Books: Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians
E >>
Elias Johnson >> Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 | 14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18
In the morning the grand march took their place in the war path towards
their intended destruction. The ablest warriors took the front rank; then
came the older ones; after them the boys upwards of fourteen years of of
age; lastly came the able bodied females. Thus they marched until the
next night, when they prepared ground for a dance, and went through the
same performance as the night before. Now the third spy withdrew from the
crowd just before daybreak to make his report and keep the Senecas posted
in the advance of the enemy. On the second day the march was renewed, and
proceeded in the same order as on the first day. The next night was also
spent as that of the last in flattering themselves of the wonderful
things that they were to accomplish. About two hours before daybreak the
last spy also withdrew from the crowd and made for home, to inform them
how far off they were from the Seneca settlement. After the last one had
made his report, Onea-gah-re-tah-wa arose from his seat, with that
majestic movement which only would become him as the head Sachem of the
Seneca nation, and said: "To you, first, my most beloved comrades, the
Chiefs and Sachems of our noble nation, I would bring to your minds the
past in a few words, and it may be for the last time. How often have we
sat together around the council fire of our nation. I congratulate you
all in the good feeling that has always prevailed in our deliberations of
various subjects in relation to the welfare and happiness of our nation,
and more particularly our sisters and their offspring, and we have not
been unmindful even of those that are not yet born, for in them have we
hoped of the existence of our nation. Have not the nations of the
Iroquois respected and even honored your counsels around the great
council fire of the league, and now is destruction awaiting your dawn?
But if that is the will of the Great Spirit, by running we cannot flee
from it. And to you, our sisters, have we not ever been mindful of you in
our deliberations and ever wished you success: and have we not, as it
were, embraced you and your children in our arms to protect you? We now
commend you to the Great Spirit, who is our helper. And now to you, most
noble warriors, in whom the council looks for the enforcement of their
decrees. In bringing difficulties and contentions among yourselves, have
we not brought back to you peace, by meting out to you justice; and in
your troubles have we not whispered in your ears words of consolation?
And we have ever placed you close to our hearts. In you is the power of
the nation, and in you we look for safety. You have understood
it that our nation has been given into the hands of our enemy by the
Queen and we are now in jeopardy. As I have said, we cannot, by running,
flee from the decree of the Great Spirit, but if He is for us we shall
prevail. He will give strength to our bow, direct our arrows, give might
to our arms and direct our blows, and put to flight our enemy, and we
shall conquer. He is able to give us peace in this our time of trouble,
if we all but trust in Him. It is he that made us and He is able to
preserve us from our enemies. Now my dear relatives in the different ties
of blood, it is not meet that we should have our blood spilt within our
domain, nor to have the dead bodies of our enemies strewed within our
settlement. We must now march and meet our foe. We must not turn our heel
to them; but if we are to be exterminated, let the last drop of Seneca
blood be spilt upon the bosom of our mother earth, and let the sun in the
heavens be the witness that we die in the defence of our wives, children
and homes, which is pleasing in the sight of the Great Spirit."
They now made their march, and after they had advanced a number of miles
they met the enemy. It was now sometime in the afternoon. A desperate
battle ensued. The storm of the arrows headed with flint, and also the
creased poisoned arrows was kept up until evening, when a peculiar war
cry was given, which indicated rest, at which in an instant the storm of
arrows ceased, when the Sachems of the two parties came near together and
deliberated on the conditions of rest during the night, that each party
should retreat a ways and rest without either molesting the other during
the night, but in the morning they should come together and resume the
battle.
In the morning the battle was renewed, even with more vigor than the day
before, until nearly noon, when the war cry of rest was again given. The
fight was again suspended for the purpose of taking refreshments.
At this time Onea-gah-re-tah-wa said to the Chiefs of the Squawkihows,
"While we are resting let us have a recreation by having a wrestling
between the two parties, and each one should have a war club in his belt,
and the one that is defeated should die at the hands of his victor with
the war club." The Squawkihows accepted the challenge. Then the wrestling
was continued to several contests, in which the Senecas were victorious.
There were several of the very ablest warriors of the Squawkihows killed
in this simple contest of wrestling.
