Book of Mormon Evidence

I love the Iroquois Nation and I especially love the Onondaga Tribe of whom Zelph was a member. Zelph’s prophet during the time frame of the Book of Mormon was Onondagus according to the Joseph Smith Papers here. With my love of the Prophet Joseph Smith and of Zelph, I call the Onondaga Nation, Joseph Smith’s Lamanites. 

You may remember about the Founding Fathers that appeared to Wilford Woodruff in the St George Temple asking for baptism? Just one week later 85 Famous Indian Chiefs were also baptized in the St. George Temple on Aug 29, 1877. Of the 85 total, 74 were of the Iroquois Nation and 11 were from the Algonquian Nation of North America. See Blog here.

There is a belief that the Iroquois Nation played an important role in the life of Joseph Smith. He lived in an area with many Iroquois chiefs and may have even met many of these great men. Ganargua Creek (Mud Creek) was a primary stopover point for the Iroquois on their trade routes.  Joseph Smith also had an interest in the creek after hearing a speech from Seneca Indian Chief Red Jacket at Palmyra in 1822.

Many historians believe that Iroquoian ideas of federalism, and balance of power directly influenced the US system of government. Benjamin Franklin admired native American government structures. In 1744, Canassatego advocated in Washington the federal union of the American colonies. See Here

The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy and became known as the Six Nations.

“The Onondagas: These have special interest… this warrior, Zelph, was an Onondaga, as well as a “white” Lamanite, and that the Onondagas (of New York), consequently must be of Lamanite lineage.” J.M. Sjodahl, An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon

“Contrary, then, to widespread assumptions during Joseph Smith’s lifetime that the Onondaga migrated to the New York region, it becomes clear that they originated here as a small, narrowly localized amalgamation of a few villages near Onondaga Lake, during the century before Columbus’ discovery of America” Beauchamp’s Aboriginal Place Names of New York;

“How America Was Discovered is a story told by Handsome Lake (Seneca Prophet), and documented by Arthur C. Parker, about a young minister who meets the one he perceives to be the Lord, who then asks him to go to a new land and bring with him cards, money, a fiddle, whiskey, and blood corruption. In return the young minister will become rich. The young minister sought out Christopher Columbus, and with the help of his crew, traveled to the Americas. They turned back to report what they had seen, which caused an immigration of people from Europe to the Americas. Along with the people came the five things that aided in destroying the natives. The end reveals that the “Lord” in the gold castle was actually the devil, and that even he knew what he had caused was wrong.” Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto

The Onondaga at the great white pine tree in Syracuse NY on the shores of Onondaga Lake is where the message of peace was planted and the hatchets were buried. Similarly, the Lamanites , “…buried the weapons of war, for peace.” Alma 24:19 Article here:

When serving as Mission President to the Seminole Indians in Central Florida, Murray J. Rawson was teaching a group of the tribe about the Book of Mormon when he was interrupted by their Chief, saying: “We had a war long ago with a light skinned people around the Great Lakes. We conquered them but we had so much respect for their warrior chief that we buried him at the mouth of the Oswego River that is in New York State. We don’t discuss this very much because it is an embarrassment to us. President Rawson then asked why this is an embarrassment, and the Chief replied, “ Our history is written on metal plates and buried in a hill in New York, but we don’t know which hill!” (Talk given to missionaries in training at the MTC, Provo, Utah 1979, by President Murray J. Rawson). https://bookofmormonevidence.org/cherokee-temple-ordinances-2/

Iroquois Treaties

1613 Two Row Wampum or Tawagonshi Agreement (Dutch and French)
1677 Covenant Chain Treaty (English)
1784 The Treaty of Fort Stanwix between the United States and Native Americans. Rome, New York
1788 Phelps & Gorham Purchase with the Iroquois for lands in New York State east of the Genesee River
1794 Treaty of Canandaigua affirming lands rights in New York State east of the Genesee River
1797 Treaty of Big Tree with the Iroquois for lands in New York State west of the Genesee River

The Iroquois have absorbed many other peoples into their tribes as a result of warfare, adoption of captives, and by offering shelter to displaced peoples. Culturally all are considered members of the clans and tribes into which they are adopted by families.

The historic St. Lawrence Iroquoians, Wyandot (Huron), Erie, and Susquehannock, all independent peoples, also spoke Iroquoian languages. In the larger sense of linguistic families, they are often considered Iroquoian peoples because of their similar languages and cultures, all culturally and linguistically descended from the Proto-Iroquoian people and language; however, they were traditionally enemies of the nations in the Iroquois League.[2] In addition, Cherokee is an Iroquoian language. The Cherokee people are believed to have migrated south from the Great Lakes area in ancient times, settling in the backcountry of the Southeast United States, including what is now Tennessee.

This blog will be in two parts below. First I will speak about the Onondaga Nation from an LDS perspective. In other words, I will share with you things about the tribe that would be interesting to most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In part two, I will speak mostly from a generic point of view. In other words tell you facts and history about the tribe from a non religious point of view.

Part 1: Onondaga Nation From an LDS Perspective:

“Note: It was in a vision by the “Spirit of the Almighty” that Joseph Smith learned who Zelph was, his role in the great extermination battle at Hill Cumorah, the “last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites (Mormon 6:9-15, 8:2-3), how he died and the geography he was associated with, “serving under Onandaga who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky mountains. He was killed in battle by the arrow found among his ribs, during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites.” This information did not come from Joseph Smith’s imagination, it was not his opinion, he said it came from God. J.M. Sjodahl made the following conclusion on the Zelph Mound in his book on Book of Mormon geography The Onondagas: These have special interest… It appears from this, that this warrior, Zelph, was an Onondaga, as well as a “white” Lamanite, and that the Onondagas [of New York], consequently must be of Lamanite lineage. It also appears that at least some of the mounds in the Ohio Valley were erected by the descendants of Lehi” (J.M. Sjodahl, An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon 1927, 266-67).

He Walked the Americas by L. Taylor Hanson (Book Purchase Here)

Author L. Taylor Hansen wrote intriguingly of a site in New York State: “On the authority of some older inhabitants of Onondaga, it is stated that on a ledge of rocks, about a mile south of Jamesville, (Near Syracuse and Oneida Castle)is a place which used to be pointed out by the Indians as a spot where the Great Spirit once came down and sat and gave good advice to the chiefs of Onondagas. That there are the prints of his hands and his feet, left in the rocks, still to be seen. In the former years the Onondagas used annually to offer, at this place, tobacco and pipes, and to burn tobacco and herbs as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit, to conciliate his favor and which was a means of preventing diseases. From the different accounts and Joseph’s own written testimony, we may at least conclude that Zelph was a descendent of Book of Mormon people, and that he died in battle in northern America. His remains were interred atop one of the mounds made by ancient North American people. Joseph attributed some of these mounds to the Nephites. The revelation which Joseph received concerning Zelph was poignant enough to convince Joseph that Zion’s camp had been traveling through Nephite territory, and that the remains they had handled were “proof” of the Book of Mormon’s divine authenticity. The “south countries”, south of Lake Erie, referred to by the Lord in Doctrine and Covenants 75:8, 17, are likely the same as the Nephite “south countries”. (Mormon 6:15; 8:2)

Perhaps the name Zelph is a masculine version of the Hebrew “zalaphah”, meaning “Raging Heat” – a fitting name for a zealous warrior. (Brown – Driver – Briggs – Gesenius Hebrew – Aramaic Lexicon, 2152, pg 273) The name of the great Onandagus (or Onendagus) mentioned by Joseph, sounds very similar to Onondaga, one of the five nations that composed the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Haudenosaunee means “the people of the long house”. These native peoples of New York are known to have built houses of timber. (Alma 19:17-18; 26:28-29) Another people of the Haudenosaunee are the Oneida, which is strikingly similar to the Book of Mormon place name “Onidah”. (Alma 32:4; 47:5) It is also likely no coincidence that the Lamanite title of deity, “Great Spirit” is a native North American appellation. (Alma 18:4-5)” Book of Mormon Covenant Lands According to the Best Sources By W. Vincent Coon

ANOTHER PROPHET OF THE ONONDAGA
THE ONONDAGA, by virtue of their geography, were in every sense the central tribe of the disproportionately powerful Iroquois League or Confederacy who, including the Mohawk and Oneida to the east, and the Cayuga and Seneca to the west, controlled much of present New York State for centuries. Onondaga was not only the capital of these “Five Nations” – the figurative “Great Council House,” but its people held tie-breaking power in confederacy votes, and are called the “firekeepers” of all the Iroquois to the present day. “The Iroquois Confederacy,” explains Dr. James A. Tuck, was originally composed of five nations which were drawn together in a league under the influence of Deganawidah, called the “Law Giver,” and Hiawatha, a reformed cannibal who persuaded the terrible wizard, Atotarho, a chief of the Onondagas, to bring his people into confederation thus completing the “longhouse” which ran from the Mohawk to the Genesee Rivers. In return for joining the Confederacy the Onondaga were made “Keepers of the Wampum,” a position which they continue to enjoy, and Atotarho was made the head chief of the League of the Five Nations, a position also held by an Onondaga sachem since the very beginning of the League. [Tuck, 5] Living so close as I do to the Onondaga Nation Territory (established following the American Revolution), I feel particularly inquisitive about one aspect of a well-documented incident that took place on Tuesday, June 3, 1834 while Joseph Smith and some two hundred followers comprising the bulk of “Zion’s Camp” were traveling incognito through central Illinois on their way to support beleaguered Mormons in western Missouri. The episode was evidently first recorded by my great, great-grandfather’s youngest brother, who wrote the following in his diary . . . Tuesday 3 [June 1834] visited the mounds. A skeleton was dug up . . . Joseph, said his name was Zelph a great warrior under the Prophet Omandagus. An arrow was found in his Ribs— His name was Zelph a warior under the Prophet Omandagus Zelph a white Laman[i]te . . . . . . Said he was a man of God and the curse was taken off or in part he was a white Lamanite /was known from the atlantic to the Rocky Mountains/ . . . [Reuben McBride diary, 3 June 1834, in Godfrey 1989, 34, citing “LDS Church Archives”] “Uncle Reub” was then but thirty years old (for a few more days) and a Mormon of just less than a year. He had been recruited personally in western New York that March by Joseph Smith, with others, as a volunteer “to go up to redeem” as Reuben’s granddaughter would tell it many years later. Her version of the curious excavation should probably be set down here . . . June 2, they crossed the Illinois River and camped on its banks. The following day three of the company visited the mounds. A skeleton was dug up. Joseph said his name was Naphi [sic], a great warrior under the Prophet Omandagus. An arrow was found in his ribs. Suffice it to say this caused his death.

