History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 4

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 4

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The period of their migration from Canada cannot be determined.+ Tradition informs us that they ascended the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, coasted along its eastern and southeastern shore to the month of the Oswego River, which stream they entered and followed to the central parts of New York. Forming but a single nation, they settled, it is supposed, upon the Seneca River, where, for a time, they dwelt amicably together. Subsequently they divided into bands and spread over the country, east, west, and south. One band, crossing over to the head-waters of the Mohawk River, established itself at Gi-ne'-ga-hii'-ga, be- low the city of Utica. This division after the lapse of years became the Mohawk nation.

For some time the Oneidas and Onondagas were one nation, but a part of them eventually settled at Gi-no-a-la'- hüle, east of Oneida Lake, and formed the Oneida nation, while the remainder, establishing themselves among the Onondaga hills, eventually became the Onondaga nation. The Cayugas and Senecas likewise continued as one people for some time, but at length separated like the others and formed the remaining nations. These nations have each a legend among them of a miraculous origin, which is en- titled to the same credence as similar legends among the Jews and other nations.

According to the statements of the Moravian missionary Heckewelder, who was familiar with many of the Indian tribes and nations inhabiting the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, a tradition existed among the Lenni Lenape, or Deluwares, and others, that their ancestors and those of the Mengroe, or Six Nations, origi- nally dwelt far to the westward, beyond the Rocky Moun- tains, and that in process of time both nations emigrated towards the east, but rather by a slow process of settlement than a sudden and complete exodus. After the lapse of many years they reached the banks of the Mississippi, called the Namu-Sepee, or river of sturgeon. To the eastward of the great river they found a vast region occu- pied by a race which they termed Tal-la-ga-we, or Al-le- ghe-wi, from whence is supposed to have sprung the musical word .Allegheny.

These people are represented to have been well advanced in the arts of civilization, and to have dwelt in great walled eities and fortified towns. They are also represented to have been a powerful race physically, and many of them of gigantic stature.

The Lenape applied to them for liberty to cross the Nama-Sepee and settle near by. The Alleghewi were willing they should pass over, provided they passed beyond

# In the following account of the Confederacy we have followed Morgan mostly, and altogether in the orthography of names, with the single exception of Brant's Indian name, which we take from his own signature.

t It is probablo that it dates back to 1500, as they were not in Canada at the time of Cartier's visit, in 1535.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

the bounds of the great nation and settled to the eastward. Upon these conditions the Lenape began crossing over, but the Alleghewi becoming alarmed at their numbers, attacked them in transit, and drove them back with severe loss.

The Lenape now applied to the Mengue, who had approached the river farther to the north, for counsel. A treaty, offensive and defensive, was finally entered into, by which they bound themselves to stand or fall together,- to attack the strangers, and, if victory erowned their arms, to drive them out and divide the country equitably between themselves.

A terrible war, lasting for many years, followed, but the Alleghewi were finally conquered and driven away to the southward, and the conquerors proceeded to divide the newly-acquired territory, the Lenape choosing the region about the Ohio River and its branches, and the Mengwe possessing themselves of the great lakes and adjacent terri- tory. In the process of time these nations, traveling to- wards the east, reached the great valleys of the Susque- hanna, the Delaware, the Hudson, and the St. Lawrence. Eventually they became estranged, and finally bitter ene- mies, and as such the Europeans found them upon their first arrival in this country.

From this tradition it would seem that the originals of the Iroquois passed over the countries afterwards occupied by them in the State of New York, and subsequently re- turned thither when driven out of Canada. The strong probabilities are that the Hurons, Eries, Algonquins, An- dustes, and other nations were a part of the same great family, and that the subsequent wars of the Iroquois were with people of their own lineage left along the route of settlement and migration.

It has been conjectured that the Alleghewi of Lenape tradition were none other than the Mound- Builders, who, driven out before these Chickcimecs of Mexican tradition, eventually formed colonies in Central America, where they built the great cities of Mayapan, Quirigia, Copan, Palen- que, Kaba, and Uxmal, whose gigantie ruins have been the wonder of travelers for more than three centuries.