They again resumed the battle. At this time the Senecas reserved quite a
number of their smartest warriors, with each of them a bunch of bark
prepared for the purpose of tying prisoners. They were in the rear and
laid low. The battle was still more deepcrate. They finally came in hand-
in-hand. Then they made use of their war clubs. At this time the
Squawkihows summoned to their aid their reserved company, which they kept
in the rear. The young women came on the flank of the Senecas' ranks, and
beat them with clubs, which made the Senecas falter for a while. Finally
they called on their reserved warriors, who made a desperate charge on
the enemy and made them retreat. The Senecas began taking prisoners. They
tied their hands behind them to trees. In this way they took a great many
prisoners, particularly the females. The warriors rallied and fought as
they retreated. After a while a company suddenly broke off from their
ranks and ran away. In a moment they had disappeared in the forest. Those
that remained rallied again and fought as they were retreating until
evening, when all at once the whole company wheeled right around, gave a
spring, and off they went. The Senecas made their pursuit, every now and
then taking a prisoner until dark, when they rested and camped for the
night.
The next morning they selected the best runners, the ablest bodied and
the most skilled in the arts of war, who were sent out to exterminate the
nation, to begin at the settlement of fort Gau-strau-yea, and so on south
to the other settlements of the nation.
When the Seneca invaders came at the fort (Gau-strau-yea), they found it
was evacuated and all the settlement had fled. The trail they left behind
pointed southward plainly. The invaders followed to the next settlement
at Gill Creek, above Niagara Falls, which they found vacated. They still
followed on, bent on retaliation. They then came to the settlement of
Kah-kwas, which they also found evacuated. They kept on the pursuit until
they came to the settlement of the Eries, and also found it evacuated as
the others. Still they kept on their pursuit, and when they came to the
Alleghany river they saw pieces floating, which indicated the making of
canoes. They immediately ascended the river. After they had gone some
ways they found where the enemies had been encamped, and saw indications
where they had built several canoes. The fires indicated that they must
have just embarked that morning and rowed down the river. They they went
down the river some distance, and finally gave up the chase. The invaders
returned to their settlement--the Seneca nation. A glorious victory
crowned their severe trial and labor.
A grand council was called of the Seneca nation for the just returned
warriors to make their report of the glory they had won, and the complete
overthrow of the enemy. After they had finished making their report a
great feast was made, and after that they were again permitted to smoke
the calumet of peace, and once more settle down as heretofore, as one of
the bright stars of heaven, among the several nations of the Iroquois. At
night they had a general dance, both young and old, irrespective of sex,
to celebrate the great victory they had won.
The Squawkihows have never been heard of since, as a nation, to the
present time. It is supposed that they must have gone in the far west and
changed their name: but this is merely a supposition. Those that the
Senecas took captives are still among the different settlements of the
Seneca nation, more particularly among the Cattaraugus reservation.
That is the way the Senecas came in possession of so large a dominion.
They held their domain east of the Genesee river, and also took
possession of the dominion of the Squawkihows, which run from Lake
Ontario and along Niagara river and Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line.
The office of the Queen Ge-keah-sau-sa, of fort Gau-strau-yea, for
several hundred years (it is said by the Senecas about six hundred years
ago she evacuated the fort), the Iroquois did not reordain, for the
reason, as it is alleged by them, that the female is the weaker sex of
humanity. Physically, it must follow that they are weaker also mentally,
as it is evinced by the treachery of the Queen in her easily being
decoyed in making her rash decision concerning the massacre in the fort,
and also in the giving up of the Seneca nation in the hands of their
enemy. They considered it not prudent to vest so much authority in the
weaker sex. And as no one has been considered capable or worthy of the
high honor that Ge-keah-sau-wa once reigned, until about twenty-five
years ago, from the year 1878, there was a Virgin selected from among the
Tonawanda band of the Seneca nation by the name of Caroline Parker,
sister to Eli Parker, once in General Grant's staff, and Commissioner of
Indian Affairs, who was ordained to the high office of Queen, or Ge-keah-
sau-sa. She is now the wife of a noted Sachem of the Tuscarora nation,
Mr. John Mount Pleasant, of no common wealth. She is located about two
miles southwest of the antique fort Gah-strau-yea, or Kienuka, on the
Tuscarora reservation, where she ever held open her hospitable house, not
only to the Iroquois, but of every nation, including the pale faces.
