Books: Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians
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Elias Johnson >> Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians
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"'When the Great Spirit made man He also made woman. He instituted
marriage, and enjoined upon them to love each other and be faithful. It
is pleasing to Him to see men and women obey His will. Your Creator
abhors a deceiver and a hypocrite. By obeying His commands you will die
an easy and happy death. When the Great Spirit instituted marriage He
ordained to bless those who were faithful with children. Some women are
unfaithful and others become so by misfortune. Such have great
opportunities to do much good. There are many orphans and poor children
whom they can adopt as their own. If you tie up the clothes of an orphan
child the Great Spirit will notice it and reward you for it. Should an
orphan ever cross your path be kind to him and treat him with tenderness,
for this is right. Parents must constantly teach their children morality
and reverence for their Creator. Parents must also guard their children
against improper marriages. They, having much experience, should select a
suitable match for their child. When the parents of both parties have
agreed, then bring the young pair together and let them know what good
their parents have designed for them. If in time they so far disagree
that they cannot possibly live contented and happy with each other they
may separate in mutual good feeling, and in this it is no wrong.
"'When a child is born to a husband and wife they must give great thanks
to the Great Spirit, for it is His gift and an evidence of His kindness.
Let parents instruct their children in their duty to the Great Spirit, to
their parents and to their fellowmen. Children should obey their parents
and guardians, and submit to them in all things. Disobedient children
occasion great pain and misery. They wound their parents' feelings and
often drive them to desperation, cause them great distress and final
admission into the place of evil spirit. The marriage obligations should
generate good to all who have assumed them. Let the married be faithful
to each other, that when they die it may be in peace. Children should
never permit their parents to suffer in their old age. Be kind to them,
and support them. The Great Spirit requires all children to love, revere
and obey their parents. To do this is highly pleasing to Him. The
happiness of parents is greatly increased by the affection and the
attention of their children. To abandon a wife or children is a great
wrong, and produces many evils. It is wrong for a father or mother-in-law
to vex a son or daughter-in-law, but they should use them as if they were
their own children. It often happens that parents hold angry disputes
over their infant child. This is also a great sin. The infant hears and
comprehends the angry words of its parents. It feels bad and lonely. It
can see for itself no happiness in prospect. It concludes to return to
its Maker. It wants a happy home, and dies. The parents then weep
because their child has left them. You must put this evil practice from
among you if you would live happy.
"'The Great Spirit when He made the earth never intended that it should be
made merchandise, but His will is that all His creatures should enjoy it
equally. Your chiefs have violated and betrayed their trust by selling
lands. Nothing is now left of our once large pobsessions save a few small
reservations. Chiefs and aged men, you, as men, have no lands to sell.
You occupy and possess tract in trust for your children. You should hold
that trust sacred, lest your children are driven from their homes by your
unsafe conduct. Whoever sells land offends the Great Spirit, and must
expect a great punishment after death.'"
Johnson here suspended the naration of the discourse of Handsomelake's,
and thus addressed the council:
"Chiefs, keepers of the faith, warriors, women and children--You all know
that our religion teaches that the early day is dedicated to the Great
Spirit, and that the late day is granted to the spirits of the dead. It
is now meridian, and I must close. Preserve in your minds that which has
been said. Accept my thanks for your kind and patient attention. It is
meet that I should also return my thanks to the Great Spirit that he has
assisted me thus far in my feeble frame to instruct you. We ask you all
to come up again to-morrow at early day, to hear what further may be
said. I have done."
The next morning, after the council had been opened in the usual manner,
Johnson thus continued.
"Relatives, uncover now your heads and listen. The day has thus far
advanced, and again gathered around the council-fire I see around me the
several nations of the long house. This gives me great joy. I see also
seated around me my counselors (keepers of the faith), who have been
regularly appointed, as is the custom of our religion. Greetings have
been exchanged with each other. Thanks have been returned to
Handsomelake. Thanks also have been returned to our Creator by the
council now assembled. At this moment the Great Spirit is looking upon
this assembly. He hears our words, knows our thoughts, and is always
pleased to see us gathered together of good. The sun is now high, and
soon it will reach the middle heavens. I must therefore make haste.
