, 'da-edewenhheye
onghteh,
neok yadayakonakarondatye onghwenjakonh niyaonsakahawe.'"
24. "Onenh are oya eghdeshodiyadoreghtonh, nai Raxhottahyh!
Nene ronenh
ne enyononghsaghniratston. Nene ronengh: 'Doka onwa
kenenyondatyadawenghdate, ne kenkarenyakeghrondonhah ne
nayakoghstonde
ne nayeghnyasakenradake, ne kenh ne iesewenh, kenkine
nenyawenne. Kendenyethirentyonnite kanhonghdakde
dewaghsadayenhah."
25. "Onenh are oya eghdejisewayudoreghdonh, nene isewenh:
'Yahhonghdehdeyoyanere nene kenwedewayen, onwa enyeken
nonkwaderesera;
kadykenh niyakoghswathah, akwekonh nityakawenonhtonh ne
kenyoteranentenyonhah. Enyonterenjiok kendonsayedane akwah
enyakonewarontye, onok enyerighwanendon oghnikawenhonh ne
kendeyerentyonny; katykenh nenyakorane nenyerighwanendon akare
onenh
enyakodokenghse. Onok na entkaghwadasehhon nakonikonra, onenh are
ne eh
enjonkwakaronny.'"
26. "Onenh are oya eghdeshotiyadoreghdonh, nene ronenh:
'Kenkine
nenyawenne. Endewaghneghdotako skarenhhesekowah,
enwadonghwenjadethare
eghyendewasenghte tyoghnawatenghjihonh kathonghdeh thienkahhawe;
onenh
denghnon dentidewaghneghdoten, onenh denghnon yaghnonwendonh
thiyaensayeken nonkwateresera.'"
27. "Onenh are oya eghdeshotiyadoreghdonh, nene roneronh
ne
enyononghsaghniratston. Nene ronenh: 'Onenh
wedewaweyennendane;
wedewennakeraghdanyon. Doka nonkenh onghwajok onok
enjonkwanekheren.
Ken kady ne nenyawenne. Kenhendewaghnatatsherodarho ken
kanakaryonniha
deyunhonghdoyenghdongh yendewanaghsenghde, kennikanaghseshah,
ne
enyehharako ne kaneka akonikonghkahdeh. Enwadon ok
jiyudakenrokde
thadenyedane doghkara nentyewenninekenne enjondatenikonghketsko
ne
enyenikonghkwenghdarake. Onokna enjeyewendane yenjonthahida
ne
kayanerenghkowa.'"
28. "Onenh kady ise jadakweniyu ken Kanonghsyonny,
Dekanawidah, ne
deghniwenniyu ne rohhawah Odadsheghte; onenh nene yeshodonnyh
Wathadodarho; onenh nene yeshohowah akahenyonh; onare nene
yeshodonnyh
Kanyadariyu; onenh nene yeshonarase Shadekaronyes; onenh nene
onghwa
kehhaghsaonhah yejodenaghstahhere kanaghsdajikowah."
* * * * *
29. Onenh jatthondek sewarihwisaanonghkwe Kayarenhkowah.
Onenh
wakarighwakayonne. Onenh ne oknejoskawayendon.
Yetsisewanenyadanyon ne
sewariwisaanonghkweh. Yejisewahhawihtonh,
yetsisewennitskarahgwanyon;
agwah neok ne skaendayendon. Etho
yetsisewanonwadaryon. Sewarihwisaanonghkwe
yetsisewahhawitonh.
Yetsisewatgonseraghkwanyon sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
Kayanerenhkowah.
30. Onenh kady jatthondek jadakweniyosaon sewarihwisaanonghkwe:
DEKARIHAOKESH!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
AYONHWAHTHA!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
SHATEKARIWATE!
Etho natejonhne!
Sewaterihwakhaonghkwe,
Sewarihwisaanonghkwe.
Kayanerenhkowah.
31. Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
SHARENHAOWANE!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
DEYONNHEHGONH!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
OGHRENREGOWAH!
Etho natejonhne!
Sewaterihwakhaonghkwe,
Sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
Kayanerenhkowah.
32. Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
DEHENNAKARINE!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
AGHSTAWENSERONTHA!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatagweniyosaon,
SHOSGOHAROWANE!
Etho natejonhne,
Sewatarihwakhaonghkwe,
Sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
Kayanerenhkowah.
33. Ise seniyatagweniyohkwe,
Jatathawhak.
Senirighwisaanonghkwe,
Kayanerenghkowah.
Ne deseniyenah;
Seninonsyonnitonh.
Onenh katy jatthontenyonk
Jatakweniyosaon,
ODATSEGHTE!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
KANONHGWENYODON!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
DEYOHHAGWENTE!
Etho natejonhne!
Sewaterihwakhaonghkwe.
Sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
Kayanerenhkowah.
34. Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
SHONONSESE!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
DAONAHROKENAGH!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon.
ATYATONNENHTHA!
Etho natejonhne!
Sewaterihwakhaonghkwe,
Sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
Kayanerenhkowah.
35. Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
DEWATAHONHTENYONK!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
KANIYATAHSHAYONK!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
ONWATSATONHONH!
Etho natejonhne!
Sewaterihwakhaonghkwe,
Sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
Kayanerenhkowah.
36. Eghyesaotonnihsen:
Onenh jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
THATOTARHO!
Jatthontenyonk!
Etho ronarasehsen:
Jatakweniyosaon,
ENNESERARENH!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
DEHATKAHTHOS!
Jatthontenyonk!
Waghontenhnonterontye.
Jatakweniyosaon,
ONYATAJIWAK!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
AWEKENYADE!
Jatthontenyonk!
Jatakweniyosaon,
DEHAYADKWARAYEN!
Etho natejonhne!
37. Yeshohawak:
Rokwahhokowah.
Etho kakeghrondakwe
Ne kanikonghrashon,
RONONGHWIREGHTONH!
Etho natejonhne!
38. Etho yeshotonnyh,
Tekadarakehne.
KAWENENSERONDON!
HAGHRIRON!
Etho nadehhadihne!
39. Wahhondennonterontye,
RONYENNYENNIH!
SHODAKWARASHONH!
SHAKOKENGHNE!
Etho nadejonhne!
40. Etho niyawenonh,
Karihwakayonh.
Shihonadewiraratye,
Tehhodidarakeh.
Rakowanenh,
RASERHAGHRHONK!
Etho wahhoronghyaronnyon:
Roghskenrakeghdekowah,
Rakowanenh,
Tehhotyatakarorenh,
SKANAWADYH!
Etho natejonhne!
41. Yeshohhawak,
TEKAHENYONK:
Yeshonadadekenah:
JINONTAWERAON!
Etho natejonhne!
42. KADAKWARASONH!
SHOYONWESE!
ATYASERONNE!
Etho natejonhneh!
43. Yeshondadekenah,
TEYORONGHYONKEH!
TEYODHOREGHKONH!
WATHYAWENHETHON!
Etho natejonhne!
44. ATONTARAHERHA!
TESKAHE!
Etho natejonhneh!
45. Yeshotonnyh,
SKANYADARIYO!
Yeshonaraseshen,
SHADEKARONYES!
Etho natejonhneh!
46. SATYENAWAT!
Yeshonaraseshen,
SHAKENJOWANE!
Etho natejonhneh!
47. KANOKARIH!
Yeshonarase,—onwa
NISHARYENEN!
Etho natejonhneh!
48. Onghwa keghaghshonah
Yodenaghstahhere
Kanaghstajikowah.
Yatehhotihohhataghkwen.
Etho ronaraseshen,
Yadehninhohhanonghne:
KANONGHKERIDAWYH!
Yeshonaraseshen,
TEYONINHOKARAWENH!
Etho natejonhneh!
49. Onenh watyonkwentendane
Kanikonrakeh.
ANCIENT RITES OF THE CONDOLING COUNCIL
[*** English Translation]
THE PRELIMINARY CEREMONY:
CALLED, "AT THE WOOD'S EDGE."
1. Now [Footnote: The paragraphs are not numbered in the
original
text. The numbers are prefixed in this work merely for
convenience of
reference.] to-day I have been greatly startled by your voice
coming
through the forest to this opening. You have come with troubled
mind
through all obstacles. You kept seeing the places where they met
on
whom we depended, my offspring. How then can your mind be at
ease? You
kept seeing the footmarks of our forefathers; and all but
perceptible is
the smoke where they used to smoke the pipe together. Can then
your mind
be at ease when you are weeping on your way?
2. Great thanks now, therefore, that you have safely arrived.
Now, then,
let us smoke the pipe together. Because all around are hostile
agencies
which are each thinking, "I will frustrate their purpose." Here
thorny
ways, and here falling trees, and here wild beasts lying in
ambush. Either by these you might have perished, my offspring,
or, here
by floods you might have been destroyed, my offspring, or by
the
uplifted hatchet in the dark outside the house. Every day these
are
wasting us; or deadly invisible disease might have destroyed you,
my
offspring.
3. Great thanks now, therefore, that in safety you have come
through the
forest. Because lamentable would have been the consequences had
you
perished by the way, and the startling word had come, "Yonder are
lying
bodies, yea, and of chiefs!" And they would have thought in
dismay, what
had happened, my offspring.
4. Our forefathers made the rule, and said, "Here they are to
kindle a
fire; here, at the edge of the woods, they are to condole with
each
other in few words." But they have referred thither [Footnote:
That is,
to the Council House.] all business to be duly completed, as well
as for
the mutual embrace of condolence. And they said, "Thither shall
they be
led by the hand, and shall be placed on the principal seat."
5. Now, therefore, you who are our friends of the Wolf clan:
In John Buck's MS. Supposed Meaning.
Ka rhe tyon ni. The broad woods.
Ogh ska wa se ron hon. Grown up to bushes again.
Gea di yo. Beautiful plain.
O nen yo deh. Protruding stone.
De se ro ken. Between two lines.
Te ho di jen ha ra kwen. Two families in a long-house,
Ogh re kyon ny. (Doubtful.) [one at each end.]
Te yo we yen don. Drooping wings.
Such is the extent of the Wolf clan.
6. Now, then, thy children of the two clans of the Tortoise:
Ka ne sa da keh. On the hill side.
Onkwi i ye de. A person standing there.
Weg'h ke rhon. (Doubtful.)
Kah ken doh hon. "
Tho gwen yoh. "
Kah he kwa ke. "
Such is the extent of the Tortoise clan.
7. Now these thy brothers of the Bear clan:
De ya oken. The Forks.
Jo non de seh. It is a high hill.
Ots kwe ra ke ron. Dry branches fallen to the ground.
Ogh na we ron. The springs.
8. Now these have been added lately:
Ka rho wengh ra don. Taken over the woods.
Ka ra ken. White.
De yo he ro. The place of flags (rushes).
De yo swe ken. Outlet of the river.
Ox den ke. To the old place.
Such is the extent of the Bear clan.
These were the clans in ancient times.
9. Thus are written the words of mutual greeting, called "the
opening
ceremony." Then one will say, "My offspring, now this day we are
met
together. God has appointed this day. Now, to-day, we are met
together,
on account of the solemn event which has befallen you. Now into
the
earth he has been conveyed to whom we have been wont to look.
Yea,
therefore, in tears let us smoke together."
10. "Now, then, we say, we wipe away the tears, so that in
peace you may
look about you."
11. "And, further, we suppose there is an obstruction in your
ears. Now,
then, we remove the obstruction carefully from your hearing, so
that we
trust you will easily hear the words spoken."
12. "And also we imagine there is an obstruction in your
throat. Now,
therefore, we say, we remove the obstruction, so that you may
speak
freely in our mutual greetings."
13. "Now again another thing, my offspring. I have spoken of
the solemn
event which has befallen you. Every day you are losing your
great
men. They are being borne into the earth; also the warriors, and
also
your women, and also your grandchildren; so that in the midst of
blood
you are sitting."
14. "Now, therefore, we say, we wash off the bloodmarks from
your seat,
so that it may be for a time that happily the place will be clean
where
you are seated and looking around you."
* * * * *
15. Now the Hymn,
CALLED "HAIL."
I come again to greet and thank the League;
I come again to greet and thank the kindred;
I come again to greet and thank the warriors;
I come again to greet and thank the women.
My forefathers,—what they established,—
My forefathers,—hearken to them!
16. The last verse is sung yet again, while he walks
to and fro in the house, and says:
17. "Hail, my grandsires! Now hearken while your grandchildren
cry
mournfully to you,—because the Great League which you
established has
grown old. We hope that they may hear."
18. "Hail, my grandsires! You have said that sad will be the
fate of
those who come in the latter times."
19. "Oh, my grandsires! Even now I may have failed to perform
this
ceremony in the order in which they were wont to perform it."
"Oh, my
grandsires! Even now that has become old which you
established,—the
Great League. You have it as a pillow under your heads in the
ground
where you are lying,—this Great League which you established;
although
you said that far away in the future the Great League would
endure."
* * * * *
So much is to be said here, and the Hymn is to be sung again,
and then
he is to go on and walk about in the house again, saying as
follows:
"Hail, my grandsires! Now hear, therefore, what they did—all
the rules
they decided on, which they thought would strengthen the House.
Hail, my
grandsires! this they said: 'Now we have finished; we have
performed
the rites; we have put on the horns.'
"Now again another thing they considered, and this they said:
'Perhaps
this will happen. Scarcely shall we have arrived at home when a
loss
will occur again.' They said, 'This, then, shall be done. As soon
as he
is dead, even then the horns shall be taken off. For if invested
with
horns he should be borne into the grave,' oh, my grandsires, they
said,
'we should perhaps all perish if invested with horns he is
conveyed to
the grave.'
"Then again another thing they determined, oh my grandsires!
'This,'
they said, 'will strengthen the House.' They said, if any one
should be
murdered and [the body] be hidden away among fallen trees by
reason of
the neck being white, then you have said, this shall be done. We
will
place it by the wall in the shade."
25. "Now again you considered and you said: 'It is perhaps not
well that
we leave this here, lest it should be seen by our grandchildren;
for
they are troublesome, prying into every crevice. People will be
startled
at their returning in consternation, and will ask what has
happened that
this (corpse) is lying here; because they will keep on asking
until they
find it out. And they will at once be disturbed in mind, and that
again
will cause us trouble.'"
26. "Now again they decided, and said: 'This shall be done. We
will pull
up a pine tree—a lofty tree—and will make a hole through
the
earth-crust, and will drop this thing into a swift current which
will
carry it out of sight, and then never will our grandchildren see
it
again.'"
27. "Now again another thing they decided, and thought, this
will
strengthen the House. They said: 'Now we have finished; we
have
performed the rites. Perhaps presently it will happen that a loss
will
occur amongst us. Then this shall be done. We will suspend a
pouch upon
a pole, and will place in it some mourning wampum—some short
strings—to be taken to the place where the loss was suffered.
The
bearer will enter, and will stand by the hearth, and will speak a
few
words to comfort those who will be mourning; and then they will
be
comforted, and will conform to the great law.'"
28. "Now, then, thou wert the principal of this
Confederacy,
Dekanawidah, with the joint principal, his son, Odadsheghte; and
then
again his uncle, Wathadodarho; and also again his
son,
Akahenyonh; and again his uncle, Kanyadariyu; and then
again
his cousin, Shadekaronyes; and then in later times
additions were
made to the great edifice."
* * * * *
29. Now listen, ye who established the Great League. Now it
has become
old. Now there is nothing but wilderness. Ye are in your graves
who
established it. Ye have taken it with you, and have placed it
under you,
and there is nothing left but a desert. There ye have taken
your
intellects with you. What ye established ye have taken with you.
Ye have
placed under your heads what ye established—the Great
League.
30. Now, then, hearken, ye who were rulers and founders:
[Footnote: The
names in this version are in the orthography of John Buck's
MS.]
TEHKARIHHOKEN!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
HAYENWATHA!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
SHADEKARIHWADE!
That was the roll of you,
You who were joined in the work,
You who completed the work,
The Great League.
31. Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
SHARENHHOWANE!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
TEHYONHEGHKWEN!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
OWENHEGHKOHNA!
That was the roll of you,
You who were joined in the work,
You who completed the work,
The Great League.
32. Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
TEHHENNAGHKARIHNE!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
AGHSTAWENSERONTTHA!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
SHAGHSKOHAROWANE!
That was the roll of you,
You who were joined in the work,
You who completed the work,
The Great League.
33. Ye two were principals,
Father and son,
Ye two completed the work,
The Great League.
Ye two aided each other,
Ye two founded the House.
Now, therefore, hearken!
Thou who wert ruler,
ODATSEGHDEH!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
KAHNONKWENYAH!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
TEHYOHHAKWENDEH!
That was the roll of you,
You who were joined in the work,
You who completed the work,
The Great League.
34. Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
SHONONGHSESEH!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
THONAEGHKENAH!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
HAHTYADONNENTHA!
That was the roll of you,
You who were joined in the work,
You who completed the work,
The Great League.
35. Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
TEHWAHTAHONTENYONK!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
KAHNYADAGHSHAYEN!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
HONWATSHADONNEH!
That was the roll of you,
You who were joined in the work,
You who completed the work,
The Great League.
36. These were his uncles:
Now hearken!
Thou who wert ruler,
WATHADOTARHO:
Continue to listen!
These were the cousins:
Thou who wert ruler,
ONEHSEAGHHEN!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
TEHHATKAHDONS!
Continue to listen!
These were as brothers thenceforth:
Thou who wert ruler,
SKANIADAJIWAK:
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
AWEAKENYAT!
Continue to listen!
Thou who wert ruler,
TEHAYATKWAYEN!
That was the roll of you!
37. Then his son:
He is the great Wolf.
There were combined
The many minds!
HONONWIREHDONH!
That was the roll of you.
38. These were his uncles,
Of the two clans:
KAWENENSEAGHTONH!
HAHHIHHONH!
That was the roll of them!
39. These were as brothers thenceforth:
HOHYUNHNYENNIH!
SHOTEHGWASEH!
SHAHKOHKENNEH!
This was the roll of you.
40. This befell
In ancient times.
They had their children,
Those the two clans.
He the high chief,
SAHHAHWIH!
This put away the clouds:
He was a war chief;
He was a high chief—
Acting in either office:
SKAHNAHWAHTIH!
This was the roll of you!
41. Then his son,
TAHKAHENHYUNH!
With his brother,
JIHNONTAHWEHHEH.
This was the roll of you!
42. KAHTAHGWAHJIH!
SHONYUNHWESH!
HAHTYAHSENHNEH!
This was the roll of you!
43. Then they who are brothers:
TEHYUHENHYUNHKOH!
TEHYUHTOHWEHGWIH!
TYAWENHHEHTHONH!
This was the roll of you.
44. HAHTONHTAHHEHHAH!
TESHKAHHEA!
This was the roll of you!
45. Then his uncle,
SKAHNYAHTEIHYUH!
With his cousin,
SHAHTEHKAHENHYESH.
This was the roll of you!
46. SAHTYEHNAHWAHT!
With his cousin,
SHAKENHJOHNAH!
This was the roll of you!
47. KAHNOHKAIH!
With his cousin,—then
NISHAHYEHNENHHAH
This was the roll of you!
48. Then, in later times,
They made additions
To the great mansion.
These were at the doorway,
They who were cousins,
These two guarded the doorway:
KANONHKEHIHTAWIH!
With his cousin,
TYUHNINHOHKAWENH
This was the roll of you!
49. Now we are dejected
In our minds.
THE BOOK OF THE YOUNGER NATIONS.
(ONONDAGA DIALECT.)
[*** Originally presented as one page Onandaga, followed by
one page
English translation. This is confusing in electronic texts, so
have
changed it here to be the complete Onandaga text followed by
the
complete English translation.]
[*** Original used ' ' for syllable breaks and ' ' (two
spaces) for word
breaks. Changed to '-' for syllable breaks and a single space for
word
breaks.]
1. a. Yo o-nen o-nen wen-ni-sr-te o-nen
wa-ge-ho-gar-a-nyat
ne-tha-non-ni-sr-son-tar-yen na-ya-ne o-shon-tar-gon-go-nar
nen-tis-no-war-yen na-ye-ti-na gar-weear-har-tye ne
swih-ar-gen-ahr
ne-tho-se hen-ga-ho-gar-a-nyat nen-tha-o-ta-gen-he-tak
ne-tho-har-ten-gar-ton-ji-yar-hon-on
nar-ye-en-gwa-wen-ne-kentar
ne-ten-gon-nen-tar-hen na-a-yen-tar.
1. b. Tar onon na-on-gen shis-gis-war-tha-en-ton-tye na
on-gwr-non-sen-shen-tar-qua nar-te-har-yar-ar-qui-nar
nan-gar-wen-ne-srh-ha-yo-ton-har-ye nen-gar-nen-ar-ta
ho-ti-sgen-ar-ga-tar nen-o-ne gar-nen-ar-ti kon-hon-wi-sats
nen-o-ni
tar-ga-non-tye na on-quar-sat-har nen-o hon-tar-gen-hi-se-non-tye
nen-o
wen-gr-ge go-yar-da-nen-tar-hon nen-tho nr-ta-war
ta-har-yar-ar-qui-nar
nen-gar-wen-ne-sar han-yo-ton-hr-tye tar o-nen-ti
tya-quar-wen-ne-gen-har nen-a-shen ne-yar-quar-tar-ta-gen.
