USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 2 > Part 18
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portance of these lands, first became known to the officers and soldiers composing the army of general Sullivan. Accordingly we find that in the years 1788 and 1789, agents were sent to the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayuagas and Senecas, in order to obtam cessions by purchase. These agents succeeded in making purchase, and getting cessions of large tracts for nominal sums. Immediately after these purchases and cessions, large bodies of emigrants began to pour into the country of the Agoneaseah. Improvements were made and settlements formed on every side. The emigrations continued to flow into their country. The game soon disappeared. and the Agoneaseah were reduced to the necessity of cultivating the ground for their subsistence, which they had constantly declined doing before. The influx of strangers into their country, the loss of their lands, and destruction of the game, dispirited them. Some dispairing of living in the neighborhood of these strangers, retired out of the state ; while those that remain have lost most of their energy and martial spirit. Such; is the condition of the Agonea- seah who still reside in the state. The high character of the nation has fled. That martial spirit which inspired them to deeds of heroism has forsaken them. They are no longer dreaded by the other hunting tribes, and by civilized man.
The Senecas have a chief called Red Jacket by our people. He is represented to be a person of talents and eloquence. His name in the Agoneasean tongue is Sog-goo-ya-wau-tau. He re- sides near Buffalo in the county of Erie. His supremacy is in 2 measure acknowledged by the other Agoneasean tribes. The Cayugas and Senecas living on the Alleghany river have a chief named Cornplanter, by our people, who ranks as we understand, next to Sog-goo-ya-wau-ta. He is also represented to be talented and eloquent. The Agoneaseah call him Ki-ant-whau-ka. These chiefs have great influence over their countrymen, and command respect among our citizens. They are far advanced in years. Sog-goo-ya-wau-ta was presented with a medal by Washington.
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CHAPTER VII.
State of Society, &c. among the Agoneaseah.
Mutual wants and dependencies seem at first to have induced meu to enter into compacts, and to unite together in societies. The Agoneaseah, as well as the other hunting nations of North America, were beset with dangers and wants ; hence it became an object of prime necessity for them to associate and unite, in order to avert the one and surmount the other. Hence, we find that not only the Agoneaseah, but all the other nations had made compacts and formed unions. The compacts and unions were very nearly alike among all the tribes and nations, however widely they might have been separated. These compacts and unions did not differ mate- rially from those of the Asiatic tribes similarly circumstanced, as we shall hereafter show. In the infancy of society men are every where very nearly alike, a consequence growing out of a parity of wants, interests, and dangers.
The compact of the Agoneaseah was very simple ; they had no nobility ; no congress ; no parliament ; no president ; no king ; nor had they any magistrates. There was a perfect equality and liber- ty among all the members of the nation ; assemblages were in the tribes or cantons; every man had a voice in these assemblages; age, valor, wisdom, and eloquence, alone gave weight and ascen- dency. Their proceedings were commonly slow, deliberate, and solemn. Every circumstance which they could foresee was taken into serious consideration ; the probable good and evil, advantage, and detriment of every measure, were investigated and weighed; the prospects of success and disappointment were discussed and weighed in their meetings; the whole was a scene of consultation and advice ; nothing was binding on the members ; the advice, how- ever, from its supposed wisdom and propriety, usually had the ef- ficacy of a law enacted. Such seems to have been the proceed- ings and deliberations among the individual tribes of the confede-
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racy. The Agoneaseah, besides these assemblages in tribes, had national assemblages at Onondaga. These assemblages consisted of the chiefs, distinguished warriors, and orators of the several tribes composing the nation. Onondaga, the ordinary place of meeting, was considered to be in the middle of the Agoneasean country ; here all matters relating to the internal and external concerns of the nation were brought, discussed, and settled. The assemblage, or council as it was commonly called, had considerable weight and respect.
According to Cusick, a tree of peace was planted at Onondaga. The chiefs met and deliberated under it .; here they smoked the pipe of peace in order to ratify their proceedings. A council fire was kindled under the tree. Onondaga was considered the heart of the country. Belts and strings of wampum were left as records of al- liance and other acts .- See his sketches of the Six Nations.