After the separation, as related by Morgan, the five dis- tinct nations or tribes at length became jealous of each other, and this jealousy resulted in open war, which lasted, with desolating effect, for a long time, and seriously reduced their numbers and strength, and promised at no distant day to end in their total destruction, if not by their own dissen- sions, by the hands of surrounding enemies.

At length a wise man of the Onondagas, whose name, tradition tells us, was Da-ga-no-we'-du, conceived a plan of confederation, and a grand couneil of all the nations was held on the northern shore of the Ga-ma'-ta-ah, or Onon- daga Lake, and after a long and careful debate the ground- work of the Iroquois system, as found by Europeans, was adopted, and from henceforth the hitherto hostile nations became as one, forming the most powerful league that, so far as known, ever existed among the Indian races.

" Their traditions inform us that the Confederacy, as framed by this couneil, with its laws, rules, inter-relationships of the people, and mode of administration, has come down through many generations to the present age with seareely a change, except the addition of an inferior class of rulers,

called chiefs, in contradistinction to the sachems, and a modification of the laws in relation to marriage."*

From that date the united nations took the name of Ho- de'-no-san-nee, which is translated to mean literally in Eng- lish, " People of the Long House," in allusion to the location of the five separate nations in one long line, having five dis- tinet council-fires, like one of their bark lodges, divided into five compartments, each having its family and fire.

The five nations forming this remarkable confederation occupied, as near as can be aseertained, each the following territory :

At first the westernmost nation, the Seneens, extended only to the valley of the Genesee River ; but after the ex- pulsion of the Neuter nation, the Je-go'-si-sa, from the region of the Niagara River, and the Eries, or Gu-qui'-ga- o-no, from the country between the Genesee River and Lake Erie, the first in 1643 and the second in 1655, they extended their jurisdiction to the lake and Niagara River. The boundary between them and the Cuyugas commenced at the southern extremity of Sodus Bay, and ran thence in nearly a direct line south to the present boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania, which it crossed a little to the east of the city of Elmira. The Senecas were the hereditary "Door-keepers" of the " Long House," and were styled in their expressive language the "first fire," and so on to the Mohawks, who were styled the fifth.

The Cayugas occupied a strip of country lying next east of the Senecas, and about twenty miles in width, including Cayuga and Owasco Lakes. Their eastern boundary line commenced near the mouth of the Oswego River, on the west side, and crossed the Pennsylvania line near the centre of Tioga County, on the south side.

Between the Onondagas and Oneidas the boundary ran directly south from the Deep Spring, called by the Indians De-o-song'-wa,+ near Manlius, in Onondaga County, to the Pennsylvania line. North from the Deep Spring it deflected to the west, so as to leave Oneida Lake wholly in the terri- tory of the Oneidas, and thenee, curving around the lake to the longitude of the spring, it ran nearly north to the St. Lawrence River.

The Tuscaroras, upon their admission as the sixth member of the Confederacy, were assigned a portion of the Oneula territory lying between the Unadilla and Chenango Rivers, and bounded on the south probably by the Susque- hanna.

Two other bands, the Mohekunnuks and the New Eng- land Indians, also oeeupied portions of the Oneida territory.

The boundary between the Oneidas and Mohawks was substantially a north and south line, erossing the Mohawk River about five miles below the present site of Utica, and extending thence north to the St. Lawrence, and south indefinitely .¿ The great central council-house was at On- ondaga.

In addition to the abundant means of communication by water channels, important trails§ by land were laid out and

# League of the Ho-de'-no-sau-nee.

+ Written also De-o-wu-da-ya'-ah, " the spring in the deep basin."

# After the removal of the Mohatoks to Canada, in 1775, the Onei- das claimed all of Northern New York.

¿ Called in the Seneca tonguo, Wuh-a-gwocu'-ne-yuh.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

occupied for centuries by the league, which were so judi- ciously chosen from a geographical and commercial point of view as to deserve mention. The principal trail of course was the one connecting the different nations, and it extended from the Hudson River on the cast to Lake Erie, at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, on the west, and was so well chosen that the great turnpikes and railways of the white man have been constructed upon almost the identical line adopted by the red man, whom we are prone to call a sav- age. Other important trails were those upon the Snsque- hanna and Chemung Rivers, which converged upon Tioga, and thence, descending the main Susquehanna, led south- ward through Pennsylvania and Virginia. Still others led northward by way of the Hudson River and Lake Champlain, and by the Mohawk, West Canada Creek, and Black River, to the valley of the St. Lawrence, and thence into the heart of Canada.

