USA > New York > Onondaga County > Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : from prehistoric times to the beginning of 1908 > Part 21
USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : from prehistoric times to the beginning of 1908 > Part 21
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The Planting feast, Ne-ya-yent-wha-hunkt. or Planting time, comes in May or when the ground is ready. Eight days belong to this.
The Strawberry feast, Hoo-tah-yus, comes when the berries are ripe, and one day suffices for this. There are dances for the Thunders and a feast on strawberries. At an early day it was more important.
The Green Bean feast comes next, and is called Ta-yun-tah-ta-t'kwe-t'ak- hunkt, Breaking the bellies, that is, the protruding beans in the pod.
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The Green Corn dance comes at its appropriate time, and is called T'unt- kwa-hank cha kah-neh-host-ha. This takes a full week, and is now the most noticeable of the Onondaga feasts.
The Thanksgiving or Harvest feast, T'unt-kwa-hank cha ne-unt-hent-tees- ah-hunk, All is Done, comes in October, and is observed much like the last. The Maple feast, Heh-tyis-ha-stone-tas, Putting in syrup, has ceased with the mak- ing of sugar.
Besides these there is the annual Dead feast, O-kee-we, which commemorates the dead as a body, and has some curious features and special dances. The Dead feast ten days after death is called Ah-tya-hak-hoon-sa. One kept in con- sequence of a dream has the same name. At the former a feast is held in which a portion is set aside for the dead, and property is also divided. The latter feast comes from the suggestion of the dead in dreams. Ideas of the condition of the dead are very little like those of early days.
The worship of Agreskone, the god of war, was abandoned in the seven- teenth century, but Ta-en-ya-wah-ke is still reverenced as the Holder of the heavens. Ha-wen-ne-yu, an Indian word framed by the Jesuits to express the Great Spirit, is the usual name of God. Sone-yah-tis-sa-ye. He that made us, sometimes takes its place. Early ideas were quite vague on such subjects, and divinities of minor importance were as abundant as among the Greeks. A mountain, roek or waterfall had its proper demon or spirit, and even the spirits of the lower animals might very strangely affect the fortunes of men. When first known to Europeans the lives of all the Iroquois were controlled by their dreams.
A powerful class of beings were represented by the False Faces. Those whom they typify had tests of strength with the Good Spirit. but when he put forth his full power they agreed to use theirs for the benefit of men, not for their harm. Through their representatives they would heal sickness and avert evil, if due heed was given these. The False Faces recalled the Flying Heads, once a scourge of the Iroquois. By an underground passage it was thought the False Face society could reach Green pond west of Jamesville, where they loved to resort. One night a hunter, passing by the lake, heard singing. Crawling to the verge of the cliff's he saw the False Faees coming from the water, loaded with fish and full of merriment. As they passed into a hole in the rocks he heard them singing beneath his feet till the sounds died away in the depths of the earth.
The Indian fairies, Che-kah-eh-hen-wah, Small people, were also good to them if properly treated, but were seldom seen. Hopper's Glen was one of their haunts, and they loved to slide down its steep banks. Like the brownies they had favorite houses, doing the owners many a good turn. Among the Mohawks they were Stone Throwers, like some small people we have known.
Among other early trials were the Stone Giants. Some started to devour an Onondaga village, but were led into a deep ravine by the Great Spirit. When they were asleep he rolled huge stones down upon them, and no one has seen them since. One lived south of Cardiff, and used to come to Onondaga for his morning meal. One Indian a day sufficed if in good condition. Not liking
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to be eaten up, even if but gradually, they devised a remedy. In the low land through which his trail ran they made a deep pit and covered it with branches. The giant had more body than brains, and was an easy prey. They killed him în the pit, and it made a very convenient grave. So when the Cardiff Giant was exhumed the Onondagas knew who he was at onee. Another Stone Giant chased a hunter through the gorge near Jamesville to the little lake west of that place. Luckily for him there was a natural stairway to the top of the cliff's. Reaching the top he looked down at his pursner, and saw that he held a little bone pointer which seemed to direet his movements. When near enough the hunter snatched this from his hand and the giant was helpless. Piteously he begged for his eharm, promising anything and every thing in re- turn. At last his offers were so good that the hunter relented. Best of all the giant kept his word.