The national council had the right of declaring war and making peace, and of concluding treaties, and exercising all acts of sove- reignty. But, notwithstanding these prerogatives, its deliberations and resolves were not mandatory, unless sanctioned by the mem- bers of the several cantons. They were only recommendatory, since the members of the cantons might ratify, obey, or disannul them at pleasure. The strength and power of the government rested entirely in public sentiment. The chiefs were chosen from among the most renowned warriors and huntsmen. They, how- ever, had no power or authority to enforce their counsels or com- pel their measures. They dwelt in the same kind of houses with the rest of the people, and had the same kind of food, clothing, and lodging. They had no badges, or marks of distinction ; no ceremonies; no forms of induction into office were observed, or were in use among them. In external appearance, and other cir- cumstances, they were on a level with the rest of the nation. The only thing which gave any weight or authority to their advice, or their orders, was the opinion which the public entertained of their wisdom, valor, and experience.
The Tartars usually elect their chiefs. On emergencies they elect a grand chief, called a Khan, who commands several tribes. In former times, whenever the confederacy was extensive, the
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Tartars were formidable ; their method of carrying on war was by wasting the country. .
Smith, in his history of New-York, says, that " each of the tribes bad its own chiefs, who heard and determined all complaints in council." In cases of emergency the tribes acted separately ; but nothing could bind the nation but the voice of the general conven- tion or council. The office of chief was bestowed on such only as were respected for their courage and wisdom.
David Cusick, in his sketches of the history of the Six Nations, published at įLewistown, Niagara county, in the year 1827, re- marks, that " each tribe at present has two chie's to settle disputes and some other matters." .
Laws .- The laws of the Agoneaseah were constructed and laid upon a very slender foundation. They were not written. They had no statutes, decrees, ordinances, rules, or adjudications, like those of civilized nations. Their laws consisted of certain usages and customs, which, in most cases, had a binding effect. Their enforcement, however, depended on public sentiment. Their laws were not shackled with forms, ceremonies, delays, and adjourn- ments, but were plain and simple, and easily understood ; and at- tended with few or no delays. The penalties and punishments, in a certain description of cases, were disgrace, loss of reputation, and exclusion from society, and even death, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence or crime. The causes and occasions of offences were few, and did not in general much affect the nation. The chiefs usually interposed in those that arose between indivi- duals, and counselled and advised. Disputes, in most cases, were amicably adjusted, and followed by reconciliations. But whenerer the parties refused the friendly advice and admonitions of the chiefs, they had to leave them to settle matters between themselves. In cases of murder it belonged exclusively to the family and friends of the deceased to seek redress. The chiefs might in these cases in- terpose by way of counsel, but the relations and friends could ac- cept or not, it being optional with them. If they dissented, nothing remained but to pursue the murderer, with a revenge that aimed at , nothing short of destruction and death. From the imperfection and imbecility of such laws, every tribe was more or less troubled with
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1 feuds, which were kept up from age to age, and which, in some in- stances, were attended with the assassination of nearly all the per- sons directly concerned. David Cusick,'who is a Tuscarora by birth, in his Sketches of the Six Nations, informs us, that at this time "if a man commit murder, the nearest relation of the slain despatches the murderer with a war club; that the slain and the murderer are put into one grave. Sometimes the relation of the offender presents a belt of white wampum to make atonement."
Property .- The Agoneaseah had some ideas of property, but they differed very essentially from ours. Among them the lands of the forest were held and occupied in common. The ideas of the Moheakanneews, in relation to property, were analogous. All the lands were owned in common, but such as were under improvement. Every tribe had its domain. The tribes on the coast, between Massachusetts and Chesapeake bays, had, it would seem, made farther advances in this respect than the Agoneoseah, and other in- land tribes. . Among them certain shells were used as a medium in the sale and purchase of commodities. The Dutch, in their early intercourse with the Mohiccons, and other tribes on the Atlantic coast, adopted the same medium. The shells used were strung on a cord, and the different prices of articles were determined by a greater or smaller number.
