Part 18 (2/2)
They raged at each other with such violence that their tongues and eyes ran out so far they could neither see nor speak. This, said they, is the punishment of quarrelsome and disputing husbands and wives. Let such also take warning, and lie together in peace and harmony. Next he called up a woman who had been a witch. First he plunged her into a caldron of boiling liquid. In her cries of distress she begged the evil-minded to give her some cooler place. He then immersed her into one containing liquid at the point of freezing. Her cries were then that she was too cold. This woman, said the four messengers, shall always be tormented in this manner. He proceeded to mention the punishment which awaits all those who cruelly ill-treat their wives. The evil-minded next called up a man who had been accustomed to beat his wife. Having led him up to a red- hot statue of a woman, he directed him to do that which he was fond of while upon earth. He obeyed, and struck the figure. The sparks flew in every direction, and by the contact his arm was consumed. Such is the punishment, they said, awaiting those who ill-treat their wives. From this take seasonable warning. He looked again and saw a woman, whose arms and hands were nothing but bones. She had sold firewater to the Indians, and the flesh was eaten from her hands and arms. This, they said, would be the fate of rum-sellers. Again he looked, and in one apartment saw and recognized Ho-ne-ya-wus (farmer's brother), his former friend. He was engaged in removing a heap of sand, grain by grain, and although he labored continually, yet the heap was not diminished. This, they said, was the punishment of those who sold land. Adjacent to the house of torment was a field of corn filled with weeds. He saw a woman in the act of cutting them down, but as fast as this was done they grew up again. This, they said, was the punishment of lazy women. It would be proper and right, had we time, to tell more of this place of punishment, but my time is limited and must pa.s.s to other things.
”The Creator made men dependent upon each other. He made them sociable beings: therefore, when your neighbors visit you set food before them. If it be your next door neighbor, you must give him to eat. He will partake and thank you.”
”Again they said, 'You must not steal.' Should you want for anything necessary, you have only to tell your wants and they will be supplied.
This is right. Let none ever steal anything. Children are often tempted to take things home which do not belong to them. Let parents instruct their children in this rule.
”Many of our people live to a very old age. Your Creator says that your deportment toward them must be that of reverence and affection. They have seen and felt much of the miseries and pains of earth. Be always kind to them when old and helpless. Wash their hands and face and nurse them with care. This is the will of the Great Spirit.
”It has been the custom among us to mourn for the dead one year. This custom is wrong. As it causes the death of many children, it must be abandoned. Ten days mourn for the dead, and not longer. When one dies, it is right and proper to make an address over the body, telling how much you loved the deceased. Great respect for the dead must be observed among us.
”At another time the four messengers said to Handsomelake that they would show him the destroyer of Villages (Was.h.i.+ngton), of whom you have so often heard. Upon the road leading to heaven he could see a light, far away in the distance, moving to and fro. Its brightness far exceeded the brilliancy of the noonday sun. They told him the journey was as follows: First they came to a cold spring, which was a resting place; from this point they proceeded into pleasant fairy grounds, which spread away in every direction: soon they reached heaven; the light was dazzling: berries of every description grew in vast abundance: the size and quality were such that a single berry was more than sufficient to appease the appet.i.te: a sweet fragrance perfumed the air; fruits of every kind met the eye. The inmates of this celestial abode spent their time in amus.e.m.e.nt and repose. No evil could enter there. None in heaven ever transgress again: families are reunited and dwell together in harmony: they possessed a bodily form, the senses and the remembrance of earthly life; but no white man ever enters heaven. Thus they said. He looked and saw an inclosure upon a plain, just without the entrance of heaven.
Within it was a fort. Here he saw the 'destroyer of villages,' walking to and fro within the inclosure. His countenance indicated a great and good man. They said to Handsomelake, 'The man you see is the only pale face that ever left the earth; he was kind to you when on the settlement of the great difficulty between the Americans and the Great Crown (Great Britain), you were abandoned to the mercy of your enemies. The Crown told the great American that as for his allies, the Indians, he might kill them if he liked. The great American judged that this would be cruel and unjust; he believed they were made by the Great Spirit, and were ent.i.tled to the enjoyments of life; he was kind to you and extended over you his protection: for this reason he has been allowed to leave the earth. But he is never permitted to go into the presence of the Great Spirit.
Although alone, he is perfectly happy. All faithful Indians pa.s.s by him as they go to heaven. They see him and recognize him, but pa.s.s on in silence. No words ever pa.s.s his lips.
”Frieads and relatives, it was by the influence of this great man that we were spared as a people, and yet live. Had he not granted as his protection, where would we have been? Perished--all perished.
”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 s.h.i.+ne over the world; He made the moon, also, to s.h.i.+ne 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 a.s.semblage, 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 rehea.r.s.e 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 a.s.sembled with a full representation of the confederate nations.