Of course they had trouble with serpents, but less than their neighbors did. The Seneea snake stories are current among the Onondagas, but their own are mild in comparison. One is of a young hunter who marries a serpent wife dwelling in one of the Tully lakes. Ile has the power of living under water with her, and after some evasion tells a friend all about it. Meantime the Thunders have something to say, in a very quiet way for them. They tell the friend that he must get the wife to come ashore and they will take care of the rest. She comes in a dramatie way. resplendent in her serpent beauty and garb, and at the proper moment the Thunders come. Terrifie is the conflict. deafening the uproar, but the serpent and her husband become a heap of ashes and another scourge is removed. Another snake story belongs to another lake yet farther south, but the details of this have been lost.
Close by one of the Preble lakes rises Mount Toppin, formerly Onasgarix- sus, where the daughter of the Great Spirit came down and told some Indians to come there again next year for precious gifts. They came and where she had sat grew tobacco, where her right hand rested was corn, and where her loft hand tonehed the ground beans were growing. Bartram and Weiser both observed this hill. substituting squashes for beans.
At the Tully lakes, too, was an episode in the Iliawatha tale. He came alone to one of these just at evening, and a great flock of ducks entered the pond. On a sudden alarm they flew away, and, as it was not deep, carried all the water with them. On the bare bottom lay countless white shells, and of these the Indian sage made the first wampmin, the use of which he soon taught the Mohawks and others.
Three supporters of life the Onondagas honor as minor duties: they are Tune-ha-kwe, Those we live on : corn, beans and pumpkins, all special gifts of the Great Spirit, and usually ealled three sisters. A pretty story changes this. A young man lived alone on a small hill, who wore flowing green robes and had nodding plumes on his head. A silky fringe hung down by his side. ITis name was Onahah, the Corn. Every day he sang: "Che hen, Che hen, Sone ke kwah no wah ho ten ah you ke neah. Say it. Say it. Some one I will marry." A tall young woman eame, her flowing mantle adorned with great golden bells. She was Oo-nyo-sah. the Pumpkin. She would marry him, but he would none of
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her. She ran about too much ; he wanted his wife at home. Then came Oo-sa- ha-tah, the Bean, her simple dress adorned with flowers and groups of bangles. To use a common phrase, she filled the bill. They met with a loving embrace, and since that early day the slender bean thrives around the corn, he support- ing her and she cherishing hin. In the Indian fields corn and beans were planted together.
There are stories about the stars, one of these being of the Pleiades. Some children were playing together and became very hungry; so empty in fact that they floated off in the air. One looked baek and was lost to the rest, but the others sailed off in the sky and became the well known group of stars. The north star came to a party of lost hunters, as a beautiful girl, and became their guide. The Great Bear is called O-na-joos-kwah or Kah-nah-joos-kwah. Great dipper, but also appears as a wounded bear, pursued by two hunters. From his dropping fat and blood came the yellow and red tints of autumn.
Animal stories are frequent, some animals becoming the friends of men. A boy is left in a hollow log and the animals decide who shall take care of him. The bear brings him up with her cubs, and he acquires some of their traits. At last a hunter kills the bear and takes the boy home, but he always shows kindness to bears. The porcupine figures in some stories, and foxes and dogs have their places.
In one long story a boy with magie powers kills a giant, and then goes out to seek his fortune. Many adventures follow, in which he recovers some of his uncles. At one place he gathers a large number of human bones and arranges them as best he can, but in a row. Then he goes to a tall pine tree, pushing hard against it and crying out : "Euch ! Euch ' Look out! Look out! this tree will fall upon you!" The bones come to life and run away. but all did not have the right legs and arms, and he has to rearrange them as best he can. This particular act is found in many Indian stories.
The story of the Great Mosquito is independent of but often attached to that of Hiawatha. Two of these monsters guard the Seneca river above Cross lake, devouring the Indians as they come along. Ta-en-ya-wah-ke slays one on the spot, killing the other after a long chase in Cicero swamp. From the de- caving bodies arose clouds of smaller mosquitoes. The tracks of the monster and his pursuer were quite recently to be seen at Brighton in Syracuse.
