IT is not the purpose of this volume to deal to any considerable extent
with the history of the Indians, but simply to present some of the
legends of the Iroquois. To the reader or student, however, is due a
brief statement as to the authority from which the folk-lore contained
herein has been drawn, that there may remain no question as to its
reliability.
A few years after the close of the war of the Revolution one of the
pioneers of Western New York, who was in the service of the Holland
Land Company, made the acquaintance and won the friendship of the
Seneca chief, the Cornplanter, (Gy-ant-wah-chi, or, as written by some
authorities, Gar-yan-wah-ga). The friendship continued as long as the
two men lived and was marked by its cordiality. In their intercourse
they were thrown together many winters, and the Cornplanter was led to
talk freely of his people, their past, their present condition, and
their future, and it was during these confidences that the Indian told
his white friend many of the Iroquois legends. To the recollections of
the Cornplanter was added the knowledge possessed upon the subject by
the Nephew (Governor Blacksnake), who resided upon the same reservation
and in the immediate vicinity, and that of "other old men and leaders
of these Indians." The legends were preserved in outline notes upon the
blank pages of some diaries and civil engineer field-books which the
white man was accustomed to keep; and these outlines, with full oral
explanations came finally into the possession of the present writer.
About twenty-five years ago the work of their further verification by
means of inquiries made of some of the most intelligent Indians in New
York State was commenced. Many of those consulted had only imperfect
knowledge of the legends, others knew one or more of the stories, and,
by aid of the outlines referred to above, were able to assist in the
work of their restoration. Among those who gave most valuable assistance
was Simon Blackchief and his mother. The latter spoke only in the Indian
tongue, and her version of such of the stories as she had heard in her
girlhood was translated by her son. Chief John Mountpleasant, Harrison
Halftown, Elias Johnson and John Kinjocity also gave valuable assistance.
The late B. Giles Casler, who was the United States Indian Agent for New
York State for a term of years, accompanied the author upon a number
of visits to several of the reservations. Through these helps, and by
a study pursued under the favoring circumstance of former residence in
close proximity to the Allegany Reservation, the present writer believes
that he has succeeded in bringing these legends to a point approximating
their original beauty. In their elaboration care has been taken not to
depart from the simplicity and directness of statement characteristic
of the Indian, and only such additions that seemed to be warranted have
been made. Whenever the primary authority for a legend is other than the
Cornplanter, the fact is mentioned in the appended notes.
Although the Cornplanter was a half-breed, he was more thoroughly
acquainted with the traditions of his people than any contemporary chief
in the nations comprising the Iroquois. He was born in Conewangus, on the
Genesee river, probably in the year 1732, and died on Cornplanter Island
in the Allegany river, in the State of Pennsylvania, near the New York
line, March 7, 1836, at the age of one hundred and four years. He was the
son of John Abeel (also written O'Bail), a trader among the Indians. His
mother was an Indian Princess of the Turtle Clan.
From his earliest recollection the Cornplanter had a pronounced hatred
of the whites, caused, no doubt, by the remembrance of the cruel
treatment to which his mother was subjected by his father, who seems to
have taken an Indian wife in order that he might gain the friendship
of the Indians, and thus secure good bargains in trade. The errors of
history have led us to believe that love or respect for a mother were
sentiments almost foreign to the Indian race. These feelings always
existed among them, however, to a much greater degree than we are willing
to concede, though their respect and love for women and children were
greater before their simple natures were blunted and distorted by the
vicious practices of the invading Europeans.
The Cornplanter spent his early years at the council-fires, and became
one of the most celebrated orators in the Confederation of the Six
Nations. He traveled from village to village and sought wisdom from the
sages of the Iroquois. It was during this portion of his life that he
listened to the traditions that had descended from chief to chief over a
period of three centuries. When he had acquired a reputation for bravery
and woodcraft second to none of his race, he was unanimously chosen
Chief of the Senecas, and came at once into prominence as the leader
of the war-parties of that nation in alliance with the French against
the English. He was present at the defeat of Braddock, and, for a long
time, by the most daring and cruel raids on the frontier settlements,
spread destruction in the Mohawk Valley and in Western New York. He was
at that time an implacable foe to all white people, and the names of
Cornplanter, Brant, and Red Jacket were synonymous with capture, torture
and massacre. They were the chief councilors and leaders of their people
and fought against every overture made by the whites. In 1779, near the
mouth of Redbank Creek, in Pennsylvania, the Cornplanter, with a large
force of Indians, engaged in battle against a party of whites, led by
Captain Samuel Brady. The engagement terminated in favor of the whites,
and many of the Indians were killed or wounded. The survivors fled to the
river, then swollen with the spring rains, and dashed into its current.
Few succeeded in crossing; one by one they were swept down the stream
or sank, pierced by the bullets of Brady's men. The Cornplanter reached
the opposite shore almost alone. From that moment the high spirit of the
daring chieftain began to falter and he sought peace, making, in 1791, a
treaty with "The Great Chief of the Thirteen Fires." The medal and other
mementos given him by Washington are still preserved by the descendants
of the chief. He was put in possession of the island that bears his name,
and ever afterwards devoted himself to farming and pursuits of peace. For
many years he labored faithfully to eradicate the habits of intemperance
into which his people had fallen, and, strange as it may seem, was
the first temperance lecturer in the United States. He entertained
the highest respect for Washington, and visited him several times in
Philadelphia.
It was during the last twenty years of the Cornplanter's life that the
legends herein contained were recalled and told. He did not speak of them
generally, for he held them sacred, but reserved them for the ears of
those in full sympathy with the people of which he was one of the last
true representatives. He told them with an intensity of feeling that was
pitiful, for it was plain he realized that the greatness of his people
had disappeared, leaving neither monuments nor achievements to mark their
place in the history of the world.
The Cornplanter died a strong believer in the religion of the red
men, and looked forward with an eye of faith towards the Happy
Hunting-Grounds, for which countless generations of his people had been
taught to hope.
_The Legends_