Sachems .- At the institution of the league there were created fifty permanent sachemships, with each its appro- priate name, and in these were vested the supreme powers of the Confederacy. These suchemships were made hered- itary under limited and peculiar laws of descent. The sachems were equal in rank and authority, and, instead of being invested with independent powers in a limited terri- tory, they acted together as a joint body.

" As a safeguard against contention and fraud, each sachem was 'raised up,' and invested with his title by a council of all the sachems, with suitable forms and ceremo- nies. Until this ceremony of confirmation or investiture, no one could become a ruler. He received, when raised up, the name of the sachemship itself, as in the case of titles of nobility, and so also did his successors, from generation to generation. The sachemships were distributed unequally among the Five Nations, but without thereby giving to cither a preponderance of political power. Nine of them were assigned to the Mohawk nation, nine to the Oneida, fourteen to the Onondaga, ten to the Cayuga, and eight to the Seneca. The sachems, united, formed the council of the league, the ruling body, in which resided the executive, legislative, and judicial authority. It thus appears that the government of the Iroquois was an oligarchy, taking the term at least in the literal sense, ' the rule of the few ;' and while more system is observable in this than in the oligarchies of antiquity, it seems, also, better calculated in its frame-work to resist political changes."*

The original Indian names of the Five Nations, in the Seneca language, according to Morgan, were : Gi-NE-A'- GA-O-NO, or Mohawks ; O-NA-YOTE'-GA-O-NO, or Oneidus ; O-NUN-DAH'-GA-O-NO, or Onondagas ; GUE'-U-GWEII-0- NO, or Cuyugas ; NUN-DA-WAH'-O-NO, or Senecas.

" The Onondaga nation being situated in a central posi- tion, were made keepers both of the Council Brand and the Wampum, in which the structure and principles of their government, and their laws and treaties, were pre- served. At stated periods, usually in the autumn of each year, the sachems of the league assembled in council at Onondaga, which was in effect the seat of government, to legislate for the common welfare. Exigencies of a public

or domestic character often led to the summoning of this council at extraordinary seasons, but the place was not confined to Onondaga. It could be appointed in the ter- ritory of either of the nations, under established usages. Originally the object of the general council was to raise up sachems to fill vacancies.

" In the course of time, as their intercourse with foreign nations became more important, it assumed the charge of all matters which concerned the league. It declared war and made peace, sent and received embassies, entered into treaties of alliance, regulated the affairs of subject nations, received new members into the league, extended its protection over feeble tribes,-in a word, took all needful measures to pro- mote their prosperity and enlarge their dominion.

" Notwithstanding the equality of rights, privileges, and powers between the members of this body of sachems, there were certain discriminations between them, which rendered some more dignified than others. The strongest illustra- tion is found in the Onondaga sachem, To-do-da'-ho, who has always been regarded as the most noble sachem of the league. As an acknowledgment of his eminence, two of the Onondaga sachems were assigned him as hereditary counselors. The great respect and deference paid by the Iroquois to this title has led to the vulgar error that To- do-du'-ho was the king or civil head of the Confederacy. He possessed, in fact, no unusual or executive powers, no authority which was not equally enjoyed by his peers ; and where the light of tradition is introduced, to clear up the apparent anomaly, it will be seen that the reverence of the people was rather for the title itself than for the person who held it, as it was one of their illustrious names. At the establishment of the league, an Onondaga by the name To-do-du'-ho had rendered himself a potent ruler by the force of his military achievements. Tradition says that he had conquered the Cuyugas and Senecas. It represents his head as covered with tangled serpents, and his look, when angry, as so terrible that whoever looked upon him fell dead. It relates that, when the league was fornied, the snakes were combed out of his hair by a Mohawk sachem, who was hence named Iu-yo-went'-ha, ' the man who combs.' To-do-da'-ho was reluctant to consent to the new order of things, as he would thereby be shorn of his abso- lute power, and placed among a number of equals. To remove these objections in some measure, and to commem- orate his maguanimity, the first sachemship was named after him, and was dignified above the others by special marks of honor ; but such, however, as were in perfect con- sistency with an equal distribution of powers among all the sachems as a body. Down to the present day, among the Iroquois, this name is the personification of heroism, of forecast, and of dignity of character ; and this title has ever been regarded as more illustrious than any other in the catalogue of Iroquois nobility."t