Allegorical speaking, she has ever had a kettle of hominy hanging over
her fire-place, ready to appease the hunger of those who trod her
threshold.
* * * * *
THE NEW RELIGION.
About the year 1800 a new religion was introduced among the Six Nations,
the exponent of which alleged to have received a revelation from the
Great Spirit, with a commission to preach to them the new doctrine in
which he was instructed. This revelation was received in circumstances so
remarkable, and the precepts he sought to inculcate contained in
themselves such evidences of wisdom and beneficence that he was
universally received among them, not only as a wise and good man, but as
one commissioned by the Great Spirit to become their religious teacher.
The new religion, as it has ever since been called, embodied all the
precepts of the ancient faith, recognized the ancient mode of worship
giving it a new sanction of the Great Spirit, and also comprehend such
new doctrines as came in aptly, to lengthen out and enlarge the original
system without impairing it. Charges of imposture and deception were at
first preferred against him, but disbelief of his divine mission
gradually subsided, until at the time of his death the whole
unchristianized portion of the Six Nations had become firm believers in
the new religion, which to the present day has continued to some extent
as a prevailing faith.
This singular person who was destined to obtain such a spiritual sway
over the descendants of the ancient Iroquois was Ga-ne-o-di-yo, or
"Handsomelake." a Seneca sachem of the highest class, he was born at the
Indian village of Ga-no-wau-ges, near Avon, about the year 1735, and died
at Onondaga in 1815, where he happened to be on one of his pastoral
visits. By birth he was a Seneca of the Turtle clan, and a half brother
to the celebrated Corn Planter by a common father. The most part of his
life was spent in idleness and dissipation during which time, although a
sachem and ruler among the Senecas for many years, and through the most
perilous time of their history, he acquired no particular reputation.
Reforming late in life, in his future career he showed himself to be
possessed of superior talents and to be animated by a sincere and ardent
desire for the welfare of his race.
At this period and for about a century preceeding, the prevailing habit
of intemperance among the Iroquois was the fruitful source of their
domestic trouble, this in connection with their political disasters
seemed to threaten the speedy extinction of their race. A temperance
reformation, universal and radical, was the main and ultimate object of
the mission which he assumed, and upon which he chiefly used his
influence and eloquence through the remainder of his life. To secure a
more speedy reception of his admonitions, he clothed them with divine
sanction, to strengthen their moral principles, he enforced anew the
precepts of the ancient faith; and to insure obedience to his teachings,
he held over the wicked the terrors of eternal punishment. Going from
village to village among the several nations of the league, with the
exception of the christainized Oneidas and Tuscaroras, continuing his
visits from year to year, preaching the new doctrine with remarkable
effect. Many abandoned their dissolute habits and became sober and moral
men; discord and contentions gave place to harmony and order, and
vagrancy and sloth to ambition and industry. The origin of this project
has at times been ascribed to Cornplanter as a means to increase his own
influence, but this is not only improbable but is expressly denied. The
motives by which Handsomelake claimed to be actuated were entirely of a
religious and benevolent character, and in pursuance of the injunctions
of his spiritual guides.
At the time of his supernatural visitation, about the year 1800,
Handsomelake resided at the village of Cornplanter, on the Alleghany
river in the State of Pennsylvania. As he explained the case to his
brethren, having lain ill for a long time he had given up all hope of
recovery and resigned himself to die. When in the hourly expectation of
death, three spiritual beings in the form of men, sent by the Great
Spirit, appeared before him, each carried in his hand a shrub bearing
different kinds of berries, which, having been given him to eat, he was
by their miraculous virtue immediately restored to health. They afterward
revealed to him the will of the Great Spirit upon a variety of subjects,
and particularly in relation to the prevailing intemperance,
commissioning him to promulgate these doctrines among the league, causing
him to see realities of the evil-minded, and to behold with his mortal
eyes the punishment inflicted upon the wicked, that he might with more
propriety warn his people of their impending destiny. He was also
permitted to behold the realm and felicities of the Heavenly residence of
the virtuous. With his mind thus prepared, and stored with divine
precepts, and with his zeal enkindled by the dignity of his mission,
Handsomelake at once commenced his labors.