Listen attentively, and consider well what you shall hear. I return
thanks to our Creator, that He has spared your lives through the dangers
of the darkness. I salute and return my thanks to the four Celestial
Beings who have communicated what I am about to say to you. I return
thanks to my grandfather (Handsomelake), from whom you first heard what I
am about to speak. We all feel his loss. We miss him at our councils. I
now occupy his place before you, but I am conscious that I have not the
power which he possessed.
"Counselors, warriors, mother sand children--Listen to good instruction.
Consider it well. Lay it up in your hearts, and forget it not. Our
Creator when He made us designed that we should live by hunting. It
sometimes happens that a man goes out for to hunt, leaving his wife with
his friends. After a long absence he returns and finds that his wife has
taken another husband. The Great Spirit says this is a great sin, and
must be put from among us.
"The four messengers further said that it was wrong for a mother to
punish a child with a rod. It is not right to punish much, and our
Creator never intended that children should be punished with a whip or be
used with much violence. In punishing a refractory child water only is
necessary, and it is sufficient. Plunge them under. This is not wrong.
Whenever a child promises to do better the punishment must cease. It is
wrong to continue it after promises of amendment are made. Thus they
said.
"It is right and proper always to look upon the dead. Let your face be
brought near to theirs, and address them. Let the dead know that their
absence is regretted by their friends, and that they grieve for their
death. Let the dead know, too, how their surviving friends intend to
live. Let them know whether they will so conduct themselves that they
will meet them again in the future world. The dead will hear and
remember. Thus they said.
"Continue to listen while I proceed to relate what further they said. Our
Creator made the earth. Upon it He placed man, and gave him certain rules
of conduct. It pleased Him also to give them many kinds of amusement. He
also ordered that the earth should produce all that is good for man. So
long as he remains, it will not cease to yield. Upon the surface of the
ground berries of various kinds are produced. It is the will of the Great
Spirit that when they ripen we should return our thanks to Him, and have
a public rejoicing for the continuance of these blessings. He made
everything which we live upon, and requires us to be thankful at all
times for the continuance of His favors. When our life (corn, &c,), has
again appeared, it is the will of the Great Spirit that we assemble for a
general thanksgiving. It is His will also that His children be brought
and to participate in the feather dance. Your feast must consist of the
new production. It is proper at these times, should any present not have
their names published, or any changes have been made, to announce them
then.
"The festival must last four days. Thus they said. Upon the first day must
be performed the feather dance. This ceremony must take place in the
early day, and cease at the middle day. In the same manner, upon the
second day, is to be performed the Thanksgiving dance. On the third, the
Thanksgiving concert. Ah-do-weh is to be introduced. The fourth day is
set apart for the peach-stone game. All these ceremonies instituted by
our Creator must be commenced at early day, and cease at the middle day.
At all these times we are required to return thanks to our Grandfather
Heno (Thunder) and his assistants. To them is assigned the duty of
watching over the earth and all its produces for our good. The great
Feather and Thanksgiving dances are the appropriate ceremonies of
Thanksgiving to the Ruler and Maker of all things. The Thanksgiving
concert belongs appropriately to our grandfathers. In it we return thanks
to them. During the performance of this ceremony we are required also to
give them the smoke of tobacco. Again we must at this time return thanks
to our mother--the earth--for she is our relative. We must also return
thanks to our life and its sister. All these things are required to be
done by the light of the sun. It must not be protracted until the sun has
hid its face and darkness surrounds all things.
"Continue to listen. We have a change of season. We have a season of
cold. This is the hunting season. It is also one in which the people can
amuse themselves. Upon the fifth day of the new moon Nis-go-wuk-na (about
February 1st), we are required to commence the annual jubilee of
thanksgiving to our Creator. At this festival all can give evidence of
their devotion to the will of the Great Spirit, by participating in all
of its ceremonies.