1. c. O-nen-ti-a-wen-hen nar-ya-he-yr-genh
thar-ne-ho-ti-e-quar-te
nen-on-quar-noh-shen-ta-qua nen-o on-qua-jas-harn-ta-qua
nar-ye-gen-na-ho-nen nar-ye-na te-was-hen nen-ne-gon-hi-war
na-tho
na-ho-te-yen-nen-tar-e tar-day-was-shen nen-ne-yo-e-wa
na-ar-wen-ha-yo-dar-ge nen-on-quar-twen-non-ty o-nen
en-hen-wa-yar-shon
nen-nat-ho-on-ne-yar-quar-ya-ar nen-a-shen
ne-yar-quar-tar-te-ken.
1. d. O-nen-ti-eh-o-yar nen-ton-ta-yar-quar-wen-ni-ken-ar
nar-ya-hi-yar-gen na-ar-quar-ton sis-jih-wa-tha-en-ton-tye
o-yar-na
son-quar-yo-ten-se-nar tar-nr-ye-ti-na
hon-sar-ho-har-we-ti-har-tye
nen-qr-nen-hr-te ho-ti-sken-ar-ga-tar nen-o-ne gar-nen-har-te
gon-thon-we-sas on-sar-ho-na-tar-que-har-tye
nar-ya-har-tes-gar-no-wen
na o-nen na-en-gar-ya-tye-nen-har nen-war-thon-wi-sas
ar-ques-sis-jit
nar-te-yo-nen-ha-ase en-war-nten-har-wat-tha nen-on-quar-ta-shar
o-nen
o-yar-nen-eh-te-ge-non-tyes on-quar-te-shar nr-ya-o-ne
sar-o-har-we-ti-har-tye o-nen o-yar
nens-o-ni-ta-gen-hi-se-non-tyes
o-wen-gar-ge ga-yr-tr-nen-tak-hon ne-tho nr-te-war
on-sar-ho-har-we-ti-har-tye.
I. e. O-nen ty-a on-yar ta-ya-quar-wen-ne-ken-har
nen-a-sen
ne-yar-quar-tar-te-gen o-nen-ty ton-tar-wen-ten-eh nen-o-nen
thon-tar-yar-tyar-ton-tye nen-wa-gon-yon-wenjar-nan-har
tar-o-nen
ha-o-yar nen-ta-yo-quar-wen-ne-ken-e-har-tye. O-nen-te-ar-wen-han
o-nen
war-quar-de-yen-non-nyar-hen na-shar-non-wa
nr-o-tas-are-quar-hen-ten
o-nen wa-tya-quar-ha-tar-wen-ya-hon nen-ar-o-ar-shon-ar
nen-tar-yon-quar-ty ne-tho hon-ne-yar-quar-ya-ar nen-ar-shen
ne-yar-quar-ta-te-kenh.
2. O-nen-ti-eh-o-yar nen-ton-tar-yar-quar-wen-ne-ken-har
nen-o-son-tar-gon-go-nar nen-ti-sno-war-gen. O-nen-ti
ton-sar-gon-en-nya-eh-tha ar-guas hi-yar-ga-tha te-jo-ge-grar
O-nen-ti
sar-gon-ar-gwar-nen-tak-ten sken-nen-gink-ty then-skar-ar-tayk.
O-nen
en-gar-ar-qui-ken-nha ne-tho tens-shar-ar-tyen. O-nen
yo-nen-tyon-ha-tye. Ar-ghwas ten-yo-ten-har-en-ton-nyon-ne.
Ne-tho
tens-gar-ar-tye a-ghwas sken-non-jis ten-yo-yar-neh ne onen
en-gr-ar-gwen-har o-ty-nen-yar-wen-har hen-jo-har-ten-har
sar-ne-gon-are. Ne-tho han-ne-yar-gwar-ya-ar nen-ar-sen
ne-yar-quar-tr-ta-gen.
3. O-nen-ti-ch-o-yar nen-ton-ta-yar-quar-wen-ne-ken-har.
O-nen-nen-ti
war-tyar-war-see-har-an-qua te-shar-hon-tar-gar-en-tar
nen-they-yon-tar-ge-har-te nen-te-sar-nar-ton-ken hon-ne-ty
ar-war-na-gen-tar wen-jar-wa-gar ha-e nar-ya-har
ten-skar-har-we-tar-han
nen-o-ge-gwr-en-yone nen-tye-sar-nar-ton-ken
o-ty-nen-yar-wen-har
nen-en-jo-har-ten-ar sar-ne-gon-are ne-tho
hon-ne-yar-war-ya-ar
nen-a-sen ne-yar-quar-tar-te-kenh.
4. O-nen-ti-eh-o-yar nen-ton-tar-yr-quar-wen-ne-ken-tye
hon-nen
ton-sar-war-kon-ha-jar-ha-jan
nen-they-gar-kon-ha-shon-ton-har-tye
hon-nen-ti nen-sar-kon-ge-ter-yen-has hon-nen-oni
nen-ton-sar-gon-nen-ha-tieh o-nen o-tieh-nen-yar-wen-har
nen-en-jo-har-tyen-har sar-ne-gon-are ne-tho
hon-ne-yar-quar-yar-ar
nen-a-sen ne-yar-qwr-tar-te-kenh.
5. O-nen-ti-eh-o-yar nen-ton-tar-yar-qwar-wen-ne-ken-har
nar-ya-ti-ar-wen-han nen-tar-ehe-tar-nen-jar-tar-ti-war-ten
nen-ton-gar-ke-sen nen-na-hon-yar-na on-har-wen-ne-gen-tar
nar-ya-na
sar-hon-ta-je-wants as-kar-we ar-san-nen-sen-wen-hat ne-tho
o-ni
nis-nen-yar-wen-hon-sken-are-gen-tar
hor-go-war-nen-nen-hon-yar-na
an-har-wen-ne-gen-tar are-we ar-sen-nen-sun-sar-wen-hat
ne-tho
on-ne-yar-quar-ya-ar nen-ar-sen ne-yr-qwar-tr-ta-kenh.
6. O-nen-ti-eh-o-yar nen-ton-tar-yar-quar-wen-ne-ken-hr
nar-ye-ti-na-ar-wen-han nen-an-har-ya-tye-nen-har
nen-na-hon-yar-na
nr-ya-ti-nar nen-ne-yo-sar-tar ken-yar-tar nen-ji-gar-han
nen-ta-hon-gren-tar wi-nar-na-ge-ne-yo-snon-wa
nen-o-yar-en-sar-tyar-tar-nyar-ten a-ren ne-tho
one-yar-qwar-yaar
nen-ar-sen ne-yr-quar-tar-te-kenh.
7. O-nen-ti-eh-o-yar nen-ton-tr-yar-quar-wen-ne-ken-har
nr-ya-ti-ar-wen-han sar-gon-nr-tar-eh-ya-tars
nen-gr-nr-gar-yon-ne-ta-ar
nen-jar-ne-qr-nar-sis-ah nen ne-tho war-ar-guar-sins-tar
na-tho-ti-an-sar-wa nen-thon-gr-gey-san e-his-an-skas-gen-nen
one-ha-yat
nen-war-o-yan-quar-a-ton-on-tye nen-yar-gar-ker
ta-gr-nr-squaw-ya-an-ne
ne-tho on-ne-yar-quar-ya-ar nen-ar-sen
ne-yar-quar-ta-te-kenh.
7. b. Tar-o-nen sar-gon-yan-nen-tar-ah tar-o-nen-ti ton-tar-ken-yar-tas.
THE BOOK OF THE YOUNGER NATIONS.
(TRANSLATION.)
I. a. Now—now this day—now I come to your door where you are
mourning
in great darkness, prostrate with grief. For this reason we have
come
here to mourn with you. I will enter your door, and come before
the
ashes, and mourn with you there; and I will speak these words to
comfort
you.
I. b. Now our uncle has passed away, he who used to work for
all, that
they might see the brighter days to come,—for the whole body
of
warriors and also for the whole body of women, and also the
children
that were running around, and also for the little ones creeping
on the
ground, and also those that are tied to the cradle-boards; for
all these
he used to work that they might see the bright days to come. This
we
say, we three brothers.
I. c. Now the ancient lawgivers have declared—our uncles that
are gone,
and also our elder brothers—they have said, it is worth
twenty—it was
valued at twenty—and this was the price of the one who is dead.
And we
put our words on it (i.e. the wampum), and they recall
his
name—the one that is dead. This we say and do, we three
brothers.
I. d. Now there is another thing we say, we younger brothers.
He who has
worked for us has gone afar off; and he also will in time take
with him
all these—the whole body of warriors and also the whole body
of
women—they will go with him. Rut it is still harder when the
woman
shall die, because with her the line is lost. And also the
grandchildren
and the little ones who are running aruund—these he will take
away; and
also those that are creeping on the ground, and also those that
are on
the cradle-boards; all these he will takeaway with him.
1. e. Now then another thing we will say, we three brothers.
Now you
must feel for us; for we came here of our own good-will—came to
your
door that we might say this. And we will say that we will try to
do you
good. When the grave has been made, we will make it still better.
We
will adorn it, and cover it with moss. We will do this, we
three
brothers.
2. Now another thing we will say, we younger brothers. You are
mourning
in the deep darkness. I will make the sky clear for you, so that
you
will not see a cloud. And also I will give the sun to shine upon
you, so
that you can look upon it peacefully when it goes down: You shall
see it
when it is going. Yea! the sun shall seem to be hanging just over
you,
and you shall look upon it peacefully as it goes down. Now I have
hope
that you will yet see the pleasant days. This we say and do, we
three
brothers.
3. Now then another thing we say, we younger brothers. Now we
will open
your ears, and also your throat, for there is something that has
been
choking you and we will also give you the water that shall wash
down all
the troubles in your throat. We shall hope that after this your
mind
will recover its cheerfulness. This we say and do, we three
brothers.
4. Now then there is another thing we say, we younger
brothers. We will
now remake the fire, and cause it to burn again. And now you can
go out
before the people, and go on with your duties and your labors for
the
people. This we say and do, we three brothers.
5. Now also another thing we say, we younger brothers. You
must
converse with your nephews; and if they say what is good, you
must
listen to it. Do not cast it aside. And also if the warriors
should say
anything that is good, do not reject it. This we say, we three
brothers.
6. Now then another thing we say, we younger brothers. If any
one
should fall—it may be a principal chief will fall and descend
into the
grave—then the horns shall be left on the grave, and as soon
as
possible another shall be put in his place. This we say, we
three
brothers.
7. Now another thing we say, we younger brothers. We will gird
the belt
on you, with the pouch, and the next death will receive the
pouch,
whenever you shall know that there is death among us, when the
fire is
made and the smoke is rising. This we say and do, we three
brothers.
7. b. Now I have finished. Now show me the man! [Footnote:
i. e.,
"Point out to me the man whom I am to proclaim as chief, in place
of the
deceased."]
NOTES ON THE CANIENGA BOOK
* * * * *
The meaning of the general title, Okayondonghsera
Yondennase, has
been already explained (Introduction, p. 48). In the sub-title,
the word
oghentonh is properly an adverb, meaning firstly, or
foremost. This title might be literally rendered. "First the
ceremony,
'At-the-wood's-edge' they call it."
1. The chiefs, in their journey to the place of meeting, are
supposed to
have passed the sites of many deserted towns, in which councils
had
formerly been held. Owing to the frequent removals of their
villages,
such deserted sites were common in the Iroquois country. The
speaker who
welcomes the arriving guests supposes that the view of these
places had
awakened in their minds mournful recollections.
Desawennawenrate, "thy voice coming over." This word is
explained
in the Glossary. It is in the singular number. According to the
Indian
custom, the speaker regards himself as representing the whole
party for
whom he speaks, and he addresses the leader of the other party as
the
representative and embodiment of all who come with him.
Throughout the
speeches "I" and "thou" are used in the well understood sense of
"we"
and "ye." In like manner, tribes and nations are, as it were,
personified. A chief, speaking for the Onondagas, will say, "I
(that is,
my nation) am angry; thou (the Delaware people) hast done wrong."
This
style of bold personification is common in the scriptures. Moses
warns
the Israelites: "Thou art a stiff-necked people." "Oh my
people!"
exclaims Isaiah; "they which lead thee cause thee to err."
2. Denighroghkwayen, "let us two smoke." This word is
in the dual
number, the two parties, the hosts and the guests, being each
regarded
as one individual.
The difficulties and dangers which in the early days of the
confederacy
beset the traveler in threading his way through the forest, from
one
Indian nation to another, are vividly described in this section.
The
words are still employed by their speakers as an established
form,
though they have ceased to have any pertinence to their
present
circumstances.
3. Alnuah deyakonakarondon, "yea, of
chiefs,"—literally, "yea,
having horns." The custom of wearing horns as part of the
head-dress of
a chief has been long disused among the Iroquois; but the idiom
remains
in the language, and the horns, in common parlance, indicate the
chief,
as the coronet suggests the nobleman in England. Among the
western
Indians, as is well known, the usage still survives. "No one,"
says
Catlin, "wears the head-dress surmounted with horns except
the
dignitaries who are very high in authority, and whose exceeding
valor,
worth, and power are admitted by all." These insignia of rank
are, he
adds, only worn on special and rare occasions, as in meeting
embassies,
or at warlike parades or other public festivals, or sometimes
when a
chief sees fit to lead a war-party to battle. [Footnote:
Letters and
Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North
American
Indians. By George Catlin; p. 172.] The origin of the custom
is
readily understood. The sight, frequent enough in former days, of
an
antlered stag leading a herd of deer would be quite sufficient
to
suggest to the quick apprehension of the Indian this emblem of
authority
and pre-eminence.
5. Sathaghyortnighson, "thou who art of the Wolf clan."
The clan
is addressed in the singular number, as one person. It is
deserving of
notice that the titles of clan-ship used in the language of
ceremony are
not derived from the ordinary names of the animals which give the
clans
their designations. Okwatho is wolf, but a man of the Wolf
clan
is called Tahionni,—or, as written in the text,
Taghyonni. In ordinary speech, however, the expression
rokwaho, "he is a Wolf," might be used.
The English renderings of the names in the list of towns are
those which
the interpreters finally decided upon. In several instances they
doubted
about the meaning, and in some cases they could not suggest
an
explanation. Either the words are obsolete, or they have come
down in
such a corrupt form that their original elements and purport
cannot be
determined. As regards the sites of the towns, see the Appendix,
Note E.
6. Deyako-larakeh ranyaghdenghshon,—"the two clans of
the
Tortoise." Respecting the two sub-gentes into which the Tortoise
clan
was divided, see ante, p. 53. Anowara is the word
for
tortoise, but raniahten (or, in the orthography of the
text,
ranyaghdengh) signifies, "he is of the Tortoise clan."
7. Jadadeken roskerewake, "thy brother of the Bear
clan."
Okwari is bear, but roskerewake signifies "he is of
the
Bear clan." Rokwari, "he is a Bear," might, however, be
used with
the same meaning.
8. Onghwa kehaghshonha, "now recently." It is possible
that
onghwa is here written by mistake for orighwa. The
word
orighwakayongh, which immediately follows, signifies "in
ancient
times," and the corresponding word orighwake-haghshonha
would be
"in younger times." The period in which these additions were
made,
though styled recent, was probably long past when the "Book of
Rites"
was committed to writing; otherwise many towns which are known to
have
existed at the latter date would have been added to the list. In
fact,
the words with which the catalogue of towns closes—"these were
the
clans in ancient times,"—seem to refer these later additions,
along
with the rest, back to a primitive era of the confederacy.
9. Rawenniyo raweghniseronnyh, "God has appointed this
day," or,
literally, "God makes this day." In these words are probably
found the
only trace of any modification of the Book of Rites caused by
the
influence of the white visitors and teachers of the modern
Iroquois. As
the very fact that the book was written in the alphabet
introduced by
the missionaries makes us certain that the person who reduced it
to
writing had been under missionary instruction, it might be
deemed
surprising that more evidences of this influence are not
apparent. It is
probable, however, that the conservative feeling of the Council
would
have rejected any serious alterations in their ancient forms. It
seems
not unlikely that David of Schoharie—or whoever was the penman
on this
occasion—may have submitted his work to his missionary teacher,
and
that in deference to his suggestion a single interpolation of
a
religious cast, to which no particular objection could be made,
was
allowed to pass.
The word Rawenniyo, as is well known, is the term for
God which
was adopted by the Catholic missionaries. It is, indeed, of
Huron-Iroquois origin, and may doubtless have been occasionally
employed
from the earliest times as an epithet proper for a great
divinity. Its
origin and precise meaning are explained in the Appendix, Note B.
The
Catholic missionaries appropriated it as the special name of the
Deity,
and its use in later times is probably to be regarded as an
evidence of
Christian influence. That the sentence in which it occurs in the
text is
probably an interpolation, is shown by the fact that the words
which
precede this sentence are repeated, with a slight change,
immediately
after it. Having interjected this pious expression, the writer
seems to
have thought it necessary to resume the thread of the discourse
by going
back to the phrase which had preceded it. It will be observed
that the
religious sentiment proper to the Book of Rites appears to us
confined
to expressions of reverence for the great departed, the founders
of the
commonwealth. This circumstance, however should not be regarded
as
indicating that the people were devoid of devotional feeling of
another
kind. Their frequent "thanksgiving festivals" afford sufficient
evidence
of the strength of this sentiment; but they apparently considered
its
display out of place in their political acts.
15. Nene karcnna, "the song," or "hymn." The purport of
this
composition is explained in the Introduction (ante,
p. 62). Before the Book of Rites came into my possession I had
often
heard the hymn repeated, or sung, by different individuals, in
slightly
varying forms. The Onondaga version, given me on the Syracuse
Reservation, contains a line, "Negwiyage teskenonhenhne"
which is
not found in the Canienga MS. It is rendered "I come to greet
the
children." The affection of the Indians for their children, which
is
exhibited in various passages of the Book, is most apparent in
the
Onondaga portion.
Kayanerenh. This word is variously rendered,—"the
peace," "the
law," and "the league," (see ante, p. 33). Here it
evidently
stands for Kayancrenhkowa, "the Great Peace," which is the
name
usually given by the Kanonsionni to their league, or federal
constitution.
Deskenonghweronne, or in the modern French
orthography,
teskenonhweronne, "we come to greet and thank," is a good
example
of the comprehensive force of the Iroquois tongue. Its root
is
nonhwe, or nanwe, which is found in
kenonhws, I
love, like, am pleased with—the initial syllable ke being
the
first personal pronoun. In the frequentative form this
becomes
kenonhweron, which has the meaning of "I salute and
thank," i.e.,
I manifest by repeated acts my liking or gratification. The
s
prefixed to this word is the sign of the reiterative form:
skenonhweron, "again I greet and thank." The
terminal
syllable ne and the prefixed te are respectively
the signs
of the motional and the cislocative forms,—"I come hither
again
to greet and thank." A word of six syllables, easily pronounced
(and in
the Onondaga dialect reduced to five) expresses fully and
forcibly the
meaning for which eight not very euphonious English words are
required. The notion that the existence of these comprehensive
words in
an Indian language, or any other, is an evidence of deficiency
in
analytic power, is a fallacy which was long ago exposed by the
clear and
penetrative reasoning of Duponceau, the true father of
American
philology. [Footnote: See the admirable Preface to his
translation of
Zeisberger's Delaware Grammar, p. 94.] As he has well
explained,
analysis must precede synthesis. In fact, the power of what may
be
termed analytic synthesis,—the mental power which first resolves
words
or things into their elements, and then puts them together in
new
forms,—is a creative or co-ordinating force, indicative of a
higher
natural capacity than the act of mere analysis. The genius which
framed
the word teskenonhweronne is the same that, working with
other
elements, produced the steam-engine and the telephone.
Ronkeghsota jivathondek. Two translations of this verse
were
given by different interpreters. One made it an address to the
people:
"My forefathers—hearken to them!" i.e., listen to the words of
our
forefathers, which I am about to repeat. The other considered the
verse
an invocation to the ancestors themselves. "My forefathers!
hearken ye!"
The words will bear either rendering, and either will be
consonant with
the speeches which follow.
The lines of this hymn have been thus cast into the metre
of
Longfellow's "Hiawatha:"—
"To the great Peace bring we greeting!
To the dead chiefs kindred, greeting!
To the warriors round him, greeting!
To the mourning women, greeting!
These our grandsires' words repeating,
Graciously, O grandsires, hear us!"
16. Enyonghdentyonko kanonghsakonghshen,-"he will walk
to and fro
in the house." In councils and formal receptions it is customary
for the
orator to walk slowly to and fro during the intervals of his
speech. Sometimes, before beginning his address, he makes a
circuit of
the assembly with a meditative aspect, as if collecting his
thoughts. All public acts of the Indians are marked with some
sign of
deliberation.
21. Eghnikonh enyerighwawetharho kenthoh,—"thus they
will close
the ceremony here." The address to the forefathers, which is
mainly an
outburst of lamentation over the degeneracy of the times, is
here
concluded. It would seem, from what follows, that at this point
the
candidate for senatorial honors is presented to the council, and
is
formally received among them, with the usual ceremonies, which
were too
well known to need description. The hymn is then sung again, and
the
orator proceeds to recite the ancient laws which the founders of
their
confederacy established.
