USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume I > Part 18
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It is the belief of Dr. Beauchamp and other investigators that the ancient, or primitive, wampum always consisted of strings of beads, but that about the beginning of the Dutch settlement and trade in this country wampum belts of different widths and lengths, and wrought in a variety of designs, began to make their appearance. In the language of an early writer some of these belts, "by a proper arrangement of the beads of different colors, were figured like carpeting with different figures, according to the various uses for which they were designed. They were made use of by the Indians in their treaties and intercourse with each other, and served to assist their memory and preserve the remembrance of transactions. When different tribes or nations made peace or alliance with each other they exchanged belts of one sort ; when they excited each other to war they used another sort. Hence the belts were distinguished by the names of 'peace-belts' and 'war- belts.' Every message sent from one tribe to another was accompanied
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by a string or strings or a belt of wampum, and the string or belt was smaller or greater according to the importance of the subject."
The original purpose of wampumn belts was probably exclusively mnemonic. In an account of a conference at Montreal in 1756 it is said in a note :
"These belts and strings of wampum are the uni- versal agent among Indians, serving as money, jewelry, ornaments, annals and for registers. 'Tis the bond of nations and individuals-an inviolable and sacred pledge which guarantees messages, promises and treat- ies. As writing is not in use among them, they make a local memoir by means of these belts, each of which signifies a particular affair or a circumstance of affairs. The chiefs of the villages are the depositories of them, and communicate them to the young people, who thus learn the history and engagements of their nation."
George Henry Loskiel, in his "History of the Mission of the United Brethren Among the Indians in North America" (Livonia, 1788), says :
"At certain seasons they [the chiefs] meet to study their [belts of wampum] meaning, and to renew the ideas of which they were an emblem or confirma- tion. On such occasions they sit down around the chest, take out one string or belt after the other, hand- ing it about to every person present ; and, that they may all comprehend its meaning, repeat the words pronounced on its delivery in their whole convention. By these means they are enabled to remember the prom- ises reciprocally made by the different parties. And it is their custom to admit even the young boys, who are related to their chiefs, to their assemblies. They be- come early acquainted with all the affairs of the State, and thus the contents of their documents are trans- mitted to posterity, and cannot easily be forgotten."
Strings of wampum served as credentials for messengers and ambassadors to and from Indians. They were looked upon as letters of introduction-certificates of authority-and, armed with such credentials, the bearer would be listened to by any chief or council. Then, too, it was considered that with all important speeches delivered at councils presents should be given. The following paragraph, from the journal of Witham Marshe-mentioned in the foot-note on page 81-describes the manner in which belts and strings were some- times delivered and received in councils :
THE "PENN" BELT .*
(By courtesy of the publishers of "Pennsylvania-Colonial and Federal.")
"Whilst Mr. Jenings delivered his speech, he gave the interpreter a string and two belts of wampum, which were by him presented to the Sachem Canassatego; and the Indians thereupon gave the cry of approbation. By this we were sure the speech was well approved by the Indians. This cry is usually made on presenting wampum to the Indians in a treaty, and is performed thus : The grand chief and speaker amongst them pronounces the word 'jo-hah !' with a loud voice, singly ; then all the others join in this sound, 'woh !' dwelling some little while upon it, and keeping exact time with each
* A photo-illustration of the wampum belt delivered by the Lenni Lenapé sachems to William Penn at the "Great Treaty" of 1683, mentioned on pages 40 and 113. The original belt is now in possession of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, to which it was presented in 1857 by a great- grandson of William Penn. It is a moderate-sized belt, composed of about 3,000 white and purple beads arranged in eighteen rows.
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other, and immediately, with a sharp noise and force, utter this sound-'wugh !' This is performed in great order, and with the utmost ceremony and decorum, and with the Indians is like our English 'huzza !' "
Dr. Beauchamp says this sound may still be recognized in meetings of Six Nation Indians in New York.
The following, written by Horatio Hale* and published in 1846 in his book entitled "The Wilderness and the War Path," is an interesting description of a council held at North Bend, Ohio, by and between Brig. Gen. George Rogers Clarkt and others (commissioners in behalf of the United States) and the Shawanese Indians. It sets forth how wampum belts were sometimes presented and rejected.