"Continue to listen. The four Messengers of the Great Spirit have always
watched over us, and have ever seen what was transpiring among men. At
some times Handsomelake was transported by them to the regions above. He
looked down upon the earth and saw an assembly. Out of it came a man. His
garments were torn, tattered, and filthy. His whole appearance indicated
great misery and poverty. They asked him how this spectacle appeared to
him. He replied that it was hard to look upon. They then told him that
the man he saw was a drunkard; that he had taken the firewater and it had
reduced him to poverty. Again he looked and saw a woman, seated on the
ground. She was constantly engaged in gathering up and secreting about
her person her worldly effects. They said the woman you see is
inhospitable. She is selfish to spare anything, and will never leave her
worldly goods. She can never pass from earth to heaven. Tell this to your
people. Again he looked, and saw a man carrying in each hand large pieces
of meat. He went about the assembly to give each a piece. This man they
said is blessed, for he is hospitable and kind. He looked again, and saw
streams of blood. They said thus will the earth be if the firewater is
not put from among you. Brother will kill brother, and friend kill
friend. Again they told him to look towards the east. He obeyed as far as
his vision reached. He saw the increasing smoke of numberless
distilleries arising and shutting out the light of the sun. It was a
horrible spectacle to witness. They told him that here was the place that
manufactured the firewater. Again he looked, and saw a costly house, made
and furnished by the pale faces. It was a house of confinement where were
fetters, ropes and whips. They said those who persisted in the use of
firewater would fall into this. Our Creator commands us to put this
destructive vice far from us. Again he looked and saw various
assemblages. Some of them were unwilling to listen to instruction. They
were rioters and took great pride in drinking the strong waters. He
observed another group who were half inclined to hear, but the
temptations of vice that surrounded them allured them back, and they also
revelled in the fumes of the firewater. He saw another assemblage who had
met to hear instruction. This they said was pleasing to the Great Spirit.
He loves those who will listen and obey. It has grieved Him that His
children are now divided by separate interests, and are pursuing so many
paths. It pleases Him to see His people live together in harmony and
quiet. The firewater creates many dissensions and divisions among us.
They said the use of it would cause many to die unnatural deaths.
Many will be exposed to cold and freeze. Many will be burned, and others
will be drowned while under the influence of the firewater.
"Friends and relations, all these things have often happened. How many of
our people have frozen to death, how many have burned to death: how many
have been drowned, while under the influence of the strong water. The
punishment of those who use the firewater commences while they are yet on
the earth. Many are now thrown into houses of confinement by the pale
faces. I repeat to you the Ruler of us all requires us to unite and put
this evil from among us. Some say the use of the firewater is not wrong,
and that it is food. Let those who do not believe it is wrong make this
experiment: Let all who use the firewater assemble and organize into a
council, and those who do not into another council near them. A great
difference will then be discovered. The council of drunkards will end in
a riot and tumult, while the other will have harmony and quiet. It is
hard to think of the great prevalence of this evil among us. Reform, and
put it from among you. Many resolve to use the firewater until near
death, when they will repent. If they do this nothing can save them from
destruction, for medicine can then have no power. Thus they said.
"All men were made equal by the Great Spirit, but He has given them a
variety of gifts. To some a pretty face, to others an ugly one: to some a
comely form, to others a deformed figure; some are fortunate in
collecting around them worldly goods; but you are all entitled to the
same privileges, and therefore must put pride from among you. You are not
your own maker, nor the builders of your own fortunes; all things are the
gifts of the Great Spirit, and to Him must be returned thanks for their
bestowal; He alone must be acknowledged as the giver. It has pleased Him
to make differences among men, but it is wrong for one man to exalt
himself above another. Love each other, for you are all brothers and
sisters of the same great family. The Great Spirit enjoins upon all to
observe hospitality and kindness, especially to the needy and helpless,
for this is pleasing to Him. If a stranger wanders about your abode,
speak to him with kind words; be hospitable toward him; welcome him to
your home, and forget not always to mention the Great Spirit. In the
morning give thanks to the Great Spirit for the return of day and the
light of the sun. At night renew your thanks to Him that His ruling power
has preserved you from harm during the day and that night has again come
in which you may rest your wearied bodies.
