.EBSTVOfC ' 31822022597959 02259 7959 'l 822 E. qof ,53 Social Sciences & Humanities Library University of California, San Diego Please Note: This item is subject to recall. Date Due MAY o 9 REV. ASHER WRIGHT. OUR LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS INDIANS MRS. HARRIET S. CASWELL If I live, this accursed system of robbery and shame in our treatment of the Indians shall be reformed. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. BOSTON AND CHICAGO (Congregational Sunoag=Srf)ooI anfc 13ufalisf)tng .Society COPYRIGHT. 1802, BY CONGREGATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY. to ant ta JWentoa PREFACE. FEW hours' ride from the nearest railroad station in a A wagon not the easiest, over a road not the smoothest, meeting with narrow escapes as to mud holes and deep ruts, and you will find yourself upon the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. You might as well be west of the Rocky Mountains for any indica- tions of the pale face that you see here. Indians in the homes, on on the chil- the roads, working farms, and building houses ; Indian ball dren with clubs, snow snakes, and arrows ; Indian babies upon of their in the backs mothers ; Indian corn bread boiling the kettles the trees Indians under ; here, there, and everywhere. The straight black hair and shining black eyes that mark the race everywhere meet you here. You hear the curious intonations of the strange language all about you, and yet you are only thirty miles south of Buffalo and five hundred miles from New York City. As you ride through the Reservation you note many farms of which Indian owners may well be proud and others of which they should be ashamed. You will see corn, wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, and other products of the farm in better condition than those of the neigh- boring white man; and you will see the crops of others sadly choked with weeds and perishing for want of care. The owners of these last expect to live next winter upon the corn and beans and potatoes of their more industrious neighbors. "Would that for white man and for Indian the ancient law might be enforced, " If a man will not work, neither shall he eat." A few years ago the old Mission church was rapidly falling into decay. Now you hear the progressive sound of the hammer and saw. This church building, which the Indians are repairing with vi LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. their own hands, was. erected thirty-five years ago through the efforts of Father Gleason. Have this people been taught the trade of the carpenter, the mason, the paper hanger? No. And yet they can design and build a house, plaster and paint it, and when out of repair make it over as good as new. This Mission church is the prettiest church in this part of the country. The walls have been delicately tinted and ornamented, the pulpit and seats re- modeled, and this, with the painting and other repairs, has all been " done by Indians. The only exception is the graining," which was the work of a white man, who, having once plied his trade in plain sight of those sharp eyes, will never more be needed in Indian laud. Why are Indians of all tribes natural mechanics? How is it that they use all trades without instruction in any? What a blessed movement in Indian affairs is this experiment in indus- trial education now carried on at Hampton, Carlisle, Santee, and at Lawrence, Kansas ! You decide to spend the Sabbath. It proves to be the rededica- tion of the newly repaired church. It is a highly satisfied looking congregation that fills the freshly painted seats. The remodeled pulpit is occupied by the missionary and his Indian interpreter. Upon the same platform a fine choir of young men give us musical selections accompanied by the cornet played by one of the Indian brass band. The cabinet organ is admirably managed by an Indian maiden. The music is soul-inspiring. The sermon upon " the text, The glory of the Lord filled the temple," describes the experience of the Israelites under similar circumstances. The preacher believes that the time has come when this Indian church, having fulfilled the conditions, may expect the glorious experience of the builders of old. The sermon is well adapted to their needs and very practical, especially when the hearers are exhorted not to defile the house of God by the use of tobacco within its sacred walls. The people bear this sharp thrust at their favorite weed with their usual dignified composure. PREFACE. vii Having lifted the curtain a moment to take a glance at the present condition of these Indians, let us turn back to the begin- ning of a