* "It was an alarming evidence of the temper now prevailing among them, and of the brooding storm that filled their minds, that no propriety of demeanor marked the entrance of the savages into the council-room. The usual formalities were for- gotten, or purposely dispensed with, and an insulting levity substituted in its place. The chiefs and braves stalked in, with an appearance of light regard, and seated themselves promiscuously on the floor in front of the commissioners. An air of insolence marked all their movements, and showed an intention to dictate terms, or to fix a quarrel upon the Americans. A dead silence rested over the group ; it was the silence of dread, distrust and watchfulness, not of respect. The eyes of the savage band gloated upon the banquet of blood that seemed already spread out before them ; the pillage of the fort and the bleeding scalps of the Americans were almost within their grasp; while that gallant little band saw the portentous nature of the crisis, and stood ready to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
"The commissioners, without noticing the disorderly conduct of the other party, or appearing to have discovered their meditated treachery, opened the council in due form. They lighted the peace-pipe, and after drawing a few whiffs, passed it to the chiefs, who received it. Colonel Clark then rose to explain the purpose for which the treaty was ordered. With an unembarrassed air, with the tone of one accustomed to command and the easy assurance of perfect security and self-possession, he stated that the commis- sioners had been sent to offer peace to the Shawanese, and that the President had no wish to continue the war ; he had no resentment to gratify, and if the red men desired peace they could have it on liberal terms. 'If such be the will of the Shawanese,' he concluded, 'let some of the wise men speak.'
"A chief arose, drew up his tall person to its full height, and assuming a haughty attitude, threw his eyes contemptuously over the commissioners and their small retinue as if to measure their insignificance in comparison with his own numerous train ; and then, stalking to the table, threw upon it two belts of wampum of different colors-the war and peace belts. 'We come,' he exclaimed, 'to offer you two pieces of wampun. They are of two different colors ; you know what they mean ; you can take which you like !' And turning upon his heel, resumed his seat. The chiefs drew themselves up in the consciousness of having hurled defiance in the teeth of the white men. They had offered an insult to the renowned leader of the 'Long Knives,' to which they knew it would be hard for him to submit, while they did not suppose he would dare to resent it. The council-pipe was laid aside. Those fierce, wild men gazed intently at Clark. The Americans saw that the crisis had arrived ; they could no longer doubt that the Indians understood the advantage they possessed, and were disposed to use it, and a common sense of danger caused each eye to turn on the leading commissioner. - He sat undis- turbed and apparently careless until the chief who had thrown the belts upon the table had taken his seat ; then, with a small cane which he held in his hand, he reached, as if playfully, toward the war-belt, entangled the end of the stick in it, drew it toward him, and then, with a twitch of the cane, threw the belt into the midst of the chiefs. The effect was electric. Every man in council, of each party, sprang to his feet ; the savages
* HORATIO HALE, whose name is frequently mentioned in the preceding pages, was born at New- port, New Hampshire, May 3, 1817, and died at Clinton, Ontario, December 28, 1896. He was graduated at Harvard University in 1837. In 1846 he published, under the title "Ethnology and Philology," what is described as "the greatest mass of philological data ever accumulated by a single individual." From 1846 to 1855 he pursued important ethnological studies in Europe, and in 1856 located in Canada West, where he practised law and continued his scientific researches until his death. He was elected a member of many scientific and historical societies in America and Europe. He was the author of "The Iroquois Book of Rites" (1883), "Indian Migrations as Evidenced by Language" (1883), etc.
+ GEORGE ROGERS CLARK was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, November 19, 1752, and died near Louisville, Kentucky, February 13, 1818. His name is prominently and permanently identified with the conquest of the country north-west of the Ohio River (1778-1783). In January, 1777, he was appointed and commissioned Lieutenant Colonel by the Governor of Virginia ; promoted Colonel December 14, 1778, and promoted Brigadier General in 1781. In November, 1782, at the head of 1,000 men he marched against the Indians on the Miami River and completely subdued them. In 1785 he was appointed a commissioner to treat with certain Indian tribes, and in 1786 he acted as one of the United States Commissioners to nego- tiate a treaty with the Shawanese. In later years he performed other public services in connection with Indian affairs in the West.