One tragie story is of a man and his wife pursued by a vampire, from whom they escape. The tales of witches are many. and the belief in witches is persistent. At the beginning of each year a decided effort is made to rid the reservation of them. Witches usually assume the form of some bird or beast, and often meet for wicked ends.
The native tobacco, having a yellow flower, is a safeguard against many evils, and may bring good luck. It is always burned at the New Year's feast, and is an acceptable offering to the Thunders. Saered medicines are also made with peculiar ceremonies and uses, but space cannot be given them here.
Before leaving these mythic subjects Clark's story of Hiawatha may be summarized. Dunlap, in his history of New York, gives the simplest form.
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which he had from Ephraim Webster in 1815. The Iroquois warred against each other, but an inferior Onondaga chief thought this needless, and "con- ceived the bright idea of union, and of a great council of the chiefs of the Five Nations; this he said, and perhaps thought, came to him in a dream; and it was afterwards considered as coming from the Great Spirit. He proposed this plan in a council of his tribe, but the principal chief opposed it. He was a great warrior and feared to lose his influence as head man of the Onondagas. This was a selfish man. The younger chief, whom we will call Oweko, was silenced; but he determined in secret to attempt the great political work. This was a man who loved the welfare of others. To make long journeys and be absent for several days while hunting, would cause no suspicion, because it was common. He left home as if to hunt; by taking a eireuitous path through the woods, for all this great country was then a wilderness, he made his way to the village or castle of the Mohawks. He consulted some of the leaders of that tribe, and they received the scheme favorably; he visited the Oneidas, and gained the assent of their chief; he then returned home. After a time he made another pretended hunt, and another; thus by degrees visiting the Cayugas and Seneeas, and gained the assent of all to a great couneil to be hekt at Onondaga. With consummate art he then gained over his own chief, by con- vineing him of the advantage of the confederacy, and agreeing that he should be considered the author of the plan. The great commeil met. and the great chief of the Onondagas made use of a figurative argument taught him by Oweko, which was the same that we read of in the fable, where a father teaches his sons the value of union, by taking one stick from a bundle and showing how feeble it was and easily broken, and that when bound together the bundle resisted his utmost strength."
This, in substance and with variations, is now the accepted account of Hiawatha and the formation of the Iroquois leagne. Clark received the more picturesque version from Onondaga chiefs, and this has been very popular, as it could hardly fail to be. In this poetic form it is often told among the Iroquois yet.
In this the Holder of the heavens comes to earth to free men from many enemies, meeting with two Onondagas at Oswego, who aecompany him through all adventures. The white eanoe aseended the river, and a great serpent was slain which kept the fish from spreading, and the Indians from traversing the river. Another was slain above this, and the fish were free and the Indians had safe passage. The magic paddle made an outlet for Onondaga lake with similar results. The enchantress Oh-cau-nee lost her power, and the chestnut trees on Seneca river were free to all comers. The great mosquitoes were en- countered above Cross lake, one being slain at once, and the other long pur- sued. Two great eagles were killed at the Montezuma marshes, and the water fowl went everywhere.
Then the Holder of the heavens became a man indeed. dwelling at Cross lake as Hiawatha. An invasion from the north began and Hiawatha was called to a council at Onondaga lake, whither he went with his daughter in his white
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canoe. As he landed at the high shore north of Liverpool the white bird of the Great Spirit came headlong from the skies, erushing the great man's daughter in its fall. According to the present Onondagas this was Hah-kooks, or the white winter gull, defined as "the bird of the clouds," or "one never on the ground."
When Hiawatha recovered the league was formed, and Mr. Clark said he himself composed the parting speech put in his mouth. Then he seated him- self in his white eanoe, which rose from the earth and disappeared in the heavens, amid the sweetest sounds.
In a Mohawk account Thannawage. a Mohawk chief, proposed the league. but this may be from the fact that Hiawatha left Onondaga and became a Mohawk chief, having successors to this day, bearing his name as a title. It is enrious that Tadodaho is not mentioned in Clark's legend, nor does Hiawatha appear in Cusick's history. Schoolcraft appropriated Clark's story, to the latter's great indignation, and Longfellow took little more than the name for his poem. He did, however, preserve the leading thought :
"How he prayed and how he fasted, How he lived and toiled and suffered, That the tribes of men might prosper, That he might advance his people."
