A biography of the great Red Jacket or Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, Keeper awake. This manuscript’s intent is to further William Stones “Life and Times of Red Jacket” by providing a more succinct biography of Red Jacket.
Expedition under General Harmar
Taking of Fort Erie
Early Struggles of Red Jacket
Rising up from the obscurity of the past, we find a people, singular in their habits and character, whose history has been strangely, and in some respects sadly interwoven with our own. They were the original occupants of the soil, claiming to have lived here always, and to have grown out of the soil like the trees of the forest. Scattered over this continent were various Indian tribes, resembling each other in their general features and habits, but in some instances exhibiting stronger and more interesting traits of character than the others. Among these were the Iroquois, and if Red … Read more
Council at Canawangus
Not long after the large sale of their domain to Robert Morris, which had been negotiated at Big Tree, the Seneca began to realize that they had committed a great mistake. The broad lands, mountain, hill, and valley, over which they had roamed, the springs and streams of water by whose side they had been wont to encamp, and above all the graves of their sires, where affection’s altar had been hallowed by their sighs and tears, these were still in view, but they appeared not as in days gone by, to wear for them the smiles of old and … Read more
Views at the Close of Life
General Character of Six Nations or Iroquois
Before the discovery, by Columbus, the Tuscarora consisted of six towns, and they were a powerful nation, numbering over twelve hundred warriors, which, at a ratio according to the rule of estimating, would bring them at about five or six thousand souls. The Tuscarora had many years of enjoyment and peaceful possession of their domain, consisting of six towns on the Roanoke, Neuse, Taw and Pemlico rivers, in the State of North Carolina. And they were also confederated to six other nations, which were the Coree, Mattamuskeet, Nottoway and the Bear River Tribe; the names of the other two nations … Read more
And also in the treaty of Feb. 8th, 1838, we find, in enumerating the several reasons for effecting a treaty at the above date, the following, commencing at line 20,928, in the Revision of Indian Treaties, viz: “as well as for the purpose of settling the long existing dispute between themselves, and the several tribes of the New York Indians, who claim to have purchased a portion of their lands, the undersigned, Chiefs and head men of the Menomonee tribe, stipulate and agree with the United States as follows: Article I. The Menomonee tribe of Indians declare themselves the friend … Read more
About the year 1800, a new religion was introduced among the Six Nations, who alleged to have received a revelation from the Great Spirit, with a commission to preach to them the new doctrine in which he was instructed. This revelation was received in circumstances so remarkable and the precepts which he sought to inculcate, contained in themselves such evidences of wisdom and beneficence, that he was universally received among them, not only as a wise and good man, but as one commissioned by the Great Spirit to become their religious teacher, by the name of Ga-ne-o-di-yo , or “Handsomelake.” … Read more
For the earlier part of the history of school operations among the Tuscarora Indians, I can do no better than to give the report of Rev. John Elliot to the Secretary of War, in the year 1832, viz.: “To the Secretary of War : “This will show the operations of the schools from their organization in 1805, to September 30, 1832. “The first school among the Tuscarora was taught by Rev. Mr. Homes, the first missionary. This, according to the best information, was in 1805. What amount has been expended, either from the fund of the society or by the … Read more
“In the town of Cambria, six miles west of Lockport, a Mr. Hammon, who was employed with his boy in hoeing corn, in 1824, observed some bones of a child, exhumed. No farther thought was bestowed upon the subject for a time, for the plain of the Ridge was supposed to have been the site of an Indian village, and this was supposed to be the remains of some child who had been recently buried there. Eli Bruce, hearing of the circumstance, proposed to Mr. Hammon that they should repair to the spot, with suitable instruments, and endeavor to find some … Read more
“An act concerning the lands formerly occupied by the Tuscarora tribe of Indians lying in Bertie County, on the north side of Roanoke river. “Whereas the Tuscarora Indians have for more than a century been the firm and un-dividing friends of the white people of this country, insomuch that the people of North Carolina not only render to them full and complete Justice, but also to exercise towards them that spirit of generosity which their conduct has merited: Therefore, Article I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and is hereby enacted by the … Read more
About the year 1800 a new religion was introduced among the Six Nations, the exponent of which alleged to have received a revelation from the Great Spirit, with a commission to preach to them the new doctrine in which he was instructed. This revelation was received in circumstances so remarkable, and the precepts he sought to inculcate contained in themselves such evidences of wisdom and beneficence that he was universally received among them, not only as a wise and good man, but as one commissioned by the Great Spirit to become their religious teacher. The new religion, as it has … Read more
In the year of 1850 there was another school house built by the natives under the proposition of Miss Mary J. F. Thayer. I have here a brief history of her labors among the Tuscarora, from her own writings, which is very interesting, to wit: At the invitation of Rev. G. Rockwood (then the ordained missionary at Tuscarora) Miss M. J. F. Thayer commenced her labors among the Tuscarora as teacher on April 30, 1849, in the old school-house opposite Mr. Rockwood’s house, receiving from the American Board one dollar and fifty cents per week, besides her board. There were … Read more
The Captivity of Mary Jemison tells the story of Mary, taken captive by the Shawnee in 1755 and sold to the Seneca among whom she lived for almost 80 years. The story of Mary is like many other captivity stories, where the young captive is kept alive and sold into another tribe to replace a son or daughter who had died. Mary’s case was not common in the fact that when, after the death of her first husband, she was given a chance of freedom and returning to her white family, she chose instead to remain with the Seneca.
We again hear of the Tuscarora by history, concerning a massacre of the German Flats, N. Y., in November, 1757. A narrative communicated to the author of the Documentary History of New York, vol. 2, page 520, viz: A few days after this massacre and desolation had been perpetrated, Sir William Johnson dispatched Geo. Croghan, Esq., Deputy Agent, with Mr. Montour, the Indian interpreter, to the German Flats, where he understood several of the Oneida and Tuscarora Indians were assembled, in order to call upon them to explain why they had not given more timely notice to the Germans of … Read more