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with a loud exclamation of astonishment, 'Hugh !' the Americans in expectation of a hopeless conflict against overwhelming numbers. Every hand grasped a weapon.
"Clark alone was unawed. The expression of his countenance changed to a fero- cious sternness and his eyes flashed, but otherwise he was unmoved. A bitter smile was slightly perceptible on his compressed lips as he gazed upon that savage band, whose hundred eyes were bent fiercely in horrid exultation upon him as they stood like a pack of wolves at bay, thirsting for blood and ready to rush upon him whenever one bolder than the rest should commence the attack. It was one of those moments of indecision, when the slightest weight thrown into either scale will make it preponderate ; a moment in which a bold man, conversant with the secret springs of hunan action, may seize upon the minds of all around him, and sway them at his will. Such a man was the intrepid Virginian. He spoke, and there was no man bold enough to gainsay him. Raising his arm, and waiving his hand toward the door, he exclaimed : 'Dogs, you may go !' The Indians hesitated for a moment, and then rushed tumultuously out of the council-room.
"The decision of Clark on that occasion saved himself and comrades from massacre. The plan of the savages had been artfully laid ; he had read it in their features and con- duct as plainly as if it had been written on a scroll before him. He met it in a manner unexpected. He confounded the Indians, and before the broken thread of their scheme of treachery could be reunited they were panic-stricken. The cool contempt with which their first insult was thrown back into their teeth surprised them, and they were foiled by the self- possession of one man. They liad no Tecumseh among them, no master spirit to change their plan so as to adopt a new exigency, and those braves who, in many battles, had shown themselves to be men of true valor, quailed before the moral superiority which assumed the vantage ground of a position they could not comprehend and therefore feared to assail."
For use in their intercourse with the Indians the Moravian mission- aries were generally well provided with wampum. In March, 1749, one of the Brethren wrote from New York to another: "Brother Boemper will bring the wampum you wrote for, along. I have procured of the wam- pum-maker 1,000 white @ £1, 5s., and 1,000 black @ £2, 5s." In a letter to Sir William Johnson in August, 1756, Lieutenant Governor Denny of Pennsylvania wrote : "Indian business has increased so much of late that the Secretary [of the Supreme Executive Council of the Province] tells me he has no wampum ; which obliges me to request you to furnish the belts and strings necessary in this present business [a conference with the Indians to be held at Easton, Pennsylvania]." Belts and strings of wampum continued to be given and exchanged at Indian treaties and conferences for some time after the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Morgan, in his "Ancient Society," says : "They dye the wampum of various colors and shades, and mix and dispose them with great ingenuity and order, so as to be significant among themselves of almost everything they please ; so that by these their words are kept and their thoughts communicated to one another as ours by writing. * * A strand of wampum consisting of purple and white shells, or a belt woven with figures formed by beads of different colors, operated on the principle of associating a particular fact with a particular string or figure, thus giving a serial arrangement to the fact, as well as fidelity to the memory." "The color of belts and strings of wampum," writes Dr. Beauchamp, "was of importance. White was generally an emblem of something good, and black of affairs of a more serious nature-but this was not invariable. Black wampuin, being double the value of the white, was often used to signify affairs of great importance. Several writers of the eighteenth century speak of the practice of coloring belts red when the affair concerned war. This was not the only tint employed. In 1757 at a council in Pittsburg a Wyandot 'spoke again upon a belt of black and white wampum, the white painted green.' "
Loskiel says: "Neither the color nor the other qualities of wam- pum are a matter of indifference, but have an immediate reference to
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those things which they are meant to confirm. The brown or deep violet, called black by the Indians, always means something of a severe or doubtful import ; but the white is the color of peace." According to Mrs. Harriet Maxwell Converse* a string of white beads served its bearer as a flag of truce or safe conduct in time of war. Even the prisoner tied to the stake must be released to the person who should throw a string of white wampuin around his neck.
"When tipped with a red feather such a string became a formal request for an armistice, and the combatant who kept it bound himself thereby to suspend hostilities until a joint council could be held. If the
I.