The meaning of the name has been in question. Mr. Horatio Hale inter- preted it as "He who seeks or makes the wampum belt." One objection to this is that the true wampum belt was probably not then used. Lewis II. Morgan made it "He who combs," in allusion to his combing the snakes ont of Tadodaho's head. Father Cuog suggested "The river-maker." Clark de- fined it "The very wise man;" Daniel La Fort "The awakener." Albert Cusick, an Onondaga interpreter, said it meant essentially "One who has lost his mind, and seeks it knowing where to find it." To his friends he seemed crazy, but he knew what he was about. These different meanings from good authorities, show some of the perplexities of translation.
Canassatego (not the Onondaga, but) a Seneca chief, had the story of the creation of the Five Nations. One of the gods come down to the beautiful land of the Konosioni, and sowed five handfuls of seed. These became children after being worms awhile. Nine years he nourished them, nine more he taught them useful things. They became five nations. Then he called them together for his parting words and gifts. To the Mohawks he gave corn; to the Oneidas nuts and fruits; to the Senecas beans; the Cayugas had ground nuts and other roots ; and the Onondagas received grapes and squashes to eat, and tobacco to smoke at the couneil fire. Then in a bright cloud, he returned to the sun.
The story of the Good and Evil Minds is old and wide spread, but a little confused. A woman falls from heaven and is received on the back of a great turtle, there being no habitable earth as yet. The diving animals bring mud from the bottom of the sea, affix it to the turtle's shell. and a continent is gradually formed. The woman has a daughter, who in turn has two sons, good
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and bad, and these are at variance, the one at last killing the other. Beyond this the story varies greatly, especially as regards the sun and moon.
The religious system of the Onondagas had been sensibly affected by missionary teaching and about 1800 was to undergo a more definite change. The Seneca prophet, Handsome Lake, a brother of Cornplanter, taught a revelation made to him. He was especially successful at Onondaga, turning an intemperate community into one perfectly sober. He died while on a visit there in 1815, and in 1906 a handsome monument was placed over his grave near the council house, and on the site of the old one. It bears this inscription : "GA-NYAH-DI-YOU|Author of the Present INDIAN RELIGION Born at GA- NOH-WA-GUSIGENESEE CO., N. Y. 1735. Died August 10, 1815. Ai Ononda- ga Reservation.|"
His teaching was of a highly moral character, and his revelation is regu- larly recited at intervals of about two years. The preachers confine themselves mainly to his recital of what he saw and heard, adding nothing of their own. In the course of years of oral transmission there has been some natural varia- tion, but the whole has now been reduced to writing in the Seneca tongue. Before this some translations were made.
A few notes on the prophet's teaching follow, concluding this sketch of Indian life. While expecting to die he fell into a trance, and was supposed to be dead, but revived. Three of the four angels who were to talk with him appeared. The fourth, whom he saw later, was Christ. A voice three times called him to the door and he went out. Never before had he "seen such handsome royal men," so nobly elad. They gave him huckle-berries of every color and as he ate his strength came beck. Then he had directions about the In- dian feasts, which were to continue but with new rules. The Creator had given whiskey to the pale-face as a medicine, and he had perverted its use. The Indian must not use it at all. Witchcraft must be done away, as well as secret poisons. Prevention of child-bearing must cease, and short marriages. "God ordained that when people marry it is for a life time, forever, as long as the people live." If a man married three wives and deserted them, there was a sure hell for him who left two, being mothers, "but the Creator alone knows the store for him that deserts three." Trouble between man and wife was always to be avoided.
Children were not to be punished unjustly, and punishment was to be by , immersion in water. If there was no child in a house, one or more should be adopted. Kindness must be showed to the old, and all must be hospitable. "It is wicked not to take what is offered. The visitor must take two or three bites at least, and say Niawe;" that is, "Thank you." "The Creator loves poor children, and whosoever feeds the poor and unfortunate does right before Him."
Scandal must be shunned and vanity avoided. Three things the white man did were not wrong for them. They might have good houses, farms and cattle. Two from each nation were to be educated. "So many white people are about you that you must study to know their ways." Men were to help
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one another. Thieving must cease. There were two many dance-songs, and those in honor of any animal were wrong. Seeret societies were to be dis- solved, but this failed.