After his death, Sase-ha-wa, (Johnson) of Tonawanda, was appointed his
successor. The first and only person ever "raised up" by the Iroquois,
and invested with the office of a supreme religious instructor--a sincere
believer in the verity of Handsomelake's mission, and an eminently pure
and virtuous man--Sase-ha-wa (Johnson) has devoted himself with zeal and
fidelity to the duties of his office, as a spiritual guide and teacher of
the Iroquois. He was a grand-son of Handsomlake, a nephew of Red Jacket,
and was born at the Indian village of Ga-no-wan-ges, near Avon, about the
year 1774.
At the condolence and religious councils of the Iroquois, which are still
held at intervals of a few years, among the scattered descendants of the
long house, it has long been customary to set apart portions of two or
three days to listen to a discourse from Johnson upon the new religion.
On these occasions he explains minutely the circumstance attending the
supernatural visitation of Handsomelake, and delivers the instructions,
word for word, which he had been accustomed to give during his own
ministration. Handsomelake professed to repeat the messages which were
given to him from time to time by the celestial visitants, with whom he
alleged to be in frequent communication, and whom he addressed as his
spiritual guardian, thus enforcing his precepts as the direct command of
the Great Spirit.
At their councils and religious, festivals, it was customary for the
chiefs and keepers of the faith to express their confidence in the new
religion, and to exhort others to strengthen their beliefs. The late
Abraham La Fort, an educated Onondaga Sachem, thus expressed himself upon
this subject at a condolence council of the league, held at Tonawanda as
late as October, 1847.
"Let us observe the operations of nature. The year is divided into
seasons, and every season has its fruits. The birds of the air, though
clothed in the same dress of feathers, are divided into many classes, and
one class is never seen to associate or intermingle with any but its own
kind. So with the beasts of the field and woods. Each and every class and
specie have their own separate rules by which they seem to be governed,
and by which their actions are regulated. These distinctions, classes and
colors the Great Spirit has seen fit to make. But the rule does not stop
here. It is universal. It embraces man also. The human race was created
and divided into different classes, which were placed separate from each
other--having different customs, manners, laws and religions. To the
Indians it seems that no more religion had originally been than was to be
found in the operations of nature, which taught him that there was a
Supreme Being, all powerful and all wise; and on this account, as well as
on account of his great goodness, they learned to love and reverence Him.
But these later times, when the restless and ambitious spirit of the
whiteskinned race had crossed the boundary line and made inroads upon the
manners, customs and primitive religion of the Indian, the Great Spirit
determined to and through His servant, Handsomelake, did reveal his will
to the Indians. The substance of that will was no more than to confirm
their ancient belief that they were entitled to a different religion--a
religion adapted to their customs, manners and ways of thinking."
As the discourses delivered by Johnson from time to time contains a very
full exposition of their ancient beliefs and mode of worship, together
with the recent views introduced by Handsomelake, mingled up in one
collection, presenting probably a better idea of their ethical and
religious system than could be conveyed in any other manner, it is given
entire, and will explain itself as delivered, thus:
"The Mohawks, the Onondagas, the Senecas, and our children, the Oneidas,
Cayugas and Tuscaroras, have assembled here to-day to listen to the
repetition of the will of the Great Spirit, as communicated to us from
heaven through His servant, Handsomelake.
"Chiefs, warriors, women and children, we give you a cordial welcome. The
sun has advanced far in its path, and I am warned that my time to
instruct you is limited to the meridian sun. I must hasten to perform my
duty. Turn you minds to the Great Spirit, and listen with strict
attention. Think seriously upon what I am about to speak. Reflect upon it
well, that it may benefit you and your children. I thank the Great Spirit
that He has spared the lives of so many of you to be present on this
occasion. I return thanks to Him that my life is yet spared. The Great
Spirit looked down from Heaven upon the suffering and the wanderings of
the red children. He saw that they had greatly decreased and degenerated.