A.
messenger conveyed a string of the black wampum painted in red dots, it threatened war ; if he were intrusted with black beads covered with white clay, he bore notice of the death of a chief. Five strings a foot long, of black and white alternating, constituted a petition for forgive- ness in case of murder, and were sent to the relatives of a murdered man, upon whom it was incumbent to revenge his death unless given satisfaction. If they 'held' the wampum it implied forgiveness for the 'blood lost'; if, on the contrary, they returned it, vengeance was inevitable, and the victim willingly surrendered himself to his fate -death."
* Mrs. CONVERSE'S grandfather was adopted by the Seneca Indians in 1792 and her father in 1804. She was adopted by the family of the noted Seneca chief "Red Jacket" in 1880, and in 1892 she was form- ally elected a member of the Seneca tribe. She kept up her connection with the tribe-annually visiting their reservation in New York State-until her death at her home in the city of New York in November, 1903. During the last years of her life she was known as "The Great White Mother" of the Six Nations. She had some reputation as a writer, but a more extended and distinctive one as an authority upon matters pertaining to the Iroquois Indians.
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Through the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Beauchamp-whose name is so frequently mentioned in the preceding pages-we are able to present the photo-reproductions of wampum belts and strings shown in plates "A" and "B" on this and the preceding page.
In plate "A" "I" is the remnant of an Onondaga belt of fifty rows of beads. It is fourteen and three-fourths inches wide, about thirty-five inches long, contains over 12,000 beads and is the widest belt on record. Concerning it Dr. Beauchamp writes : "Fanciful names have been given it, which amount to nothing. It has been described as 'the second
Z
NIX.
X
B.
belt used by the principal chief of the Six Nations-very old.' The fact is that it is of white man's beads, and the principal chief rarely if ever saw it. The pattern is decidedly modern, as well as the material. It is made on very small buckskin thongs, with a hard, red thread of two strands, apparently flax. It seems to represent an alliance actual or proposed, and to be of the variety termed 'chain' belts." Mr. Donald-
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son (mentioned on page 112) calls this belt the "wing or dust fan of the Presidentia of the Six Nations"; also, "the wing mat used by the head- man to shield him from the dust while presiding at the council."
"II" in plate "A" is a companion belt to "I," made like it, but with a different figure, and is the next widest belt known. It is thirteen and one-half inches wide and contains forty-five rows of beads. Dr. Beau- champ further describes it as having "a series of dark points inclosing open white diamonds, signifying nations or towns. It is properly a 'chain' belt showing a completed covenant." Mr. Donaldson describes this as belonging to "the Presidentia of the Iroquois, about 1540" ; also, as "the mat of the To-do-da-ho."* In 1898 certain Onondaga Indians described this belt as "representing a superior man-To-do-da-ho. That is a carpet for him to sit [upon]. You clean the carpet for him to sit and nothing evil can fall on the carpet."
In plate "B" "I" is a belt of purple beads, two inches wide, thirty- eight inches long exclusive of the fringes of buckskin thongs, and con- tains 370 beads in seven rows. There are three rows of five white beads each at the ends of the belt, and five open hexagons of white beads at equal intervals in the body of the belt. These hexagons represent the Five Nations. Some of the beads bear traces of red paint, which is evidence that the belt was once used as a "war-belt," and might have been sent to or by the Five Nations. In the latter case the proposal of war was rejected, and the belt was returned. Mr. Donaldson (previously mentioned) statest that it is claimed that this belt bears "date about 1608, when Champlain joined the Algonkins against the Iroquois." The belt was for many years prior to his death in the custody of Gen. Ely S. Parker ("Donehogáweh")-"the last watcher of the west door of the Confederacy of the Iroquois."} From his heirs Mrs. Converse (previ- ously mentioned) obtained it for the New York State Museum, and she described it as a "Five council-fires, or death belt, of the Five Iroquois Nations. It signified death or war against some other nation. It was always held by the keeper of the west door. When it was sent to the east door, the Hudson River, it was held in the council of war of each of the nations-Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas and Mohawks, till returned by the latter, which signal was that the war must begin at once."