22. Watidewennakarondonnyon, "we have put on the
horns;" in other
words, "we have invested the new chief with the ensigns of
office,"—or,
more briefly, "we have installed him." The latter is the meaning
as at
present understood; but it is probable that, in earlier days,
the
panoply of horns was really placed on the head of the newly
inducted
councillor.
23. Aghsonh denvakokwanentonghsacke, etc., "as soon as
he is dead"
(or, according to another rendering, "when he is just dying") the
horns
shall be taken off. The purport and object of this law are set
forth in
the Introduction, p.67.
24. Ne nayakoghstonde ne nayeghnyasakenradake, "by reason
of the neck
being white." The law prescribed in this section to govern
the
proceedings of the Council in the case of homicide has been
explained in
the Introduction, p. 68. The words now quoted, however, introduce
a
perplexity which cannot be satisfactorily cleared up. The aged
chief,
John S. Johnson, when asked their meaning, was only able to say
that
neither he nor his fellow councillors fully understood it. They
repeated
in council the words as they were written in the book, but in
this case,
as in some others, they were not sure of the precise significance
or
purpose of what they said. Some of them thought that their
ancestors,
the founders, had foreseen the coming of the white people, and
wished to
advise their successors against quarreling with their future
neighbors. If this injunction was really implied in the words, we
must
suppose that they were an interpolation of the Christian chief,
David of
Schoharie, or possibly of his friend Brant. They do not, however,
seem
to be, by any means, well adapted to convey this meaning. The
probability is that they are a modern corruption of some earlier
phrase,
whose meaning had become obsolete. They are repeated by the
chiefs in
council, as some antiquated words in the authorized version of
the
scriptures are read in our own churches, with no clear
comprehension—perhaps with a total misconception—of their
original
sense.
27. Enjonkwanekheren, "we shall lose some one," or,
more
literally, we shall fail to know some person. This law, which is
fully
explained in the Introduction, p. 70, will be found aptly
exemplified in
the Onondaga portion of the text, where the speeches of the
"younger
brothers" are evidently framed in strict compliance with the
injunctions
here given.
28. Jadakweniyu. This word, usually rendered "ruler,"
appears to
mean "principal person," or perhaps originally a "very powerful
person."
It is a compound word, formed apparently from oyata, body
or
person, kakwennion, to be able, and the adjective
termination
iyu or iyo, in its original sense of "great."
(See
Appendix, Note B.) M. Cuoq, in his Iroquois Lexicon, defines the
verb
kiatakwenniyo as meaning "to be the important personage,
the
first, the principal, the president." It corresponds very nearly
to the
Latin princeps, and, as applied in the following litany to
the
fifty great hereditary chiefs of the Iroquois, might fairly
enough be
rendered "prince."
Kanonghsyonny, in modern orthography,
Kanonsionni. For the
origin and meaning of this word, and an explanation of the
following
section, see the Introduction, p. 75.
Yejodenaghstahhere kanaghsdajikowah, lit., "they
added
frame-poles to the great framework." Each of these compounds
comprises
the word kanaghsta, which is spelt by Bruyas,
gannasta,
and defined by him, "poles for making a cabin,—the inner one,
which is
bent to form the frame of a cabin." The reference in these words
is to
the Tuscaroras, Tuteloes, Nanticokes, and other tribes, who
were
admitted into the confederacy after its first formation. From
a
manuscript book, written in the Onondaga dialect, which I found
at
"Onondaga Castle," in September, 1880, I copied a list of the
fifty
councillors, which closed with the words, "shotinastasonta
kanastajikona Ontaskaeken"—literally, "they added a
frame-pole to
the great framework, the Tuscarora nation."
29. Onenh jathondek, sewarihwisaanonghkwe
Kayanerenghkowa,—"now
listen, ye who completed the work, the Great League." This
section,
though written continuously as prose, was probably always sung,
like the
list of chiefs which follows. It is, in fact, the commencement of
a
great historical chant, similar in character to the 78th Psalm,
or to
some passages of the Prophets, which in style it greatly
resembles. In
singing this portion, as also in the following litany to the
chiefs, the
long-drawn exclamation of hai, or haihhaih, is
frequently
introduced. In the MS. book referred to in the last note, the
list of
councillors was preceded by a paragraph, written like prose, but
with
many of these interjections interspersed through it. The
interpreter,
Albert Cusick, an intelligent and educated man, assured me that
this was
a song, and at my request he chanted a few staves of it, after
the
native fashion. The following are the words of this hymn,
arranged as
they are sung. It will be seen that it is a sort of cento or
compilation, in the Onondaga dialect, of passages from various
portions
of the Canienga Book of Rites, and chiefly from the section (29)
now
under consideration:—
Haihhaih! Woe! Woe!
Jiyathonick! Hearken ye!
Xivonkliti! We are diminished!
Haihhaih! Woe! Woe!
Tejoskawayenton. The cleared land has become a
thicket.
Haihhaih! Woe! Woe!
Skakentahenyon. The clear places are
deserted.
Hai! Woe!
Shatyherarta— They are in their graves—
Hotyiwisahongwe— They who established it—
Hai! Woe!
Kayaneengoha. The great League.
Netikenen honen Yet they declared
Nene kenyoiwatatye— It should endure—
Kayaneengowane. The great League.
Hai! Woe!
Wakaiwakayonnheha. Their work has grown old.
Hai! Woe!
Netho watyongwententhe. Thus we are become
miserable.
The closing word is the same as the Canienga
watyonkwentendane,
which is found in the closing section of the Canienga book. The
lines of
the Onondaga hymn which immediately precede this concluding word
will be
found in Section 20 of that book, a section which is probably
meant to
be chanted. It will be noticed that the lines of this hymn
fall
naturally into a sort of parallelism, like that of the Hebrew
chants.
30. Dekarihaokenh, or Tehkarihhoken. In John
Buck's MS.
the list of chiefs is preceded by the words "Nene
Tehadirihoken,"
meaning the Caniengas, or, literally, "the Tekarihokens." For
an
explanation of this idiom and name, see ante, p. 77.
Ayonhwahtha, or Hayeirwatha. This name, which,
as
Hiawatha, is now familiar to us as a household word, is rendered
"He who
seeks the wampum belt." Chief George Johnson thought it was
derived from
oyonwa, wampum-belt, and ratiehwatha, to look
for
something, or, rather, to seem to seek something which we know
where to
find. M. Cuoq refe/s the latter part of the word to the verb
katha, to make. [Footnote: Lexique de la Langue
Iroquois,
p. 161] The termination atha is, in this sense, of
frequent
occurrence in Iroquois compounds. The name would then mean "He
who makes
the wampum-belt," and would account for the story which ascribes
to
Hiawatha the invention of wampum. The Senecas, in whose language
the
word oyonwa has ceased to exist, have corrupted the name
to
Hayowentha, which they render "he who combs." This form of
the
name has also produced its legend, which is referred to
elsewhere
(p. 87). Hiawatha "combed the snakes out of Atotarho's head,"
when he
brought that redoubted chief into the confederacy.
Shatekariwalf, "two equal statements," or "two things
equal."
This name is derived-from sate or shate, equal,
and
kariwa, or karihwa, for which see the Glossary.
Etho natejonhne, "this was your number," or, this was
the extent
of your class. These words, or the similar form, etho
natehadinhne, "this was their number," indicate apparently
that the
roll of chiefs belonging to a particular class or clan is
completed. They are followed by three other words which have
been
already explained (ante, pages 33 and 80),
sewater-ihwakhaonghkwe, sewarihwisaanonghkwe,
kayanerenhkowa. In
the written litany these three words are omitted toward the
close,—probably to save the penman the labor of transcription;
but in
the actual ceremony it is understood that they are chanted
wherever the
formula etho natejonhne, or etho natchadinhne,
occurs. In
the modern Canienga speech this verb is thus conjugated in
the
plural,—etho being contracted to eh:—
ehnatetionhne, we were that number;
ehnatejionhne, ye were that number;
ehnatehadinhne, they were that number.
The three Canienga councillors of the first class all belong
to the
Tortoise clan.
31. Sharenhowane; in Onondaga, Showenhona. This name
was
translated by the interpreters, "he is the loftiest tree." It
seems
properly to mean "he is a great tree-top," from karenha,
or
garenha, which Bruyas renders cime d'arbre, and
kowane, great.
Deyonnhehgonh, or Teyonhehkwen, "double life,"
from
onnhe, life. My friend, Chief George Johnson, who bears
this
titular appellation, tells me that it is properly the name of a
certain
shrub, which has a great tenacity of life.
Ohrenregowah; in Onondaga, Owenhegona. The
interpreters
differed much in opinion as to the meaning of this name. Some
said "wide
branches;" another, "a high hill." The root-word,
ohrenre, is
obsolete, and its meaning is apparently lost.
The three chiefs of the second class or division of the
Caniengas belong
to the Wolf clan.
32. Dehennakarine; in Onondaga, Tehennakaihne;
"going with
two horns." The root is onakara, horn; the termination
ine, or ihne, gives the sense of going; de
or
te is the duplicative prefix.
Aghstawenserontha (Onon. Hastawensenwa), "he
puts on the
rattles." Mr. Bearfoot writes, "Ohstawensera seems to have
been a
general name for anything denuded of flesh, but is now confined
to the
rattles of the rattlesnake."
Shosgoharowane (Onon. Shosgohaehna), "he is a
great
wood-drift." "Yohskoharo, writes Mr. Bearfoot, means
an
obstruction by driftwood in creeks or small rivers."
The councillors of the third Canienga class are of the Bear clan.
33. Ise seniyatagweniyohkwe, "ye two were the
principals."
Atagweniyo, or adakweniyu(see ante, note to
Sec. 28)
here becomes a verb in the imperfect tense and the dual number.
The
reference is either to Dekanawidah and Odatsehte, the chiefs of
the
Caniengas and Oneidas, who worked together in founding the
confederacy,
or, rather, perhaps, to their two nations, each regarded as
an
individual, and, in a manner, personified.
Jatatawhak, or, more properly jatatahwak,
means,
literally, "son of each other." It is from the root-word
kaha-wak
(or gahawak), which is defined by Bruyas, avoir
pour
enfant, and is in the reciprocal form. Here, however, it
is
understood to mean "father and son," in reference to the
political
relationship between the Canienga and Oneida nations.
Odatsehte (Onon., Tatshehte), "bearing a quiver,"—or
the pouch
in which the arrows are carried. According to the tradition,
when
Dekanawidah's brother and ambassador formally adopted
Odatsehte
as the political son of the Canienga chief, he took the quiver
off his
own shoulder, and hung it upon that of the Oneida chieftain.
Kanonhgwenyodon, "setting up ears of corn in a row."
From
ononhkwenha, an ear of corn.
Deyohhagwente (Onon., Tyohagwente), "open voice"
(?) This
is another obsolete, or semi-obsolete word, about which the
interpreters
differ widely in opinion. "Hollow tube," "windpipe," "opening in
the
woods," "open voice," were the various renderings suggested. The
latter
would be derived from ohakwa or ohagwa, voice, and
the
termination wente or gwente, which gives the sense
of
"open."
The three chiefs of the first Oneida class belong to the Wolf clan.
34. Shononhsese (Onon., Shononses), "his long house."
or, "he has
a long house." From kanonsa, house, with the adjective
termination es, long.
Daonahrokenagh (Onon., Tonaohgena), "two branches."
This is
another doubtful word. In modern Canienga, "two branches" would
be
Tonenroken.
Atyatonentha (Onon., Hatyatonnentha), "he lowers
himself," or,
literally, "he slides himself down," from oyata, body,
self, and
tonnenta, to slide.
The councillors of the second Oneida class are of the Tortoise clan.
35. Dewatahonhtenyonk (Onon.,
Tehatahonhtenyonk), "two
hanging ears," from ohonta, ear.
Kaniyatahshayonk (Onon., Kanenyatakshayen). This
name was
rendered "easy throat," as if derived from oniata, throat;
but
the Oneida form of the word seems to point to a derivation
from
onenya (or onenhia), stone. This word must be
regarded as
another obsolete compound.
Onwatsatonhonk (Onon., Onwasjatenwi), "he is buried."
The three chiefs of the third Oneida class are of the Bear clan.
36. Eghyesaotonnihsen, lit., "this was his uncle,"—or,
as the
words would be understood by the hearers, "the next are his
uncles." The
Onondaga nation, being the brother of the Canienga, was, of
course, the
uncle of the Oneida. In John Buck's MS. the Onondagas are
introduced
with more ceremony, in the following lines:
Etho yeshodonnih; These are the uncles;
Rodihsennakeghde, They, the name-bearers—
Tehhotiyena, They took hold here;
Rodihnonsyonnihton. They made the League.
That is, they helped, or joined, in making the League.
Thatotarho, Wathatotarho (Onon.,
Thatotarho). Thatotarho is the passive voice
and
cislocative form of otarho, which is defined "to grasp,"
or
"catch" (accrocher) but in the passive signifies
"entangled."
This great chief, whose name is better known as Atotarho (without
the
cislocative prefix), is of the Bear clan.
Etho ronaraschsen, "these were cousins," or rather,
"the next
were cousins." This cousinhood, like all the relationships
throughout
the book, is political, and indicates some close relationship in
public
affairs. The announcement applies to the following chiefs,
Enneserarenh
and Dehatkahthos, who were the special aids and counselors of
Atotarho.
Enneserarenh (Onon. Hanesehen). One Onondata
chief said
that he knew no meaning for this word. Another thought it might
mean
"the best soil uppermost." It is apparently from some obsolete
root.
Dehatkahthos (Onon. Tchatkahtons), "he is
two-sighted,"
or, "he looks both ways." Another rendering made it "on the
watch." This
and the preceding chief belong now to the Beaver clan. In one of
the
Onondaga lists which I received, these two, with their
principal,
Atotarho, formed a "class" by themselves, and were doubtless
originally
of the same clan.
Waghontenhnonterontye, "they were as brothers
thenceforth;" or,
more fully rendered, "the next continued to be brothers."
This
declaration refers to the three next following chiefs, who
were
connected by some special political tie. The first who bore the
name
were, probably, like the two preceding chiefs, leading partisans
and
favorites of the first Atotarho.
Onyatajiwak, or Skanyadajiwak (Onon.,
Oyatajiwak).
One authority makes this "a fowl's crop;" another, "the throat
alone,"
from oniata, throat, and jiwak, alone; another
defined it,
"bitter throat." Mr. Morgan renders it "bitter body,"—his
informant
probably seeing in it the word oyata, body. This chief
belongs
now to the Snipe clan.
Awekenyade. "the end of its journey,"—from awe, going,
and
akonhiate(Can.) "at the end." This chief is of the Ball
tribe,
both in Canada, and at Onondaga Castle. In the list furnished
to
Mr. Morgan by the Senecas, he is of the Tortoise clan.
Dehadkwarayen (Onon., Tchatkwayen). This word
is
obsolete. One interpreter guessed it to mean "on his body;"
another made
it "red wings." He is of the Tortoise clan.
In the Book of Rites the first six chiefs of the Onondagas
make but one
class, as is shown by the fact that their names are followed by
the
formula, etho natejonhne, "this was the number of you." It
may be
presumed that they were originally of one clan,—probably that of
the
Bear, to which their leader, Atotarho, belonged.
37. Yeshohawak, rakwahhokowah, "then his next
son, he the
great Wolf." The chief who follows, Ronenghwireghtonh,
was
evidently a personage of great importance,—probably the leading
chief
of the Wolf class. He forms a "clan" by himself,—the only
instance of
the kind in the list. The expression, "there (or, in him) were
combined
the minds," indicates—as Mr. Bearfoot suggests—his superior
intellect. It may also refer to the fact that he was the
hereditary
keeper of the wampum records. The title was borne in Canada by
the late
chief George Buck, but the duties of record-keeper were
usually
performed by his more eminent brother, John
(Skanawati).
Rononghwireghtonh (Onon., Honanwiehti), "he is
sunk out of
sight." This chief, who, as has been stated, alone constitutes
the
second Onondaga class, is of the Wolf clan.
38. Etho yeshotonnyh tekadarakehne, "then his uncles of
the two
clans." The five chiefs who follow probably bore some peculiar
political
relation to Rononghwireghton. The first two in modern times are
of the
Deer clan; the last three are of the Eel clan. It is probable
that they
all belonged originally, with him, to one clan, that of the Wolf,
and
consequently to one class, which was afterwards divided into
three.
Kawenenseronton (Onon., Kawenensenton). A word of
doubtful
meaning; one interpreter thought it meant "her voice
suspended."
Haghriron (Onon., Hahihon), "spilled," or
"scattered."
39. Wahhondennonterontye. This word has already
occurred, with a
different orthography, and is explained in the Note to Section
36.
Ronyennyennih (Onon., Honyennyenni). No
satisfactory
explanation could be obtained of this word. Chief John Buck did
not know
its meaning. Shodakwarashonh (Onon., Shotegwashen),
"he
is bruised." Shakokenghne (Onon. Shahkohkenneh),
"he saw
them." As stated above, the three chiefs in this class are of
the Eel
clan.
40. Shihonadewiraralye, "they had children," or, rather,
"they
continued to get children." Mr. Bearfoot writes in regard to this
word:
"Yodewirare, a fowl hatching, referring to the time when they
were
forming the league, when they were said to be hatching, or
producing,
the children mentioned—i.e., the other tribes who were taken
into the
confederacy." Tehhodidarakeh, "these the two clans." Taken
in
connection with the preceding lines of the chant, it seems
probable that
this expression refers to the introduction of other clans into
the
Council besides the original three, the Bear, Wolf and Tortoise,
which
existed when the confederacy was formed. Raserhaghrhonh
(Onon.,
Sherhakwi), "wearing a hatchet in his belt," from
asera,
hatchet. This chief is of the Tortoise clan. Etho
wahhoronghyaronnyon, "this put away the clouds." These
"clouds," it
is said, were the clouds of war, which were dispelled by the
great chief
whose name is thus introduced, Skanawadyh, or as now
spelt,
Skanawati. He had the peculiar distinction of holding
two
offices, which were rarely combined. He was both a high chief, or
"Lord
of the Council," and a "Great Warrior." In former times the
members of
the Great Council seldom assumed executive duties. They were
rarely sent
out as ambassadors or as leaders of war-parties. These duties
were
usually entrusted to the ablest chiefs of the second rank, who
were
known as "Great Warriors," rohskenrakehte-kowa. Skanawati
was an
exception to this rule. It would seem that the chief who first
bore this
title had special aptitudes, which have come down in his family.
A
striking instance, given in the "Relations" of the
Jesuit
missionaries among the Hurons, has been admirably reproduced
by
Mr. Parkman in the twenty-third chapter of his "Jesuits in
North
America," and cannot be better told than in his words. In the
year 1648,
during the desperate war between the Kanonsionni and the Hurons,
the
Onondagas determined to respond to the pacific overtures which
they had
received from their northern foes.
"They chose for their envoy," continues the historian,
"Scandawati, a
man of renown, sixty years of age, joining with him two
colleagues. [Footnote: Scandawali is the Huron—and
probably the
original Onondaga—pronunciation of the name.] The old Onondaga
entered
on his mission with a troubled mind. His anxiety was not so much
for his
life as for his honor and dignity; for, while the Oneidas and
the
Cayugas were acting in concurrence with the Onondagas, the
Senecas had
refused any part in the embassy, and still breathed nothing
but
war. Would they, or still more, the Mohawks, so far forget
the
consideration due to one whose name had been great in the
Councils of
the League, as to assault the Hurons while he was among them in
the
character of an ambassador of his nation, whereby his honor would
be
compromised and his life endangered? 'I am not a dead dog,' he
said, 'to
be despised and forgotten. I am worthy that all men should turn
their
eyes on me while I am among enemies, and do nothing that may
involve me
in danger.' * * * Soon there came dire tidings. The prophetic
heart of
the old chief had not deceived him. The Senecas and Mohawks,
disregarding negotiations in which they had no part, and resolved
to
bring them to an end, were invading the country in force. It
might be
thought that the Hurons would take their revenge on the Onondaga
envoys,
now hostages among them; but they did not do so, for the
character of an
ambassador was, for the most part, held in respect. One
morning,
however, Scandawati had disappeared. They were full of
excitement; for
they thought that he had escaped to the enemy. They ranged the
woods in
search of him, and at length found him in a thicket near the
town. He
lay dead, on a bed of spruce boughs which he had made, his throat
deeply
gashed with a knife. He had died by his own hand, a victim of
mortified
pride. 'See,' writes Father Ragueneau, 'how much our Indians
stand on
the point of honor!'"
It is worthy of note that the same aptitude for affairs and
the same
keen sense of honor which distinguished this highspirited chief
survives
in the member of his family who, on the Canadian Reservation, now
bears
the same title,—Chief John Buck,—whom his white neighbors all
admit to
be both a capable ruler and an able and trustworthy
negotiator.
In Canada Skanawati is of the Tortoise clan. At
Onondaga, where
the original family has probably died out, the title now belongs
to the
Ball clan.
