Native American Archives – Page 32 of 341

The Migration of Alabama and Muscogee Indians East

It has been seen that the Indians living in that part of Alabama through which De Soto passed, were the Coosas, inhabiting the territory embraced in the present counties of Benton, Talladega, Coosa, and a portion of Cherokee; the Tallases, living upon the Tallapoosa and its tributary streams; the Mobilians extending from near the present city of Montgomery to the commercial emporium which now bears their name; the Pafallayas or Choctaws, inhabiting the territory of the modern counties of Green, Marengo, Tuscaloosa, Sumpter and Pickens; and, in the present State of Mississippi, the Chickasaws, in the valley of the Yalobusha; … Read more

The Indians of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi

The Indians of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi were so similar in form, mode of living and general habits, in the time of De Soto and of others who succeeded him in penetrating these wilds, that they will all be treated, on the pages of this chapter, as one people. The color was like that of the Indians of our day. The males were admirably proportioned, athletic, active and graceful in their movements, and possessed open and manly countenances. The females, not inferior in form, were smaller, and many of them beautiful. No ugly or ill-formed Indians were seen, except … Read more

The County Clerk and the wolf-scalp

A Seneca hunter killed a wolf just within the bounds of Cattaraugus County, close to the Pennsylvania line, and took the scalp to Meadville, Pennsylvania, for the bounty. Being questioned where the animal was killed, he honestly told the officer that he had come across it and shot it, as near as he could tell, within the territory of New York, very near the state and county lines. On this, the clerk told him that it would be contrary to law to pay him the bounty. “That is a bad law!” replied the red man. ” Why V said the … Read more

Iroquois Forays into the Country of the Cherokees and Catawbas

Nothing is more distinct or better settled in the existing traditions of the Iroquois, than their wars with some of the southern tribes, particularly the Cherokees. I found this subject first alluded to among the Oneidas, who were hotly engaged in this southern war; after wards among the Onondagas, the Senecas of Tonawanda, the Tuscaroras, and with still increasing particularity, among the Senecas of Buffalo, Cattaraugus, and Teonigono. But I was never able to fix the era of its commencement, or to find an adequate cause for it. It seems almost incredible that a war of this kind should have been … Read more

Iroquois Indians and Witchcraft

The belief in witchcraft prevailed extensively among the North American tribes. It is known that even in modern times, it was one of the principal means used by the Shawnee prophet to rid himself of his opponents, and that the venerable Shawnee chief Tarhe and others were sacrificed to this diabolical spirit. Among the Iroquois the belief was universal, and its effects upon their prosperity and population, if tradition is to be credited, were at times appalling. The theory of the popular belief, as it existed in the several cantons, was this. The witches and wizards constituted a secret association, which … Read more

Who were the Eries?

Louis Hennepin, who was a Recollect, remarks in the original Amsterdam edition of his travels of 1698, that Canada was first discovered by the Spanish, alluding doubtless to the voyage of Cortereal and that it received its first missionaries under the French, from the order of Recollects. These pioneers of the cross, according to this author, made themselves very acceptable to the Hurons or Wyandots, who occupied the banks of the St. Lawrence, and who informed them that the Iroquois pushed their war parties beyond Virginia and New-Sweden, and other parts remote from their cantons. They went, he says, in … Read more

War with the Kah Kwahs

Some inquiries have been made in a prior paper, on the strong probabilities of this people, being identical with the Ererions or Eries. While this question is one that appears to be within the grasp of modern inquiry, and may be resumed at leisure, the war itself, with the people whom they call Kah-Kwahs, and we Eries is a matter of popular tradition, and is alluded to with so many details, that its termination may be supposed to have been an event of not the most ancient date. Some of these reminiscences having found their way into the newspapers during the … Read more