Joseph Smith and crew had quite enjoyed themselves the previous Sabbath, just before the Zelph incident. They were particularly praised by local citizens who had come to hear “Squire Cook” and his fellow anonymous ministers preach (see MP 320, Pitts, The Gospel Witness), and I suspect that Joseph was feeling effusive that week. “During our travels,” Joseph is portrayed as writing in the official History of the Church, we visited several of the mounds which had been thrown up by the ancient inhabitants of this country—Nephites, Lamanites, etc., and this morning I went up on a high mound, near the river, accompanied by the brethren. From this mound we could overlook the tops of the trees and view the prairie on each side of the river as far as our vision could extend, and the scenery was truly delightful. On the top of the mound were stones which presented the appearance of three altars having been erected one above the other, according to the ancient order; and the remains of bones were strewn over the surface of the ground. The brethren procured a shovel and a hoe, and removing the earth to the depth of about one foot, discovered the skeleton of a man, almost entire, and between his ribs the stone point of a Lamanitish arrow, which evidently produced his death. Elder Burr Riggs retained the arrow. The contemplation of the scenery around us produced peculiar sensations in our bosoms: and subsequently the visions of the past being opened to my understanding by the Spirit of the Almighty, I discovered that the person whose skeleton was before us was a white Lamanite, a large, thick-set man, and a man of God. His name was Zelph. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet ONANDAGUS, who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea [p. 79 ends] to the Rocky mountains. The curse was taken from Zelph, or, at least, in part—one of his thigh bones was broken by a stone flung from a sling, while in battle, years before his death. He was killed in battle by the arrow found among his ribs, during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites. [HC 2:79-80, emphasis added]
“History of Reuben McBride Arranged by Mrs. Seraph Noyes Jackson, a Granddaughter,” in Belnap, 19. No further details of the incident, or background on this “History” by Mrs. Jackson, are given. However, she refers to him as “Grandfather,” and recalls a few rather particular details including the following: “He was the first man baptized for the dead in the font of the Temple of Nauvoo, and heard the exclamation from the lips of the prophet, “Blessed is he who is first baptized for the dead in this dispensation.” p. 21; cf. HC 4:454 (November 21, 1841), which does not identify the forty persons baptized in the font that first day. There were earlier baptisms for the dead “in this dispensation,” but not in the font. Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder page1125 “The location of this incident,” according to Stanley B. Kimball, “appears to have been what is now called the Naples-Russell Mound #8, about one mile south of present-day Valley City, Illinois, in a typical prehistoric Middle Woodland mortuary complex of the Hopewell culture.” (Stanley B. Kimball 1981, 31)

Joseph Smith’s seemingly Latinized adaptation of “Onondaga” recurs with various spellings in most of the accounts. (It reminds me of his Latin-sounding “Egyptus” name for a woman who “first discovered” the land of Egypt in Joseph’s Book of Abraham 1:23; 1835 or later.) “Onondaga” was a name that Joseph would have heard frequently in the Indian lore which B. H. Roberts felt must have influenced Joseph during his early days in Palmyra. For Roberts’ general comments, see MP 371 (Seaver, my pp. 1499-1500). Indeed, in order to reach Palmyra in company with Lucy Mack Smith and his siblings when they emigrated from Vermont, Joseph had to traverse the important township of Onondaga (Spafford, 372), through which the original Genesee and Seneca Turnpikes still run today; I cannot buy groceries or get a haircut without first crossing the pioneer path of young Joseph Smith.
Wilford Woodruff emphasized that Joseph learned about Zelph and “Onandagus” in a vision. “Three persons dug into the mound,” wrote Woodruff in his now-famous journal, & found a body. Elder Milton Holmes took the arrow out of the back bones that killed Zelph & brought it with some of the bones in to the camp. I visited the same mound with Jesse J Smith. Who the other persons were that dug in to the mound & found the body I am undecided. Brother Joseph had a vision respecting the person. He said he was a white Lamanite. The curs[e] was taken from him or at least in part. He was killed in battle with an arrow. The arrow was found among his ribs. One of his thigh bones was broken. This was done by a stone flung from a sling in battle years before his death. His name was Zelph. Some of his bones were brought into the Camp and the thigh bone which was broken was put into my waggon and I carried it to Missouri. Zelph was a large thick set man and a man of God. He was a warrior under the great prophet /Onandagus/ that was known from the hill Camorah /or east sea/ to the Rocky mountains. The above knowledge Joseph received in a vision. [Woodruff 1:10; “Onandagus” and “or east sea” added between the lines]

Notice how careful Woodruff was to preserve every detail. As late as 1879 (while hiding from federal authorities and speaking at Kanab, Utah Territory) he was still relating the story: “Joseph had a vision which showed him this mans name was Zelph who lived in the days of Onandagus (he was a Lamanite and was white), he was a great Warrior.” (The Journal of L. John Nuttall, entry for 1126 Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder March 9, 1879, describing “a circumstance” “related” by “Bro. W.” Copied from NMS CD-ROM; not verified against the original.)
“The longest and most detailed near-contemporaneous account” notes Kenneth W. Godfrey, “was written by Levi Hancock, later one of the Presidents of the Seventy.” I find it to be perhaps the most remarkable record of all: On the way to Illinois River where we camped on the west side in the morning, many went to see the big mound about a mile below the crossing, I did not go on it but saw some bones that was brought with a broken arrow, they was layed down by our camp Joseph addressed himself to Sylvester Smith, “This is what I told you and now I want to tell you that you may know what I meant; this land was called the land of desolation and Onondagus was the king and a good man was he, there in that mound did he bury his dead and did not dig holes as the people do now but they brought there dirt and covered them until you see they have raised it to be about one hundread feet high, the last man buried was Zelf, he was a white Lamanite who fought with the people of Onendagus for freedom, when he was young he was a great warrior and had his th[igh] broken and never was set, it knited together as you see on the side, he fought after it got strength untill he lost every tooth in his head save one when the Lord said he had done enough and suffered him to be killed by that arrow you took from his breast.” These words he said as the camp was moving of[f] the ground; as near as I could learn he had told them something about the mound and got them to go and see for themselves. I then remembered what he had said a few days before while passing many mounds on our way that was left of us; said he, “there are the bodies of wicked men who have died and are angry at us; if they can take the advantage of us they will, for if we live they will have no hope.” I could not comprehend it but supposed it was all right. [Levi Hancock diary, in Godfrey 1989, 37, citing “photocopy in LDS Church Archives”
“Most sources agree,” concludes Godfrey, that Zelph was a white Lamanite who fought under a leader named Onandagus (variously spelled). Beyond that, what Joseph said to his men is not entirely clear, judging by the variations in the available sources. Therefore, those who try to support a particular historical or geographical point of view about the Book of Mormon by citing the Zelph story are on inconclusive grounds. [Godfrey 1989, 47]

THE STORY OF ZELPH AND ONANDAGUS would be displayed as more conclusive by more LDS writers if only it were more faith-promoting. As it stands, however, if requires several levels of accommodation in terms of its ethnographic, archaeological, Book of Mormon-geographical, and now – as must become obvious in this entry – linguistic content. Judging from the early accounts, I will presume that Joseph Smith did not venture to spell the unusual names for the benefit of his hearers. The various renditions of the prophet/ leader’s name were Onandagus (the spelling given by Wilford Woodruff and the History of the Church), Onendagus (Levi Hancock), and Omandagus (Reuben McBride). Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder page 1127

LINGUISTIC ORIGINS OF “ONONDAGA” No matter how one spells this name, it strikes me as difficult to separate from that of the modern Native Americans representing the remnant of the Iroquois living at the center of New York State, the Onondaga (or, as people would have said in Joseph Smith’s environment, the “Onondagas”). To get some feel for how the Onondaga got their name, I will turn once again (as with Oneida, in MP 88 [Case]) to an undisputed authority: William Martin BEAUCHAMP (1830-1925), archaeologist and historian, “became, among white men, the greatest authority on the history and institutions of the Iroquois. In a sense he was the successor of Lewis Morgan in this field. His interest in the Indians . . . was increased by his friendship with Albert Cusick, an Onondaga in orders in the Episcopal Church. From him he received much valuable information. In 1904 he was himself adopted into the Eel Clan of the Onondaga as Wah-Kat-yu-ten, the “Beautiful Rainbow.” He was the author of many books and papers . . .” Beauchamp was an Episcopal priest, and lived nearly all his ninety-five years in Onondaga County. His father was a local printer who founded the Skaneateles Democrat in 1840, and William learned the love of writing from an early age. Some of his best work, nonetheless, was done after the age of seventy, and he was “one of the first (1897-1902) to discover Eskimo influence and culture in New York State dating from a very early period . . .” (—DAB). Beauchamp’s extensive papers and ethnographic photographs and drawings are preserved at the New York State Library in Albany (71 cubic feet, microfilmed in 1994 as an alternative format, 35 reels). Included in his collection are some seventy-five manuscripts or typescripts of Iroquois legends recorded by Dr. Arthur C. Parker.
The following analysis of “Onondaga,” perhaps the most authoritative summary available, is transcribed in its entirety below from Beauchamp’s Aboriginal Place Names of New York . . . On-on-da´-ga, on the mountain, and thence people of the mountain or great hill. To express people in full Ronon was formerly added. Among themselves the Indians now pronounce i[t] On-on-dah´-ka, but in talking to white people they usually give the long instead of the broad sound to the third vowel. The name was first known to the whites in 1634. The Relation of 1656 says that “Onontae´, or, as other[s] pronounce it, Onontagué, is the principal dwelling of the Onontaeronons.” In the Relation of 1658 is an explicit and correct definition: “The word Onnonta, which signifies a mountain in the Iroquois tongue, has given name to the town called Onnontae´, or, as others call it, Onnontaghé, because it is on a mountain, and the people who dwell there call themselves Onnontaeronnons from this, or Onnontagheronnons.” In his Essay of an Onondaga Grammar Zeisberger uses gachera for on or upon, and gives ononta for a hill, or mountain, and onontachera as upon the hill. The latter meaning he gives to onontacta. Spafford said: “Onondaga is purely an Indian word, signifying a swamp under or at the foot of a hill or mountain.” This is erroneous, but he added: “Onondagahara, a place between the hills. I wish the people of Onondaga Hollow would take a hint from this, and let their village be ‘Onondagahara,’ and that on the hill ‘Onondaga,’ the capital of the county of Onondaga.” In the earlier edition he said: “Onondaga on the authority of Mr [Beauchamp, p. 147 ends] Webster, interpreter to the Oneidas, signifies in the dialect of the Indians, a swamp under, or at the foot of a hill or mountain.” Mr Clark referred to this and made special inquiries about the word. He said: “From the best information we have attained we set it down as the ‘residence of the people of the hills,’ the word swamp having no connection with it.” The successive towns were at first on the hills near Limestone creek, but the name followed the later sites on lower lands. The Oneida and Oswego rivers once had this name, and Onondaga lake and creek retain it. O-nun-da´-ga, on the hills, is Morgan’s name for the creek. [Beauchamp, 147-48. The works by Spafford (Gazetteer of the State of New-York) and Clark, which Beauchamp cites above, can be identified in the Sources Cited list at the end of this Bibliographic Source. Beauchamp’s other references above are to “Relations des Jésuites. Quebec 1858,” “Zeisberger, David. Essay of an Onondaga Grammar. Pa. Mag. of Hist. & Biog. Phila. 1889,” and “Morgan, Lewis H. League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee, or Iroquois. Rochester 1851.”]