"The four messengers said further to Handsomelake, 'Tell your people, and
particularly the keeper of the faith, to be strong-minded and adhere to
the true faith. We fear the evil-minded will go among them with
tempations. He may introduce the fiddle; he may bring cards and leave
them among you; the use of these is a great sin. Let the people be on
their guard and the keepers of the faith be watchful and vigilant that
none of these evils may find their way among the people. Let the keepers
of the faith preserve the law of moral conduct in all its purity. When
meetings are to be held for instruction and the people are preparing to
go, the evil-minded is then busy. He goes from one to another whispering
many temptations, by which to keep them away. He will even follow persons
into the door of the council and induce some at that time to bend their
steps away; many resist until they have entered, and then leave. This
habit once indulged in, obtains fast hold and the evil propensity
increases with age. This is a great sin, and should be at once abandoned.
Thus they said.'
"Speak evil of no one; if you can say no good of a person, then be
silent; let all be mindful of this, for these are the words of our
Creator. Let all strive to cultivate friendship with those who surround
them. This is pleasing to the Great Spirit.
"Counselors, warriors, women and children--I shall now rest. I thank you
all for you kind and patient attention. I thank the Great Spirit that He
has spared the lives of so many of us to witness this day. I request you
all to come up again to-morrow at early day. Let us all hope that until
we meet again the Creator and Ruler of us all may be kind to us and
preserve our lives, na-ho."
The council on the following day was opened with a few short speeches by
some of the chiefs or keepers of the faith, returning thanks for the
privileges of the occasion, as usual at councils; after which Johnson,
resuming his discourse, spoke as follows:
"Friends and relatives, uncover now you heads. Continue to listen to my
rehearsal of the saying communicated to Handsomelake by the four
messengers of the Great Spirit. We have met again around the council
fire. We have followed the ancient custom and greeted each other. This is
right and highly pleasing to our Maker. He now looks down upon this
assemblage; He sees us all; He is informed of the cause of our gathering,
and it is pleasing to Him. Life is uncertain; while we live let us love
each other; let us sympathize always with the suffering and needy; let us
also always rejoice with those who are glad. This is now the third day,
and my time for speaking to you is drawing to a close. It will be a long
time before we meet again; many moons and seasons will have passed before
the sacred council-brand be again uncovered; be watchful, therefore, and
remember faithfully what you may now hear.
"In discoursing yesterday upon the duties of the keepers of the faith, I
omitted some important things. The Great Spirit created this office; He
designed that its duties should never end. There are some who are
selected and set apart by our Maker to perform the duties of this office;
it is therefore their duty to be faithful, and to be always watching.
These duties they must ever perform during their lives. The faithful when
they leave this earth will have a pleasant path to travel. The same
office exists in heaven, the home of our Creator. They will take the same
place when they arrive there. There are dreadful penalties awiting those
keepers of the faith who resign their office without a cause. Thus they
said.
"It was the original intention of our Maker that all our feasts of
thanksgiving should be seasoned with the flesh of wild animals, but we
are surrounded by the pale faces, and in a short time the woods will all
be removed: then there will be no game for the Indians to use in their
feasts. The four messengers said in consequence of this that we might use
the flesh of domestic animals. This will not be wrong. The pale faces are
pressing upon every side. You must therefore live as they do. How far you
can do so without sin I will now tell you. You may grow cattle and for
yourselves a comfortable dwelling house. This is not sin, and it is all
you can safely adopt of the customs of the pale faces. You cannot live as
they do. Thus they said.
"Continue to listen. It has pleased our Creator to set apart as our life
the three Sisters. For this special favor let us ever be thankful. When
we have gathered in our harvest let the people assemble and hold a
general thanksgiving for so great a good. In this way you will show your
obedience to the will and pleasure of your Creator. Thus they said.
"Many of you are ignorant of the spirit of medicine. It watches over us
constantly, and assists the needy whenever necessity requires. The Great
Spirit designed that some man should possess the gift and skill in
medicine, but He is pained to see a medicine man making exorbitant
charges for attending the sick. Our Creator made for us tobacco. This
plant must always be used in administering medicine. When a sick person
recovers his health he must return his thanks to the Great Spirit by
means of tobacco, for it is by His goodness that he is made well.
He blesses the medicine, and the medicine man must receive as a reward
whatever the gratitude of the restored may tender. This is right and
proper. There are many that are unfortunate and cannot pay for
attendance. It is sufficient for such to return thanks to the medicine
man upon recovery. The remembrance that he has saved the life of a
relative will be a sufficient reward.