Dr. Beauchamp writes that a belt recently held by the Onondagas is almost the exact counterpart of this. In both the hexagons represent the nations, and the belts could be transformed into war-belts by the use of red paint. It was customary for any of the Five Nations to propose war by a belt, or even to carry on a war alone, but a general war could be decided on only by the Grand Council at Onondaga. War-belts might call this Council together, but they only proposed war.
"II" in plate "B" is a "condolence belt" which at one time belonged to the celebrated half-breed Seneca war-chief "Cornplanter." It is of purple beads, is about thirty-six inches long, less than two inches wide and contains 328 beads in seven rows.
"III" is a mutilated Five Nation belt. It was originally two feet long, nearly two inches wide, and made of purple beads-with five open diamonds in white beads-on fine buckskin thongs. The portion shown
* See page 109, ante.
+ "Report on Indians at the Eleventh Census, " p. 472.
# See pages 121 and 123.
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is 16.63 inches long. This belt was for many years in possession of Mary Jameson, or Jemison, the celebrated white woman captive, and was obtained from her descendants by Mrs. Converse.
"IV" is a fragment, seven inches long and two and three-fourths inches wide, of a purple belt without figures. The original belt was given to Chief "Cornplanter" upon the occasion of the making of a treaty with him. When the Chief died in 1836 the belt was cut into pieces and divided among his heirs.
"V" is a portion of an "alliance belt" in possession of Dr. Beau- champ and obtained by him from an Indian woman. It is three inches wide and sixty-five beads long, and has seven rows of white and two rows of darker colored beads.
"VI" is a bunch of strings of white wampum used for a religious council, and is owned by Dr. Beauchamp. Each string is two feet long and contains 110 beads.
"VIII" represents three small strings of purple beads united at one end. Used in announcing the death of a inember of the "Grand Coun- cil." It was the custom among the Five Nations, when a principal chief or a war-chief of one of the nations died, to send a runner with the proper wampum to the other nations. The runner went through each village calling "kwé," three times at intervals if the dead man had been a principal chief, once if he had been a war-chief.
"IX" is a string having the ends tied to form a circle. This was used in announcing the death of a war-chief-in the manner above described.
"XII" is a string of fine purple and white beads, used either for council purposes or ornament.
In "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," VIII : 97, there is an interest- ing description of certain wampum belts which were sent in April, 1758, to Delaware, Shawanese and other Indians on the Ohio River by Teedyuscung, "King" of the Delawares, who was then temporarily located near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The Spaniards brought the modern horse to America. Some of the horses escaped in the southwest and ran wild in bands or herds, and in time the Indians captured and made use of many of them. In the course of years horses came into general use among Indians in all parts of the country. Prior to this time, however, whenever the Indian had occasion to go from one place to another he was compelled to travel afoot, unless a stream or other body of water lay in his course, when he made use of the bark canoe or dugout. As a rule the Indian was a skill- ful canoeman ; but Catlin wrote that "in the Indian country [meaning
the then western territory of the United States] the squaws are much superior to the men in paddling canoes." Often a canoe would be managed by two women, who would manipu- late the paddles with great dexterity and power. Some- times, when a long canoe journey was to be made on a lake or a large, freely-
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flowing river, the Indians would supplement the paddle-propelling power of their bark with a small sail, inade of skins sewed together, or a blanket, held up either by a squaw or by a rudely contrived mast.
That the North American Indians were seafaring inen prior to the advent of the Europeans there is no evidence. They were not inet with at sea or at any distance from the coast by the Europeans. They were land-lovers, and held to the earth. The forests and plains had inore charms for them than the roar of breakers and the crash of waves. Nor were they a pastoral people. They never tamed either the bison, or buffalo, or the stately elk for labor or for food ; nor did they shear a fleece from the great-horned sheep of the Rocky Mountains. The cow, the ass, the goat, the common sheep and swine-as well as the horse- were all unknown to the Indians of pre-Columbian days. From the warm South, where clothing was unnecessary and as such was never worn, to the cold North where the skins of fur-bearing animals kept him warm in Winter, the Indian everywhere, like Primitive Man, was a hunter and fisher and depended chiefly upon the precarious winnings of the chase, or the hook and line or spear, for subsistence. Nearly all the Indians living along the sea-coasts and the large lakes and rivers were abundant users of fish .*
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