The gospel was preached to the Iroquois as well as to the several
tribes of Algonquin origin, who lined the banks of the Hudson and the
Delaware, early in the 17th century. The Reformed Church of Holland
does not appear to have underrated its duties in this respect, while
the Holland States, under a hereditary President or Stadtholder, were
extending their civil jurisdiction and commercial enterprise on this
continent, notwithstanding the want of any direct evidence, that the
conversion of the Indians constituted a fixed part of the policy of the
servants and governors of the West India Company, to whose lot it fell
to introduce the arts and commerce of the mother country. It was the
common impression of those times, not only in Holland, the centre of
theological discussion, but in the reformed churches generally, that
civilization and the arts must precede the introduction of Christianity
among barbarous and idolatrous nations, and it was under such views,
that the gospel was first carried to India and to Iceland by the pious
zeal of the German reformers.
The impulse which had been imparted to the subject through the zeal
and devotion of Xavier and Loyola, and the energetic spirit of making
proselytes and converts, which characterized the particular order of
the Romish church, which they founded, impressed the rulers of Spain,
France and Portugal, with a deep sense of the importance of carrying
the gospel to the aborigines of the countries which they discovered.
Hence it was put forth, and really became one of the cardinal points
of attention in their early attempts to found new colonies. And while
the governors and servants of these countries did not prosecute the
objects of trade and politics with less determination and success,
nay, with a more unscrupulous disregard of the means, as the history
of South America alone testifies, they carried missionaries in every
early enterprise, and set forth to the world, the conversion of the
native inhabitants as the great object of their aim, as it was indeed
often the shield and cover to the reckless avarice and ambition of the
Cortezes and the Pizarros who carried their flags.
It was not consonant to the genius of Christianity, as interpreted by
Luther and his successors, to proceed in the work of spiritual conquest
with so noisy and gorgeous a display, or with hand locked arm in arm
with the State; and if the States of Holland did not put forth the
object, in their first charters and commissions to the new world, it
was, perhaps, because the Church was actuated in, and was guided by,
the general policy of the Protestant European churches. England and
Sweden, who planted colonies here, did the same.
It was not, indeed, until the new impulse which arose in the middle
of the 17th century, and which brought Oliver Cromwell to the English
throne, that different views and a deeper obligation of national duties
in this respect began to prevail. And hence, when the English pilgrims,
who had been sheltered awhile in the tolerant domains of Holland, set
their faces towards the New World, it was with a pre-determination
not only to carry out the principles of the gospel, in their own
settlements, but to extend its benign influences among the aborigines.
This was averred, and the well known prominency of the fact stamps
the efforts to convert and civilize the North American Indians, with
a moral force and grandeur, which cannot be claimed for England, in
her royal capacity as administrator of patents and honors here, or for
any other protestant king or potentate, who sent her poor, bold or
enterprising children to the American wilds.
This much can be said, without disparagement to the piety of the
Netherland church, which had her pastors and teachers at Manhattan,
Fort Orange, and various other incipient points of her settlements
at an early day. Whatever had been her policy, (and we have paid but
little attention to this,) in sending teachers among the Mohegans, the
Maquaas and other tribes who resorted to her forts and factories at
Albany, and other points of early contact with these simple and warlike
men; the English, after the conquest of 1664, appear to have followed
in her footsteps, and pursued the same general, gradual and persuasive
means, attaching high and deserved value at all points to the influence
of European arts and the value of fixed industry.
Churches were founded at an early day, among the Mohawks at Caghnawaga,
and at Dionderoga at the mouth of Schoharie Creek, better known as Fort
Hunter, the latter of which received a present of a set of plate for
the communion service, from Queen Ann.