life which for more than half a century is to be closely interwoven with every dark thread and every bright thread of their history. INTRODUCTION. " WHIPPLE says : The Indian is not an idolater. BISHOPHis universe is peopled with spirits. He recognizes the Great Spirit; he believes in a future life. I have never known one instance where the Indian was the first to violate plighted faith. Thirty years ago our Indian system was at its worst; it was a blunder and a crime. It established heathen almshouses to graduate savage paupers. In my boyhood a sainted mother taught me to defend the weak. I believed that these wandering red men were children of one God and Father and that he loved them as he loved us. I vowed that, God being my helper, I would never turn my back on the heathen at my door. I have tried to keep this vow." However stolid and impassive an Indian may look, do not assume that he is stupid. While Bishop Whipple was visiting an Indian mission, the people were holding a scalp dance quite near. The bishop was indignant. He went to the head chief and said : " ask for a I Wabasha, you me missionary ; give him to you. I visit you, and the first sight is this brutal scalp dance. I knew the have murdered. a wife man whom you He had and children ; his wife is crying for her husband, his children are asking for their father. Wabasha, the Great Spirit hears his children cry. He is ' angry. Some day he will ask, Wabasha, where is your red brother?'" The old chief smiled, drew his pipe from his mouth, blew a cloud of smoke upward, and said: " White man go to war with his own brother in the same coun- try; he kill more men than Wabasha can count in all his life. ix x LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. Great Spirit smiles and says, 'He good white man; he has my I have for him Book ; I love him very much ; good place by-and- is he has no He kill by.' The Indian a wild man ; Spirit-Book. one man; he have a scalp dance; Great Spirit is mad, and says, ' Bad Indian ! I will put him in a bad place by-and-by.' Wabasha don't believe it." No, the Indian is not stupid. He is keenly observant, and quick to note absurdity in an argument or inconsistency in a life. He has his opinions upon the problems of the day, and when you get at his thought you are startled at its relevancy. This statement will, I think, be verified in these glimpses of our everyday life among the Senecas, and that which the Senecas have told me about the Iroquois in general. I have been urged to publish these reminiscences as a tribute to the rare ability and devotion of two missionaries, and also to throw a side light upon the history and character of a fast-vanish- ing race. The Iroquois, long before the white man knew this country, had established his headquarters in New York State. He called it " " the Long House," and Lake Erie, the front door," was guarded by the Senecas. The Iroquois represented a powerful confederacy of six nations: the Senecas, Tuscaroras, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks. This last nation guarded the "rear " " door of the Long House," the Hudson River. The history of this curious confederacy told by an Indian as received from his ancestors will be read with peculiar interest. If this simple story of everyday life among the once formidable Iroquois open the eyes of any reader to brighter and hitherto un- appreciated phases of Indian character; if it incite a throb of in interest this unfortunate race; if the record of these heroic lives, willingly given for their redemption, shall inspire one young to Christian carry to the Indian the tidings of his divine inherit- ance, these pages will have accomplished their purpose. CONTENTS. PAGE I. THE CHILD: Adoption. The Little Eunaway. A Child Prayer Meeting. The Sampler ... 3 II. THE MAIDEN : Boarding School. Essays. Teaching School. Local Catechism. A New Correspondent. The Unseen Lover ... 9 III. THE BRIDE: The Wedding Journey. Old Log Mission House. Reception by the Indians. The Gift of Tongues. Missionary Diet . .21 IV. THE YOUNG MISSIONARY. The Horse and Saddle- bags. "Miss Bishop! he can't mad!" Deacon Fish Hook's Opinion. The Cholera. Translating the Scriptures. The Mission Church. "White Man's Bread." The Light of the Mission. The First Letter. Experiences 27 V. THE FOSTER MOTHER : Catherine King. Martha Hoyt. Asher Wright Two-Guns. Louisa Jones. Henry Morrison. Phinie Sheldon . .35 VI. VISIT TO VERMONT: The Canal Boat. Indian Children. The Inverted Album .... 46 VII. WHITE CAPTIVES: Old White Chief. Mary Jemison. The Old Indian Burial Ground . 51 xii LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. PAGE VIII.