He saw the ravages of the firewater among them. He therefore raised up
for them a sacred inspiration, who, having lived and traveled among them
for sixteen years, was called from his labors to enjoy eternal felicity
with the Great Spirit In Heaven. Be patient while I speak. I cannot at
all times arrange and prepare my thoughts with precision. But I will
relate what my memory bears.
"It was in the month of June when Handsomelake was yet sick. He had been
ill for years. He was accustomed to tell us that he had resigned himself
to the will of the Great Spirit. 'I nightly returned my thanks to the
Great Spirit,' said he, 'as my eyes were gladdened at evening by the
sight of the stars of heaven. I viewed the ornamental heaven at evening
through the opening in the roof of my lodge, with grateful feelings to my
Creator. I had no assurance that I should at the next evening contemplate
His works. For this reason my acknowledgment to Him was more fervent and
sincere. When night was gone, and the sun again shed its light upon the
earth, I saw and acknowledged in the return of day His continued goodness
to me and to all mankind. At length, I began to have an inward conviction
that my end was near. I resolved once more to exchange friendly words
with my people, and I sent my daughter to summon my brothers Cornplanter
and Blacksnake. She hastened to do his bidding, but before she returned
he had fallen into insensibility and apparent death. Blacksnake, upon
returning to the lodge, hastened to his brother's couch and discovered
that portions of his body were yet warm. This happened at early day
before the morning dew had dried. When the sun had advanced half way to
the meridian his heart began to beat, and he opened his eyes. Blacksnake
asked him if he was in his right mind, but he answered not. At meridian
he again opened his eyes, and the same question was repeated. He then
answered and said, 'A man spoke from without and some one might come
forth. I looked and saw some men standing without. I rose, and as I
attempted to step over the threshold of my door I stumbled, and should
have fallen had they not caught me. They were three holy men who looked
alike and were dressed alike. The paint they wore seemed but a day old.
Each held in his hand a shrub bearing different kinds of fruits. One
of them addressing me said, 'We have come to comfort and relieve you;
take of these berries and eat; they will restore you to health: we have
been witnesses of your lengthy illness; we have seen with what
resignation you have given yourself up to the Great Spirit: we have heard
your daily return of thanks; He has heard them all; His ear has ever been
open to hear; you was thankful for the return of night, when you could
contemplate the beauties of heaven; you was accustomed to look upon the
moon as it coursed in its mighty paths; when there were no hopes to you
that you would again behold these things, you willingly resigned
yourself, to the mind of the Great Spirit; this is right; since, the
Great Spirit made the earth and put man upon it, we have been His
constant servants to guard and protect His works; there are four of us;
some other time you will be permitted to see the other; the Great Spirit
is pleased to know your patient resignation to His will; as a reward for
yonr devotion He has cured your sickness; tell your people to assemble
to-morrow, and at morn go in and speak to them.' After they had
further revealed their intentions concerning him they departed.
"At the time appointed Handsomelake appeared at the council and thus
addressed the people upon the revelations which had been made to him:
"'I have a message to deliver to you. The servant of the Great Spirit has
told me that I should yet live upon the earth to become an instructor to
my people. Since the creation of man the Great Spirit has often raised up
men to teach his children what they should do to please him; but they
have been unfaithful to their trust. I hope I shall profit by their
example. Your Creator has seen that you have transgressed greatly against
His laws. He made men pure and good. He did not intend that he should
sin. You create a great sin in taking the firewater. The Great Spirit
says you must abandon this enticing habit. Your ancestors have brought
great misery upon you. They first took the firewater of the white man,
and entailed upon you its consequences. None of them have gone to heaven.
The firewater does not belong to you. It was made by the white man beyond
the great waters. For the white man it is a medicine; but they, too, have
violated the will of their Maker. The Great Spirit says drunkenness is a
great crime, and He forbids you to indulge in this evil habit. His
command is to the old and young. The abandonment of its use will relieve
much of your sufferings, and greatly increase the comforts and happiness
of your children. The Great Spirit is grieved that so much crime and
wickedness should defile the earth. There are many evils which He never
intended should exist among His red children. The Great Spirit has for
many wise reasons withheld from man the number of his days, but He has
not left him without a guide, for He has pointed out to him the path in
which he may safely tread the journey of life.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 | 14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18