GEOGRAPHIC ORIGINS OF THE ONONDAGA

For centuries, the origins of the Iroquois, of which the Onondaga are the central tribal group or nation, were debated (described in Tuck, 11-18). Early theories contemplated, particularly, migrations into what is now the New York-centered region from points north, or even from the extreme West (suggested ca. 1901), beginning at Puget Sound and settling into agriculture-based villages in the Mississippi Valley. By the mid-twentieth century, however, advanced archaeological investigation and analysis had begun to favor an on-site theory, whereby the Iroquois culture developed from the earlier Owasco and collateral cultures in this very region. In 1971, Professor Tuck summarized the results of a series of Onondaga area excavation projects of 1965-67 designed to answer the question of Onondaga origins. The study included detailed identification of specifically differentiating, local artifact characteristics, along with “non-material” aspects such as the social, dietary and economic Onondaga traits which the artifacts, site locations and related ethnography displayed (Onondaga Iroquois Prehistory; A Study in Settlement Archaeology). A continuity of specific factors from Owasco to Iroquois communities, traced locally over many centuries, allowed Dr. Tuck to state, “beyond the slightest doubt that Onondaga Iroquois culture was, in fact, the result of a long in situ development in central New York.” (Tuck, 204, with extensive technical data and discussion). The Onondaga came together in the narrow area where they were found by the early European settlers, and where they are still centered today – in Onondaga County, New York. Tuck explains that, in the early fifteenth century [A.D.], a symbolic alliance between two communities was probably consummated for reasons of mutual defense. This can be interpreted as the founding of the Onondaga Nation, at least in an informal way. At what point a feeling of common identity or [Tuck, p. 215 ends] assumption of a common name came about cannot be said, but these things must not have been far behind the other developments indicated by the archaeological record. [Tuck, pp. 215-16] “Moreover, we . . . see,” notes Dr. Tuck, that there was nothing very mysterious about the development of Onondaga culture, and presumably all Iroquois culture as well, and that the Onondaga were simply one manifestation of a pattern of cultural development—including agriculture, stockaded villages, warfare, certain ceramic and other technological traits, and even [Tuck, p. 19 ends] tribal confederations—which was becoming widespread over the Northeast at the time of European exploration and colonization and whose roots lie much farther back in time than any migrationary theory will allow. Hence all but an in situ hypothesis of Iroquois origins must be finally set aside. [Tuck, 19, 21 (p. 20 is a diagram of site locations)] Contrary, then, to widespread assumptions during Joseph Smith’s lifetime that the Onondaga migrated to the New York region, it becomes clear that they originated here as a small, narrowly localized amalgamation of a few villages near Onondaga Lake, during the century before Columbus’ discovery of America. Significant among early Onondaga communities was the group whose antiquities around Pompey, New York, were discussed by DeWitt Clinton in MP 101.

Page 400 of Mormon Parallels below
CLINTON, De Witt. A MEMOIR ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE WESTERN PARTS OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, Read Before the Literary and Philosophical Society of New-York. By De Witt Clinton, President of the said Society. Albany: Printed by E. & E. Hosford, 100, State-Street, 1820. 21½ cm. 16 pp. The principal copy examined bore on page [3] a very old oval embossed stamp of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. It lacked the title page, for which another copy was examined. AI 793. NUC and OCLC show three or four different printings of this talk (1818, 1820, 1825) plus reprints in 1916 and 1970, all of which mention the subsequent reading of this paper before the Society. The title of the New York, 1825 edition (reprinting transactions of the Society) provides useful information: A Memoir on the Antiquities of the Western Parts of the State of New-York, Addressed to the Honourable Samuel L. Mitchill, a VicePresident of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York . . . by Dewitt Clinton . . . Read Before the Society November 13th, 1817 (adapted from OCLC). Dated at the end, “Albany October 7, 1817” (p. 16), this Memoir is interesting not only for its content, but also for its authorship and presentation.

In late 1811, De Witt CLINTON (1769-1828), while serving simultaneously as mayor of New York City and lieutenant governor of New York State, had presented a Discourse at the New York Historical Society (which he had helped to found in 1804) based on his travels in the region later known to Mormons as the old Nephite-Lamanite battlegrounds near Canandaigua and elsewhere; for discussion, see Vogel 1986, 26, 28-29, 63, 111. IMAGE AT RIGHT: Portrait of De Witt Clinton (Barber and Howe, frontispiece; engraved by Daggett, Hinman & Co.). Now newly installed as governor of the state (1817-21; 1825-28), Clinton here offers “A MEMOIR, On the Antiquities of the Western parts of the State of New-York, addressed to the Honourable SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, a Vice President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York, Professor of Natural History in the University of the State, &c. &c.” (caption title, p. [3]). It was this same Dr. Mitchill who in 1828 would direct Martin Harris, bearing the transcript of characters from the golden plates of the Book of Mormon, to meet Prof. Charles Anthon. For Mitchill’s letter to Clinton, presuming “. . . that America was the cradle of the human race,” see MP 338 (Priest, American Antiquities). Mitchill was so pleased with the present Memoir, apparently, that Clinton was invited to read it before the Literary and Philosophical Society in person, November 13, 1817. It is a brief but serious presentation of observations made on site by Clinton himself and by other individuals whose discoveries Clinton describes. While most of the text considers remnants of military and burial artifacts, the opening and closing portions emphasize Clinton’s main point, that civilizations more advanced than more recently-known Indians had previously flourished across New York State. In 1986, Dan Vogel presented a scholarly study of Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon, in which it became manifestly clear that Americans of the 1820s were acutely sensitized to this view of earlier, advanced civilizations who once lived upon their land. “In 1816,” wrote Vogel, the Philadelphia Port Folio reported that “it is a very general opinion, prevailing in the western country, that there is ample proof that the country in general was once inhabited by a civilized and agricultural people” who were eventually destroyed by the Indians. “Late in the nineteenth century,” Vogel added, the director of the Smithsonian’s Bureau of Ethnology, J. W. Powell, assessed the popularity of these beliefs which by that time had been superseded. “It is difficult to exaggerate the prevalence of this romantic fallacy, or the force with which the hypothetic ‘lost races’ had taken possession of the imaginations of men,” he wrote. “For more than a century the ghosts of a vanished nation have ambuscaded in the vast solitudes of the continent, and the forest-covered mounds have been usually regarded as the mysterious sepulchers of its kings and nobles.” [Vogel 1986, 64, 65, citing for the two quotes above, respectively, “Of the Aborigines of the Western Country,” pt. 1, Port Folio, fourth series, 1 (June 1816): 458-59; and J. W. Powell, ed., Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-1891 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1894), xlixlii.]