The fifty sachemships or titles, save two, established at the origin of the league, according to Morgan, have been held by as many sachems in succession as generations have passed away since the formation of the league. The class- name of these sachems was Ho-yar-na-go'-war, which sig- nifies " counselor of the people."

+ Morgan.

# Morgan.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The Senecas were made the door-keepers of the Long House, and the eighth sachem, Do-ne-ho-ga'-weh, was as- signed to the duty of watching the door; and to assist him in his duties a sub-sachem was appointed, who was raised up at the same time as his superior. His duty was to stand behind the sachem on all publie occasions and act as his runner or attendant, as well as counselor.

The Onondaga sachem, Ilo-no-we-nu'-to, who was made keeper of the wampum, also had an assistant. Several other sachems, to whom were confided special duties and respon- sibilities, were likewise allowed sub-sachems to assist them.

Next in importance to the fifty sachems was an inferior class, denominated chiefs, who were called into existence by the force of circumstances many years after the formation of the league. The office of chief, Iu-seh-no-wü'-neh, signifying " an elevated name," was made elective, and the reward of merit, but without hereditary descent, the title, in all cases, terminating with the death of the individual upon whom it was bestowed. The number was not limited. The powers of this class, at first limited to local matters, gradually extended with their increase in numbers, until they became nearly equal in many respects with the origi- nally ordained sachenis themselves. Their election, to be binding, must be ratified by the general council of sachems. The powers and duties of the sachems and chiefs were en- tirely confined to the affairs of peace.

The war-chiefs of the different nations do not seem to have been either hereditary or appointed. Their positions as leaders depended solely on their prowess and success in leading small parties against the enemy, and if any chief became famous and the acknowledged military leader, like Thay-en-dan-e-gea, of the Moluncks, or Te-gun-i-so'-rens, of the Onondagas, it was simply because the warriors rec- ognized their superior abilities and fitness as military com- manders. None of the chiefs, cither eivil or military, ever attained to the dignity of sachems among the Iroquois : not even the famous Server orator, Su-go-ye-wat-hvit (Red Jacket),* perhaps the most gifted of any Indian of modern times, could ever attain to a position higher than that of chief, and this title ended at his death.

Any individual who possessed the requisite courage and ability to enlist a war-party could go out to war on his own account, and it would appear that a majority of their mili- tary operations were of this character. One nation of the league might be carrying on a war while all the remainder were at peace, though it is probable that from the time the Confederacy was formed to the end of the French war of 1754-60, the intervals of peace " were few and far between."

To guard against the possibility of dissensions in case of a generai war wherein all the members of the league were engaged, two supreme military chieftaincies were established. The individuals occupying these responsible positions were expected rather to take the chief direction and supervision of military affairs than a command in the field, though they were not debarred from assuming it if they saw fit. These offices were made hereditary, like the sachemships, and va- cancies were filled in the same manner.

When the Senecas were made the door-keepers, the pre-

sumption was that being situated to the westward of all the others they would be liable to be first attacked by their enemies, as there seemed to be no danger anticipated from the New England Indians, or at least nothing comparable to that from the Western and North western nations. These superior chieftainships were therefore conferred upon that nation ; and it was expected and required of them to be always ready to take the war-path. "The first of these was named Ta-wan'-ne'-ars, ' Needle-Breaker,' and the title made hereditary in the Wolf tribe ; the second was named So-no'-so-wa, ' Great Oyster-Shell," and the office assigned to the Turtle tribe."