Among the Agoneaseah the game of the forest, and the fish of the rivers, streams, and lakes, were also considered as belonging jointly to all the members of the nation ; but whenever an indivi- dual had selected a spot of ground, and erected a house on it, and made an improvement, the right of the soil became vested in him so long as he occupied it. But whenever he abandoned it, it re- verted to the tribe, and became the property of the next occupant. So of a cornfield, and other usu fruct. The game in the forest, and the fish in the rivers, streams, and lakes, became the property of him who acquired them by his skill, exertions, and industry. No one ever questioned his rights. These ideas of property were so well understood by every individual, that disputes seldom or never arose. With respect to their neighbors it was otherwise. When the Dutch first became acquainted with the Mohawks, very serious differences existed between them and the Moheakanneews, who
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dwelt on the east side of the Hudson, concerning some of the islands in that river below the city of Albany. The limits of each inde- pendent state were defined. Rivers, creeks, lakes, mountains, and hills, were often boundaries between different and hostile commu- nities. The heads of streams were also, in some instances, deemed bounds.
Agriculture .- The Agoneaseah had very little acquaintance with agriculture, being extremely averse to every kind of labor. The prospect of future good, and the apprehension of future evil, had no effect on them. They had very little solicitude about the future, but seemed content with the present. Nothing impelled them but the daily calls of nature, and when these were satisfied, they sunk again into supine indolence. Under such an order of things it could not be expected that agriculture would make much progress. Indeed we find it to have been in a low state, and in its very in- fancy. It was confined to the cultivation of some corn, pumpkins, squashes, and beans. They planted in May and June, and har- vested in September and October. The women and children did most of the labor. The men despised work ; hunting and war were their occupations. To be a dexterous hunter, or an intrepid war- rior, was the height of their ambition. Part of their corn they used while it was in the milk, and before it was ripe; the residue they gathered when it was ripe, and laid it up for winter. It was not unusual for them to bury it in the ground. In the Mohawk coun- try small hollows, or excavations in the earth, are to be seen at this day, in a few places that have not been ploughed, where they buried their corn. Some of the oldest persons now living in that country, say they remember the time when some of these excavations were made. They were in loamy lands. The corn buried was dry when taken out, and somewhat improved in quality.
M. de la Salle says, "that the Indians preserved their corn in holes made in the earth, and that they ground it between two stones." The same practice is retained to this time by those tribes who live remote from civilized man. Some of the Tartar nations practise the same. The Cossacks of the Ukraine, about one hundred and twenty years ago, buried their corn in the ground. The practice
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of burying corn prevents its being taken by an enemy, in cases of surprise and invasion.
To clear the land was a slow and tedious operation ; they, in the first place, bruised the bark of the trunks of the trees, near the ground, with stone axes, and tore it off, and then built fires around the trunks of the trees, whereby they killed them. In a few years the trees barked, and afterwards, killed by fire, decayed and fell to the ground. In this condition those of the most combustible kind were burned, while the others were allowed to rot. The prac- tice of planting the ground the year after killing the timber, had a tendency towards improvement.
The instrument used in preparing the ground for seed and for planting, was a kind of a spade made of wood tempered in the fire. With this they loosened the soil and eradicated the weeds. They made holes for the reception of the seed with a pointed stick. - In each hole they put four grains of corn, which they covered with earth. The holes were about three feet apart. The women and children weeded the corn, and when it had grown nearly waist high, they hilled it. Every family had its own cleared land. The cleared lands of several families were usually contiguous. The men, M. de la Salle informs us, fish and hunt, and the women till the ground, gather fruits and herbs. Similar remarks were made prior to those of M. de la Salle : and the like since he travelled among the Indians between Lower Canada and the Mississippi. In all parts of North America, inhabited by nations of Tartar extrac- tion, the women and children had to till the ground. Among those nations that have had little intercourse with civilized man, the same custom is now in full force. The women have not only to plant, hoe, and harvest the corn, but carry the luggage when they march from one place to another, while the men go along at their ease.
