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
I have said that the Tuscaroras never had the inclination of cutting off
the first colonies, and if that were their desire, how readily would they
have excepted the advice of President Thomas Carey, through one of his
counsel--Edward Porter--in the year 1710, of which you will find in
Martin's History of North Carolina a difficulty between Gov. Hyde and the
above, to-wit: "Before any relief could be sent he attempted the landing
of some of his men under fire of his brig, but they were repulsed by the
militia of the neighborhood, which Gov. Hyde had time to collect. They
returned on board, and their Chief sought a safe retreat in the swamps of
the Tar river, where he raised his standard and endeavored to bring the
Tuscarora Indians into an alliance. For this purpose he dispatched to
them Edward Porter, one of his counsel, who endeavored by promises of
great rewards to induce them to cut off all the inhabitants of that part
of the province who adhered to Gov. Hyde. This was acceded to by some of
his young warriors, but when the matter was debated in council the old
men dissuaded them from listening to Porter."
Now, did not some of Carey's men go afterwards to some of the neighboring
Indian nations and induced them, in the year 1710, to commit the
massacre?
I suppose to the critical reader, and to the people generally, my writing
will appear to them fictitious, because of their first impression, which
has been taught them by many historians. Historians generally have given
only one side of the story, and have avoided, as much as possible, to
give the history of the wrongs done to the Tuscaroras, but they are very
scrupulous to preserve the history of the capture of Lawson, his
execution and of the massacre, which they allege to have been committed
by the Tuscaroras, and are styled by many as being inimical, haughty,
jealous, warlike bloodhounds, bloodthirsty and scarcely to be human.
These are the first impressions made by the historians upon the mind of
the world. I suppose, for the purpose of getting a general verdict, that
it was right; that they were crushed as a nation, their domain snatched
from them, driven into the cold world, and not a word has been written by
historians, or the Tuscaroras themselves, to vindicate their cause.
But with all the great tide of prejudiced feelings towards the
Tuscaroras, I have ventured to write their history as I have received it,
and think it to be true.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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