41. Yeshohawak, "then his next son,"—or rather,
perhaps, "then,
next, his son." The Cayuga nation was politically the son of
the
Onondaga nation. Tekahenyonk (Onon., Hakaenyonk),
"he
looks both ways," or, "he examines warily." In section 28
(ante
p. 126) this name is spelt Akahenyonh. The prefixed
te is
the duplicative particle, and gives the meaning of "spying on
both
sides." This and the following chief belong, in Canada, to the
Deer
clan, and constitute the first Cayuga class.
Jinontaweraon
(Onon., Jinontaweyon), "coming on its knees."
42. Katakwarasonh (Onon., Ketagwajik), "it was
bruised." This
name, it will be seen, is very similar to that of an Onondaga
chief,—ante, Note to Section 39. The chief now named and the
one
who follows are of the Bear clan. Shoyonwese (Onon.,
Soyonwes), "he has a long wampumbelt." The root-word of
this
name is oyonwa, wampum-belt, the same that appears in
Hayonwatha. Atyaseronne (Onon., Halyasenne),
"he
puts one on another," or "he piles on." This chief is of the
Tortoise
clan, and completes, with the two preceding councillors, the
second
Cayuga class.
43. Yeshonadadekenah, "then they who are brothers."
The three
chiefs who follow are all of the Wolf clan, and make the third
class of
the Cayuga councillors. Teyoronghyonkeh (Onon.,
Thowenyongo), "it touches the sky."
Teyodhoreghkonh
(Onon., Tyotowegwi), "doubly cold."
Wathyawenhehetken
(Onon., Thaowethon), "mossy place."
44. The two following chiefs are of the Snipe clan, and
constitute the
fourth and last Cayuga class. Atontaraheha (Onon.,
Hatontaheha) "crowding himself in." Teskahe
(Onon.,
Heskahe) "resting on it."
45. Yeshotonnih, "and then his uncle." The Seneca
nation, being
the brother of the Onondaga, is, of course, the uncle of the
Cayuga
nation. Skanyadariyo (Onon., Kanyataiyo),
"beautiful
lake;" originally, perhaps, "great lake." (See Appendix, Note B.)
This
name is spelt in Section 28 (ante, p. 128)
Kanyadariyu.
The prefixed s is the sign of the reiterative form, and
when
joined to proper names is regarded as a token of nobility,—like
the
French de, or the German von. [Footnote: See J. A.
Cuoq:
Jugement Erroné, etc., p. 57. "Le reiteratif est
comme un signe
de noblesse dans les noms propres."] Kanyadariyo, was one
of the
two leading chiefs of the Senecas at the formation of the
confederacy. The title belongs to the Wolf clan.
Yeshonaraseshen, lit., "they were cousins." In the
present
instance, and according to the Indian idiom, we must read
"Skanyadariyo,
with his cousin, Shadekaronyes." Shadekaronyes
(Onon.,
Shatekaenyes), "skies of equal length." This chief
(whose
successor now belongs to the Snipe clan) was in ancient times the
head
of the second great division of the Senecas. These two potentates
were
made a "class" in the Council by themselves, and were thus
required to
deliberate together and come to an agreement on any question that
was
brought up, before expressing an opinion in the council. This
ingenious
device for preventing differences between the two sections of the
Seneca
nation is one of the many evidences of statesmanship exhibited in
the
formation of the League.
46. Satyenawat, "withheld." This chief, in the Canadian
list, is
of the Snipe clan; in Mr. Morgan's Seneca list, he is of the
Bear
clan. His comrade in the class, Shakenjowane, is, in both lists,
of the
Hawk clan. Shakenjowane (Onon., Shakenjona),
"large
forehead."
There has apparently been some derangement here in the order
of the
classes. In Mr. Morgan's list, and also in one furnished to me
at
Onondaga Castle, the two chiefs just named belong to
different
classes. The variance of the lists may be thus shown:—
The Book of Rites. The Seneca and Onondaga
Lists.
Second Seneca Class.
Satyenawat Kanokarih
Shakenjowane Shakenjowane.
Third Seneca Class.
Kanokarih Satyenawat
Nisharyenen Nisharyenen.
Satyenawat and Kanokarih have changed places. As the Book of
Rites is
the earlier authority, it is probable that the change was made
among the
New York Senecas after a part of their nation had removed to
Canada.
47. Kanokarih (Onon., Kanokaehe),
"threatened."
Nisharyenen (Onon., Onishayenenha), "the day
fell down."
One of the interpreters rendered the latter name, "the handle
drops."
The meaning of the word must be considered doubtful. The first of
these
chiefs is of the Tortoise clan, and the second is, in Canada, of
the
Bear clan. In Mr. Morgan's list he is of the Snipe clan. The
disruption
of the Seneca nation, and the introduction of new clans, have
thrown
this part of the list into confusion.
48. Onghwakeghaghshonah, etc. The verses which follow
are
repeated here from the passage of the Book which precedes the
chanted
litany. (See ante, Section 28.) Their repetition is
intended to
introduce the names of the two chiefs who composed the fourth and
last
class of the Seneca councillors. Yatehhotinhohhataghkwen,
"they
were at the doorway," or, according to another version, "they
made the
doorway." The chiefs are represented as keeping the doorway of
the
"extended mansion," which imaged the confederacy.
Kanonghkeridawyh, (Onon., Kanonkeitawi,) "entangled
hair
given." This chief, in Canada, is of the Bear clan; in New
York,
according to Morgan's list, he is of the Snipe clan.
Teyoninhokarawenh, (Onon., Teyoninhokawenh,) "open
door."
In both lists he is of the Wolf clan.
Mr. Morgan (in his "League of the Iroquois," page 68,) states
that to
the last-named chief, or "sachem," the duty of watching the door
was
assigned, and that "they gave him a sub-sachem, or assistant, to
enable
him to execute this trust." In fact, however, every high chief,
or
royaner (lord), had an assistant, or war chief
(roskenrakehte-kowa, great warrior), to execute his
instructions. The Book of Rites shows clearly that the two chiefs
to
whom the duty of "guarding the doorway" was assigned were both
nobles of
the first rank. Their office also appears not to have been
warlike. From
the words of the Book it would seem that when new tribes were
received
into the confederacy, these two councillors had the formal office
of
"opening the doorway" to the new-comers—that is (as we may
suppose),
of receiving and introducing their chiefs into the federal
council.
In another sense the whole Seneca nation was deemed, and was
styled in
council, the Doorkeeper (Ronhohonti, pl.,
Roninhohonti) of
the confederacy. The duty of guarding the common country against
the
invasions of the hostile tribes of the west was specially
committed to
them. Their leaders, or public representatives, in this duty
would
naturally be the two great chiefs of the nation, Kanyateriyo
and
Shadekaronyes. The rules of the League, however, seem to have
forbidden
the actual assumption by the councillors of any executive or
warlike
command. At least, if they undertook such duties, it must be as
private
men, and not in their capacity of nobles—just as an English peer
might
serve as an officer in the army or as an ambassador. The only
exceptions
recognized by the Iroquois constitution seem to have been in the
cases
of Tekarihoken and Skanawati, who were at once nobles and
war-chiefs. (See ante, pages 78 and 159.) The two great
Seneca
chiefs would therefore find it necessary to make over their
military
functions to their assistants or war-chiefs. This may explain
the
statement made by Morgan ("League of the Iroquois," p. 74) that
there
were two special "war-chiefships" created among the Senecas, to
which
these commands were assigned.
49. Onenh watyonkwentendane kanikonrakeh. The condoling
chant
concludes abruptly with the doleful exclamation, "Now we are
dejected in
spirit." Enkitenlane, "I am becoming poor," or "wretched,"
is
apparently a derivative of kitenre, to pity, and might
be
rendered, "I am in a pitiable state." "We are miserable in mind,"
would
probably be a literal version of this closing ejaculation.
Whether it is
a lament for the past glories of the confederacy, or for the
chief who
is mourned, is a question which those who sing the words at the
present
day would probably have a difficulty in answering. It is
likely,
however, that the latter cause of grief was in the minds of those
who
first composed the chant.
It is an interesting fact, as showing the antiquity of the
names of the
chiefs in the foregoing list, that at least a fourth of them are
of
doubtful etymology. That their meaning was well understood when
they
were borne by the founders of the League cannot be questioned.
The
changes of language or the uncertainties of oral transmission, in
the
lapse of four centuries, have made this large proportion of them
either
obsolete or so corrupt as to be no longer intelligible. Of all
the
names it may probably be affirmed with truth that the Indians who
hear
them recited think of their primitive meaning as little as we
ourselves
think of the meaning of the family names or the English titles
of
nobility which we hear or read. To the Iroquois of the present
day the
hereditary titles of their councillors are—to use their own
expression—"just names," and nothing more. It must not be
supposed,
however, that the language itself has altered in the same degree.
Proper
names, as is well known, when they become mere appellatives,
discharged
of significance, are much more likely to vary than the words of
ordinary
speech.
NOTES ON THE ONONDAGA BOOK
1 a. Yo onen onen wen ni sr te, "oh now—now this day."
It will
be noticed that this address of the "younger brothers" commences
in
nearly the same words which begin the speeches of the
Canienga
book. This similarity of language exists in other parts of the
two
books, though disguised by the difference of dialect, and also by
the
very irregular and corrupt spelling of the Onondaga book. To give
some
idea of this irregularity, and of the manner in which the words
of this
book are to be pronounced, several of these words are subjoined,
with
the pronunciation of the interpreter, represented in the
orthography of
the Canienga book:
Words as written. As pronounced by La Fort.
wen ni sr te wennisaate
ho gar a nyat hogaenyat
son tar yen sontahien
na ya ne nayeneh
o shon ta gon gonar osontagongona
gar weear har tye gawehehatie
on gwr non sen shen tar qua ongwanonsenshentakwa
ga nen ar ta (or, ga nen ar ti) ganenhate
kon hon wi sats konthonwitsas
o wen gr ge ohwengage
nar ya he yr genh nayehiyaken.
The letter r, it will be seen, is not a consonant. In
fact, it is
never heard as such in the modern Onondaga dialect. As used by La
Fort,
its office is either to give to the preceding vowel a the
sound
which it has in father, or by itself to represent that
sound. The
a, when not followed by r, is usually sounded
like
a in fate, but sometimes keeps the sound of
a in
far. The e usually represents the English e
in
be, or, when followed by n, the e in
pen.
The i and y are commonly sounded as in the word
city. The g is always hard, and is interchangeable
with
k. The t and d are also interchangeable.
While the syllables in the original are written separately,
the words
are not always distinguished; and it is doubtful if, in printing,
they
have in all cases been properly divided. The translation of
the
interpreter, though tolerably exact, was not always literal; and
in the
brief time at our command the precise meaning of some of the
words was
not ascertained. No attempt, therefore, has been made to form
a
glossary of this portion of the text.
In the original the addresses of the "younger brothers" are
divided into
sections, which are numbered from one to seven, and each of
which, in
the ceremony, is called to mind by its special wampum-string,
which is
produced when the section is recited. As the first of these
sections is
of much greater length than the others, it has been divided in
this
work, for the purpose of ready reference, into sub-sections,
which are
numbered 1a, 1b, and so on.
1 b. Nenthaotagenhetak, "by the ashes," or "near
the
hearth." The root-word is here agenhe, the Onondaga form
of the
Canienga word akenra, ashes, which is comprised in the
compound
form, jiudakenrokde, in Section 27 of the Canienga book.
It will
be seen that the spokesman of the younger nations is here
complying
strictly with the law laid down in that section. He "stands by
the
hearth and speaks a few words to comfort those who are
mourning."
1 c. "It was valued at twenty." The interpreters
explained
that by "twenty" was understood the whole of their wampum,
which
constituted all their treasure. A human life was worth the whole
of
this, and they freely gave it, merely to recall the memory of the
chief
who was gone. Among the Hurons, when a man had been killed, and
his
kindred were willing to renounce their claim to vengeance on
receiving
due satisfaction, the number of presents of wampum and other
valuables
which were to be given was rigidly prescribed by their
customary
law. [Footnote: Relation of 1648, p. 80.] From this custom
would
easily follow the usage of making similar gifts, in token of
sympathy,
to all persons who were mourning the loss of a near relative,
1 d. "Because with her the line is lost." The
same
sentiment prevailed among the Hurons. "For a Huron killed by a
Huron,"
writes Father Ragueneau in the letter just quoted, "thirty gifts
are
commonly deemed a sufficient satisfaction. For a woman forty
are
required, because, as they say, the women are less able to
defend
themselves; and, moreover, they being the source whence the land
is
peopled, their lives should be deemed of more value to the
commonwealth,
and their weakness should have a stronger support in public
justice."
Such was the reasoning of these heathen barbarians.
Enlightened
Christendom has hardly yet advanced to the mark of these
opinions.
I e. "Where the grave has been made," &c. The
recital of Father
Ragueneau also illustrates this passage. "Then followed," he
writes,
"nine other presents, for the purpose, as it were, of erecting
a
sepulchre for the deceased. Four of them were for the four
pillars which
should support this sepulchre, and four others for the four
cross-pieces
on which the bier of the dead was to rest. The ninth was to serve
as his
pillow."
2. "I will make the sky clear to you." In this paragraph the
speaker
reminds the mourners, in the style of bold imagery which the
Iroquois
orators affected, that continued grief for the dead would not
be
consonant with the course of nature. Though all might seem dark
to them
now, the sky would be as clear, and the sun would shine as
brightly for
them, as if their friend had not died. Their loss had been
inevitable,
and equally sure would be the return of the "pleasant days."
This
reminder, which may seem to us needless, was evidently designed
as a
reproof, at once gentle and forcible, of those customs of
excessive and
protracted mourning which were anciently common among the
Huron-Iroquois
tribes.
3. "You must converse with your nephews," &c. The
"nephews" are,
of course, the chiefs of the younger nations, who are here
the
condolers. The mourners are urged to seek for comfort in the
sympathy of
their friends, and not to reject the consolations offered by
their
visitors and by their own people.
4. "And now you can go out before the people, and go on
with your
duties," &c. This, it will be seen, corresponds with the
injunctions
of the Canienga book. (See Section 27, ante, p. 127): "And
then
they will be comforted, and will conform to the great law."
6. "Then the horns shall be left on the grave," &c.
The same
figure is here used as in the Canienga book, Section 23
(ante,
p. 125). It is evident that the importance of keeping up the
succession
of their councillors was constantly impressed on the minds of
the
Iroquois people by the founders of their League.
7. "And the next death will receive the pouch." The
"mourning
wampum," in modern days, is left, or supposed to be left, with
the
kindred of the late chief until another death shall occur among
the
members of the Council, when it is to be passed on to the family
of the
deceased. This economy is made necessary by the fact that only
one store
of such wampum now exists, as the article is no longer made. It
is
probable that in ancient times the wampum was left permanently
with the
family of the deceased, as a memorial of the departed chief.
"Where the fire is made and the smoke is rising," i.e.,
when you
receive notice that a Condoling Council is to be held in a
certain
place. The kindled fire and the rising smoke were the
well-understood
images which represented the convocation of their councils. In
the
Onondaga book before referred to (ante, p. 152) a few
pages were
occupied by what might be styled a pagan sermon, composed of
exhortations addressed to the chiefs, urging them to do their
duty to
the community. The following is the commencement of this
curious
composition, which may serve to illustrate both the words now
under
consideration and the character of the people. The orthography is
much
better than that of La Fort's book, the vowels generally having
the
Italian sound, and the spelling being tolerably uniform. The
translation
was made by Albert Cusick, and is for the most part closely
literal: The
discourse commences with a "text," after the fashion which the
pagan
exhorter had probably learned from the missionaries:—
Naye ne iwaton ne gayanencher:
Onen wahagwatatjistagenhas ne Thatontarho. Onen
wagayengwaeten, naye ne
watkaenya, esta netho tina enyontkawaonk. Ne enagenyon
nwatkaonwenjage
shanonwe nwakayengwaeten netho titentyetongenta shanonwe
nwakayengwaeten, ne tokat gishens enyagoiwayentaha ne
oyatonwetti.
Netho hiya nigawennonten ne ongwanencher ne Ayakt
Niyongyonwenjage ne
Tyongwehonwe.
Ottinawahoten ne oyengwaetakwit? Nayehiya, ne agwegeh
enhonatiwagwaisyonk ne hatigowanes,—tenhontatnonongwak
gagweki,—oni
enshagotino-ongwak ne honityogwa, engenk ne hotisgenrhergeta, oni
ne
genthonwisash, oni ne hongwagsata, oni ne ashonsthateyetigaher
ne
ongwagsata; netho niyoh tehatinya agweke sne sgennon
enyonnontonnyonhet,
ne hegentyogwagwegi. Naye ne hatigowanens neye gagwegi
honatiiwayenni
sha oni nenyotik honityogwa shanya yagonigonheten. Ne tokat
gishen naye
enyagotiwatentyeti, negaewane akwashen ne honiyatwa
shanityawenih.
Translation.
"The law says this:
"Now the council-fire was lighted by Atotarho. Now the smoke
rises and
ascends to the sky, that everybody may see it. The tribes of
the
different nations where the smoke appeared shall come directly
where the
smoke arises, if, perhaps, they have any business for the council
to
consider.
"These are the words of our law,—of the Six Nations of Indians.
"What is the purpose of the smoke? It is this—that the chiefs
must all
be honest; that they must all love one another; and that they
must have
regard for their people,—including the women, and also our
children,
and also those children whom we have not yet seen; so much they
must
care for, that all may be in peace, even the whole nation. It is
the
duty of the chiefs to do this, and they have the power to govern
their
people. If there is anything to be done for the good of the
people, it
is their duty to do it."
7 b. "Now I have finished! Now show him to me!" With
this laconic
exclamation, which calls upon the nation of the late chief to
bring
forward his successor, the formal portion of the
ceremony—the
condolence which precedes the installation—is abruptly
closed.
APPENDIX.
NOTE A.
THE NAMES OF THE IROQUOIS NATIONS.
The meaning of the term Kanonsionni, and of the other
names by
which the several nations were known in their Council, are
fully
explained in the Introduction. But some account should be given
of the
names, often inappropriate and generally much corrupted, by which
they
were known to their white neighbors. The origin and proper
meaning of
the word Iroquois are doubtful. All that can be said
with
certainty is that the explanation given by Charlevoix cannot
possibly be
correct. "The name of Iroquois," he says, "is purely French, and
has
been formed from the term hiro, 'I have spoken,' a word by
which
these Indians close all their speeches, and koue, which,
when
long drawn out, is a cry of sorrow, and when briefly uttered, is
an
exclamation of joy." [Footnote: History of New France,
Vol. i,
p. 270.] It might be enough to say of this derivation that no
other
nation or tribe of which we have any knowledge has ever borne a
name
composed in this whimsical fashion. But what is decisive is the
fact
that Champlain had learned the name from his Indian allies before
he or
any other Frenchman, so far as is known, had ever seen an
Iroquois. It
is probable that the origin of the word is to be sought in the
Huron
language; yet, as this is similar to the Iroquois tongue, an
attempt may
be made to find a solution in the latter. According to Bruyas,
the word
garokwa meant a pipe, and also a piece of tobacco,—and,
in its
verbal form, to smoke. This word is found, somewhat disguised
by
aspirates, in the Book of Rites—denighroghkwayen,—"let
us two
smoke together." (Ante. p. 114, Section 2). In the
indeterminate
form the verb becomes ierokwa, which is certainly very
near to
"Iroquois." It might be rendered "they who smoke," or "they who
use
tobacco," or, briefly, "the Tobacco People." This name, the
Tobacco
Nation (Nation du Petun) was given by the French,
and
probably also by the Algonkins, to one of the Huron tribes,
the
Tionontates, noted for the excellent tobacco which they raised
and
sold. The Iroquois were equally well known for their cultivation
of this
plant, of which they had a choice variety. [Footnote: "The
Senecas still
cultivate tobacco. Its name signifies 'the only tobacco,'
because
they consider this variety superior to all others."—Morgan:
League
of the Iroquois, p. 375.] It is possible that their
northern
neighbors may have given to them also a name derived from
this
industry. Another not improbable supposition might connect the
name with
that of a leading sept among them, the Bear clan. This clan, at
least
among the Caniengas, seems to have been better known than any
other to
their neighbors. The Algonkins knew that nation as the Maquas,
or
Bears. In the Canienga speech, bear is ohkwari; in
Onondaga, the
word becomes ohkwai, and in Cayuga, iakwai,—which
also is
not far from Iroquois. These conjectures—for they are
nothing
more—may both be wrong; but they will perhaps serve to show
the
direction in which the explanation of this perplexing word is to
be
sought.
The name of Mingo or Mengwe, by which the
Iroquois were
known to the Delawares and the other southern Algonkins, is said
to be a
contraction of the Lenape word Mahongwi, meaning the
"People of
the Springs." [Footnote: E. G. Squier: "Traditions of the
Algonquins," in Beach's Indian Miscellany, p. 28.] The
Iroquois
possessed the headwaters of the rivers which flowed through the
country
of the Delawares, and this explanation of the name may therefore
be
accepted as a probable one.
The first of the Iroquois nations, the "oldest brother" of
the
confederacy, has been singularly unfortunate in the designations
by
which it has become generally known. The people have a fine,
sonorous
name of their own, said to be derived from that of one of their
ancient
towns. This name is Kanienke, "at the Flint."
Kansen, in
their language, signifies flint, and the final syllable is the
same
locative particle which we find in Onontake, "at the
mountain."