Mesoamerican Theory

CONTRAST THIS with prominent Book of Mormon defender John L. Sorenson’s disquieting notion that “Joseph Smith could not have known in 1830 from published books or his contemporaries that an ancient civilization had existed anywhere in the Americas. To all settlers of the western New York frontier, an ‘Indian’ was just a savage.” (Sorenson 2002, 262) On the contrary, much if not most of the supposed concrete evidence of advanced Native civilizations came to writers like Dr. Mitchill and Governor Clinton from local New York landowners who came upon deliciously intriguing artifacts and structural remains while plowing their fields, hiking through hills or digging wells. Indeed, we are warned in a note printed on the back of this pamphlet’s title page: “AS the progress of cultivation extinguishes the remains of antiquities mentioned in this memoir, the view of the writer, in publishing it, is to awaken enquiry to a subject of great importance, before the means of investigation are entirely lost.” (p. [2]).
Clinton presents a clear image of American battles of annihilation both before and following the arrival of European colonists. The battles are described as often having culminated in the destruction of previous, superior Native cultures which had taken final refuge in forts at the tops of hills, including the general region of the hill known to Mormons as Cumorah. The following extracts include summary selections from each of Clinton’s relevant examples: HAVING had some opportunities for personal observation and not a few for enquiry, I am induced to believe that the western parts of the United States were, prior to their discovery and occupation by Europeans, inhabited by numerous nations in a settled state and much further advanced in civilization than the present tribes of Indians. Perhaps it is not too much to say that they did not fall far short of the Mexicans and Peruvians when first visited by the Spaniards. [p. 4] The first area which Clinton describes is the township of Pompey (pronounced “POMP-ee,” in Onondaga County, central New York State): A town covering upwards of five hundred acres must have contained a population greatly transcending all our ideas of credibility . . . This town was on elevated ground, . . . and was well calculated for defence. . . . There are three old forts distant about eight miles from each other, and forming a triangle which encloses the town; . . . and they were, in all probability, erected to cover the town and to protect the inhab-[p. 5 ends]itants against the attacks of an enemy. . . . On the line of the north side, the town was probably stormed. There are graves on each side close to the precipice; sometimes five or six persons were thrown promiscuously into the same grave. If the invaders had been repulsed, the inhabitants would have interred the killed in the usual places; but from the circumstance of there being graves near the ravine and in the village, I am induced to believe that the town was taken. [pp. 5-6 (noting “gun barrels, axes, hoes and swords . . . all over these grounds . . .”] THE traditions of the Indians agree in some measure with the French relations. They represent that their [p. 8 ends] forefathers had several bloody battles with the French . . . There is a hill in Pompey, which the Indians will not visit, and which they call Bloody Hill. . . . The old fortifications were erected previous to European intercourse. The Indians are ignorant by whom they were made; and in the wars which took place in this country, it is probable that they were occupied as strong holds by the belligerents; and it is likely that the ruins of European works of a different construction may be found in the same way that Roman and British fortifications are to be seen in the vicinity of each other in Great Britain. It is remarkable that our ancient forts resemble the old British and Danish. [pp. 8-9] The Bloody Hill site (near my home, dated by modern archaeology to ca. 1420 A.D.) has been excavated carefully in modern times, yielding comparatively superior ceramic artifacts. Significantly more Native sites are now recognized in Pompey, beyond the few which Clinton knew or was able to visit. (Tuck, 104-119 et passim, with detailed analysis of relationships between various communities and time periods.) The hills are indeed high for this region, and offer calendar-scene vistas. I feel sorry for poor Ethan Smith, in his seventies, traversing the steep inclines of Pompey Hill and having to bury his wife Bathsheba during the brief period while he was the Congregational pastor here, 1834-35; for background, see MP 392 (Ethan Smith, The Blessing of Abraham Come on the Gentiles . . . ) The selection which follows pertains to an area located at the opposite side of the county . . . IN the town of Camillus, in the same county of Onondaga . . . there are two ancient forts . . . One is on a very high hill, and its area covers about three acres. . . . The ditch was deep and the eastern wall ten feet high. In the centre was a large lime stone of an irregular shape, which could be raised by two men; the bottom was flat and three feet long. It contained, in the opinion of judge Manro, unknown characters plainly figured on the stone to the extent of eighteen inches in length and three inches in breadth. . . . The second fort is almost half a mile distant on lower ground, constructed like the other, and is about half as large. . . . several places in this town, on high ground . . . [displayed soil erosion characteristics typical of] very ancient settlements . . . [p. 10 ends] . . . Judge Manro found, in digging the cellar of his house, several pieces of brick. In various places, there were large spots of deep black mould, demonstrating the former existence of buildings and erections of different kinds; and judge Manro, seeing the appearance of a well, viz a hole ten feet deep . . . [containing] a great quantity of human bones which pulverized on exposure to the air. This is strong 404 evidence of the destruction of an antient settlement. The disposal of the dead was unquestionably made by an invading enemy. I ALSO observed on Boughton’s hill [present-day Victor, New York, about ten miles southwest of the Hill Cumorah], in Ontario county, where a bloody battle is said to have been fought, black spots of mould at regular intervals and yellow clay between. The most easterly fortification yet discovered in this region, is about eighteen miles east of Manlius square, with the exception of the one in Oxford, Chenango county, hereafter mentioned. . . . To the west [p. 11 ends] there are great numbers. There is a large one in the town of Onondaga, one in Scipio, two near Auburn, three near Canandaigua, and several between Seneca and Cayuga lakes, there being three within a few miles of each other. [pp. 10-12] Clinton describes, with a small diagram, an ancient fort in Oxford, Chenango County on a rise of land with an excavated ditch atop the bank of which had later grown a tall pine tree, since fallen but appearing to have lived hundreds of years, pp. 12-13. “Probably this work was picketed in, but no remains of any wooden work have been discovered.” (p. 13. Oxford lies between Bainbridge and Norwich, New York). IN the town of Ridgeway, in Genesee county, there have been discovered several ancient fortifications and burying places. About six miles from the Ridge road, and south of the great slope or mountain ridge, an old burying ground has been discovered within two or three months, in which are deposited bones of an unusual length and size. Over this ground lay the trunk of a chestnut [sic] tree, apparently four feet through at the stump; the top and limbs of this tree had entirely mouldered away by age. The bones lay across each other in a promiscuous [i.e., random] manner; from which circumstance, and the appearance of a fort in the neighborhood, it is supposed that they were deposited there by their conquerors; and from the fort being situated in a swamp, it is believed it was the last resort of the vanquished, and probably the swamp was under water at the time. [p. 14] “ON the south side of lake Erie, there is a series of old fortifications, running from the Cattaraugus creek to the Pennsylvania line, a distance of fifty miles; some are two, three, and four miles apart, and some within half a mile. Some contain five acres. The walls or breastworks, of earth; . . . ,” p. 14. Clinton then concludes in broader terms, as he first began this pamphlet

. . . Whether the nations, which possessed our western country before the Iroquois, had erected those fortifications to protect them against their invaders, or whether they were made by anterior inhabitants, are mysteries which cannot be penetrated by human sagacity; nor can I pretend to decide whether the Erie’s or their predecessors raised the works of defence in their territory; but I am persuaded that enough has been said to demonstrate the existence of a vast population, settled in towns, defended by forts, cultivating agriculture, and more advanced in civilization than the nations which have inhabited the same countries since the European discovery. [p. 16] Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder page 403 

Joseph Tells Stories of Ancient Inhabitants before being taught of them.
THE CAPTIVITY BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS of Joseph Smith’s era were designed for easy sale. They were neither expensive nor difficult to read. “In the course of our evening conversations,” recalled Lucy Mack Smith of a season at their home in Manchester, New York when her son was about seventeen years of age, Joseph would give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined he would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent their dress their manner of traveling the animals which they rode The cities that were built by them the structure of their buildings with every particular of their mode of warfare their religious worship as particularly as though he had spent his life with them. [1845 Coray manuscript, pp. 43-44, in EMD 1:296]. Lucy’s dating of Joseph’s Indian narratives is not precise, but her context implies a harvest season of 1823. She errs at times in her chronology, assigning her eldest son Alvin’s death to 1822, for example, instead of the following year. James Seaver’s preface was dated March 1, 1824 (p. vi) and the book was copyrighted May 8, 1824 at the office of “R. R. LANSING, Clerk of the Northern District of New-York.” Five years and a month later, the Book of Mormon would be copyrighted at that same, Utica, New York office. Mary Jemison may have contributed to young Joseph’s Native American lore, or she may simply represent this whole body of literature and storytelling that had to be Joseph’s source for family evening yarns by the fire. Elder B. H. Roberts explains: It must be remembered that the above took place before the young prophet had received the plates of the Book of Mormon: these were the evenings immediately following the first interviews with Moroni. Whence came his knowledge for these recitals . . . ? . . . Whence indeed, since all this happened . . . between three and four years before the translation of the Book of Mormon began. And yet it must be from that book that he would get his knowledge of the ancient inhabitants of America, unless he has caught suggestions from such common knowledge, or that which was taken for “knowledge,” as existed in the community concerning ancient American civilization, . . . Whence comes the young prophet’s ability to give these descriptions “with as much ease as if he had spent his whole life” with these ancient inhabitants of America? Not from the Book of Mormon, which is, as yet, a sealed book to him; and surely not from 1500 Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder Moroni, since he had had but one day and night of interviews with him, . . . These evening recitals could come from no other source than the vivid, constructive imagination of Joseph Smith, a remarkable power which attended him through all his life. [Roberts, 244, taken from his manuscript, “A Book of Mormon Study,” ca. 1927. Roberts was then “the senior member of the First Council of the Seventy” and “president of the Eastern States Mission of the Church, with headquarters in New York.” (ibid., p. xxx)]

Part 2: The Onondaga Nation (Non-LDS Information)

“How does one know if you are Onondaga?

A long time ago when the Creator placed us upon Mother Earth, each family was asked to to go out of the village and tell about the animal they have witnessed. When they reported what they saw, that became the “clan” of your family.

The women who are our life givers were given the important responsibility of carrying on the clans and the citizenship of the Haudenosaunee. At Onondaga, there are nine “clans” which are; wolf, turtle, beaver, snipe, heron, deer, eel, bear, and hawk.

Only an Onondaga woman can provide Onondaga children. Only an Onondaga woman of the turtle clan can provide Onondaga turtle clan children, etc. Therefore, children are very proud of their clans as it automatically gives them a link to their female ancestors back to the beginning of our people.

The clan system lives throughout the Haudenosaunee. People of your clan but of different nations are still considered to be part of your family. This is important as when you travel through the different nations of the Haudenosaunee. You know that there are people willing to welcome you to their lands as being part of their family.

The role of clans also plays a part in marriage. When a young person looks to marry, they look to individuals from other clans. Even if you are not of “blood relations”, they are a part of your clan family. Since clan members no longer all live in one longhouse, mothers, grandmothers, and aunts watch to make sure that its a good match.

Our clan system is also important in our way of life. When you are in need of help in tough times such as sickness or death, it is the duty of the members of the other clans to help. The Creator gave us this method of helping each other to make sure that we care one another to make us strong which has helped us survive as a people for countless centuries. We look to our relations in the other clans for help.

Gift from the Creator

Elders remind us that the Creator gave us all a special gift. That this gift is an element that benefits the community. That finding that gift and using that gift makes the Creator happy. People who boast or do not utilize their gift saddens the Creator. Gifts come in all forms from leaders, speakers, hunters, singers, midwives, dancers, runners, lacrosse players, farmers, fishermen, healers, astronomers, crafters, builders, cooks, teachers, comedians, and so on.

