Indians of North America -- Ohio; Mounds -- Ohio; Ohio -- Antiquities
The war which was carried on with this nation lasted many years,
during which the Lenape lost a great number of their warriors,
while the Mengwe would always hang back in the rear leaving them
to face the enemy. In the end the conquerors divided the country
between themselves. The Mengwe made choice of the lands in the
vicinity of the great lakes and on their tributary streams, and
the Lenape took possession of the country to the south. For a long
period of time, some say many hundred years, the two nations
resided peacefully in this country and increased very fast. Some
of their most enterprising huntsmen and warriors crossed the great
swamps, and falling on streams running to the eastward followed
them down to the great bay river (meaning the Susquehanna, which
they call the great bay river from where the west branch falls
into the main stream), thence into the bay itself, which we call
Chesapeake. As they pursued their travels, partly by land and
partly by water, sometimes near and at other times on the great
salt-water lake, as they call the sea, they discovered the great
river which we call the Delaware.
This quotation, although not the entire tradition as given by
Heckewelder, will suffice for the present purpose.
The traces of the name of these mound-builders, which are still
preserved in the name "Allegheny," applied to a river and the
mountains of Pennsylvania, and the fact that the Delawares down to
the time Heckewelder composed his work called the Allegheny River
"Allegewi Sipu," or river of the Allegewi, furnish evidence that
there is at least a vein of truth in this tradition. If it has any
foundation in fact there must have been a people to whom the name
"Tallegwi" [Footnote: There appears to be no real foundation for
the name Allegewi, this form being a mere supposition of Colonel
Gibson, suggested by the name the Lenape applied to the Allegheny
River and Mountains.] was applied, for on this the whole tradition
hangs. Who were they? In what tribe and by what name shall we
identify them? That they were mound-builders is positively
asserted, and the writer explains what he means by referring to
certain mounds and inclosures, which are well known at the present
day, which he says the Indians informed him were built by this
people.
It is all-important to bear in mind the fact that when this
tradition was first made known, and the mounds mentioned were
attributed to this people, these ancient works were almost unknown
to the investigating minds of the country. This forbids the
supposition that the tradition was warped or shaped to fit a
theory in regard to the origin of these antiquities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account