In pronunciation and spelling, this, like other Indian words, is
much
varied, both by the natives themselves and by their white
neighbors,
becoming Kanieke, Kanyenke, Canyangeh, and
Canienga. The
latter form, which accords with the sister names of Onondaga and
Cayuga,
has been adopted in the present volume.
The Huron frequently drops the initial k, or changes it
to
y. The Canienga people are styled in that speech
Yanyenge,
a word which is evidently the origin of the name of
Agnier, by
which this nation is known to the French.
The Dutch learned from the Mohicans (whose name, signifying
Wolves, is
supposed to be derived from that of their leading clan) to call
the
Kanienke by the corresponding name of Maqua (or
Makwa),
the Algonkin word for Bear. But as the Iroquois, and especially
the
Caniengas, became more and more a terror to the surrounding
nations, the
feelings of aversion and dread thus awakened found vent in an
opprobrious epithet, which the southern and eastern Algonkins
applied to
their obnoxious neighbors. They were styled by these enemies
Mowak, or Mowawak a word which has been corrupted
to
Mohawk. It is the third person plural, in the sixth
"transition,"
of the Algonkin word mowa, which means "to eat," but which
is
only used of food that has had life. Literally it means "they eat
them;"
but the force of the verb and of the pronominal inflection
suffices to
give to the word, when used as an appellative, the meaning of
"those who
eat men," or, in other words, "the Cannibals." That the English,
with
whom the Caniengas were always fast friends, should have adopted
this
uncouth and spiteful nickname is somewhat surprising. It is time
that
science and history should combine to banish it, and to resume
the
correct designation. [Footnote: William Penn and his colonists,
who
probably understood the meaning of the word Mohawk forbore
to
employ it. In the early records of the colony (published by
the
Pennsylvania Historical Society) the nation is described in
treaties,
laws, and other public acts, by its proper designation, a
little
distorted in the spelling,—Canyingoes, Ganyingoes,
Cayinkers,
etc.]
The name Oneida, which in French became
Onneyoutk or
Onneyote, is a corruption of a compound word, formed
of
onenhia, or onenya, stone, and kaniote, to
be
upright or elevated. Onenniote is rendered "the
projecting
stone." It is applied to a large boulder of syennite, which
thrusts its
broad shoulder above the earth at the summit of an eminence near
which,
in early times, the Oneidas had planted their chief
settlement.
As has been already stated, Onondaga is a softened
pronunciation
of Onontake, "at the mountain,"—or, perhaps, more
exactly, "at
the hill." It is probable that this name was unknown when the
confederacy was formed, as it is not comprised in the list of
towns
given in the Book of Rites. It may be supposed to have been
first
applied to this nation after their chief town was removed to the
site
which it occupied in the year 1654, when the first white visitors
of
whom we have any certain account, the Jesuit Father Le Moyne and
his
party, came among them,—and also in 1677, when the English
explorer,
Greenhalgh, passed through their country. This site was about
seven
miles east of their present Reservation. I visited it in
September,
1880, in company with my friend, General John S. Clark, who has
been
singularly successful in identifying the positions of the
ancient
Iroquois towns. The locality is thus described in my journal:
"The site
is, for an Indian town, peculiarly striking and attractive. It
stretches
about three miles in length, with a width of half a mile, along
the
broad back and gently sloping sides of a great hill, which
swells, like
a vast oblong cushion, between two hollows made by branches of a
small
stream, known as Limehouse creek. These streams and many springs
on the
hillside yielded abundance of water, while the encircling ridges
on
every side afforded both firewood and game. In the neighborhood
were
rich valleys, where—as well as on the hill itself—the people
raised
their crops of corn, beans, pumpkins, and tobacco. There are
signs of a
large population." In the fields of stubble which occupied the
site of
this ancient capital, the position of the houses could still be
traced
by the dark patches of soil; and a search of an hour or two
rewarded us
with several wampum-beads, flint chips, and a copper coin of the
last
century. The owner of the land, an intelligent farmer, affirmed
that
"wagon-loads" of Indian wares,—pottery, hatchets, stone
implements, and
the like—had been carried off by curiosity seekers.
The name of the Cayugas (in French Goyogouin) is
variously
pronounced by the Iroquois themselves. I wrote it as I heard it,
at
different times, from members of the various tribes.
Koyúkweñ,
Koiúkwe, Kwaiúkweñ, Kayúkwe. A
Cayuga chief made it Kayúkwa,
which is very near the usual English pronunciation of the word.
Of its
purport no satisfactory account could be obtained. One
interpreter
rendered it "the fruit country," another "the place where canoes
are
drawn out." Cusick, the historian, translates it "a mountain
rising from
the water." Mr. Morgan was told that it meant "the mucky land."
We can
only infer that the interpreters were seeking, by vague
resemblances, to
recover a lost meaning.
The Senecas, who were called by the French
Tsonontouan or
Sonnontouan, bore among the Iroquois various names, but
all
apparently derived from the words which appear in that
appellation,
—ononta, hill, and kowa or kowane, great.
The
Caniengas called them Tsonontowane; the Oneidas abridged
the word
to Tsontowana; the Cayugas corrupted it to
Onondewa; and
the Onondagas contracted it yet farther, to Nontona. The
Senecas
called themselves variously Sonontowa, Onontewa, and
Nondewa. Sonontowane is probably the most correct
form.
The word Seneca is supposed to be of Algonkin origin,
and like
Mohawk, to have been given as an expression of dislike, or
rather
of hostility. Sinako, in the Delaware tongue, means
properly
"Stone Snakes;" but in this conjunction it is understood,
according to
the interpretation furnished to Mr. Squier, to signify
"Mountain
Snakes." [Footnote: "Traditions of the Algonquins," in
Beach's
Indian Miscellany, p. 33.] The Delawares, it appears,
were
accustomed to term all their enemies "snakes." In this case they
simply
translated the native name of the Iroquois tribe (the
"Mountain
People"), and added this uncomplimentary epithet. As the name,
unlike
the word Mohawk, is readily pronounced by the people to whom it
was
given, and as they seem to have in some measure accepted it,
there is
not the same reason for objecting to its use as exists in the
case of
the latter word,—more especially as there is no absolute
certainty that
it is not really an Iroquois word. It bears, in its present form,
a
close resemblance to the honorable "Council name" of the
Onondagas,—Sennakehte, "the title-givers;" a fact which
may
perhaps have made the western nation more willing to adopt
it.
NOTE B.
MEANING OF OHIO, ONTARIO, ONONTIO, RAWENNIIO.
The words Ohio, Ontario and Onontio (or
Yonnondio)—which should properly be pronounced as if
written
Oheeyo, Ontareeyo, and Ononteeyo—are commonly
rendered
"Beautiful River," "Beautiful Lake," "Beautiful Mountain."
This,
doubtless, is the meaning which each of the words conveys to an
Iroquois
of the present day, unless he belongs to the Tuscarora tribe. But
there
can be no doubt that the termination io (otherwise
written
iyo, iio, eeyo, etc.) had originally the sense, not of
"beautiful," but of "great." It is derived from the word
wiyo (or
wiio) which signifies in the Seneca dialect good,
but in
the Tuscarora, great. It is certain that the Tuscaroras
have
preserved the primitive meaning of the word, which the Hurons and
the
proper Iroquois have lost. When the French missionaries first
studied
the languages of these nations, traces of the original usage
were
apparent. Bruyas, in the "Proemium" to his Radices
Verborum
Iroquaorum, (p. 14), expressly states that jo (io)
in
composition with verbs, "signifies magnitude." He gives as an
example,
garihaioston, "to make much of anything," from
garihea,
thing, and io, "great, important." The Jesuit
missionaries, in
their Relation for 1641, (p. 22) render Onontio
"great
mountain," and say that both Hurons and Iroquois gave this title
to the
Governor of that day as a translation of his name, Montmagny.
Ontario is derived from the Huron yontare,
or
ontare, lake (Iroquois, oniatare), with this
termination. It was not by any means the most beautiful of the
lakes
which they knew; but in the early times, when the Hurons dwelt on
the
north and east of it and the Iroquois on the south, it was to
both of
them emphatically "the great lake."
Ohio, in like manner, is derived, as M. Cuoq in the
valuable
notes to his Lexicon (p. 159) informs us, from the obsolete
ohia,
river, now only used in the compound form ohionha.
Ohia,
coalescing with this ancient affix, would become ohiio,
or
ohiyo, with the signification of "great river," or, as
the
historian Cusick renders it, "principal stream."
M. Cuoq. in his "Etudes Philologiques" (p. 14) has well
explained
the interesting word Rawenniio, used in various
dialectical forms
by both Hurons and Iroquois, as the name of the deity. It
signifies, as
he informs us, "he is master," or, used as a noun, "he who is
master."
This, of course, is the modern acceptation; but we can gather
from the
ancient Huron grammar, translated by Mr. Wilkie, (ante, p.
101)
that the word had once, as might be supposed, a larger meaning.
The
phrase, "it is the great master," in that grammar (p. 108) is
rendered
ondaieaat eOarontio or eOauendio. The Huron nd
becomes in
Iroquois nn. EOauendio is undoubtedly a form of the
same
word which appears in the Iroquois Rawenniio. We thus
learn that
the latter word meant originally not merely "the master," but
"the great
master." Its root is probably to be found in the Iroquois
kawen,
or gawen (Bruyas, p. 64), which signifies "to belong to
any one,"
and yields, in combination with oyata, person, the
derivatives
gaiatawen, to have for subject, and gaiatawenston,
to
subject any one.
NOTE C.
THE ERA OF THE CONFEDERACY.
Mr. Morgan, in his work on "Systems of Consanguinity and
Affinity of the
Human Family" (p. 151), fixes the date of the formation of the
Iroquois
league at about the middle of the fifteenth ^ century. He says:
"As near
as can now be ascertained, the league had been established about
one
hundred and fifty years when Champlain, in 1609, first
encountered the
Mohawks within their own territories, on the west coast of
Lake
George. This would place the epoch of its formation about A. D.
1459."
Mr. Morgan, as he informed me, deduced this conclusion from
the
testimony of the most intelligent Indians whom he had consulted
on the
subject. His informants belonged chiefly to the Seneca and
Tuscarora
nations. Their statements are entirely confirmed by those of
the
Onondaga record-keepers, both on the Syracuse Reservation and
in
Canada. When the chiefs at Onondaga Castle, who, in October,
1875, met
to explain to me their wampum records, were asked how long it had
been
since their league was made, they replied (as I find the answer
recorded
in my notes) that "it was their belief that the confederacy was
formed
about six generations before the white people came to these
parts."
Hudson ascended the river to which he gave his name in
September,
1609. A boat from his ship advanced beyond Albany, and
consequently into
the territories of the League. "Frequent intercourse," says
Bancroft, in
his account of this exploration, "was held with the astonished
natives
of the Algonquin race; and the strangers were welcomed by a
deputation
from the Mohawks." If we allow twenty-five years to a
generation, the
era of the confederacy is carried back to a period a hundred and
fifty
years before the date of Hudson's discovery,—or to the year
1459. This
statement of the Onondaga chiefs harmonizes, therefore, closely
with
that which Mr. Morgan had heard among the other nations.
I afterwards (in 1882) put the same question to my friend,
Chief John
Buck, the keeper of the wampum-records of the Canadian Iroquois.
He
thought it was then "about four hundred years" since the League
was
formed. He was confident that it was before any white people had
been
heard of by his nation. This opinion accords sufficiently with
the more
definite statement of the New York Onondagas to be deemed a
confirmation
of that statement.
There are two authorities whose opinions differ widely, in
opposite
directions, from the information thus obtained by Mr. Morgan
and
myself. David Cusick, in his "Sketches of Ancient History of
the Six
Nations," supposes that the League was formed "perhaps 1000
years
before Columbus discovered America." His reasons for this
supposition,
however, do not bear examination. He makes Atotarho the
hereditary
title of a monarch, like Pharaoh or Caesar, and states that
thirteen
potentates bearing that title had "reigned" between the formation
of the
confederacy and the discovery of America by Columbus. The
duration of
each of these reigns he computes, absurdly enough, at exactly
fifty
years, which, however, would give altogether a term of only six
hundred
and fifty years. He supposes the discovery of America to have
taken
place during the reign of the thirteenth Atotarho; and he adds
that the
conquest and dispersion of the Eries occurred "about this time."
The
latter event, as we know, took place in 1656. It is evident
that
Cusick's chronology is totally at fault. As an Iroquois chief was
never
succeeded by his son, but often by his brother, it is by no
means
improbable that thirteen persons may have held successively the
title of
Atotarho in the term of nearly two centuries, between the years
1459 and
1656.
On the other hand, Heckewelder, in his well-known work on the
"History,
Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations." cites a passage from
a
manuscript book of his predecessor, the Rev. C. Pyrlaeus,
formerly
missionary among the Mohawks, from which a comparatively recent
date
would be inferred for the confederation. The inference, however,
is
probably due to a mistake of Heckewelder himself. The passage, as
it
stands in his volume, [Footnote: P. 56 of the revised edition of
1875,
published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.] is as
follows:—
"The Rev. C. Pyrlaeus, in his manuscript book, p. 234, says:
'The
alliance or confederacy of the Five Nations was established, as
near as
can be conjectured, one age (or the length of a man's life)
before the
white people (the Dutch) came into the country. Thannawage was
the name
of the aged Indian, a Mohawk, who first proposed such an
alliance.'"
The words which Heckewelder has here included between
parentheses arc
apparently explanations which he himself added to the original
statement
of Pyrlaeus. The first of these glosses, by which an "age" is
explained
to be the length of a man's life, is doubtless correct; but the
second,
which identifies the "white people" of Pyrlaeus with the Dutch,
is
probably wrong. The white people who first "came into the
country" of
the Huron-Iroquois nations were the French, under Cartier. It was
in the
summer of 1535 that the bold Breton navigator, with three
vessels
commissioned to establish a colony in Canada, entered the St.
Lawrence,
and ascended the great river as far as the sites of Quebec and
Montreal.
He spent the subsequent winter at Quebec. The presence of
this
expedition, with its soldiers and sailors of strange complexion
and
armed with terrible weapons, must have been known to all the
tribes
dwelling along the river, and would naturally make an epoch in
their
chronology. Assuming the year 1535 as the time when the white
people
first "came into the country," and taking "the length of a man's
life"
at seventy-five years (or three generations) we should arrive at
the
year 1460 as the date of the formation of the Iroquois
League. [Footnote: There is an evident difference between the
expression
used by my Onondaga informants and that which is quoted by
Heckewelder
from Pyrlaeus. The latter speaks of the time before the white
people
"came into the country;" the Onondagas referred to the time
before they
"came to these parts." The passage cited from Bancroft seems to
indicate
that the white men of Hudson's crew presented no novel or
startling
aspect to the Mohawks. The French had been "in the country"
before
them.]
The brief period allowed by Heckewelder's version is on many
accounts
inadmissible. If, when the Dutch first came among the Iroquois,
the
confederacy had existed for only about eighty years, there must
have
been many persons then living who had personally known some of
its
founders. It is quite inconceivable that the cloud of
mythological
legends which has gathered around the names of these founders—of
which
Clark, in his "Onondaga," gives only the smaller portion—should
have
arisen in so short a term. Nor is it probable that in so brief a
period
as has elapsed since the date suggested by Heckewelder, a fourth
part of
the names of the fifty chiefs who formed the first council would
have
become unintelligible, or at least doubtful in meaning.
Schoolcraft, who
was inclined to defer to Heckewelder's authority on this point,
did so
with evident doubt and perplexity. "We cannot," he says,
"without
rejecting many positive traditions of the Iroquois themselves,
refuse to
concede a much earlier period to the first attempts of these
interesting
tribes to form a general political association." [Footnote:
"Notes on
the Iroquois p. 75,"]
In view of all the facts there seems no reason for withholding
credence
from the clear and positive statement of the Iroquois
chroniclers, who
place the commencement of their confederate government at about
the
middle of the fifteenth century.
NOTE D.
THE HIAWATHA MYTHS.
While many of the narratives of preternatural events recounted
by Clark,
Schoolcraft and others, in which the name of Hiawatha occurs, are
merely
adaptations of older myths relating to primitive Iroquois or
Algonkin
deities, there are a few which are actual traditions, though
much
confused and distorted, of incidents that really occurred. Among
these
is the story told by Clark, of the marvelous bird by which
Hiawatha's
only daughter was destroyed. Longfellow has avoided all reference
to
this preposterous tale; but to Mr. Clark, if we may judge from
the
fullness and solemnity with which he has recorded it, it appeared
very
impressive. [Footnote: "Onondaga" Vol. I, p. 25.]
According to
his narrative, when the great convention assembled at the summons
of
Hiawatha, to form the league of the Five Nations, he came to it
in
company with his darling and only daughter, a girl of twelve.
Suddenly a
loud rushing sound was heard. A dark spot appeared in the sky.
Hiawatha
warned his daughter to be prepared for the coming doom from the
Great
Spirit, and she meekly bowed in resignation. The dark spot,
rapidly
descending, became an immense bird, which, with long and pointed
beak
and wide-extended wings, swept down upon the beautiful girl, and
crushed
her to atoms. Many other incidents are added, and we are told,
what we
might well believe, that the hero's grief for the loss so
suddenly and
frightfully inflicted upon him was intense and long
protracted.
That a story related with so much particularity should be
utterly
without foundation did not appear probable. It seemed not
unlikely that
a daughter of Hiawatha might have been killed at some public
meeting,
either accidentally or purposely, and possibly by an Indian
belonging to
one of the bird clans, the Snipe, the Heron, or the Crane. But
further
inquiry showed that even this conjecture involved more of what
may be
styled mythology than the simple facts called for. The Onondaga
chiefs
on the Canadian Reserve, when asked if they had heard anything
about a
strange bird causing the death of Hiawatha's daughter, replied at
once
that the event was well known. As they related it, the occurrence
became
natural and intelligible. It formed, indeed, a not unimportant
link in
the chain of events which led to the establishment of the
confederacy. The catastrophe, for such it truly was, took place
not at
the great assembly which met for the formation of the league, but
at one
of the Onondaga councils which were convened prior to that
meeting, and
before Hiawatha had fled to the Caniengas. The council was held
in an
open plain, encircled by a forest, near which temporary lodges
had been
erected for the Councillors and their attendants. Hiawatha was
present,
accompanied by his daughter, the last surviving member of his
family. She was married, but still lived with her father, after
the
custom of the people; for the wife did not join her husband in
his own
home until she had borne him a child. The discussions had lasted
through
the day, and at nightfall the people retired to their lodges.
Hiawatha's
daughter had been out, probably with other women, into the
adjacent
woods, to gather their light fuel of dry sticks for cooking. She
was
great with child, and moved slowly, with her faggot, across
the
sward. An evil eye was upon her. Suddenly the loud voice of
Atotarho was
heard, shouting that a strange bird was in the air, and bidding
one of
his best archers shoot it. The archer shot, and the bird fell. A
sudden
rush took place from all quarters toward it, and in the rush
Hiawatha's
daughter was thrown down and trampled to death. No one could
prove that
Atotarho had planned this terrible blow at his great adversary,
but no
one doubted it. Hiawatha's grief was profound; but it was
then,
according to the tradition of the Canadian Onondagas,—when the
last tie
of kindred which bound him to his own people was broken,—that
the idea
occurred to him of seeking aid among the eastern nations.
[Footnote:
This account of the events which immediately preceded Hiawatha's
flight
differs somewhat from the narrative which I received from the New
York
Onondagas, as recorded in the Introduction (p. 22). The
difference,
however, is not important; and possibly, if it had occurred to me
to
inquire of these latter informants about the incident of the
bird, I
might have heard from them particulars which would have brought
the two
versions of the story still nearer to accord. The notable fact is
that
the reports of a tradition preserved for four hundred years, in
two
divisions of a broken tribe, which have been widely separated for
more
than a century, should agree so closely in all important
particulars. Such concurrence of different chroniclers in the
main
narrative of an event, with some diversity in the details, is
usually
regarded as the best evidence of the truth of the history.]
Clark's informants also told him much about a snow-white canoe
in which
Hiawatha—or, rather, Ta-oun-ya-wa-tha—made his first appearance
to
human eyes. In this canoe the demigod was seen on Lake
Ontario,
approaching the shore at Oswego. In it he ascended the river and
its
various branches, removing all obstructions, and destroying all
enemies,
natural and preternatural. And when his work was completed by
the
establishment of the League, the hero, in his human form of
Hiawatha,
seated himself in this canoe, and ascended in it to heaven, amid
"the
sweetest melody of celestial music."
The nucleus and probable origin of this singular story is
perhaps to be
found in the simple fact that Hiawatha, after his flight from
the
Onondagas, made his appearance among the Caniengas a solitary
voyager,
in a canoe, in which he had floated down the Mohawk river. The
canoes of
the Caniengas were usually made of elm-bark, the birch not being
common
in their country. If Hiawatha, as is not unlikely, had found
or
constructed a small canoe of birch-bark on the upper waters of
the
stream, and used it for his voyage to the Canienga town, it
might
naturally attract some attention. The great celebrity and high
position
which he soon attained, and the important work which he
accomplished,
would cause the people who adopted him as a chief to look back
upon all
the circumstances of his first arrival among them with
special
interest. That the canoe was preserved till his death, and that
he was
buried in it, amid funeral wails and mournful songs from a
vast
multitude, such as had never before lamented a chief of the
Kanonsioani,
may be deemed probable enough; and in these or some similar
events we
may look for the origin of this beautiful myth, which reappears,
with
such striking effect, in the closing scene of Longfellow's
poem.