Those skills helped the Onondaga community survive in the past when we lived in communal homes as well as present day 21st century Onondaga where people use these skills to work in the Onondaga community as well as the neighboring Syracuse, NY community. Now Onondaga community members work as teachers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, iron workers, engineers, chefs, etc. We are thankful that the Creator has given us so many gifts to share with each other.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyononda/ONT/HISTORYBR.HTM

The original Reservation of the Onondagas, as defined by a treaty made at Fort Stanwix on September 12, 1788, embraced parts of the towns of La Fayette, Camillus, Geddes, and the city of Syracuse, and all of Onondaga.  A second treaty signed November 18, 1793, ceded to the State the most of the town of Onondaga and all north thereof, leaving to the Indians not only their present Reservation and tracts on the east and south, but a narrow strip of land on the west bank of Onondaga Creek extending southward from or nearly from the city limits.  This strip was divided near the center by Webster’s mile square, lying immediately southwest of Onondaga Hollow, and was purchased by the State by treaty dated July 28, 1795.  On February 25, 1817, the Reservation was again reduced, the State purchasing twenty-seven lots, or about 4,000 acres, on the east side thereof, now included in the towns of La Fayette and Onondaga.  At the same time Webster’s 300 acres, lying within and just west of the center of the north edge of the present Reservation, and now owned by white settlers, were confirmed to Ephraim Webster and his heirs.  The fourth and last reduction was made February 11, 1822, when the Indians sold to the State 800 acres of their land from the south end of the Reservation and now in the town of La Fayette, leaving their once extensive possessions with an area of 6,100 acres.  These various treaties are fully mentioned in pages 172-179.

On February 28, 1829, a treaty made at Albany provided for the payment of all annuities at Onondaga, part having hitherto been paid at Canandaigua. The Onondagas now receive from the State of New York money and goods to the value of $2,430 annually  Probably more than this sum, or its equivalent, is every year distributed among the dusky inhabitants of the Reservation, where each of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League is represented.

The origin of the Onondagas as well as that of the Iroquois is enveloped in tradition.  According to David Cusick (2) a legend which was current among all the tribes ran thus:

The holder of the Heavens took the Indians out of a hill near Oswego Falls, and led them to and down the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers to the sea.  There they became scattered; but their great leader brought six families back to the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk, and then proceeding westerly He planted the Five Nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, by leaving a family at the location of each, giving them names, and slightly changing the language of each.  With the sixth family He proceeded on between mid-day and sun-set, to the Mississippi River, which part of them crossed upon a grape vine, but the vine breaking those on this side traveled easterly to the neighborhood of the ocean, and settled upon the Neuse River, in North Carolina.  This last was the Tuscarora tribe.\

Continuing the same author says:

About one hundred winters since the people left the mountains,–the five families were increased and made some villages in the country.  The Holder of the Heavens was absent from the country, which was destitute of the visits of the Governor of the Universe.  The reason produced the occasion that they were invaded by the monsters called Ko-nea-rau-neh-neh (Flying heads), which devoured several people of the country.   The Flying Heads made invasions in the night; but the people were attentive to escape by leaving their huts and concealing themselves in other huts prepared for the purpose.  An instance:–There was an old woman who resided at Onondaga; she was left alone in the hut at evening, while others deserted.  She was setting near the fire parching some acorns when the monstrous Head made its appearance at the door; while viewing the woman it was amazed that she eat the coals of fire, by which the monsters were put to flight, and ever since the heads disappeared and were supposed concealed in the earth.  After a short time the people were invaded by the monster of the deep; the Lake Serpent traverses the country, which interrupted their intercourse.  The five families were compelled to make fortifications throughout their respective towns, in order to secure themselves from the devouring monsters.

Cusick mythically narrates other interesting stores of the Stonish Giants, who invaded the Onondaga fort, devouring the people in every town; of Atotarho, the hostile chief, who resided there, his head and body ornamented with black snakes, his dishes and spoons made of enemies’ skulls; of the tree of peace reaching to the clouds of Heaven, which was planted at Onondaga, and under which the council fire was kindled and the chiefs deliberated and smoked the pipe of peace, all of which gave the Onondagas supremacy as the center of government; of the invasion of their fort by a great mosquito, which was pursued and killed by the Holder of the Heavens near the salt lake Onondaga (3), the blood becoming small mosquitoes; of the founding of witchcraft by the Nanticokes and the burning of fifty witches near the Onondaga fort.  At a period of perhaps 300 years before Columbus discovered America Cusick credits the Onondagas with 4,000 warriors.

Another theory, one upon which more reliance can be placed, is that the Iroquois, as a family, developed in Canada, having with the Hurons their center of population at or near Niagara River, whence the various tribes migrated east and west, and settled.  But this migration left the Onondagas in Jefferson county, N.Y., and early tradition points to the southwest corner of that territory as the probable place of their origin.  They evidently came south, however, about the year 1600, for in 1615 Champlain attacked their fort in Fenner, Madison county (see p. 42).  during the remainder of the seventeenth century they had their villages in the town of Pompey, or adjacent territory, and at a point about one mile south of Jamesville, on lot 3, La Fayette, they burned their fort when the French came against them in 1696.  This is the town described by Wentworth Greenhalgh in 1677, as follows:

The Onondagoes have but one town, but it is very large; consisting of about 140 houses not fenced; it is situate upon a hill that is very large, the bank on each side extending itself at least two miles, cleared land, whereon the corn is planted.  They have likewise a small village about two miles beyond that, consisting of about 24 houses.  They lye to the southward of the west, about 36 miles from the Oneydas.  They plant abundance of corn which they sell to the Oneydas.  The Onondagoes are said to be about 350 fighting men.  They lye about 15 miles from Teshiroque (Oneida Lake).

Soon after the destruction of their town, or about 1700, the Onondagas located in Onondaga Valley, just southwest of the present village of that name, and there on Webster’s mile square, west of the creek, Sir William Johnson built a fort for them in 1756.  It was this Indian village that John Bartram visited and described in 1743, as follows:

The town in its present state, is about 2 or 3 miles long, yet the scattered cabins on both sides the water are not above 40 in number; many of them hold two families, but all stand single, and rarely above 4 or 5 near one another; so that the whole town is a strange mixture of cabins, interspersed with great patches of grass, bushes, and shrubs, some of pease, corn, and squashes, limestone bottom composed of fossils and sea shells.

Bartram continues with a description of their council house, which is reprinted on p. 103, and then gives his first night’s experience therein, as follows:

At night, soon after we were laid down to sleep, and our fire almost burnt out, we were entertained by a comical fellow, disguised in as odd a dress as Indian folly could invent; he had on a clumsy vizard of wood colour’d black, with a nose 4 or 5 inches long, a grinning mouth set awry, furnished with long teeth, round the eyes circles of bright brass, surrounded by a larger circle of white paint, from his forehead hung long tresses of buffaloes hair, and from the catch part of his head ropes made of the plated husks of Indian corn; I cannot recollect the whole of his dress, but that it was equally uncouth:  he carried in one hand a long staff, in the other a calabash with small stones in it, for a rattle, and this he rubbed up and down his staff; he would sometimes hold up his head and made a hideous noise like the braying of an ass; he came in at the further end, and made this noise at first, whether it was because he would not surprise us too suddenly I can’t say; I ask’d Conrad Weiser, who as well as myself lay next the alley, what noise that was? and Shickalamy, the Indian chief, our companion, who I supposed, thought me somewhat scared, called out, lye still John.  I never heard him speak so much English before.  The jackpudding presently came up to us, and an Indian boy came with him and kindled our fire, that we might see his glittering eyes and antick postures as he hobbled round the fire, sometimes he would turn the Buffaloes hair on one side that we might take the better view of his ill-favored phyz, when he had tired himself, which was sometime after he had well tired us, the boy that attended him struck 2 or 3 smart blows on the floor, at which the hobgoblin seemed surprised and on repeating them he jumped fairly out of doors and disappeared.  I suppose this was to divert us and get some tobacco for himself, for as he danced about he would hold out his hand to any he came by to receive his gratification which as often as any one gave him he would return an awkward compliment.  By this I found it no new diversion to any one but myself.  In my whim I saw a vizard of this kind hang by the side of one of their cabins in another town.  After this farce we endeavoured to compose ourselves to sleep but towards morning was again disturbed by a drunken Squaw coming into the cabin frequently complimenting us and singing.

In April, 1779, Colonel Van Schaick, in command of 150 men, invaded the Onondaga country, burned this village and council house, and drove the Indians from the vicinity; but only temporarily.  Soon afterward they moved a little farther south and settled in the picturesque valley of their present Reservation, where they have lived in peace and security for upwards of one hundred years.  Here they built a council house, the successor of which, rebuilt about 1875, is familiar to many visitors to that interesting settlement.  Just west of it is a small council house which formerly stood across the road, north of the long structure, on or near the spot where now rests the remains of Ka-ny-tie-you, one of the founders of the Pagan religion.

This Reservation, topographically, is one of the most picturesque sections of the county.  Broken into lofty hills and fertile valleys it abounds in varying and attractive scenery, and presents to the scientist and farmer a variety of interesting characteristics.  More than 1,000 acres are stony and mountainous, and afford little of value except a poor grade of pasturage, but nearly all the remainder is either well adapted to agricultural purposes or covered with good and sufficient timber for fencing, fuel, etc.  Unfailing springs of pure water abound, especially on the hills.  The bottom lands are very fertile, and are quite generally cut up into small farms, most of which are cultivated by the Indians.  Corn, potatoes, vegetables, and small quantities of grain are raised, while both small and large fruit, particularly strawberries, are produced with profit.  The majority of the farms, however, produce but little more than is needed for home consumption.  It is only within the last quarter-century that the Indians have noticeably thrown off the stoical habits and customs of their forefathers and adopted, though even in a rude manner, the elevating methods of modern civilization.  A number of their ancient traditions, observances, and tribal associations are still quite as strong and active as in the happy hunting days of old, but the examples and efforts  of the whites, combined with the progressive influence of a few local enthusiasts, are slowly but surely introducing a new spirit of competition in agriculture.

