The Iroquois; or, the bright side of Indian characterJohnson, Anna C. (Anna Cummings)
History
The Iroquois; or, the bright side of Indian character
Johnson, Anna C. (Anna Cummings)
Iroquois Indians -- Social life and customs
The Oneidas were the granite people, sprung from a stone, and they,
too, dwelt upon a hill, from which they could look far away through an
extensive and fertile valley, on the borders of Oneida lake. The stone
which was the rallying point of the people, is a great boulder,
differing in geological formation from any within a hundred miles. In
council, they came afterwards to be called the great tree people, from
some occurrence in a treaty beneath a big tree. The original Oneida
stone may be seen in the cemetery at Utica.
The first settlement of the Cayugas was at the foot of Cayuga lake, and
they were called the people at the mucky land. In council they were
called the great-pipe people. The tradition concerning them is
explanatory of all Indian names. The ideal was seldom understood by
those who interpreted them. When it is said, the man of this nation
whose voice was first heard in council, was in the habit of smoking a
great pipe, it is true, but conveys nothing to us, that it conveys to
the Indians. When the chiefs and sachems were all seated in the council
chamber, they commenced smoking, filling their pipes anew when a speech
was about to be made, that they might listen without interruption. The
Cayuga had a large pipe, so that his tobacco lasted longer than that of
others, and he could, therefore, longer attend, and was better able to
concentrate his thoughts; to say he was the great-pipe man, was the
same as saying he was more thoughtful, and listening more attentively,
he was better able to judge.
The device of the Mohawks was a flint and steel, because they first
proposed the formation of the league, and struck the first council
fire. In Council they were called Da-de-o-ga, the people of the two
policies, because a portion were in favor of the league, and a portion
were not.
The Senecas being at the door, were called the first fire; the Cayugas,
the second; and those next in order, the third and fourth, on to the
Mohawks, who were the fifth. As they had no cisterns or wells, they
built their habitations upon the borders of the rivers, near bubbling
springs, and on the shores of lakes. The boundaries between the
different nations were distinctly defined, and in their hunting
excursions they confined themselves to their own territory, whilst
within the limits under the jurisdiction of the league, but without
their united borders, they roamed unrestrained, and all had equal
liberty on the soil of their enemies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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