NOTE E.
THE IROQUOIS TOWNS.
The list of towns comprised in the text contains twenty-three
names. Of
this number only eight or nine resemble names which have been in
use
since the Five Nations were known to the whites; and even of this
small
number it is not certain that all, or indeed any, were in these
more
recent times applied to their original localities. My friend,
General
John S. Clark, of Auburn, N. Y., who has made a special study of
the
positions of the Indian tribes and villages, and whose notes on
this
subject illustrate the excellent work of Dr. Hawley on the early
history
of the Cayuga nation, [Footnote: Early Chapters of Cayuga
History: By Charles Hawley, D.D., President of the Cayuga
Historical
Society.] has favored me, in a recent letter, with the following
brief
but valuable summary of what is known in regard to the Iroquois
towns:—
"When the Mohawks were first known, they occupied three
principal towns
on the south side of the Mohawk river, between Ganajoharie and
Schoharie
creeks. The most eastern was that of the "Turtles" (or Tortoise
clan),
and was usually designated as such, and by the Dutch as the Lower
or
First Castle. The Middle or Second Castle was commonly termed
the
village of the "Bears;" while the Third or Upper Castle was
generally
called Teonnondoge or Tionnontogen, a name apparently having
reference
to the 'two mountains' near which the original town stood. After
these
towns were destroyed by the French, in 1666, their people removed
to the
north side of the river,—those of the lower town retreating a
few miles
up the stream to the rapids; and then for a hundred years this
was
generally known Caughnawaga (Kahnawake) "At the Rapids."
The
Middle or Second Castle was called Gandagaro in 1670, Kanagiro in
1744,
etc. The third appears to have retained its old name in all
positions."
"When the Oneidas were first known they occupied a position on
the
headwaters of the Oneida inlet, and afterward gradually drew
northward
toward the lake. Their great town was usually called by the name
of the
tribe, as Onneiot, Onoyut, etc. One site, occupied about 1700,
was
called and known generally as Kanowaroghare, said to signify 'a
head on
a pole.'"
"The Onondagas, first known in 1615, occupied several sites,
from a
point south of the east end of Oneida lake, where they were when
first
known, to the Onondaga valley; but in all cases the chief town,
when
named, was called Onondaga, from the name of the tribe. Their
great
village in the Onondaga valley, according to Zeisberger, was
known in
1750 as Tagochsanagecht, but this was a form derived from the
name of
the Onondagas as used in council. In all ages this chief town,
wherever
located, had other minor towns within from two to five miles, but
they
are rarely named. The great town was also divided into districts,
one
for each clan, each of which must have been known by the clan
name, but
this is seldom referred to. This rule held good also in all the
large
towns. A 'Bear village' was not occupied exclusively by members
of the
Bear clan; but these predominated and exercised authority."
"The Cayugas in 1656 occupied three villages,—Onnontare, on a
hill near
the Canandaigua river,—Thiohero, near the foot of Cayuga lake
('By the
Marsh,' or, 'Where the Rushes are'),—and a third, which
generally took
the name of the tribe, Cayuga, but was occasionally divided into
three
districts, like the other large towns."
"The Senecas, when visited by the Jesuits, occupied two great
towns, and
several minor villages. The eastern of the two towns, near
Victor, was
called Gandougarae. The western, on Honcoye creek, nearly always,
in all
localities, took the name of the stream, which signifies
'bending.' It
is said that when the League was first formed, it was agreed that
the
two great Seneca towns should be called by the names of two
principal
sachems; but I am unable to find that this was carried out in
practice. In La Hontan's narrative of the De Nonville expedition,
the
great western town was separated into two parts, Thegaronhies
and
Danoncaritowi, which were the names of two important chiefs;
while De
Nonville's and other accounts describe it as Totiakton, 'at the
bend.'
This discrepancy, however, is found in all cases where the
several towns
are mentioned, as it was quite common to speak of them by the
name of
the principal chief. Thus, Cayuga in 1750 was called Tagayu,
from
Togahayu, the well-known chief sachem; Onondaga was called
Canasatago's
town, etc."
The frequent changes in the positions and names of Indian
towns, thus
well explained and exemplified, will account; for the fact that
so few
of the ancient names in the list which the tenacious memories of
the
record-keepers retained have come down in actual use to
modern
times. The well-known landmark of the Oneida stone seems to
have
preserved the name of the town,—Onenyute, "the
projecting
rock,"—from which the nation derived its usual designation.
Deserokenh, or, as the Jesuit missionaries wrote it,
Techiroguen, was situated near the outlet of the Oneida
lake, at
the point where the great northern trail crossed this outlet. A
village
of some importance is likely to have been always found at or near
that
locality. The same may be said of Deyuhhero, or
Tiohero,
where the main trail which united all the cantons crossed the
river
outlet of Lake Cayuga.
In other cases, though the identity of names is clear, that of
the
localities is more doubtful. The Kaneghsadakeh of the
list, the
"Hill-side town," may be the Kanasadaga of the Senecas;
but, as
General Clark remarks, the name might have been applied to any
town on
the side of a mountain. In like manner Deyughsweken
(or
Deyohsweken), which is said to mean "flowing out," may
have been
the town from which the Oswego river took its name, or a town at
the
mouth of any other river; and Deyaokenh, "the Forks," may
have
been Tioga, or any other village at the junction of two
streams. Fonondese ("it is a high hill") is perhaps the
same name
as Onontare, which in Charlevoix's map appears as
Onnontatacet;
[Footnote: See "Early Chapters of Cayuga History," p. 48.]
but
the name may well have been a common one. A few other
apparent
coincidences might be pointed out; but of most of the towns in
the list
we can only say that no trace remains in name or known locality,
and
that in some cases even the meaning of the names has ceased to
be
remembered. General Clark sums up his conclusions on this point
in the
following words: "They appear to belong to a remote—I may say a
very
remote—age, and not to be referred to any particular known
localities;
and this, as it appears to me, is more to the credit of the
manuscript
as an archaic work."
NOTE F.
THE PRE-ARYAN RACE IN EUROPE AND AMERICA.
[The following is the concluding portion of an essay on
"Indian
Migrations, as evidenced by Language," which was read at the
Montreal
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, in
August, 1882, and published in the "American Antiquarian" for
January
and April, 1883. As the views set forth in this extract have a
bearing
on the subjects discussed in the present work, the author takes
the
opportunity of reproducing them here for the consideration of
its
readers.]
It will be noticed that the evidence of language, and to some
extent
that of tradition, leads to the conclusion that the course of
migration
of the Indian tribes has been from the Atlantic coast westward
and
southward. The Huron-Iroquois tribes had their pristine seat on
the
lower St. Lawrence. The traditions of the Algonkins seem to point
to
Hudson's Bay and the coast of Labrador. The Dakota stock had its
oldest
branch east of the Alleghenies, and possibly (if the Catawba
nation
shall be proved to be of that stock), on the Carolina
coast. Philologists are well aware that there is nothing in the
language
of the American Indians to favor the conjecture (for it is
nothing else)
which derives the race from eastern Asia. But in western Europe
one
community is known to exist, speaking a language which in its
general
structure manifests a near likeness to the Indian tongues. Alone
of all
the races of the old continent the Basques or Euskarians of
northern
Spain and southwestern France have a speech of that highly
complex and
polysynthetic character which distinguishes the American
languages. There is not, indeed, any such positive similarity, in
words
or grammar, as would prove a direct affiliation. The likeness is
merely
in the general cast and mould of speech; but this likeness is so
marked
as to have awakened much attention. If the scholars who have
noticed it
had been aware of the facts now adduced with regard to the course
of
migration on this continent, they would probably have been led to
the
conclusion that this similarity in the type of speech was an
evidence of
the unity of race. There seems reason to believe that Europe—at
least
in its southern and western portions—was occupied in early times
by a
race having many of the characteristics, physical and mental, of
the
American aborigines. The evidences which lead to this conclusion
are
well set forth in Dr. Dawson's recent work on "Fossil Man." Of
this
early European people, by some called the Iberian race, who
were
ultimately overwhelmed by the Aryan emigrants from central Asia,
the
Basques are the only survivors that have retained their
original
language; but all the nations of southern Europe, commencing with
the
Greeks, show in their physical and mental traits a large
intermixture of
this aboriginal race. As we advance westward, the evidence of
this
infusion becomes stronger, until in the Celts of France and of
the
British Islands it gives the predominant cast to the character of
the
people. [Footnote: "The Basque may then be the sole surviving
relic and
witness of an aboriginal western European population,
dispossessed by
the intrusive Indo-European tribes. It stands entirely alone, no
kindred
having yet been found for it in any part of the world. It is of
an
exaggeratedly agglutinative type, incorporating into its verb a
variety
of relations which are almost everywhere else expressed by an
independent word."—"The Basque forms a suitable stepping-stone
from
which to enter the peculiar linguistic domain of the New World,
since
there is no other dialect of the Old World which so much
resembles in
structure the American languages."—Professor Whitney, in "The
Life
and Growth of Language" p. 258.]
If the early population of Europe were really similar to that
of
America, then we may infer that it was composed of many
tribes,
scattered in loose bands over the country, and speaking languages
widely
and sometimes radically different, but all of a polysynthetic
structure. They were a bold, proud, adventurous people, good
hunters and
good sailors. In the latter respect they were wholly unlike
the
primitive Aryans, who, as was natural in a pastoral people of
inland
origin, have always had in the east a terror of the ocean, and in
Europe
were, within historic times, the clumsiest and least venturous
of
navigators. If communities resembling the Iroquois and the Caribs
once
inhabited the British islands and the western coasts of the
adjacent
continent, we may be sure that their fleets of large canoes, such
as
have been exhumed from the peat-deposits and ancient river-beds
of
Ireland, Scotland, and France, swarmed along all the shores
and
estuaries of that region. Accident or adventure may easily have
carried
some of them across the Atlantic, not merely once, but in
many
successive emigrations from different parts of western Europe.
The
distance is less than that which the canoes of the Polynesians
were
accustomed to traverse. The derivation of the American population
from
this source presents no serious improbability whatever.
[Footnote: The
distance from Ireland to Newfoundland is only sixteen hundred
miles. The
distance from the Sandwich Islands to Tahiti (whence the natives
of the
former group affirm that their ancestors came) is twenty-two
hundred
miles. The distance from the former islands to the Marquesas
group, the
nearest inhabited land, is seventeen hundred miles. The canoes of
the
Sandwich Islands (as we are assured by Ellis, in his
"Polynesian
Researches") "seldom exceed fifty feet in length." In the
river-beds
of France, ancient canoes have been found, exceeding forty feet
in
length. One was more than forty-five feet long, and nearly four
feet
deep. See the particulars in Figuier's "Primitive
Man,"
Appleton's edit., p. 177. See also Prof. D. Wilson's
"Prehistoric
Man," 2d edit., p. 102, for a full discussion of this
question, with
instances of long canoe voyages.]
On the theory which seems thus rendered probable, that the
early
Europeans were of the same race as the Indians of America, we are
able
to account for certain characteristics of the modern nations of
Europe,
which would otherwise present to the student of anthropology
a
perplexing problem. The Aryans of Asia, ancient and modern, as we
know
them in the Hindoos, the Persians, and the Armenians, with the
evidence
afforded by their history, their literature and their present
condition,
have always been utterly devoid of the sentiment of political
rights. The love of freedom is a feeling of which they seem
incapable. To humble themselves before some superior
power—deity, king,
or brahmin—seems to be with them a natural and overpowering
inclination. Next to this feeling is the love of contemplation
and of
abstract reasoning. A dreamy life of worship and thought is the
highest
felicity of the Asiatic Aryan. On the other hand, if the
ancient
Europeans were what the Basques and the American Indians are now,
they
were a people imbued with the strongest possible sense of
personal
independence, and, resulting from that, a passion for political
freedom.
They were also a shrewd, practical, observant people, with little
taste
for abstract reasoning.
It is easy to see that from a mingling of two races of such
opposite
dispositions, a people of mixed character would be formed, very
similar
to that which has existed in Europe since the advent of the
Aryan
emigrants. In eastern Europe, among the Greeks and Sclavonians,
where
the Iberian element would be weakest, the Aryan characteristics
of
reverence and contemplation would be most apparent. As we
advance
westward, among the Latin and Teutonic populations, the sense
of
political rights, the taste for adventure, and the observing,
practical
tendency, would be more and more manifest; until at length, among
the
western Celts, as among the American Indians, the love of freedom
would
become exalted to an almost morbid distrust of all governing
authority.
If this theory is correct, the nations of modern Europe have
derived
those traits of character and those institutions which have given
them
their present headship of power and civilization among the
peoples of
the globe, not from their Aryan forefathers, but mainly from this
other
portion of their ancestry, belonging to the earlier population
which the
Aryans overcame and absorbed. That this primitive population
was
tolerably numerous is evident from the fact that the Aryans,
particularly of the Latin, Teutonic, and Celtic nations lost
in
absorbing it many vocal elements and many grammatical inflections
of
their speech. They gained, at the same time, the self-respect,
the love
of liberty, and the capacity for selfgovernment, which were
unknown to
them in their Asiatic home. Knowing that these characteristics
have
always marked the American race, we need not be surprised when
modern
researches demonstrate the fact that many of our Indian
communities have
had political systems embodying some of the most valuable
principles of
popular government. We shall no longer feel inclined to question
the
truth of the conclusion which has been announced by Carli,
Draper, and
other philosophic investigators, who affirm that the Spaniards,
in their
conquest of Mexico, Yucatan, and Peru, destroyed a better form
of
society than that which they established in its place. The
intellectual
but servile Aryans will cease to attract the undue admiration
which they
have received for qualities not their own; and we shall look with
a new
interest on the remnant of the Indian race, as possibly
representing
this nobler type of man, whose inextinguishable love of freedom
has
evoked the idea of political rights, and has created those
institutions
of regulated self-government by which genuine civilization and
progress
are assured to the world.
CANIENGA GLOSSARY.
The following Glossary comprises all the words of the Canienga
text. The
meanings of these words are given as they were, received from
the
interpreters. For most of them these definitions are confirmed by
the
dictionaries of Bruyas and Cuoq. Some of the words, which are
either
archaic forms or peculiar to the Council ceremonies, are not
found in
those dictionaries; and in a few instances the precise purport of
these
words must be considered doubtful. In some cases, also, the force
of a
grammatical inflection or of an affix may not have been
correctly
ascertained; but it is believed that the vocabulary will be
found, in
general, sufficiently accurate to be of service to the student
who may
desire to acquire some knowledge of the Canienga speech.
When the words of John Buck's copy differ in orthography from
those of
the Johnson MS., the former are added in brackets. Words cited
from the
dictionary of Bruyas are distinguished by the letter B; those
from the
lexicon of M. Cuoq by C.
A.
Aerengh [orenh], far. Heren, ahiren, B., far;
heren,
aheren, C., far away.
Aesahhahiyenenhon [ahesahhahiyenennyonhon], if thou hadst
fallen (or
perished) by the way. Aha, oha, ohaha, road, path;
gaienneñon, B., to fall.
Aesayatyenenghdon [ahesayatyenendon], thou mightest have
been
destroyed. Gaienneñon, B., to fall;
gaiennenton, to
cause to fall. Aesaiatienenton is in the perf. subj.
passive.
Aghsonh, scarcely, hardly, while.
Ai (excl.), hail! oh!
Aihaigh (excl.), hail! ah! oh! More commonly pronounced haihai.
Akare, until.
Akayongh [akcayon], ancient. Akaion, C., old, ancient, antique.
Akonikonghkahdeh, they are suffering. Onikonhra, mind,
and
oga'te, B., raw., i. e., having a sore mind.
Akotthaghyonnighshon, one who belongs to the Wolf clan.
See
Sathaghyonnighshon.
Akwah, indeed, truly, very, yea.
Akwekon, all.
Are, again, sometimes.
Ayakawen, one would have said. En, B, to say (perf. subj.).
Ayakaweron, one would have thought. Eron, B., to think, to wish.
Ayakotyerenhon, one would be startled, surprised. From
katyeren,
to wonder, be startled.
Ayawenhenstokenghske [ayawenhensthokenske], may it be true.
Enon,
iaweñnon, B.,—iawens, C., to happen;
togenske, B.,
tokenske, C., it is true. "May it happen to be true!"
Ayuyeukwaroghthake [ayoyenkwarodake], there might have been
tobacco
smoke (apparent)., Oienkwa, C., tobacco; garst, B.,
to
smoke (ppf. subj.).
D.
Da-edewenhheye [dahedewenheyeh], we may all die.
Genheion,
genheie, B., to die (subj. mood).
Daghsatkaghthoghseronne [dasatkahthoseronne], thou mightest
keep
seeing. See Tesatkaghthoghserontyc.
Tasatkahthoseronne
(as the word would be spelt in modern orthography) appears to be
the
aorist subjunctive of atkahthos, to see, in the
cislocative and
frequentative forms.
Daondayakottondeke, that they may hear. Athonde, to hear.
Deghniwenniyu, joint ruler; lit., they two are masters.
See
Rawenniyo.
Deghsewenninekenne, thou mayest speak. See Entyewenninekenneh.
Dendewatenonghweradon, in our mutual greetings. See
Dewadadononweronh.
Denghsatkaghdonnyonheke [densatkatonhnyonsekeh], thou wilt be
looking
about thee. Atkahthos, to see.
Denighroghkwayen [dehnihrohkwayen], let us two smoke.
Garoksa,
B., une pipe, touche de petun. It is conjectured that the
name
Iroquois, i. e., "Tobacco-people," may have been derived
from
this word. See Appendix, Note A.
Dentidewaghneghdoten, we will replace the pine-tree.
Ohnehta,
pine. Oten, as a suffix (according to M. Cuoq), "serves
to
express the condition, the manner, the kind, the nature of a
thing."
Denyakokwatonghsaeke [tenyakokwennhendonghsaeke], he will
be
dying. Desakkèatouch, Onon. Dict., I am dying;
kanonèenton, B., sick.
Denyontadenakarondako, they shall take off his horns.
Onakara,
horn.
Desahahishonne, thou art coming troubled.
Desakaghsereutonyonne, thou comest weeping. Gagasera, B., tear.
Desanyatokenh, in thy throat. Oniata, C., throat, neck.
Desawennawenrate, thy voice coming over. From owenna,
C.,
gauenda or gauenna, B., voice, speech, word,
and
auenron, B., to pass over. The cislocative prefix de
(te)
gives the sense of "hither."
Deskenonghweronne [deskenonweronne], I come again to greet
and
thank. Kannonhueron, B., to salute any one;
kannonhueronton, to salute or thank by, or for, anything.
See
ante, page 149, for an analysis of this word.
Detkanoron [detkanorons], all but, almost. From
kanoron, costly,
important, difficult.
Dewadadenonweronh [dewadatenonweron], mutual greeting.
Kannonhueron, B., to salute any one.
Dewaghsadayenhah, in the shade. Asatagon, B., in
secret;
asatakon, C., in the dark.
Deyakodarakeh, the two clans. Ohtara, C., tribe, band.
(Dual or
duplicative form.)
Deyakonakarondon, wearing horns, i.e., being
chiefs.
Onnagara, B., horn; kannagaront, having horns;
gannagaronni, B., être considerable.
Deyughnyonkwarakda [deyohnyonkwaraktah], at the wood's edge;
near the
thicket. Onnionguar, B., thorn-bush, bramble; akta,
C.,
beside, near to. The word applies to the line of bushes usually
found on
the border between the forest and a clearing. With the
cislocative
prefix de it means "on this side of the thicket."
Deyughsihharaonh [deyohsiharaonh], there is a stoppage.
Gasiharon, B., to stop up, to close.
Deyunennyatenyon, hostile agencies, opposing; forces.
Gannenniani, B., to surprise or defeat a band;
gannennaton,
ib., to seek to destroy.
Deyunhonghdoyenghdonh [deyonhonghdoyendonh], mourning wampum.
This word
appears to be composed of three of Bruyas' radices, viz.,
gaionni, wampum belt (collier de
porcelaine),—gannonton, to throw wampum for the
dead,—and
gaienton, to strike, whence skaienton, to return
the like,
to strike back, and gaientatonton, to give satisfaction
for any
one wounded or killed; and the meaning will be "wampum given as
a
satisfaction or consolation for a death."
Dhatkonkoghdaghkwanyon. [thatkonkohdakwanyon], in going
through. Ongóon, B., to penetrate, to pass
through;
atongotahkon, B., the place through which one passes.
Doghkara [dohkara], only a few. Tohkara, C., only
occasionally, a
few, a small number of.
Doka, if, perhaps, either, or. Toka, C., or, if; I don't know.
Donghwenghratstanyonne [donwenratstanyonne], coming
over. Asenron, B., to pass over.
E.
Eghdejisewayadoreghdonh [eghdetsisewayadorehdonh], this ye
considered,
ye deliberated about this. Kaiatefreton, B., to examine,
to
think, to deliberate about anything.