The Onondaga Creek flows northerly and northeasterly through the principal valley of the Reservation, and receives in its course four tributaries.  These streams afford excellent drainage.  The main road, running along the east side of the valley from Syracuse, enters the northeast corner of the Reservation at Onondaga Castle post-office, sometimes called the “entrance gate,” and runs thence southwesterly through the tract to Cardiff, with a thoroughfare branching off above the council house to South Onondaga.  Near this principal highway, on land of Solomon George, stands the somewhat celebrated six-bodied elm.  The north entrance to the Reservation is about five miles south of the southern limits of Syracuse.

The Onondagas have always held the proud distinction of the principal tribe of the Iroquois confederacy.  In 1810 they numbered on this territory about 200 souls.  At that period every or nearly every tribe of the League was represented among the inhabitants, and this condition exists at the present time.  According to Spafford’s Gazetteer of 1824 the present village, in which the council house is located, known as Onondaga Castle, contained “about fifty Indian houses on a street near a mile in length, and about 150 souls–fifty less than ten years ago.  Their houses are built of hewn logs, the spaces filled with masoned mortar-work, and are comfortable enough–quite comfortable enough for Indians, though they would not do for our Christian missionaries at the Sandwich Islands, in  South Africa, and the Lord knows where!”  The total strength of the Onondagas at that time was about 500, of which some 350 lived at Buffalo Creek, Allegany, and Upper Canada; in 1835 the tribe on this Reservation had dwindled to about 100 souls.  In 1860 there were on the Reservation fifteen frame houses, twelve frame barns, eighteen horse teams, and one yoke of oxen.  Very few of the Indians talked in English, and many of them dressed after the fashion of their face–the women in short skirts, with beaded leggings, short over-dresses of various colors, silver earrings, and brooches and other ornaments around their neck.  The population numbered about 350, of which thirty-eight were Christians.  A school house in very poor condition and poorly kept stood just south of the present M. E. parsonage.   The chiefs were strongly opposed to the children attending it, and were equally strong in their opposite to Christianity, which accounts for the large number of Pagans.  At this time the influences of civilization were beginning to be felt.

The Reservation now (1896) contains seventy frame houses, twenty-six frame barns, twenty-six horse teams, eleven single horses, seven yoke of oxen, from three to five grocery stores, one blacksmith, two shoemakers, several carpenters, two ministers, and about 495 inhabitants, more than one-half of whom are Christians.  Paganism is rapidly passing away under the influences of the excellent State school and the three churches.  The chiefs, although mostly Pagans themselves, take great interest in the education of the children and aid as far as consistent with their office in advancing the cause of Christianity.  The English language is used almost entirely, the younger element using it exclusively.

From the arrival of Father Le Moyne in 1654 to the present time (1896) the Onondagas have been visited by zealous and conscientious missionaries, whose early efforts to Christianize these dusky natives are fully detailed in preceding chapters.  But the Indians held tenaciously to their Pagan doctrines until the latter part of the eighteenth century.  During the early years of this century Bishop Hobart exerted a powerful influence among both the Oneidas and Onondagas, administering confirmation to more than 500, while over 1,000 were baptized by ministers of the church.  Rev. Eleazer Williams was one of the early missionaries here, visiting the Reservation first in 1816, when he was hurried to the council house that the Indians might “hear the words of Him who dwells in the heavens.”  At this time they were mainly Pagans, earnest disciples of the peace Prophet, but had learned a little about Christianity from Rev. Samuel Kirkland.  “Father” Ezekiel G. Gear, of Onondaga Hill, was also an active and useful missionary, beginning about 1817, and once, on a raised platform at their village, he baptized several Indians and publicly received some others who had renounced Romanism.  Among the converts from Paganism was Abram La Forte, who was long a faithful communicant, but ambition and isolation proved too much for his principles, and he relapsed.  After many years of Pagan leadership he finally reverted to Christianity, and died at the Castle in October, 1848, aged fifty-four.  He was well educated, finishing at Geneva Academy, and first taught a school on the Reservation with considerable success for about three years.  Later he became the acknowledged leader of the Pagan party, opposed the Christian religion and schools, and bore a conspicuous part in councils and as master at sacrificial rites.  Known as De-hat-ka-tons, he was a son of Captain La Forte, or Ho-ha-hoa qua, a noted Onondaga chief who fell at Chippewa in 1814, and was the father of Daniel La Forte, now principal chief, and of Thomas a Wesleyan missionary.

The Episcopal mission among the Onondagas was thus established by Bishop Hobart in 1816, and Revs. Clarke, Williams, and Gear officiated for many years.  In 1829 the Methodists appointed exhorters to visit the Reservation, and their missions have been continued ever since with varying success.  In September, 1867, Rev. George Morgan Hills (4), of Syracuse, came among the Indians, and with Bishop A. Cleveland Coxe re-established the Episcopal mission and procured a chapel, which was consecrated September 27, 1870.  A mission house was also built and a school instituted, and soon afterward Rev. J. P. Foster became the missionary in charge.   Their present church, known as the Church of the Good Shepherd, was originally built by the Wesleyans, who re-organized their mission about 1893 and two years later erected an edifice.  Their minister is Rev. Thomas La Forte, a brother of Daniel, the principal chief.  The Episcopal minister is Albert Cusick, who was ordained as deacon by Bishop Huntington on October 1, 1891.  He is known in his tribe as Sa-go-na-qua-ten, “he who makes everybody mad,” and belongs to the Eel clan.  He was born in Niagara county in 1848, came to Onondaga county in 1860, and two years later became a warrior chief of the Six Nations.  He was subsequently made principal chief, but very soon adopted the teachings of Christianity, and at his baptism and confirmation by Bishop Huntington renounced all his tribal honors.  He is a fluent English scholar, the recognized historian of his tribe, and active in promoting education, religion, temperance, and morality among his people.

Half a century ago the Methodists had the only church or chapel on the Reservation.  This building was remodeled about 1885 and is still standing.  The church is under the Central New York M. E. Conference.  The Indians, with few exceptions, have never had the same inherent attachment for church membership which characterizes the whites, but often vacillate between the different societies as personal preferences dictate.  On this account one body is first strong and then weak according to its popularity.

The old school building previously mentioned was finally moved across the road and is now the house of Samuel G. Isaacs.  The present structure, located also at the Castle, on the west side of the road, was erected by the State about 1887 at a cost of $500.  During school months it has a daily attendance of twelve to thirty-five children, according to disposition and the weather.

Drunkenness among Indians is too well known to require more than brief mention here.  With the white man came liberal quantities of “fire water,” which performed its work of demoralization and not infrequently destroyed the results of missionary effort.  Both warriors and squaws, and even young children, developed an insatiable desire for rum and whisky, and unscrupulous whites generously appeased their thirst.  And here allusion may be made to Handsome Lake, or Contatauyou, the Peace Prophet, a Seneca sachem of the Turtle tribe and half-brother of Cornplanter, who was born near Avon about 1735 and died at Onondaga in 1815.  About the year 1800, after a dissipated life, he claimed to have had dreams or visions, through which he was commissioned by the Great Spirit to come to the rescue of his people.  His first efforts were to eradicate intemperance.  With his teachings, which were termed the “New Religion,” he mingled the fancies of his dreams, claiming that he had seen the branching paths which departed spirits trod on leaving the earth.  “To a drunkard was given a red-hot liquid to drink, as if he loved it, and as a stream of blaze poured from his mouth he was commanded to sing as when on earth after drinking fire-water.”  “A woman who sold fire-water was nothing but bones, for the flesh had been eaten from her hands and arms.”  These and other principles upon which his teachings were founded wrought the Handsome Lake and his successor, Sasehawa, a deep place in the confidence of the old Pagan party.  Soon after his death the Iroquois Temperance League was formed among the Six Nations, the organization taking place on the Tuscarora Reservation in Niagara county.  Since then the League has held annual meetings, made up of representatives and others from various subordinate lodges on the different Reservations.  The Onondagas, as a resident nation, were not represented until about 1891, when the Onondaga Temperance Society, which had been organized some two years before, was admitted.  This local society meets every two weeks, has about seventy-five members, and under the Iroquois League offers sick, accident, and death beneficiaries.  Besides this the Onondagas take considerable interest in Ka-no-sue-nee (Long House) Lodge, No. 777, I. O. G. T., which was organized November 2, 1877, and which has since maintained a flourishing existence.  Its oldest charter member in continuous good standing is Albert Cusick, the first marshal and the present lodge deputy.  Among other prominent members, past and present, are Rev. Welcome Smith, Elizabeth and Jacob A. Scanandoah, Josiah Jacobs, Christ John Smith, and Elizabeth Thomas.  These two organizations have performed noble work in eradicating intemperance and building up morals among the Indians.  The combined membership is over 100, and the consumption of whisky, lager, hard cider, and other intoxicating liquors is less by nearly one-half than twenty years ago.

Perhaps the best known organization among the Indians is the Onondaga Indian Band, which was formed in 1862, and which has taken a prominent part in many gatherings throughout Central New York, and especially in Syracuse, including the memorable Centennial celebration in June, 1894.  Albert Cusick, the present secretary, has been continuously a member of the band, being for a time its leader.  The Onondagas also have a sportsmen’s club, which has materially aided in preserving the game and fish on their Reservation.

Among the leading Indian farmers are Daniel La Forte, Jacob A. and Simon Scanandoah, Jaris Pierce, Orris Farmer, Charles Green, Wilson Johnson, Isaac Powless, Wilson Reuben, Joshua Pierce, Mrs. Avis Hill, Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, Josiah Jacobs, Elizabeth Scanandoah, John Loft, Mrs. Holly Hill and son Holly, jr., Thomas John, Baptiste and Eddy Thomas, John Green, Abram Printup, Hiram and Joshua Jones, David Jacobs, Sidney Isaacs, Lewis Thomas, Moses Smith, Frank Logan, Augustus Brown, Geo. Venevera, Melissa Peckman, Mrs. Emily Hill, Peter Elm, Lewis Cook, Albert Cusick.  Of these Wilson Reuben, Daniel La Forte, and Orris Farmer are among the wealthiest and most prosperous men on the Reservation.  The former “inherited” the farm of his “Aunt Cynthia,” who was a shrewd political manager and financier, and who died at the age of ninety years.  About 2,525 acres of land on the Reservation are cultivated.