Vocabulary of the Tuscarora

Vocabulary of the Tuscarora 1 God, Ya wuhn ne yuh. 2 Devil, Oo na sa roo nuh. 3 Man, Ehn kweh. 4 Woman, Hah wuhn nuh. 5 Boy, Kun chu kweh’r. 6 Girl, Ya te ah cha yeuh. 7 Child, Kats ah. 8 Father (my), E ah kre ehn. 9 Mother (my), E a nuh. 10 Husband (my), E na yah keah wuhn te kehn rea nuhn. 11 Wife (my), (The same word as for my husband.) 12 Son (his), Trah wuhn ruh, nuh nuhn, a ne hah. 13 Daughter (his), Tra wuhn ruh, nuhn, kah-nuhn nuhn. 14 Brother (my), … Read more

Traditions of their Wars with Monsters, Giants and Supernatural Phenomena

It is proposed to narrate a few passages of their early wars with monsters and giants, the two prominent objects in the foreground of their traditions. If it be thought, in perusing them, that mythology and superstition mingle too freely with real events or actions, to which the mind makes no exception, that is a matter upon which we have nothing to offer. Let it rather be considered as a proof of the authenticity of the narrative for certainly there could be no stronger-indication of a contrary character, than to find the Indian narrator relating a clear, consistent chain of … Read more

The Graveyard Serpent and Corn Giant

Seneca tradition states that they formerly lived on the Chippewa River, near Niagara Falls, Canada. One year, while thus located, they were visited by a calamitous sickness, and their corn was blighted. Their prophet dreamt, one night, that a great serpent laid tinder the Tillage, with his head to the graveyard, and that it devoured all the bodies buried. This gave a most offensive breath, which was the cause of the sickness. He also dreamt that there was a great giant under the cornfield, who ate up the corn. When he revealed these dreams to the chiefs, they determined to … Read more

St. Regis Colony

This passage is a historical account of the St. Regis Colony, a community of Iroquois people who converted to Catholicism in the 17th and 18th centuries. The author traces the origins of the colony to French missionary efforts and the political maneuvering of the French monarchy, which sought to expand its influence in North America at the expense of the British. The St. Regis community, composed primarily of Mohawks, was seen as a strategic asset by the French and was encouraged to separate from the main Iroquois Confederacy. This separation led to tensions and resentment between the St. Regis community and the other Iroquois tribes, who viewed them as outsiders and collaborators with the French. The author highlights the role of the St. Regis Colony in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, emphasizing its actions as a source of conflict and suffering for frontier settlements. Finally, the passage concludes by describing the St. Regis population and its division between Canada and the United States as a result of the Treaty of Ghent.

Red Jacket and the Wyandot Claim to Supremacy

At a great council of the western tribes, assembled near Detroit, prior to the late war, the celebrated Seneca orator, Red Jacket, was present, when the question of the right of the Wyandots to light the council fire, was brought up. This claim he strenuously resisted, and administered a rebuke to this nation in the following terms: “Have the Quatoghies forgotten themselves? Or do they suppose we have forgotten them? Who gave you the right in the west or east, to light the general council fire? You must have fallen asleep, and dreamt that the Six Nations were dead! Who … Read more

Principles of the Iroquois Government

No one has attended to the operations of the Iroquois government and polity, as they are developed in their councils and meetings for general consultation and action, without perceiving a degree of intricacy in its workings, which it is difficult to grasp. Or rather, the obscurity may be said to grow out of the little time and the imperfect opportunities which casual observes have to devote to the object. For, maturely considered, there is no inherent difficulty in the way. It seems clear that they came together as independent tribes, who, at an early age, had all proceeded from the … Read more

Origin and History of the Oneidas

This canton of the Iroquois nation, deduces its origin in a remote age, from the Onondagas, with the language of which, the Oneida has the closest affinity. According to a tradition which was related to me, and which is believed to be entitled to respect, they are descended from two persons, who, in their obscure ages, and before a confederation had been thought of, went out from the people at Onondaga, and first dwelt at the head of the Oneida river. After increasing in numbers, they removed to the outlet of the Oneida creek, which flows into Oneida Lake. Here … Read more