Eghdeshotiyadoreghton, they again considered. (See the preceding word.)
Eghnikatarakeghne [eghnikadarakene], such were the clans.
Ehni—,
C., for ethoni, there are, so, it is thus that;
ohtara,
clan, band.
Eghnikouh, thus, in this way.
Eghnonweh, thither, yonder.
Eghtenyontatitenranyon, they will condole with one another,
or, there
will be mutual condolence. Gentenron, B., kitenre,
C., to
pity any one. Atatitenron, B., to deplore one's
misery.
Eghyendewasenghte, we will let it fall. Aseñon,
B., to fall;
asenhton, ib., to cause to fall.
Eghyesaotonnihsen, this was his uncle. See yeshodonnyk.
Endewaghneghdotako, we will pull up a pine tree. From
onehta,
pine, and gataksan, gatako, to draw out, B., sub voce
At.
Enghsitskodake, thou wilt be resting, thou wilt remain.
Gentskote, B., to be in any place.
Entyewenninekenneh, the words which will be said. From
Kawenna,
word (q. v.) and en, B., to say.
Enjerennokden (or enyerennokden), they will finish the song;
or, the
hymn will be finished. Karenna, song, hymn; okte,
B., the
end; to finish.
Enjeyewendane [enjewendane], they will be comforted.
Ganeienthon, B, to be calm. (This word should probably be
written
enjeyeweyendane.)
Enjondatenikonghketsko, they will comfort, lit., will raise
the
mind. Onikonhra, mind, spirit, temper, and
gagetskuan, B.,
to raise up.
Enjondentyonko. See Enyonghdentionko.
Enjonkwakaronny, it will cause us trouble. Gagaronnion,
B., to do
harm to any one, to cause him some loss.
Enjonkwanekheren, we shall suffer a loss. Wakenekheren,
C., not
to know, not to recognize (i.e., we shall cease to see
some one).
Enskat, one, once.
Entkaghwadasehhon, will be vexed, excited. Gahuatase,
B., to
twist, turn round.
Enwadon, it will be allowed. Watons, fut.
enwaton, C., to
be possible, feasible, allowed.
Enwadonghwenjadethare, will make a hole through the ground.
See
Onwentsia.
Enyairon, they will say, one will say. From en, B.,
fut. egiron, to say.
Enyakaonkodaghkwe [enyakaonkohdakwe], they shall have
passed. Ongóon, B., to penetrate, pass through;
ongotanni,
to cause to penetrate, etc.
Enyakodenghte, they (or one) will be miserable.
Genthenteon, B.,
to be deserving of pity.
Enyakodokenghse [enyakodokenseh], they (or one) will
discover. Gatogeñon, gatogens, B., to know.
Enyakohetsde [enyakohetste], he (or one) will go on.
Kohetstha,
C., to pass beyond.
Enyakonewarontye, they (or one) will be surprised.
Gannesaron,
B., to surprise.
Enyeharako, they will carry it. Gaha, B., to carry off.
Enyeken, they will see. Gagen, B., to see.
Enyenikonghkwendarake, they will be mourning.
Onikonhra. (q. v.)
and gagsentaron, stretched on the ground (i.e., the
mind
dejected).
Enyerennokden. See Enjerennokden.
Enyerighwanendon [enyerihwanondon], they will ask (or,
will
wonder). From karihwa (q. v.) and gannendon, B.,
to
wonder, or annonton, to seek. Garihwanonton, B., to
ask
the news.
Enyerighwawetharho, the business will be closed.
Karihwa (q. v.)
and otarhon, B., to grasp; kotarhos, C., to grasp,
to stop
by grasping.
Enyonderennoden, they will sing it thus. Karenna, q.
v.
and—oten, C., which "serves to express the condition,
manner,
kind, or nature of a thing."
Enyonghdentyonko, he will walk to and fro. Atention,
B., to go
away.
Enyononghsaniratston, it will strengthen the house.
Kanonsa,
house, and ganniraton, B., to strengthen.
Enyontsdaren, they will weep. Katstaha, C., to weep, to
shed
tears.
Enyontyerenjiok, they will be startled. From katyeren,
to wonder,
to be surprised.
Enyurighwadatye [enyorihwadatye], it will continue: the affair
will go
on. From kariwa (q. v.) as a verb, in the progressive form
and
future tense.
Etho, thus, so.
Ethone, then.
Ethononweh, thither.
H.
Hasekenh, because. Aseken, C., for, because.
Henskerighwatoate [enskerighwatonte], I will frustrate
their
purposes. From karihwa (q. v.) and atoneton, B., to
cause
to lose, to mislead.
Henyondatsjistayenhaghse [henyondatstsistayenhase], they will
hold a
council, lit., they will make a council fire. From
katsista,
fire; gatsistaien, B., to hold council, to light the
council
fire.
Hone, also. See Ony.
I.
Ie [iih], I.
Iese [ise], thou, ye.
Iesewengh, ye have said. En, B., to say.
Issy [hissih], yonder, there, Isi, C., there.
J.
Jadadeken, thy brother (or brothers). Tsiatatekenha,
C., ye two
are brothers.
Jadakweniyosaon (or jatagweniyosaon), thou wert the ruler, or,
ye were
the rulers. See Jadakweniyu.
Jadakweniyu, thou art the ruler, or, ye are the rulers. See
note to
sec. 28, ante, p. 152.
Jatatawhak, father and son, lit., son of each other.
Gahawak,
B., to have for child (reciprocal form).
Jathondek (or jatthontek), listen! hearken thou. Imperative
sing. of
kathontats, C, athantaton, B., to hear.
Jatthontenyonk, keep listening! continue to hear! The
frequentative form
of jatthontek.
Ji [tsi], that, that which, wherein. See Jini.
Jidenghnonhon [jidennon], as, like as. Tennon, C., and also, but.
Jinayawenhon, the consequences, the results, lit. what
would
happen. Eñon, B.,—iawens, C, to happen.
Jinesadawen [tsinesadawen]. See Jinisadawen.
Jini [tsini], that which, such, so, so much.
Jinihotiyerenh, what they did. From Jini (q. v.)
and
—kierha,—wakieren, C., to act, do, say. This verb is
always
preceded by some particle, such as kenni (see how),
tsini
(that which) and the like.
Jinikawennakeh, these the words. See Jini and kawenna.
Jinisayadawen [tsinesayadawenh], that which has befallen
you. Eñon, B., to happen;
gaiataseñon, to happen to some
one.
Jiniyuneghrakwah [tsiniyohnerakwa], this solemn event.
Gonneragoon, B., to wonder; jonneragsat, that
is
wonderful. See yuneghrakwah.
Jinonweh [tsinonweh], thither, whereto.
Jiratighrotonghkwakwe [tsiradirohtonhkwakwe], where they used
to
smoke. Garst, B., to smoke; otonkwa, C., flame.
"Where
they lighted their pipes."
Jisanakdade [tsisanakdate], from thy seat. See Kanakta.
Jiyudakenrokde [tsiodakenrokde], by the fireplace, near
the
ashes. Akenra, ashes; okte, end, edge.
Jiyathondek, listen! hearken! Imperative dual of
kathontats, I
hear. See Jathondek.
Jodenaghstahhere, they made additions to a house; they added
a
frame. Gannasta, B., poles for making a house;
onasta, C.,
a framework; kaheren, B. to be upon.
Joskawayendon, there is again wilderness, waste ground.
Gaienthon, B., to have fields.
K.
Kadon, I say, I speak. Igatonk (sub voce En),
B., I say;
katon, C., to say.
Kady [kadi], therefore, then. Kati, C., then, consequently.
Kadykenh, because. See Katykenh.
Kaghnekonyon, floods. From ohneka, water, in the
frequentative
form. Gannegonnion, B., there is much water.
Kaghyaton, it is written. Kiatons, C., to write. M.
Cuoq says:
"the perfect participle takes an h: kahiaton, written, it
is
written." Gaiatare, B., to paint.
Kajatthondek, listen! See Jathondek.
Kakeghrondakwe, they were collected; were assembled.
Gageron,
B., to be together, or, to put things or persons somewhere.
Kanaghsdajikowah [kanastatsikowah], great framework, great
building. From kanasta, frame, and kowa, great.
Kanakaryonniha, on a pole. Gannagare, B., pole, long stick.
Kanakdakwenniyukeh, on the principal seat. From kanakta
(q. v.)
and atakwenniio, C, principal.
Kanakdiyuhake, the place (or seat) may be good. From
kanakta,
place, seat, and—iyu, good (subjunctive mood).
Kanakta, mat,—hence couch, bed, seat, place.
Kaneka, where, somewhere.
Kanekhere, I believe, I suppose; surely, certainly. Probably
from
eron, igere, B., to think, or suppose.
Kanhonghdakdeh [kanonhdakdeh], by the wall, or side of the
house. Onnhonta, wall of house, of a cabin; akte,
beside,
athwart.
Kanikonrashon, the minds, a plural form of Onikonhra (q.v.)
Kanikonrakeh, in mind. See Onikonhra.
Kanonghsakdatye [kanonsakdatye], outside the house.
Kanonsakta,
near the house; from Kanonsa, house, and akta,
near,
beside. The progressive affix tye gives the meaning of
"passing
near the house."
Kanonghsakonshon [kanonsakonshon], in the house.
Kanonsa, house.
Kanoron, important, valuable, serious, difficult, painful, afflicting.
Karenna, song, hymn, chant.
Karighwakayonh, in ancient times. From Karihwa (q. v.),
and
akaion, old. See Orighwakayongh.
Karighwatchkwenh [karihwahtehkonh], this word, which the
interpreters
rendered simply ceremony, probably means "the fire-kindling act,"
from
Karihwa (q. v.), and atchken, or atekha
(ategen,
ateza, B.), to burn.
Karihwa or karighwa (garihsa, B., kariwa, oriwa,
C.),
thing, affair, business, action, news, word. This word, in its
root-form
of rihwa (riwa) or rihow enters largely
into
compounds having reference to business, law, office, news,
belief, and
the like.
Karonta, tree, log, trunk, post.
Kathonghnonweh [kathonnonweh], I fail, I lose my way.
Atonon,
B., to lose one's self, to go astray.
Kathonghdeh, away, out of sight. Atonhton, B. (sub
voce
atonon), to cause to lose, to mislead.
Katykenh [kadikenh], how then? Kati, C., then (done);
ken,
interrogative particle.
Kawenna (gauenda, gattenna, B.; owenna, C.),
word, voice,
language, speech.
Kayanerenh, peace, goodness, justice, law, league.
Wakianere,
ioianere, C., to be good, right, proper (i.e.,
noble);
roianer, he is a chief. Kaianerensera, law,
government,
rule, decree, ordinance. See ante, p. 33.
Kayanerenghkowa, great peace, great law, the great
league. Kayanerenh (q. v.) and kowa, great.
Kehaghshonha, kehhasaonhah, recent, lately.
Ken (for kento) here.
Kendenyethirentyonnite, here we will place them. See
Kenderentyonnih.
Kenderentyonnih, this is lying here. Probably from
Garenton, B.,
to hang down, and ionni, to be extended or laid out.
Kendonsayedane (?) returning here, (qu., pausing here).
Gasaien,
B., to be slow; gasaiatanne, to make slow.
Kenenyohdatyadawenghdate, one shall be murdered here.
Aaenthon,
B., to kill; Katawenthos, C, to kill many people, to
massacre.
Kenhendewaghnatatsherodarho, we will attach a pouch.
Gannata,
B., little bag; otarhon, to grasp.
Kenkaghnekonyon, here floods. See kaghnekonyon.
Kenkarenyakehrondonhah, being hidden here among logs.
Gagarennion, B., to remove away; Karonta, tree,
log.
Kenkine [kenki], thus, in this way.
Kenkisenh [kenhkense], thus, in this way.
Kenkontifaghsoton, here things lying in ambush.
Kenne, thus.
Kennikanaghsesha, small strings of wampum. Kenni—ha,
C., small,
kanahses, (?) a string of wampum.
Kensane, but, however.
Kentekaghronghwanyon [kondekahronwanyon], here obstacles.
Garonhon, B., to place (or to be) athwart.
Kentewaghsatayenha, here in the dark. Asatagon, C., in
the
darkness; asatagon, B., in secret.
Kenteyurhoton, here to this opening (or cleared space in a
forest). Karha, forest.
Kenthoh (kento, C.), here.
Kenwaseraketotanese, here the uplifted hatchet, From
ken, here,
wasera (asera, osera), hatchet, and gagetut*, B.,
to be
shown, to appear above.
Kenwedewayen, we place it here. From ken, here, and
gaien,
B., to put in any place.
Kenyoteranentenyonhah, there is a crevice here. From
ken, here,
and ateronnonte, B., having space, or showing light
between two
things not well joined.
Kenyutnyonkwaratonnyon, here many thorns. From ken,
here, and
onniong*ar, B., thorns, brambles. The word is in the
frequentative form.
Konnerhonyon [konneronyon], they keep thinking. Eron,
B., to
think, to will. (Frequentative form.)
Konyennetaghkwen [konyennedaghkwen], my child, my offspring.
From
ennet, B., to hold an infant in one's
bosom. "Gonyennetak*an, says the Canienga to the
Oneida,"
B. Konyennetakkwen is properly a verb of the third
conjugation,
in the imperfect tense, and the 1:2 transition: "I nursed thee as
a
child." Here it is used idiomatically as a noun.
Kowa, kowane, great.
N.
Nadehhadihne, it was their number. See Natejonhne.
Nadekakaghneronnyonghkwe [nedekakanneronnyonkwe], it was
commonly looked
at. Kagannere, B., to see (frequentative form, imperfect
tense).
Nai (exclam.), hail! oh! ah! (It is the exclamation ai
or
hai, with the particle ne prefixed.)
Nakonikonra, their mind. See Onikonhra.
Nakwah, (?) indeed. See Akwah.
Natehotiyadoreghtonh, they decided on. Kajato*reton,
B., to
examine, think, deliberate about anything.
Natejonhne, it was your number; this was the size of your
class. Teionihes, C., large, wide; "ken ok
nateionhes, not
larger than that."
Nayakoghstonde [nayakostonde], by reason of, the pretext
being. Gastonton, B., to make a pretext of anything.
Nayawenh, it may be. Eñon, yaweñon,
B.,—iawens, C., to
happen. See Nenyawenne.
Nayeghnyasakenradake,(?) having a white neck. Onniasa,
B., neck;
gagenrat, B., white.
Ne, the, this, that, who, which (rel.). A demonstrative and
relative
particle, variously used, but always giving a certain emphasis to
the
word which it precedes.
Nedens, either, or.
Nekenne (or ne kenh ne), thus.
Nene, the, this, that, these, those, etc. (an emphatic
reduplication of
ne).
Nenyakoranne, they will keep on, persist, go so far as.
Gara*on,
garannne, B., to find any one; keras, kerane, C., to
approach
any one, to come to him.
Nenyawenne, it may be; it will happen; it shall be done.
Future of
Nayawenh, q. v.
Nenyerighwanendon, they will inquire. See Enyerighwanendon.
Neok, nok, and, also. (Contracted from ne and ok.)
Neony [neoni], also. See Ne and Oni.
Niateweghniserakeh, every day. From niate, each, every,
and
wehnisera, (or wennisera) day, with the
locative
participle ke.
Nitthatirighwayerathaghwe [nithariwayerathakwe], they used to
do the
work. From karihwa, business, and gaieren, B.,
to
do. (Imperfect tense.)
Nityakwenontonh, they search, inquire, pry into.
Annonton,
gannenton, B., to seek, search, interrogate.
Niutercnhhatye (?) it was startling. From katyeren, to
wonder, to
be startled.
Niwa, extent, size, number.
Niyakoghswathah, they are mischievous, troublesome.
Gas*aton,
B., étre méchant.
Niyawehkowa [niawenhkowa], great thanks. Niawen, C.,
thanks;
kowa, great.
Niyawennonh, it happened. See Nayawenh.
Niyenhhenwe [niyenhhenwe], in the future.—nenwe
relates to the
future, C.
Niyieskahhaghs, being borne. Gaha, B., to carry away.
Niyonsakahhawe, he is carried. Gahawi, B., to bring.
Noghnaken, hereafter, afterwards, in later times. See Oghnaken.
Nonkenh, it may be. Enon, B., to happen.
Nonkwaderesera, our grandchildren. See Saderesera.
Nonwa, now.
Nyare, while, previously. Niare, C., beforehand.
O.
Oghentonh, in the first place, foremost, firstly.
Gahenton, B.,
to go first; ohenton, C, before, foremost, formerly.
Oghnaken [onaken], afterwards. Ohnaken, C., behind,
backwards,
afterwards.
Oghniyawenhonh, what has happened. From ohni, C., what?
and
iawens, to happen.
Oghnonekenh, dismayed (?) Kannonhiannion, B., to fear,
to be
alarmed.
Oghseronnih [onhseronni]; together. Oseronni, C., together.
Oghsonteraghkowa [aghsonderahkowah], disease, pestilence.
Ohhendonh; see Oghentonh.
Ok, and, also, indeed.
Okaghserakonh [okaserakonh], an tears. Gagasera, B., tears.
Okaghsery [okaseri], tears. Okaseri, C., tear, from
Okahra, eye, and keri, liquid.
Onakara, horn.
Onekwenghdarihenh, in crimson (i. e., in blood).
Onig*entara, B., red; onnig*ensa, blood.
Onenh [onen]. Now; at last; finally.
Onghteh [onhteh], perhaps, probably.
Onghwa, now, at present. Onwa, C., now. (Same as Nonwa.)
Onghwajok, presently.
Onghwenjakonh [onwenjakon], into the earth. See Onwentsia.
Onidatkon, deadly.
Onikonhra, mind, character, disposition, thought, opinion,
sentiment. Gandigonra, B., esprit,
pensée.
Onkwaghsotshera [onkwasotsera], our forefathers. The root is
sot,
meaning grandparent. Rak'sotha, C., my grandfather;
ak'sotha, my grandmother; onkwa, our; sera,
the
"crement," generalizing the word.
Onkwaghsotsherashonhkenha, our deceased forefathers. See
Onkwaghsotshera, Shon (son) is the plural suffix;
kenha,
deceased, "the late" (the French feu).
Onok, and, and then. See Ony, Ok and Neok.
Onokna, and then.
Onwa, now. See Onghwa.
Onwentsia, earth, land, field, ground.
Ony [oni], also. See Neony.
Orighokonha, few words. From karihwa (q. v.), and
okonha,
an affix indicating a restricted plural.
Orighwakayongh [oriwakayon], in ancient times. See
Karihwa and
Akayongh.
Orighwakwekonh [oriwakwekon], all business, all matters, all
the
rules. See Karihwa and Akwekon.
Owenna. See Kawenna.
Oya [oyah], another, another thing.
Oyata (or oyada), body, person, some one, self. Oiata,
C., body,
person; gaiata, B., living thing.
Oyenkondonh, men, warriors (obsolete).
R.
Radiyats. See Ratiyats.
Rakowanenh, he is chief (lit. he is a great one). From
kowanen,
to be great; root, kowa, great.
Ranyaghdenghshon [ranyadenhshon], he is of the Tortoise
clan. Keniahten, C., to be of the Tortoise band.
Ratikowanenghskwe, they were great. 3d person, plural,
imperfect of
kowanen, to be great. See Rakowanenh.
Ratiyanarenyon [radiyanaronnyon], their many footmarks, or
traces. Gaianna, B., oiana, C, track, trace
(frequentative
form). Gaiannaronyon, B., there are many tracks.
Ratiyats, they call it. 3d person, plural, of Gaiason,
B., to
name, to call.
Raweghniseronnyh [rawenniseronni], he appoints (lit. makes)
the
day. From weghnisera, day, and konnis, C., to
make.
Rawenniyo [rawenniyoh], God (lit. he is a master).
Keweniio, C.,
to be master. See Appendix, note B.
Raxhottahyh, my forefathers. Rak sotha, C., my grandfather.
Roghskenrakeghdekowah, he is a war-chief. Oske*ra, C.,
war;
roskenrakehte, warrior; kowa, great.
Rodighskenrakeghdethaghkwe [rodiskenrakedetahkwe], they
were
warriors. 3d pers. pl. imperfect of roskenrakehte, he is
a
warrior.
Rokhawah, his son. Gaha*ak, B., to have for child;
niha*ak, my child.
Rokwahhokowah, he is the great wolf. Okwaho, wolf;
kowa,
great.
Ronarasehsen, they are cousins. See Yeshonarase.
Ronatennossendonghkwe [rondennoshentonhkwe], they used to meet
(lit., to
fraternize). 3d pers. pl. imperfect of atennossen, to be
brother
and sister.
Ronenh, they said. En, B. to say (used only in the preterite).
Roneronh, they thought. Eron, B., to think.
Ronkeghsotah, my forefathers. See Onkwaghsotshera
and
Raxhottahyh.
Roskerewake, he is of the Bear clan. Akskerewake, C.,
to be of
the band of the Bear.
Rotirighwison, they made the rule, they decided. See
Karihwa. Garihe*ison; B., to finish a matter, to
conclude.
S.
Saderesera, thy grandchildren. Atere, grandchild;
sera,
the crement, generalizing the word. See
Onkwaghsotshera.