To these great chieftains was intrusted the supreme com- mand of the military forces of the league, and the general management of military affairs.

During the war of the American Revolution, Thay-en- dun'-e-gea' (Joseph Brant) commanded the principal war- parties of the Mohawks, and from his conspicuous position was generally supposed by the whites to have been the mil- itary leader of the league, but it appears from the testi- mony of the Indians themselves-even the Mohawks-that this was not the case. He was a great military leader, and may very possibly, by a sort of tacit consent, have been, for the time being, considered as their principal commander, but it was only in consideration of his distinguished abilities and successes, and not because of any authority given him by the league, or any hereditary right possessed by him.t

Religious functionaries were not recognized by the league, or, at least, none were raised up or invested with special powers as officers or representatives of the Confederacy. " In each nation, however, there was a class, styled Ho-nun-de'- unt, or 'Keepers of the Faith,' who were regularly ap- pointed to officiate at their festivals, and take the general supervision of their religious affairs."

To the foregoing list of officers was intrusted the man . agement of the affairs of the league, and of the different nations comprising it. But the league partook greatly of the republican or democratie form of government, and the powers of those in authority would seem to have been in many instances rather advisory than executive. There were no written records, but the wampum-keeper was expected to preserve carefully the insignia of councils and treaties, with which was connected everything of importance pertaining to national affairs; and these keepers familiarized them- selves so perfectly with the meaning of the archives, so to speak, that a minute and astonishingly accurate knowledge of all important transactions was transmitted from genera- tion to generation.

The conquered nations were sometimes given the privilege of nniting with their conquerors, and thus preserving their individual existence, though their former nationality would of course be lost; and it is said that, in the case of the Eries and the Neuter nation, they were given the alterna- tive of union or annihilation. By this peculiar process there is no doubt the Iroquois kept their numbers (con- stantly diminished by their incessant wars) up to an aver- age standard, and probably increased them. At all events, their empire increased and enlarged until, nominally, it covered a territory equivalent to a million square miles.

# So named from the color of a waistcoat given him by the British.

t See League of the Iroquois, page 74.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

In summing up the peculiarities of this remarkable league, Morgan uses the following language :

. . . " A blending of the national sovereignties into one government was sought for and achieved by these forest statesmen. The league made the Ho-de'-no-sau-nee one people, with one government, one system of institutions, one executive will. Yet the powers of the government were not so entirely centralized that the national independ- ence disappeared. . . . The crowning feature of the league, as a political structure, was the perfect independence and individuality of the national sovereignties in the midst of a central and all-embracing government, which presented such a cemented exterior that its subdivisions would scarcely have been discovered in the general transactions of the league."

The Tribes .- The same writer states that each nation was subdivided into eight tribes, arranged in two divisions, and named as follows :

WOLF, BEAR, BEAVER, TURTLE. DEER, SNIPE, HERON, HAWK. But there seems to be some doubt about the precise num- ber in a part of the nations, for in a foot-note a little farther on, he says the Tuscaroras had seven, the Oneidas three, and the Mohawks three; and their traditions seem to confirm the statement. Of the origin of these tribal divisions very little is known. Tradition declares that the Bear and Deer were the original tribes, and that the re- mainder were subsequent subdivisions.

It is said that, to insure a perfect and self-perpetuating structure, an indissoluble union, each of the tribes was sub- divided into five parts, and one-fifth placed in each nation, thus weaving the whole Confederacy together with the closest ties of consanguinity. It was simply a league con- structed upon family relationships, and probably the most indestructible form of union ever devised by any people.

Marriage .- In order to perpetuate this remarkable structure, a curious marriage relation was adopted. Mem- bers of the Wolf, Bear, Beaver, and Turtle tribes, being considered as brothers and sisters, were not allowed to in- termarry, but they were free to choose partners from either of the four remaining tribes. Whoever transgressed this rule was held up to everlasting scorn and contempt. In process of time, however, as circumstances changed, the rigor of this law was somewhat relaxed, and marriage was allowed with any tribe but their own, and this rule is strictly adhered to at the present time.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 4

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 920

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920