"Listen further to what the Great Spirit has been pleased to communicate
to us. He has made us, as a race, separate and distinct from the pale
faces. It is a great sin to intermarry and intermingle the blood of the
two races. Let none be guilty of this transgression.
"At one time the four messengers said to Handsomelake, 'Lest the people
should disbelieve you and not repent and forsake their evil ways, we will
now disclose to you the house of torment, the dwelling place of the
evil-minded.' Handsomelake was particular in describing to us all that he
witnessed, and the course which departed spirits were accustomed to take
on leaving the earth. There was a road which led upward; at a certain
point it branched; one branch led straight forward to the house of the
Great Spirit, and the other turned aside to the house of torment; at the
place where the roads separated were stationed two keepers, one
representing the good and the other the evil spirit; when a person
reached the fork, if wicked, by a motion of the evil keeper, he turned
instinctively upon the road which led to the abode of the evil-minded;
but if virtuous and good, the other keeper directed him upon the straight
road; the latter was not much traveled, while the former was so
frequently trodden that no grass could grow in the pathway. It sometimes
happens that the keepers have great difficulty in deciding which path the
person should take, when the good and bad actions of the individual were
nearly balanced. Those sent to the house of torment sometimes remain one
day, (which is one year with us); some for a longer period. After they
have atoned for their sins they pass to heaven; but when they have
committed either of the great sins, (witchcraft, murder, or infantcide),
they never pass to heaven, but are tormented forever. Having conducted
Handsomelake to this place, he saw a large dark-colored mansion,
covered with soot, and beside it stood a lesser one. One of the four then
held out his rod, and the top of the house moved up until they could look
down upon all that was within. He saw many rooms. The first object which
met his eyes was a haggard-looking man, his sunken eyes cast upon the
ground, and his form half consumed by the torments he had undergone. This
man was a drunkard. The evil-minded then appeared and called him by name.
As the man obeyed his call, he dipped from a caldron a quantity of red-
hot liquid and commanded him to drink it, as it was an article he loved.
The man did as he was commanded, and immediately from his mouth issued a
stream of blaze. He cried in vain for help. The tormentor then requested
him to sing and make himself merry as he had done while on earth, after
drinking the firewater. Let drunkards take warning from this. Others were
then summoned. There came before him two persons who appeared to be
husband and wife. He told them to exercise the privilege they were so
fond of while on earth. They immediately commenced a quarrel of words.
They raged at each other with such violence that their tongues and eyes
ran out so far they could neither see nor speak. This, said they, is the
punishment of quarrelsome and disputing husbands and wives. Let such also
take warning, and lie together in peace and harmony. Next he called up a
woman who had been a witch. First he plunged her into a caldron of
boiling liquid. In her cries of distress she begged the evil-minded to
give her some cooler place. He then immersed her into one containing
liquid at the point of freezing. Her cries were then that she was too
cold. This woman, said the four messengers, shall always be tormented in
this manner. He proceeded to mention the punishment which awaits all
those who cruelly ill-treat their wives. The evil-minded next called up a
man who had been accustomed to beat his wife. Having led him up to a red-
hot statue of a woman, he directed him to do that which he was fond of
while upon earth. He obeyed, and struck the figure. The sparks flew in
every direction, and by the contact his arm was consumed. Such is the
punishment, they said, awaiting those who ill-treat their wives. From
this take seasonable warning. He looked again and saw a woman, whose arms
and hands were nothing but bones. She had sold firewater to the Indians,
and the flesh was eaten from her hands and arms. This, they said, would
be the fate of rum-sellers. Again he looked, and in one apartment saw and
recognized Ho-ne-ya-wus (farmer's brother), his former friend. He was
engaged in removing a heap of sand, grain by grain, and although he
labored continually, yet the heap was not diminished. This, they said,
was the punishment of those who sold land. Adjacent to the house of
torment was a field of corn filled with weeds. He saw a woman in the
act of cutting them down, but as fast as this was done they grew up
again. This, they said, was the punishment of lazy women. It would be
proper and right, had we time, to tell more of this place of punishment,
but my time is limited and must pass to other things.
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