Sahondakon, in thy ears. Ahonta, B., ear.
Sanekenh, although, yet, nevertheless.
Sanekherenhonh, thou art losing.
Sanheghtyensera, thy women, thy womankind. Gannhetien,
B., woman;
sera, the generalizing affix. See Saderesera.
Sanikonra, thy mind. See Onikonhra.
Sathaghyonnishon, thou art of the Wolf clan. Tahionni,
one of the
Wolf clan.
Senirighwisaanonghkwe, ye two were the founders. See
Sewarighwisaanonghkwe.
Seniyatagweniyohkwe, ye two were the principals. See
Jadakweniyu;
the affix kwe indicates the past tense.
Sewarighwisaanonghkwe [sewarihwisahanonkwe], ye established,
ye were the
founders. From karihwa, q. v., and gason, B., to
finish,
to consummate. Garihwisaani, B., to accomplish a work,
to
complete a business.
Sewatarighwakhaonghkwe, ye were combined in the work, ye
joined heartily
in the business. From karihwa, (q. v.) and gagaon,
B., to
find good; gariheagáon, B., to like the affair.
Seweghne [sewenghne], ye said. En, B., to say.
Seweghniserathagh, for a time, lit, for a day. See Weghniserade.
Seweryenghskwe, ye who were comrades. (?) Probably from
Oeri, C.,
friend, comrade,—here a verb in the imperfect tense.
Shehaweh [shehawa], thy child, or children. See Rohhawah.
Shekonh, yet, still. Sekon, C., still, moreover.
Shihonadewiraratye, they with their children (lit., they kept
on
producing young ones). From yodewirare, a fowl
hatching.
Skaendayendon, again a waste place. Oyente, B.,
woods;
gaienthon, to have fields. (Reiterative form).
Skarenhesekowah, a lofty tree; lit., a great tree-top.
From
garenha, B., tree-top, ese (suffix) long, high,
and
kowa, great.
Skennen, well, easily, peacefully, pleasantly.
Skennenji, quite well, very peacefully, safely. From
skennen and
tsi, C. an augmentative affix.
T.
Tehhodidarakeh, the two clans. See Tekadarakehne.
Tehotyatakarorenh, acting in two capacities (lit., a
person
divided). From oiata, person, and tioren, B., to
split.
Tekadarakehne, there were two clans, or, of the two clans.
From
otara or katara, clan or totem (in the reduplicate
form
and past tense).
Tesatkaghthoghserontye [tesatkahthohserontye], thou sawest
in
coming. Katkathos, C., to see, look. The cislocative,
frequentative, and progressive forms are all combined in this
expressive
word—"you kept seeing as you came."
Thadenyedane (?), he will stand. Gataon, B., to raise
himself
upright.
Thadenseghsatkaghthonnyonheke [thadensehsatkatonnyonheke],
thou mayest
look about thee. Katkathos, C., to look (frequentative
form,
subjunctive mood).
Thadetyatroghkwanekenh, let us two smoke together, From
garoksa,
B., kahrokwa, C, a pipe. Bruyas gives the derivative
form
tsatrokoannegen, but does not explain it; it evidently
means,
"let us (pl.) smoke together."
Thensadondeke, thou wilt hear. Athonte, athontaton,
B.,
kathontats, C., to hear, obey, consent.
Thienkahhawe, will carry. Gahawi, B., to bring.
Thisayatatirhehon [thisayadadirhehon], thou arrivest.
Thisennekwakenry, thou art sitting in blood. Gannegse,
B., blood,
and gagenrion, to roll, to wallow.
Thiwakwekonh [ohtihwakwekonh], all around.
Thiyaensayeken, they will see it again. Gagen, B., to see.
Thiyenjidewatyenghsaeke [thienjidewatyenseke], we shall have
reached
home; lit., we shall have taken a seat. Atient, atien, B.,
to
sit down.
Tsini; see Jini.
Tsisaronkatah, thy hearing. Arongen, B., to hear, to
listen;
arongaton, B., to hear by anything.
Tyewenninekenne, he will speak some words. See
Entyewenninekenneh.
Tyeyadakeron, bodies are lying. Oyata, body;
gageron, B.,
to be in any place.
Tyoghnawatenghjihonh [dyonawaghdehtsihonh], a swift
current. Ohnawa, C., current, swift stream of water;
gannasteton, B., swift river; tsihon, an
augmentative
suffix,—"exceedingly swift."
W.
Waahkwadewayendonh, taking care, carefully.
Ateseyenton, B., to
take care, to do well.
Waghontenhnonterontye, or Wahhondennonterontye, they were as
brothers
thenceforth. Atennonteron, to be brothers. The word is in
the
aorist indicative, 3d pers. pl., progressive form (indicated by
the
termination tye).
Wahhoronghyaronnon, he put away the clouds. From
aronhia, sky,
heaven, cloud.
Wakarighwakayone [wakarihwakayonne], it has become old.
See
Karighwakayonh.
Wakatyerenkowa, I was greatly surprised. From katyeren,
to
wonder, or be startled, and kowa, greatly.
Wakonnyh [wakonnikih], woman, womankind. (Obsolete.)
Wakwenekwenghdarokwanyon, we have washed off the
bloodstains. Garagsentara, B., blood, and garagsan,
to
take away, or garagsegan, to efface.
Wakwennyonkoghde, I have stopped for you (as tears). Probably
from
ganniong, B., the nose; kannionkon, to bleed from
the
nose, i.e., flowing from the nose.
Watidewennakarondonyon, we have put the horns on him
(i.e., made
him a chief). Onnagara, B., horn; gannagaronni,
B.,
être considérable.
Watyakwasiharako, we have removed the obstruction, we have
unstopped. Gasiharongsan, B., to unstop
(desboucher).
Watyonkwentendane, we have become wretched, or poor.
GenOenteon,
B., to be worthy of compassion.
Wedeweyennendane (see under Wete—).
Wedewennakeraghdanyon (see under Wete—).
Weghniserade [wenniserade], to-day. Enniscra, B., day;
nonwa
wenniserate, C., to-day.
Wetewayennendane, we have finished.
Gaweyennentáon, B., to rest,
to cease from working.
Wetewennakeraghdanyon [wedewennakeratanyon], we have made the
signs, we
have gone through the ceremonies. Ganneraton, B., "se
servir
de règle."
Y.
Yadayakonakarondatye, he may be going with horns. From
onakara,
horn (progressive form, subjunctive mood).
Yadehninhohhanonghne, they two guarded the door, they two were
the
doorkeepers. Gannhoha, B., door; gannonna, to
guard.
Yaghdekakoghsonde [yaghdegagonhsonde], invisible, (lit.,
without face);
from yahte, not, and kakonhsa (okonsa)
face.
Yaghnonwenh, never. Iah-nonwenton, C., never. From
Iah
(yah) not, and nonwa or onwa, now.
Yakwenronh, we say. En, B., to say.
Yatehhotinhohhataghkwen, they were together at the doorway
(i. e., they were the doorkeepers). Gannhoha, B.,
door;
atakon, B. (sub voce At), "ce dans quoi il y
a."
Yatenkarighwentaseron, to finish the business. From
karihwa
(q. v.) and awentas, to finish.
Yejisewahhawitonh, ye have taken it with you. Gaha*l,
B., to
bring; gaha*lton, to take away.
Yejisewatkonseraghkwanyon, ye have it as a pillow.
Esakonserak*a, B., thou wilt use as a pillow.
Yejisewayadkeron [yetsisewayatakeron], ye are laid
together. Gageron, B., to be together, to place
together.
Yejodenaghstahhere, they added a frame. See Jodennaghstahhere.
Yendewanaghsende, we will drop (or let fall) into it.
Aseñon
(?), B., to fall; asenhton, to cause to fall.
Yenjontahidah, they will follow. Gatazori, gatazi, B., to run.
Yenyontatenoutshine, they are to be led by the hand. Probably
from
gannonna, B., to keep, and atsi, comrade.
Yenyontatideron, they shall be placed. Genteron, B., to
put any
animate thing in any place.
Yeshodonnyh, or Yeshotonnyh, his uncle (properly, "his
father's younger
brother"); also, as pl., his uncles. 'Atonni, C., a
relative on
the father's side. The prefix yes, in which the signs of
the
translocative and reiterative forms are combined, gives the sense
of
"the next younger (uncle) but one."
Yeshohawah, or Yeshohawak, his next younger child but one.
See
Rohhawah, and Yeshodonnyh.
Yeshonadadekenah, or Yeshondadekenah, they are
brothers. Rontatekenha, C., they are brothers together.
This
word is made up of the prefix ye, the sign of the
translocative
form; s, of the reiterative form (see
Yeshodonnyh);
ron or rona, the plural pronoun (they);
tate, the
sign of the reciprocal form; ken, younger brother; and
ha,
an affectionate diminutive affix, generally added to words
expressing
relationship.
Yeshonarase, his second cousin (lit., they are cousins).
Arase,
cousin. See Yeshodonnyh.
Yeshonaraseshen, he was their cousin. See Yeshonarase.
Yeshotiriwayen, they have again referred the business.
From
karihwa, q. v.
Yetsisewanenyadanyon, ye are in your graves. Perhaps from
onenya,
stone,—ye are under the stones.
Yetsisewanonwadaryon, ye have taken your intellects (lit.,
brains) with
you. Ononwara, C., brain, head.
Yetsisewennitskagwanion, ye have placed it under you.
Ennitsk*are, B., to be seated on anything.
Yondonghs, it is called; they call it. Katon, C., to say.
Yonkwakaronny, they are wasting, or injuring, us.
Gagaronnion,
B., to do harm to any one; to cause him some loss.
Yonkwanikonghtaghkwenne [yonkwennikondakwenne], we depended on them.
Yontkwatkennison, we are assembled. Atkennison, B., to
be
assembled.
Yotdakarahon [yotdarahon], things falling on one.
Ga'r¨¢on, B.,
to fall upon.
Yoyanere, it is good, it is well. From the root yaner,
noble. See
Kayancrenh.
Yuneghrakwah, solemn event. See Jiniyuneghrakwah.
INDEX.
(Names of authors are printed in small capitals; of races
and tribes
in italic.)
Adoption of conquered Enemies
Agnier, French for Canienga
Akahenyonk, Cayuga chief, Tekahenyonk in chant
Algonkin stock
Algonkins, a nomadic people,
their war with the Alligewi,
friendly to the Hurons,
western (Ojibways),
the Lenapes,
Allegheny mountains
Allegheny river
Alliances of Iroquois
Alligewi, or Moundbuilders
Andastes, or Conestogas,
among the Iroquois
Aryans, their character,
in Europe and Asia
Ataensic, a Huron divinity
Atotarho, Onondaga chief,
meaning of name,
his opposition to Hiawatha,
joins the League,
myths relating to,
political kinship,
legend of poisonous bird,
story of Hiawatha's daughter,
his name in the chant,
his aids in council,
succession of Atotarhos,
Attiwandaronks, or Neutrals,
their country,
their history,
among the Hurons,
their mortuary customs,
cause of their overthrow,
Ball clan,
Basques, their language,
their character
Bear clan
Bearfoot, Rev. Isaac
Beaver clan
Book of Rites,
its contents,
its origin,
its name,
addresses of condolence,
Canienga text,
translation,
Onandaga book,
translation,
notes on Canienga book,
notes on Onondaga book
Brant, Joseph
BREBEUF, on the Huron character
BRINTOS, D. G.
BRUYAS, his Iroquois dictionary
Buck, George, Onondaga chief
Buck, Chief John
Canandaigua, Lake
Canasatego, Onondaga chief,
rebukes the Delawares
Canienga, meaning of
Caniengas, or Mokawks,
their country,
their language,
the oldest Iroquois nation,
war with Mohegans,
their ancient chiefs
Caniengas, remove to Canada
their clans
their name in council
their councillors
their towns
Canoe voyages
Cartier, J.
CATLIN, G.
Cayuga, meaning not known
Cayuga Lake
Cayugas, their country
their origin
assailed by Atotarho
join the League
remove to Canada
their clans
a "younger nation"
their name in council
their councillors
their towns
Champlain in the Huron country
assails the Iroquois
Champlain, Lake
Ckerokees
their language
reject the League
Chicasas
Chief, office of
installation of
succession of
war-chief
Chief matron, her function
Chippeways, See Ojibways,
Choctaws
Clans, Iroquois
origin of
number of
See Ball, Bear, Beaver, Deer, Eel, Hawk, Heron,
Snake, Snipe, Tortoise, Wolf,
CLARK, J. S.
CLARKE, P. D.
CLARKE, J. V. H.
Classes in Council
Colden, C.
Condoling council
proceedings in
Condoling song
explanation of
text of
versified
Conestogas, See Andastes,
Confederacy, See Iroquois and League,
Conquered tribes, treatment of
Convention of Founders
Council of League
its formation
number of members
unanimity required
classes in
induction of members
held at Onondaga in 1657
composing quarrels
held in Philadelphia in 1742
Council Fire
Councillors
number of
how selected
name of
list of
clans and classes of
COPWAY, G.
Credit River Indians
Cruelties of Indians
of civilized nations
CUOQ, J. A.
his philological works
his Iroquois dictionary
Cusick, Albert
CUSICK, D.
DAWSON, J. W.
David of Schoharie
Deer clan
Dekanawidah, Canienga chief
his origin
joins Hiawatha
has no successor
his claims as founder
Delawares, or Lenapes
their clans
their subjection
a band received into the League
DE SCHWEINITZ, E.
Doorkeepers (Senecas)
Eel clan
Elder nations
ELLIS, "Polynesian Researches"
Era of Iroquois confederacy
Erie, Lake
Eries, a Huron-Iroquois nation
their origin
their overthrow
among the Iroquois
Euskarians, or Basques
Feast of the Dead
Female suffrage
Fidelity to allies
FIGUIER, L.
Five Nations, See Iroquois
Founders of League
Funeral usages
Genesee river
Georgian bay
Grand River Reserve
Great-Tree People (Oneidas)
Great-Pipe People (Cayugas)
Greenhalgh at Onondaga
Hawk clan
HAWLEY, C.
Hayonwatha, See Hiawatha
HECKEWELDER, J.
Heron clan
Hiawatha, his history
meaning of name
orthography of name
his projected league
his flight to the Caniengas
reception by Dekanawidah
made a Canienga chief
myths relating to his reforms
his motives
his name in the chant
his daughter
his white canoe
Hill, Abram, Oneida chief
Historical chant
Historical traditions
framers of the League
Hiawatha's daughter
Hochelaga
Horns, as insignia
origin of custom
Horse clan
Hudson, voyage of
Hudson river
Huron-Iroquois nations
their original country
war with the Alligewi
their dispersion
Hurons, or Wyandots
their history
among the Iroquois
their mortuary customs
their deities
their character
their flight to the Ojibways
cause of their overthrow
their language
Hymn, national, See Condoling Song
Iberians
Indian character misconception of
Indian social system
Indians and whites
Installation of chiefs
Iroquois, their country
when first known to whites
[Footnote: The date as printed is an error.
"Sixteenth century" should be "seventeenth."]
their migrations
conquer the Eries
expel the Hurons
conquer the Attiwandaronks
their League
formation of League
date of the confederacy
name of League
League broken up
Iroquois, in Canada,
their towns, See Towns, Iroquois,
their clans, See Clans, Iroquois,
their classes, See Classes in Council,
their national hymn, See Condoling Song,
their women,
their chiefs, succession of,
their chief divinity,
their character,
their love of peace,
their foreign policy,
object of their League,
their alliances,
causes of their wars,
treatment of subject tribes,
adoption of enemies,
their language, See Language, Iroquois,
meaning of "Iroquois,"
Jesuit missionaries,
Jesuit "Relations,"
Johnson, Chief George,
Johnson, Chief J. Smoke,
his office,
preserves the Book of Rites,
Johnson, Sir William,
Jones, Chief Philip,
Juskeha, Huron divinity,
Kanienke, See Canienga,
Kanonsionni,
meaning of,
spelt Kanonghsyonny,
Kanyadanyo, Seneca chief,
Skanyadariyo in chant,
Karenna, See Condoling Song,
Kayanerenh, meaning of,
LAFITAU,
La Fort, Daniel,
Lamentations,
Language, Iroquois,
its origin and dialects,
description of,
Brebeuf and Max Mtiller on,
works on
phonology,
grammar,
abstract nouns,
verbal forms,
permanence of,
analysis and synthesis,
Laws of the League,
as to succession of chiefs,
as to intertribal homicide,
as to mortuary usages,
a "Great Reformation,"
LAWSON, J.,
League, See Iroquois and Laws,
Leagues common among Indians,
Le Mercier at Onondaga,
Le Moyne at Onondaga,
Lenapes, See Delawarts,
LONGFELLOW, H. V.,
Long-house,
Manabozho, Ojibway divinity,
Maqua, meaning of,
Matron, Chief, See Chief Matron,
MAX MÜLLER, F.,
Mengwe, See Mingo,
Migrations, Iroquois,
Indian,
Mingo, meaning of,
Missionaries, English,
Jesuit, See Jesuit Missionaries,
Mississagas,
received by Iroquois,
Mississippi river,
Mohawk, meaning of,
Mohawk river,
Mohawks, See Caniengas,
Mohegans, or Mohicans,
war with the Iroquois,
protected by Iroquois,
Montreal,
Morgan, L.H.
Mortuary customs,
Moundbuilders, See Alligewi,
acquainted with wampum,
Mourning Council, See Condoling Council,
Mourning customs, See Funeral usages,
Name-carriers (Onondagas),
Nanticokes, admitted into the League,
Neutral Nation, See Attewandaronks,
Nihatirontakowa, See Oneidas, name in council,
Notes on the Canienga Book,
Notes on the Onondaga Book,
Odatshehte, Oneida chief,
Ohio, meaning of,
Ohio River,
Ojibways,
allies of Iroquois,
war with,
treaty with,
Oneida, meaning of,
Oneidas,
their country
their origin
war with Mohegans
join the League
their clans
a "younger nation"
their name in Council
their Councillors
their towns,
Onondaga,
meaning of,
Onondaga castle,
Onondogas,
their country,
their origin,
ruled by Atotarho,
join the League,
a part remove to Canada,
Reservation near Syracuse, N.Y.
their Book of Rites,
orthography of Book,
Onondagas,
their language,
their clans, et seq.
an "elder nation,"
their name in Council
their councillors
site of their former capital
their towns,
Oswego river,
Oyander, title of
PARKMAN, F.
Peace, preservation of;
how restored
love of
Pennsylvania Historical Society,
Personification,
Pictures, Indian,
Political kinship,
POWELL, J. W.
Pre-Aryans in Europe and America,
Preliminary ceremony, the,
Proper names, obsolete,
Protection of weak tribes by Iroquois,
Tuteloes,
Delawares,
Nanticokes,
Mohegans,
Mississagas,
PYRLAEUS, C.,
Quebec,
Rawenniyo, name of deity,
meaning of,
Record-keepers,
Relations, See Jesuit Relations,
Religious sentiment,
RENAN, E.,
Roanoke River,
Ronaninhohonti, Door-keepers,
See Senecas, name in council,
Rotisennakehte, name-carriers, See Onondagas, name
in
council,
Royaner, title of,
Sachem, an Algonkin word,
Sakayengwaraton, See Johnson, J. S.
Saponies, or Saponas
Scandawati, See Skanawati,
SCHOOLCRAFT, H. R.
Seneca, meaning of
Seneca, Lake
Senecas,
their country
their origin
assailed by Atotarho
their ancient chiefs
join the League
remain in New York
their clans
an "elder nation"
their name in council
their language
their councillors
their duty as door-keepers
their towns
Sermon, a pagan
Shadekaronyes, Seneca chief
Six Nations, See Iroquois,
Six Nations' Reserve, See Grand River,
Skanawati, Onondaga chief
Scandawati's suicide
Skeneateles Lake
SMITH, Mrs. E. A.
Smoking in council
Snake clan
Sonontowane, meaning of
Sonontowans, See Senecas,
Sotinonnawentona
See Cayugas, name in council,
Spanish clan
Speaker of council
SQUIER, E. G.
Stadaconé
STONE, W. L.
Talligewi, See Alligewi,
Taronhiawagon, Iroquois divinity
Ta-oun-ya-wat-ha
Tehadirihoken
See Caniengas, name in council,
Tekarihoken, Canienga chief
meaning of
Tionontates, or Tobacco Nation
Tobacco, Indian
Tobacco Nation, See Tionontates,
Tortoise clan
divided
Towns, Iroquois
list of, in Book of Rites
deserted sites
Treaty of Iroquois with the Dutch
Treaty of Iroquois with the English
Treaty of Iroquois with the Ojibways
TROMBULL, J. H.
Turkey clan
Tuscaroras,
their origin
their migrations
join the Iroquois
their clans
a "younger nation"
Tuteloes
received by Iroquois
Wampum
known to Moundbuilders
mourning
Wampum-keepers
Wampum-records, reading of
Wampum-strings
War-chief
Wars of self-defence
Wars of extermination
WHITNEY, W. D.
WILKIE, J.
WILSON, D.
Wolf clan
Women,
condition of
as peacemakers
regard for
Wyandots, See Hurons,
Yondennase, See Condoling Council,
Younger nations
Zeisberger
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