Ownership of land, though not recorded after the manner of the whites, is acquired by verbal bargains accompanied by payment, and such agreements are respected.  No papers ever pass between the contracting parties.  Many of the farms and other lands are leased to white people for a cash rental or upon shares.  This is particularly true of the valuable limestone quarries lying on the east side of the Reservation, a little west of the road to La Fayette, where as many as six derricks have been worked, paying to the nation annually $100 each.  Successful agricultural fairs have been held on the Reservation for several years, particularly about 1871.

The Onondagas, in proportion to their population, played a conspicuous part in both the war of 1812 and the war of the Rebellion.  In the former 300 of their warriors participated under Ephraim Webster, the pioneer, their interpreter, and Indian agent.  The enumeration of 1890 shows that at least sixteen Onondaga Indians served in the Rebellion, viz.:  Charles Lyon, Peter Elm, Josiah Jacobs, Jacob Scanandoah, Hewett Jacobs, Samuel G. Isaacs, Henry Powless, Wilson Jacobs, Joseph Green, Thomas John, Martin Powless, Peter Johnson, Alexander Sullivan, William Martin, Eli Farmer, and Moses Jordan.  It is quite certain that more than this number entered the service.  Some enlisted under assumed names, and hence it is impossible to prepare a complete list.

Every person belonging to the nation has two names, one by which he or she is commonly known, the other representing their Indian nativity.  Besides these the chiefs and officers of the tribe have a third, which designates their rank or official position.  The names of the Onondaga principal chiefs are Tah-too-ta-hoo (entangled), Ho-ne-sa-ha (the best soil uppermost), De-hat-ka-tons (looking all over ), O-ya-ta-je-wak (bitter in the throat), Ak-we-ke-yat (end of the water), Te-hah-yut-kwa-ye (red on the wing), Ho-no-we-eh-to (he has disappeared), Ga-wen-ne-sen-ton (her voice scattered), Ha-he-ho (spilling now and then), Ho-neo-nea-ne (something was made for him and laid down before him), Sah-de-gwa-se (he is bruised), Sa-ko-ke-he (he may see them), Hoo-sah-ha-ho (wearing a weapon in his belt), Ska-nah-wah-ti (over the water), and Te-ka-ha-hoonk (he looks both ways)–fifteen in all.  These principal chiefs have or may have each a warrior chief, whose duty is to obey his superior in all matters of government.  A principal chief may call a council, and can order his subordinate to notify all the other chiefs for this purpose.  He accedes to his office by election, has a seat in the Grand Council of the Iroquois, and can not be removed.  At his death the council fire is extinguished, and business is suspended until after condolement.  The ceremony of condolence consists of lamentations, chanting, speech-making, and a feast.  “Until the new chief is raised the horns of his predecessor are said to rest on his grave.”  The right of inheritance is through the mother; her children can claim only the privileges afforded by the nation to which she belonged.

Marriages in the same clans were formerly but not now forbidden.  Burial customs have often changed.  Until recently the Onondagas maintained clan burials in rows, and hence a husband and wife were not buried together.  Usually some ornaments or trinkets belonging to the deceased are interred with the body, but otherwise the funeral ceremony is much like that of a white person.  Formerly a dead feast was given by the women ten days after the burial, a kernel of corn accompanying the invitations, and only one man being invited as speechmaker.  Pails of provisions were passed around, one being given to each person present, and a dish was set on the table for the deceased; out of the latter all partook in common.

The Onondagas still pound much of their corn–a soft white variety which they esteem highly–in wooden mortars about two feet high, using a wooden pestle four feet long with a handle in the middle.  For bread the meal thus produced is mixed with beans.  They are quite ingenious in wood work, and make bows, arrows, snow-snakes, baskets, etc.  Their wampum, it is said, was originally made of pieces of wood stained black or white.  The invention is ascribed to Hiawatha, who gathered white shells and called down a wampum bird for the purpose.  Thomas Webster, the Onondaga keeper of the wampum, gives the tradition thus:  ‘There is a tree set in the ground, and it touches the heavens.  Under that tree sits this Wampum.  It sits on a log.  Coals of fire (council fire) is unquenchable, and the Six Nations are at the council fire held by the tribe.  Tah-too-ta-hoo, a member of the Bear clan, is the great chief here.  He has a descendant in our tribe to-day.  His name is Frank Logan.  One of the uses of the wampum is for a symbol in the election of officers.  The wampum bearer keeps the treaties of the nation.’  Frank Logan belongs to the Eel clan and is a Cherokee descendant.  Thomas Webster is of the Snipe clan; he is a consistent, thorough pagan, and interpreter to the Onondagas, who retain the custody of the wampums of the Five Nations.  There are eleven of these historic wampums, each fraught with traditional story of persons and events.

Among the Onondagas feasts, sacrifices, and dreams formerly held an important place in their tribal ceremonies, and although a number of these ancient practices are still observed many have passed wholly into oblivion.  The Dream feast occurred in January or February and intensified all the follies of the ordinary dream.  The False Faces, described by John Bartram, form a sort of secret society and are still a prominent body.  Green Lake, west of Jamesville, was the reputed ancient resort for their greatest mysteries.  Fairies seldom appeared, but a precipitous bank of bowlder clay in the ravine east of the Castle is regarded as their favorite sliding place.  In some of the feasts there is a dance for the Thunders, to whom tobacco is offered in dry season to relieve drouth.  He-no, the Thunder, figures in several Iroquois stories.  The maple dance, called Heh-tesi-ha-stone-tas (putting in syrup), has ceased, owing to the absence of maple syrup.

The sacrifice of the White Dog in point of time corresponds to and takes the place of the old Dream feast, and even retains some of its features.  It is the most important of all the Pagan usages.  The white dog is now seldom burned among the Onondagas.  It is an ancient custom whereby the sins of the people are supposed to be gathered by the chiefs, who by some vicarious mystery lay them upon the head of a perfectly white dog, without spot or blemish, and organically sound.  A single black hair would destroy the efficacy of the victim.  The dog is strangled; not a drop of blood is shed; it is then fancifully painted and carried into the council house.  In the afternoon the sacrificial ceremonies commence.  The accompanying engraving represents the sacrifice which occurred at Onondaga Castle on January 18, 1872, when Captain George was the great chief, arrayed in all the splendor of his office, standing in the foreground.

The feast, when fully carried out, lasts fourteen days, the first three being devoted to religious services and the confession of sins.  Then follow three days of gambling, on the last of which the False Faces visit houses and poke in the ashes; on the seventh and eighth days the False Faces come to the council house in a body.  These are known as medicine men, and their function at this time is to go through the ceremony of chasing out witches and devils.  On the ninth day, called Koon-wah-yah-tun-was (they are burning dog), the white dog, now strangled and painted, is carried out and burned on a pile of fagots.  This proceeding is best described by the following extract from a contemporary periodical:

Captain George, who, as head chief of the nation, acted as high priest, entered the council house and proceeded to array himself in a white tunic, the sleeves of which were bound up with white ribbons.  He then girded himself with a belt of beads, and placed upon his head an adornment that might excite the admiration of the most fashionable of milliners–it was so light and feathery.  Taking his seat in the center of the room, he waited in solemn silence for a long time.  At length the solemn moment arrived, and so impressive were the proceedings that the only white men permitted to be present felt themselves compelled to uncover their heads and cease their labors.  Rising slowly and majestically, bearing a long white wand in his right hand, Captain George commenced a chant in the Onondaga language; passing slowly around the typical dog from his position at the east he proceeded to the south, west, and north, and then returned to his former position, where he consulted with one of the chiefs.  This proceeding was repeated three times; and then, as if he had gathered all the sins of the people, he approached the dog and uttered a pathetic lament.  After this the body of the victim, which was laid upon a rough bier, was gently lifted up and borne to the place of sacrifice by the hands of the chiefs of the nation.  The high priest then, standing at the east side of the altar of sacrifice, solemnly committed the victim to the flames.  The sacrifice was completed; the atonement made.

The sins of the people were expiated, and general joy was manifested by the firing of guns and mutual congratulations.  Formerly two white dogs were burned, but now only one is sacrificed.  When the full ceremony is carried out the tenth day is given up to dancing by the children, who with adopted persons are named; the eleventh is for the dance for the Four Persons, Ki-yae-ne-ung-qua-ta-ka; on the twelfth are held dances for the Holder of the Heavens, and on the thirteenth occurs the dance for the Thunders.  The next morning the men and women take opposite sides in gambling, and if the men win it will be a good season.  Between seven and ten days later the False Faces search houses, receive gifts, and dance at the council house.

This feast was formerly attended with ceremonies of the most indecent character, but within recent years it has been shorn of its excessively objectionable features and materially shortened in the period of its observance.  Even many of the rites previously mentioned have been dropped.  Since the celebration of 1872 but few burnings of the white dog have occurred at the Reservation.  The last one, and the only one of the kind in several years, took place on January 18, 1896.  New Year’s dances, however, are still continued annually.

The Planting dance, Ne-ya-yent-wha-hunkt, occurs just before planting time in April, and is thought to invoke the aid of the Great Spirit in conferring a  favorable spring.  Next comes the Strawberry feast or dance, Hoon-tah-yus (putting in strawberries), which procures more berries.  The Green Bean dance, Ta-yun-tah-ta-t’kwe-t’ka-hunkt (breaking the bellies), has as its idea the protruding of beans in the pod.  Then comes the dance of the Green Corn, T’unt-kwa-hank cha ne-kah-neh-host-ha, with which many white people are familiar.  This takes place in September of each year; it is attended by the usual fun and dancing, and more than any other Indian feast of to-day is witnessed by scores of visitors.  The last is the dance for the Harvest, T’unt-kwa-hank cha ne-unt-hent-tees-ah-hunk (all is finished), which is celebrated after the crops have been harvested.

The war dance, death dance, and other kindred ceremonies have largely or wholly disappeared, except as they are incorporated with or form a part of the feasts and observances previously mentioned.  Witches, too, are no longer known, although as late as 1803 four women were accused of witchcraft; one confessed and repented, and burned her “implements” of incantation; the other three were tomahawked on a hill east of the Castle and buried among the rocks.