When the corn was green, they either roasted it in the ear and ate it, or separated it from the cob by grating, and then wrapped it up in rolls in the form of cakes with the husks, and baked it in the embers. They also grated the corn when green, and boiled it with beans. The Indians of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, prepared their green corn in the same way. Mr. Belknap, the historian of New Hampshire, in regard to their cooking, speaks thus :
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" We have adopted some of their modes of cookery. Their roasted and boiled ears of corn; their samp and homony ; their nokehike, which is corn parched and pounded, and their suckatash, which is a mixture of corn and beans boiled." ,
The corn that ripened, they pounded in wooden mortars, and made it into a kind of bread. They also parched their corn, and after pounding it, mixed it with fat. " The Schoharies," a clan of the Mohawks who resided on the banks of the Schoharic creek, " in the year 1713, had a large mortar in the town of Middleburgh, . in which they pounded their corn. It was the stump of an oak tree hollowed by fire." See a printed pamphlet published by a Mr. Brown, a son of one of the first settlers. Mr. Belknap in his history of New Hampshire, says, " that the Indians pounded their corn in mortars of wood with pestles of stone."
The Agoneaseah derived their principal subsistence from the chase. Their country abounded with wild animals, such as the moose, elk, deer, bear, racoon, and beaver. These they pursued, attacked and killed. The meat which they laid up for winter was smoked and dried, in order to prevent it from spoiling. They had no salt. Some of the hunting tribes of North America had a practice of jerking their meat. This is performed in the following manner : the meat is cut into thin slices or strips, and dried and smok- ed over a moderate fire. Meat prepared in this way keeps a long time. In the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine, according to Belknap, the Indians preserved their meat during the winter in the snow. See vol. S, of his History of New Hampshire.
The Agoneaseah commonly laid in their store for winter, in the months of November and December. The fish they usually caught in the spring and the early part of summer, when the game was lean. When they were successful in hunting and fishing, they had abundance, but when not, scarcity ensued. Every year they ex- perienced plenty, and want. The appetite of the Agoneaseah, con- formed to such an order of things. In seasons of plenty they indulged to excess. In seasons of want, they bore hunger with patience and fortitude. Excess and famine were alike familiar to them. Their health and constitution notwithstanding these transi- VOL. II. 27
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tions, remained vigorous and sound under both. The Sku-ne-an- toh or deer, was the most useful game of the Agoneaseah. I: inhabited all parts of their country. They pursued the skunenntch or deer with small dogs. This animal when wearied betakes itself to water. The con-ne-wau-skon-yogh-sa or elk, dwelt south of lake Ontario. The skon-yogh-sa or moose, inhabited the spruce and hemlock region north of the Mohawk. The Buffalo dwek south of lake Ontario. The bear (oquare ;) the wolf (oquahogh,) and the beaver (geneto,) were found in all parts of their country. The region north of the Mohawk was never inhabited in the winter, on account of the depth of the snow.
Habitations .- These were for the most part, erected by the sides of rivers and creeks, and on the shores of lakes. They were either square or oblong, and without solidity, convenience, or ele- gance-the doors were low. They had neither windows nor chimneys. They were constructed with very rude materials. Crotched stakes were set in the ground, and connected with poles laid in the crotches, and others bound to them [with strips of bark or withs. The stakes and poles constituted the skeletons or frames. and were covered with bark stripped from the trunks of living trees, and fastened with cords of elm bark, or some other kind of bark. The centre of the roof was raised, so as to allow water to descend from it. In general, these habitations excluded rain, snow, and wind. The hearth, or fire place was on the ground, in the middle of the building. It had neither back nor jambs. The smoke ascended through an aperture in the roof. Some of their habitations were large enough for the accommodation of forty or fifty persons. Their houses were dispersed in fields and small clearings, containing from a few acres to two or three hundred acres. They were in sight of each other, and were very much like those of the ancient Germans. The houses of all the Agoneasean villages were thinly scattered over fields. Every considerable village had a castle, which con- sisted of a square plot of ground surrounded with pallisadoes. This was designed as an assylum fort heir old men, their wives, and their children, while the warriors were out on expeditions. These castles were slightly constructed, but served well enough for defence against the assaults of their rude neighbors.