For happiness and mirth the Creator had given the Great Feather dance, the war dance, war songs, and the peach stone game. With the use of these the Evil Spirit might interfere, and proper rules were given. "There are three grades of sin : the sins of chiefs, the sins of overseers, and the sins of the whole community." Repentance was required from all. Of religion there could be no perfect understanding, but the angels would tell what they could from time to time.
In heaven there was a constant dispute between the Great Spirit and the Evil. He who followed the Great Spirit must eall him (in Seneca) "Hodia nokda Hediohe, our Creator. And whosoever speaks of the devil must say Segoyinatha (the punisher)." Tobacco was to be used as incense, and medici- nal plants were not to be gathered without ceremony. Payment for healing was not to be accepted, but tobacco might be a fee if afterward sacrificed.
Their "forefathers are in a place of enjoyment wholly unknown to us." "It is impossible to grieve always, and you must now grieve only ten days. Make a feast when the ten days are up, in honor of the departed one, who will return and eat with you." Various signs would show the approaching end of the earth. "We think that when the end comes, the earth will be destroyed by fire and no one will eseape, for the earth will be enveloped in flames, And those who do not repent will be in it."
There come also symbols to illustrate oral teaching, and these were strik- ing. A church was a dark and bad place, while the council house was full of light. No white man could go to heaven, but he was shown Washington's house just outside, where he dwelt alone though happy. However, he had a little dog with him.
Toward the conclusion he meets the fourth person, who is Christ. "He held up his hands, and they were pierced; and likewise his feet; and in his breast was a spear wound. His hands and feet were torn with nails." The prophet gave this sight a politie turn. Christ had been rejected by white men : "Now tell all your people that when they embrace the religion of the white men they will be lost."
There are many minor rules, as the prohibition of cards and the fiddles, and the returning of little things when found, but the above gives a fair outline of the preaching now. At the preaching at Onondaga in 1894, the return of the invitation wampum and various addresses occupied the first day, and the religious part five. An aseription of thanks opened each morning's proceed- ings, in which thanks were returned to the Great Spirit, the Four Persons, the Thunders, and the sun, moon, and earth, their benefactors. Responses were made, the wampum was displayed and the speaking began. This ended at noon, for "our religion teaches that the early day is dedicated to the Great Spirit, and the late day is granted to the spirits of the dead."
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-A letter from General Dearborn in 1802. speaks of the prophet's teachings and influence, and of a special message which he claimed to have had from the four angels. It was in 1800. not in 1790, that he received this. The Onondagas at once adopted the new faith, and on their return from a council astonished Ephraim Webster by refusing to take a friendly glass with him. They ex- plained why. In 1809 some Quakers visited them. They were better clothed than the Oneidas and received the visitors courteously, who had a satisfactory time, "which was greatly increased when we were informed, not only by them- selves but the interpreter, that they had totally refrained from the use of ardent spirits for about nine years, and that none of the natives will touch it." There and elsewhere are now strong temperance societies, the Six Nations' Temperance League being the most important.
John Jacobs, or Kenentoote, Hemlock stieking up, gave Albert Cusick, or Sagonaquate, the Onondaga names of months in full. The White Dog feast in January or February is that of the New Year, but like the Hebrews. they also begin a year in the fall, the commencement of the hunting season, and thus these months are arranged :
October-Chut-ho-wa-ah. little eold.
November -- Chut-ho-wa-go-nah, large cold.
Deceraber-Tis-ah, little long day (not very long).
January-Tis-go-nah, longer day.
February -- Ka-na-to-ha, winter leaves fall (those that have stuck to the trees).
March-Ka-na-to-go-nah, winter leaves fall and fill up the large holes. That is, the high March winds blow the leaves into the hollows in the woods.
April-E-sut-ha, warm and good days, but not planting time.
May -- O-vea-ve-go-nah, leaves in full size and strawberries ripen. Gonch is added only when the interealary month comes.
June-Ses-ka-hah. sun goes for long days.
July-Ses-ka-hah-go-nah, sun goes for longer days (the longest day). A natural mistake, but the months are not exact as with us, an intercalary month being used. It follows that of May, and is sometimes called the Dead Month, because an Indian was killed in a dispute about it.
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