Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora IndiansJohnson, Elias
History
Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians
Johnson, Elias
Iroquois Indians; Tuscarora Indians
"The four messengers further said to Handsomelake that they were fearful
that unless the people repent and obey his consmands, the forbearance and
patience of the Creator would be exhausted; that He would grow angry
with them and cause their increase to cease.
"Our Creator, made light and darkness; He made the sun to heat and
shine over the world; He made the moon, also, to shine by night and to
cool the world, if the sun make it too hot by day. The keeper of the
clouds, by direction of the Great Spirit, will then cease to act. The
keeper of the springs and running brooks will cease to rule them for the
good of man. The sun will cease to fulfil its office. Total darkness will
then cover the earth. A great smoke will rise and spread over the face of
the earth. Then will come out of it all monsters and poisonous animals
created by the evil-minded, and they, with the wicked upon the earth,
will perish together.
"But before this dreadful time shall come, the Great Spirit will take
home to Himself all the good and faithful. They will lay themselves down
to sleep, and from this sleep of death they will arise and go home to
their Creator. Thus they said.
"I have done. I close thus, that you may remember and understand the fate
which awaits the earth, the unfaithful and the unbelieving. Our Creator
looks down upon us. The four Beings from above see us. They witness with
pleasure this assemblage, and rejoice at the object for which it is
gathered. It is now forty-eight years since we first began to listen to
the renewed will of our Creator. I have been unable, during the time
alloted to me, to rehearse all the savings of Ga-ne-o-di-yo
(Handsomelake); I regret very much that you cannot hear them all.
"Counselors, warriors, women and children, I have done. I thank you all
for your attendance, and for your kind and patient attention. May the
Great Spirit, who rules all things, watch over and protect you from every
harm and danger while you travel the journey of life. May the Great
Spirit bless all, and bestow upon you life health, peace and prosperity:
and may you in turn appreciate His great goodness. This is all."
Sketches of an Iroquois Council, or Condolence.
In giving the description of the condolence, I have chosen the following
writings of Mr. G. S. Riley, of Rochester, to-wit:
A grand council of the confederate Iroquois was held Octobcr 1, 1845, at
the Indian councilhouse, on the Tonawanda reservation, in the county of
Genesee. Its proceedings occupied three days. It embraced representatives
from all the six nations--the Mohawk, the Onondaga, the Seneca, the
Oneida, the Cayuga, and the Tuscarora. It is the only one of the kind
which has been held for a number of years, and is probably the last which
will ever be assembled with a full representation of the confederate
nations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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