Brief mention may be made at this point of the distinguished Onondaga chiefs. Dekanissora, prince of Indian orators and diplomatists, flourished from about 1680 to 1730.  He is supposed to have followed Garungula, the Nestor of the Five Nations.  One of their contemporaries was Kanahjeagah (Black Kettle).  Canassatego figures prominently in the transactions of the League from 1734 to 1783.  Oundiaga was the first war chief of the Onondagas during the Revolution, carried mail between Onondaga and Oswego about 1807, and died near Oneida in 1839, aged ninety-one.  Kawhicdota was his contemporary, and the father of Ohhenu (Captain Honnos).  Contatauyou (Handsome Lake) has been noticed, as has also Ossahinta (Captain Frost), whose portrait appears on page 182.  Among the latter’s associates were Ohkaayungk (Onondaga Peter), Kahayent (Captain Joseph), Oghatakak (Captain Joseph, 2d), Dehatkatons (Abram La Forte), and Uthawah (Captain Cold), the latter for many years keeper of the council fire of the Six Nations, at Tonawanda, where he died in the autumn of 1847, when this sacred symbol was restored to its ancient hearth at Onondaga, to the keeping of Dehatkatons.

Ossahinta belonged to the Turtle tribe, and at the time of his death, which occurred at Onondaga Castle on January 24, 1846, at the age of eighty-six, was supposed to be the only person among the Iroquois who perfectly understood their policy of government, the forms of organizing their councils, and the usages of their Pagan rites.  The nation conferred upon him the honorary title of war captain.  He wielded a powerful influence, was strictly temperate, and enjoyed universal respect and confidence.  He was buried in the Indian cemetery at the Castle.

The Onondagas have from time immemorial furnished the “king” (Tahtootahoo) of the Confederacy, who has usually resided on their Reservation.  Ossahinta (Captain Frost) held this distinguished office for many years, and was succeeded by Abram La Forte, who was followed by Captain George, who married the latter’s widow.

Captain Samuel George was the last of an illustrious line of chiefs, and held tenaciously to the faith of his fathers, which was Paganism.  He served with the Americans in the war of 1812, and on one occasion, without rest or sleep, ran 150 miles to bring an important message to the American army.  He was emphatically the leader of his race, enjoying not only their confidences, but also the respect and esteem of the whites.  His word was law; his utterances were unquestioned.  He was leading war chief (Zi-wynk-to-ko-noe) of the Onondagas from the death of Captain Cold in 1847 until his death; and for more than twenty years he served also as head chief (Ha-no-we-ye-ach-te) of the Six Nations.  Under him the tribe made good progress toward civilization.  He died at his home about a quarter of a mile from the council house on the evening of September 24, 1873, aged seventy-eight, and was buried with Christian ceremonies on the 26th.  After a brief service at the house, conducted by Rev. James M. Clarke, rector of St. James’s church, Syracuse, the coffin was borne to the Church of the Good Shepherd, where it was received by Bishop Huntington and placed upon a bier in the open air.  The Bishop, standing on the steps of the little edifice, delivered a most beautiful and appropriate address, Daniel La Forte acting as interpreter.   The remains were then uncovered that the assembled people, both Indians and whites, might look for the last time upon the departed chieftain, who was clothed in full warrior costume:  across his breast was his wampum belt, and upon his head were his cap and feathers.  Thence the body was borne by four young braves to a spot near the council house, where it was lowered to its last resting place.

The present head chief or “king” of the Six Nations is Frank Logan, of the Wolf clan, who was born in 1857.  The Onondaga nation is governed by twenty-seven chiefs, all but two of whom belong to the Pagan party.  The ruling or principal chiefs, fifteen in number, are chosen by the females of the families represented.

The present chiefs of the Onondagas are Frank Logan, Thomas Webster, John Green, Asa Wheelbarrow, Charles Green, William Hill, John Hill, Peter George, John R. Farmer, James Thomas, George Venevera, William Lyon, Billings Webster, Daniel La Forte, George Crow, Baptist Thomas, Charles Lyon, Andrew Gibson, Wilson Reuben, Jacob Scanandoah, George Lyon, Levi Webster, Hewlett Jacobs, Jacob Bigbear, John Thomas, Enoch Scanandoah, and Abbott Jones.  The last two are not Pagans.

Dinah John, familiarly and widely known as “Aunt Dinah,” was long one of the most picturesque figures among the Onondagas.  She was eccentric, kind hearted, simple, and frank, and after the age of ninety frequently walked from the Castle to Syracuse and back.  When asked as to her church relations she placed her hand upon her head, saying, “I’m ‘Piscopal here;” then placing her hand upon her heart, she added, “I’m Methodist here.”  She was born on the Reservation, where she lived all her life, and died there May 26, 1883.  Her remains were buried with Christian ceremonies in the little cemetery at the Castle, where her grace is marked by a tombstone, five feet high, upon which is this inscription:  ‘Aunt Dinah John, died May 26, 1883, aged 109 years.”  This monument was erected by a number of Syracusans and was unveiled July 7 of that year.  Many authorities have given her age as 107, and one antiquarian places her birth “early in 1774.”  The photograph from which the accompanying plate is made was taken of Philip S. Ryder, of Syracuse, when she was 100 years old.

Hannah, an Indian squaw, who died on the Reservation in 1861 at the age of 120 years, was probably the oldest person whose death occurred in Onondaga county.  She was born, it is believed, in 1741, or earlier, and was honored with a notice in Harper’s Weekly for March 23, 1861.

For several years a number of the progressive Indians on the Reservation have strongly favored the idea of citizenship, and themselves have taken the initiative.  On May 3, 1882, a constitution was reported, providing for a president or chairman, clerk, treasurer, marshal, three peacemakers or judges, a school trustee, one pathmaster, and two poormasters.  A provision respecting the disposition of lands in severalty was declared to be dependent upon a three-fourths vote of the males and a three-fourths vote of the mothers of the nation.  This constitution was adopted at a meeting held May 6, when officers were elected as follows:  Daniel La Forte, chairman; Jaris Pierce, clerk; Orris Farmer, treasurer; Cornelius Johnson, marshal; Jimerson L. Johnson, Wilson Johnson, and John White, peacemakers; Simon Scanandoah, pathmaster; Joseph Isaacs, school trustee; Baptist Thomas and Wilson Reuben, poormasters.  Various other resolutions were adopted at subsequent meetings, such as “putting a stop to Sabbath breaking,” etc.  The chiefs apparently did not favor civil government, and from August 3, 1883, to April 26, 1887, no meetings of this description occurred.  On the latter date the old rules were substantially revived, but provided for a governing body of twelve councilors.  The Christian element controlled this and other gatherings of that year.  October 15, 1889, the struggle was renewed, the constitution of 1882 being re-adopted.  On the 21st a new constitution was reported and adopted, but this and subsequent acts looking to the enfranchisement of the Onondagas, “The People of the Hills,” promulgated by themselves after the manner of English governments, have fallen to pieces because of their inherent belief in Paganism and ancient tribal relations.

Here amid the beautiful hills and valleys of their fathers we leave this small remnant of a once proud and powerful nation.  Here around the council fire of the Confederacy, where their historic career is slowly but surely drawing to an inglorious end, this little band is being borne one by one to the Happy Hunting Grounds of the Great Spirit, where immortalized souls of distinguished ancestors await their coming.  No more striking example of supremacy and decline can be found in the annals of the world.  Hundreds of years ago, when days were suns and months were moons, the Onondagas, the illustrious People of the Mountain, roamed at will over their vast domain, and numbered their warriors by the thousands.   The forests and the beasts thereof, the streams, fish, and game, both great and small, were theirs by right of original occupation.  The white man came with his dazzling arts and promises, encroached upon their hospitality, and reduced their lands and privileges piecemeal to insignificant proportions.  Wars, famine, and other causes wrought devastation, discouragement, and slow but steady decline, while the onward march of civilization gradually tore down their barriers of superstition and tribal practice until to-day ancient usages and customs exist more in tradition than in fact.  Though still the distinguished center of what remains of the Iroquois League the Onondagas retain only a shadow of their former greatness and magnificence.  Christianity is overpowering Paganism, and civilizing influences are wiping out those romantic but uncouth attributes which formed the foundation of true Indian life.” Source Here

FOOTNOTES

1. Chapters III to XVI; inclusive, of the present work, embrace extended accounts of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy, and of the various nations and tribes which made up that organization.  In this chapter it is designed merely to preserve in brief the traditions, customs, laws, statistics, and notable events relating purely to the Onondagas and their Reservation from their settlement in the valley of Onondaga to the present time.
   2.  David Cusick, author of “Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations,” was the son of Nicholas Cusick, a Tuscarora, who died near Lewiston, N.Y. in 1840, at the age of about eighty-two.  David’s death occurred a few years later.  He possessed a fair education and was esteemed a good doctor.  His History passed through three editions, dated respectively 1826, 1828, and 1848.  His brother James became a Baptist minister and a noted man, published a collection of Indian hymns, and died in Canada.  Albert Cusick is a grandson of James.
   3.  The Great Mosquito, Kah-ye-yah-ta-ne-go-na, was killed, it is claimed, at Centerville, which is still called Kah-yah-tak-ne-t’ke-tah-keh, “where the mosquito lies.”
   4.  A few days before Christmas, soon after beginning his visits, Rev. Mr. Hills received the following letter, which is self-explanatory:  “Rev. George Morgan Hills “I want you come down Christmas Day I want you baptize to little children Philip Jones her son and her girls four he got baptize that day and Another Wilson Reuben her girl and My little girl that be six children he wants you baptize Christmas day . “From Yours Truly “DANIEL LA FORTE “Onondaga Castle.”

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http://www.worksofjoseph.com/iroquois-nation/

History of the Iroquois as proceeded by Oswego Tribes
http://bangertelemlibrary.weebly.com/research-projects.html

The First White Men Arrived in Oswego 1653
http://www.oswego-history.com/the-first-white-men-at-oswego/

The Origin of the Iroquois as Suggested by Their Archeology
https://www.jstor.org/stable/660119?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents