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 Errone_, 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 1_a_, 1_b_, 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. _Koyukwen, Koiukwe, Kwaiukwen, Kayukwe._ A Cayuga chief made it _Kayukwa,_ 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