The Indians from abroad arrived at the council-grounds, or the immediate vicinity, two days previous, and one of the most interesting spectacles of the occasion was the entry of the different nations upon the domain and hospitality of the Senecas, on whose grounds the council was to be held. The representation of the Mohawks, coming as they did from Canada, was necessarily small. The Onondagas, with acting Todotahhoh, of the confederacy, and his two counselors, made an exceedingly creditable appearance. Nor was the array of the Tuscaroras, in point of numbers, at least, deficient in attractive and improving features.
We called upon and were presented to Black Smith, the most influential and authoritative of the Seneca sachems. He is about sixty years old, is somewhat portly, is easy enough in his manners, and is well disposed, and even kindly towards all who convinced him that they have no sinister designs in coming among his people.
Jemmy Johnson is the great high priest of the confederacy. Though now sixty-nine years old, he is yet an erect, fine-looking and energetic Indian, and is hospitable and intelligent. He is in possession of the medal presented by Was.h.i.+ngton to Red Jacket in 1792, which, among other things of interest, he showed us.
It would be imcompatible with the present purpose to describe all the interesting men who were a.s.sembled, among whom were Captain Frost, Messrs. Le Fort, Hill, John Jacket, Dr. Wilson and others. We spent much of the time during the week in conversation with the chiefs and most intelligent Indians of the different nations, and gleaned from them much information of the highest interest, in relation to the organization, government, laws, religion and customs of the people and characteristics of the great men of the old and once powerful confederacy. It is a singular fact, that the peculiar government and national characteristics of the Iroquois is a most interesting field of research and inquiry, which has never been very thoroughly, if at all, investigated, although the historic events which marked the proud career of the confederacy have been perseveringly sought and treasured up in the writings of Stone, Schoolcraft, Hosmer, Yates and others.
Many of the Indians speak English readily, but with the aid and interpretations of Mr. Ely S. Parker, a young Seneca of no ordinary degree of attainment in both scholars.h.i.+p and general inteligence, and who, with Le Fort, the Onondaga, is well versed in old Iroquois matters, we had no difficulty in conversing with any and all we chose to.
About midday on Wednesday, October 1, the council commenced. The ceremonies with which it was opened and conducted were certainly unique-- almost indescribable; and as its proceedings were in the Seneca tongue, they were in a great measure unintelligible, and in fact, profoundly mysterious to the pale faces. One of the chief objects for which the council had been convoked, was to fill two vacancies in the Sachems of the Senecas, which had been made by the death of the former inc.u.mbents; and preceding the installation of the candidates for the succession there was a general and dolorous lament for the deceased Sachems, the utterance of which, together with the repet.i.tion of the laws of the confederacy, the installation of the new Sachems, the impeachment and disposition of three unfaithful Sachems, the elevation of others in their stead, and the performance of the various ceremonies attendant upon these proceedings, consumed the princ.i.p.al part of the afternoon.
At the setting of the sun a bountiful repast, consisting of an innumerable number of rather formidable looking chunks of boiled fresh beef, and abundance of bread and succotash, was brought into the council house. The manner of saying grace on this occasion was indeed peculiar. A kettle being brought, hot and smoking from the fire, and placed in the center of the council house, there proceeded from a single person, in a high shrill key, a prolonged and monotonous sound, resembling that of the syllable _wah_ or _yah_. This was immediately followed by a responsive but protracted tone, the syllable _whe_ or _swe_, and this concluded grace. It was impossible not to be somewhat mirthfully affected at the first hearing of grace said in this novel manner. It is, however, pleasurable to reflect that the Indians recognize the duty of rendering thanks to the Divine Being in some formal way for the bounties and enjoyments which He bestows; and, were an Indian to attend a public feast among his pace faced brethren, he would be affected perhaps to a greater degree of marvel at witnessing a total neglect of this ceremony than we were at his singular way of performing it.
After supper commenced the dances. All day Tuesday and on Wednesday, up to the time that the places of the deceased Sachems had been filled, everything like undue joyfulness had been restrained. This was required by the respect customarily due to the distinguished dead. But now the bereaved Sachems being again filled, all were to give utterance of gladness and joy. A short speech by Capt. Frost, introductory to the enjoyments of the evening, was received with acclamatory approbation, and soon eighty or ninety of these sons and daughters of the forest--the old men and the young, the maidens and the matrons--were engaged in the dance. It was indeed a rare sight.
Only two varieties of dancing were introduced the first evening, the trotting dance and the fish dance. The figures of either are exceedingly simple, and but slightly different from each other. In the first named, the dancers all move round a circle in a single file, keeping time in a sort of trotting step to an Indian song of yo-ho-ha, or yo-ho-ha-ha-ho, as sung by the leader, or occasionally by all conjoined. In the other, there is the same movement in single file round a circle, but every two persons, a man and a woman, or two men, face each other, the one moving forward, the other backward, and all keeping step to the music of the singers, who are now, however, aided by a a couple of tortoise or turtle sh.e.l.l rattlers, or an aboriginal drum. At regular intervals there is a sort of cadence in the music, during which a change of position by all the couples takes place, the one who had been moving backward taking the place of the one moving forward, when all again move onward, one-half of the whole, of course, being obliged to follow on by dancing backwards.
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