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Household Furniture &c .- Instead of bedsteads, the Agonea- seah had small platforms constructed with poles and covered with bark. On these they spread mats made of skins, and slept heads and points one by the other. They were covered or wrapped up in skins ; these platforms served them also for seats. They had no chairs nor tables. Their pots and kettles were fabricated of stone or clay, and were made to boil by throwing heated stones into them. The Indians of New Hampshire and the adjoining states, had stone kettles ; these had hollows either natural or artificial-fires were made by their sides and heated stones thrown into them. See vol. 3, of Belknap's history of New Hampshire. They had no ovens. Their mortars were of wood hollowed with fire. Their knives were made of wood hardened in the fire.
The Agoneaseah either boiled their meat in stone kettles, roasted it on the coals, or on crotched sticks before the fire. Their bread was made of pounded corn, and was baked either in green leaves laid under hot ashes, or on flat stones, or pieces of wood set before the fire. Bread was an article of luxury they seldom indulged themselves with. They also parched their corn and pounded it, and after moistening it with water or bear's grease, ate it. While the corn and beans were green, they prepared a dish by boiling them together. This dish, the Moheakanneews called suckatash. We have adopted not only the word, but the dish. The corn is usually separated from the cob before it is boiled, and in this con- dition put into a kettle with the beans When properly prepared, it is highly relished. They prepared another dish from corn called samp. The method. of preparation was this. They cracked the corn in a mortar with a pestle, and then threw it into a kettle and boiled it. Our people have also adopted this dish. With them the corn is cracked in a mill, and afterwards sifted, in order to separate the huls : when it is boiled and eaten with milk. Their meat in winter they either preserved in the snow, or by smoking and dry- ing. All these methods were practised.
The Agoneaseah had two modes of producing fire; the one' was by chafing a dry pointed stick placed in a hole made in a square piece of wood ; this they whirled round with such rapidity as to occasion combustion. The other {was by eliciting a spark by the
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collision of two flint stones, and precipitating it on punck, a kind of dry rotten wood.
Dress .- The Agoneaseah, before they had intercourse with the Dutch, English, and French, were clothed with the skins of wild beasts ; such as those of the deer, bear, wolf, fox, racoon, beaver, &c. These they dressed with the hair on, and made them up into garments. Their whole wearing apparel consisted of a mantle, cx kind of frock made of deer skins, or other skins lined with fur ; a pair of leggins which came above the knees ; moccasins, a species of shoes, and a small apron about the waist. They had no shirts, vests, breeches, pantaloons, stockings, hats, or caps. The mantle descended below the knees, and was girt about the waist with a broad belt, neatly ornamented with porcupine quills, feathers, and small bits of shells or bones. Every one made his own clothes. These they sewed or joined together with small strips of leather. Some of the Agoneaseah decorated their mantles with the figures of beasts, birds, and serpents, Such was the dress of these people in winter, and on particular occasions. In summer, they went almost naked, wearing little else than an apron or breech clout, which barely concealed those parts which decency forbade them to expose. The intrepid M. de la Salle in his Journal informs us, that in hot weather the Indians went naked, and in cold, dressed themselves with skins. M. de la Salle travelled in 1678, from Montreal to the Mississippi, by the way of lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Michigan, and the river Illinois. In 1576, Sir Walter Raleigh, sent Captains Amidas and Barlow, on a voyage of dis- covery. They made the coast of North Carolina, and landed. A chief and his wife came on board. Her dress is thus described. She wore a long coat made of feathers, and had about her middle a piece of the same : about her forehead she had a band of white coral, in her ears were braclets of pearl, which hung down to her middle. Her hair was long. The dress of the husband was the same. His hair was long on one side of his head, and short on the other. The decorations about his head and ears were like those of his wife. The other females had pendants of copper in their ears. The chiefs whom they saw, had five or six pendants of copper affixed to their ears. Captain Gosnoll in a voyage to Martha's
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