Origin and History of the Iroquois, as a Distinct People

The first period of Indian history having thus terminated in dis cords, wars, and the mutual destruction of each other, tradition does not denote how long the depopulation of the country continued. It begins a second period by recollections of the Konoshioni, or Iroquois. They do not indicate what relation they bear to the ancient, broken down confederacy glanced at, in the preceding paper; but leave us to suppose that they may have been fragmentary descendants of it. That such a conclusion should not be formed, however, and in order to prove themselves an original people in the land, they … Read more

The Onondagas Indians

Onondaga was, from the remotest times, the seat of the Iroquois government. Granting credence to the account of their own origin, on the high grounds or falls of the Oswego, they had not proceeded far up the course of the widely gathered waters of this stream, when a portion of them planted their wigwams in this fertile region. Whatever was the cause of their migrating from their primary council fire, nothing was more natural than that, by pursuing this stream upward, they should separate into independent tribes, and by further tracing out its far spread forks, gradually expand themselves, as … Read more

Oneida Vocabulary

224 Alive Loon ha. 225 Dead La wan ha yun. 226 Life Yun ha. 227 Death Ya wu ha yah. 228 Cold Yutholah. 229 Hot Yu ta le han. 230 Sour Ta yo yo gis. 231 Sweet Ya wa gon. 232 Bitter Yutskalot. 233 I Ee. 234 Thou Eesa. He she. 235 He or she La oon ha a oon ha. 236 We Tat ne jah loo 237 You Eesa. 238 They Lo no hah. 239 This Kah e kah. 240 That To e kuh. 241 All A quR kon. 242 Part Ta kah ha sioun. 243 Many A so. … Read more

Necariage Indians

The Tuscaroras were probably admitted into the confederacy about 1714. Nine years afterwards the Iroquois received the Nicariages. Under this name the long expatriated Quatoghies, or Hurons, then living at Teiodonderoghie or Michilimackinac, were taken into the confederacy as the Seventh Tribe, or canton. This act was consummated in the reign of George II, at a public council held at Albany on the 30th May, 1723, on their own desire. A delegation of 80 men, who had their families with them, were present. Of this curious transaction but little is known. For although done in faith, it was not perceived … Read more

Moral and Social Condition of the Iroquois People

The gospel was preached to the Iroquois as well as to the several tribes of Algonquin origin, who lined the banks of the Hudson and the Delaware, early in the 17th century. The Reformed Church of Holland does not appear to have underrated its duties in this respect, while the Holland States, under a hereditary President or Stadtholder, were extending their civil jurisdiction and commercial enterprise on this continent, notwithstanding the want of any direct evidence, that the conversion of the Indians constituted a fixed part of the policy of the servants and governors of the West India Company, to … Read more

Mohawk Vocabulary

Mohawk Vocabulary 1 God Niyoh 2 Devil Onesohrono 3 Man Rongwe 4 Woman Yongwe 5 Boy Raxaa 6 Girl Kaxaa 7 Child Exaa 8 Infant Owiraa 9 Father (my) Rakeniha 10 Mother (my) Isteaha 11 Husband (my) Teyakenitero 12 Wife (my) Teyakenitero 13 Son (my) Iyeaha 14 Daughter (my) Keyeaha 15 Brother (my) Akyatatekeaha 16 Sister (my) Akyatatoseaha 17 An Indian Ongwehowe 18 Head Onontsi 19 Hair Ononkwis 20 Face Okonsa 2 1 Scalp Onora 22 Ear Ohonta 23 Eye, Okara 24 Nose Onyohsa 25 Mouth Jirasakaronte 26 Tongue Aweanaefhsa 27 Tooth Onawi 28 Beard Okeasteara 29 Neck , Onyara … Read more