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Page 21 text:
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Tur SENIOR ANNUAL 19. their couches hung rows of ripened maize forming a “ golden tapestry.” On long winter evenings, when the wilderness outside was snapping and cracking with cold and the forest paths were all filled in with snow, the separate families would gather about their own fires and with jest and laugh the pipe would be passed around from one to another. If an old warrior happened to be in the group, he very often told them stories of ancient heroism, spirits, monsters or witches. The life of the Iroquois was one of excitement and sharp contrast. Most of the time they were engaged either in the chase, war, dancing or some political strife. When the sachems determined to make war on another tribe, they sent out messengers to notify their followers. The warriors, after fasting, praying, consulting omens and dancing the war- dance, took up their rude weapons and put on their bark armor, to start in pur- suit of the objects of their resentment. While they were gone, their relatives and friends waited in anxious expecta- tion for their return. When, all at once, they were made aware of the ap- proach of their warriors by their shrill war-cry, they would snatch up knives, hatchets and stones and would run to meet them and to torment the captives, finally ending up by burning them. The torture of captives was the great- est pleasure of the Iroquois. But besides this, they had other enjoyments, for each season had its numerous festivi- ties and dances. The older men de- lighted in frequent councils, in which they laughed and jested, as well as deliberated the public welfare. With their “ boundless pride and lust of blood and dominion,” the Iroquois conquered four other members of their great family, besides subduing the Senape, belonging to the Algonquins, and driving the Ottawas from their ter- ritory. The first of the four tribes to come in conflict with the confederates were the Hurons, who occupied the peninsula between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. The next to fall into the clutches of this fierce people was the Neutral Nation, which fol- lowed by the ruin of the Eries and the Andastes. The conquests of the I[ro- quois are certainly to be wondered at, when we think of the fact that at their best they could not have mustered four thousand warriors. As one author says, they were “like an island in a great Algonquin ocean.” was soon From the characteristics, customs and conquests of the Iroquois amongst the other Indians we will pass to the first appearance of white men in the midst of the wilderness of America and its inhabitants. With the white man came the great revolutions in all Indian warfare and industry, wrought by the introduction of gun powder and by the age of metals taking the place of the stone age. ‘The bark armor, flint weapons, and order of battle changed and each warrior fought for himself. Iron kettles, steel knives, hoes and hatchets soon took the place of the less durable stone and bone uten- sils. This made the Indian greatly dependent on the white man. The first battle with the confederates, in which a white man took part, was led by Champlain, incited by his own spirit of adventure. The parties met on the shores of the lake which bears his name, but when the Iroquois saw the shining armor of the white leader they became terrified and fled. The Six Nations, hating the French for fighting against them, desired the friendship of the Dutch as a matter of convenience. They wanted to buy ammunition and
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Page 20 text:
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18. THE office, being hereditary in the female line, must pass not to the presiding oficer’s son but to his brother or his sister's son. But if the rightful suc- cessor was deemed unworthy of this honor, the subordinate chiefs did not hesitate to elect some one in his place The Indians also had a very peculiar social custom. Each community, with- out regard to tribes, was divided into clans, each of which had its own emblem, consisting of the figure of some bird, beast or reptile. Each clan was distinguished by the emblem it wore, while the different totems were of dif- ferent degrees of honor; that of the Bear, Wolf, and Tortoise were consid- ered of the highest rank. No marriages between couples of the same clan were allowed because they were supposed to be related to some degree. The Iroquois had eight of these totemic clans, by which both the members of the whole family were held together and those of each clan were bound by the “closest ties of fraternity.” The one thing above all others that made the Iroquois especially powerful was their confederacy, the legend of which is particularly singular. The Indians believed that Taounyawatha, the God of the Waters, had “ descended to the earth to teach his chosen people the arts of savage life,” and seeing them tormented by giants, monsters, and evil spirits, he urged the scattered tribes to band themselves together in an everlast- ing league. Although this had not yet been accomplished, before he was called to the Great Spirit he had promised to send another to instruct them how to carry out their confederation. Conse- quently, while a band of Mohawks was wandering in the forest one day they heard a hoarse chanting and, following the direction of the sound, they came upon a hideous monster, with hissing SENIOR ANNUAL rattlesnakes hanging from his head, and on the ground about him were magic vessels made of human skulls. They perceived that in his chant he was telling them the laws and principles of their confederacy. As soon as they had over- come their terror sufficiently they sur- rounded and captured him. He was immediately changed into a human shape and afterwards became a chief of remarkable wisdom and prowess. His successors to the office of presiding sachem of the Onondaga council have ever since been given the time-honored name of Atatarho. Although by the invasions of De Nouville and Frontenac the dwellings and fortifications of the Iroquois were levelled to the ground, never again to be rebuilt, nevertheless we find many de- scriptions of them amongst the early historians. Parkman tells us. that they constructed their strongholds in clusters, ‘along the banks of the Mohawk and the Genessee, on the shores of Seneca Lake, among the hills and hollows of Onondaga and the forests of Oneida and Cayuga.” They surrounded them by palisades, in single, double or triple rows, pierced with loop-holes, furnished with platforms for the defenders to stand on, with magazines of stones to throw upon the heads of the enemy, and with appliances at hand to put out fires» The bases of the structures were formed of posts driven into the ground with a frame work of poles between them; both the arched roof and the sides of the building were covered with elm bark. Some of these dwellings were over a hundred feet long and were occupied by several different families, whose sepa- rate fires were built along the central space, while the private departments ex- tended along each side. They used bear and deer skins for bedding and above
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