Unfortunately for the conversion and civilization of the Indians,
they had not a fixed population—they drew their supplies mainly
from the chase, gave up a large portion of their time and means to
war, and besides moving periodically, at least twice a year, _from_
or _to_ their hunting and planting grounds, they were in a general
progress of recession before a civilized population. They shrank before
the determined spirit of progress of civilized arts and industry,
which elicited resources where the Indian had seen none, and made an
industrious use of every acre of tillable ground. But while the silent
influence of this progress did much to teach him, by denoting the
use of tools and implements of art and agriculture, to improve him
in his domicil and its fixtures, and his costume, and to harmonize
and fix his mental habits and character, he was not proof against
the leading temptation of the times, namely, the free and inordinate
use of ardent spirits. From the partial paroxysms of this pernicious
indulgence, he rose with less energy to pursue the chase, or follow
the war path. The policy of land sales, the distribution of presents
as boons from the crown, and the distribution of small sums of coin to
the heads of families in the shape of annuities. A system founded in
all but the last feature, under James VI, and confirmed under the old
confederation, stepped in, as it were, to aid and reinforce him in his
means of living, but which in effect, held him away from his hunting
grounds, paralyzed his home industry, and supplied him new means of
indulging his propensities for liquor and luxuries. That the gospel
should not have made a very marked progress under these circumstances,
is not surprising.
Some years before the breaking out of the American revolution, Mr.
Kirkland planted the gospel standard among the Oneidas, at a time when
the broad and sylvan fields and glades of Kun-a-wa-loa, or Oneida
Castle, were still beyond the pale of European civilization.[105] And
he is to be regarded as the apostle to the Iroquois. For many years,
in perils and dangers, he preached the gospel to the Oneidas, at their
once celebrated castle; and by the purity, firmness and excellence
of his character, won the confidence and the heart of their leading
sachem. Skenandoah, gave his attention to this new scheme of acceptance
with his Maker, admitted it, and became a consistent professor and
practicer of its precepts, and of him, it can be confidently said,
that he lived and died in the faith. To gain the influence of the most
powerful man in the canton, was to gain the whole canton; and when the
war broke out, the tribe, wavering, as it did for a time, and assailed
with all the arts of British intrigue and promise, so profusely put
forth, adhered to the colonies. Kirkland, in the inception and progress
of these movements, became the principal agent in disseminating the
doctrines of peace and neutrality among the six cantons. Washington
and the continental congress, reposed the highest trust in his virtue,
judgment, and intelligence. He took from the lips of the father of his
country, words of peace and good counsel, which coincided admirably,
with the precepts of the gospel. He traversed the then wilderness of
Genesee and Niagara on this mission, and has left enduring monuments of
his faithfulness and zeal.
[105] Herkimer, the nearest point east, was about 40 miles distant.
But the spirit of war prevailed—that spirit which the great body
this people had so long served, under the guidance of their native
priesthood. All but the Oneidas, some few of the Tuscaroras, who
were then settled in their western precincts, and some one or two
individuals, from St. Regis, joined the ranks of the mother country,
under their bold and politic leader Brant. Seven years of battles,
expeditions, ambushes, and murders, terminated not only in their
political overthrow as a confederacy, but plunged many of them who
had before listened to the voice of Christianity, back into the arms
of their native priests and forest habits. The Mohawks, part of the
Cayugas, and some Onondagas and Tuscaroras, fled the country, and
settled chiefly in Canada. The Oneidas, the body of the Onondagas
and Senecas, and some parts of the Cayugas and Tuscaroras, remained.
But they had fought for a phantom. All the rich promises of glory
and conquest, emanating from Johnson Hall and fort Niagara, and the
Canadas had failed; and their delegates came to the treaty of Fort
Stanwix in 1784, poor, crest fallen, and defeated. And by their first
public act, after the drama of the revolution, they put their hands to
a treaty, ceding away the larger portion of their ancient domain.
Thus they were thrown back an immeasurable distance in the work of
civilization and Christianity, and the effort to introduce the gospel
was to be commenced almost anew.
Time will not permit any notice in detail, of this second period in
their history. Kirkland, true to his original purpose, continued
his ministry and useful labors, and died in the Oneida country.
The venerable Skenandoah followed him at some few years later, and
requested to be buried by his side. New missions were projected and
carried into effect, at distinct times, among the remaining cantons. A
review of these, it is impossible to make within the period allotted to
this report; and besides, were the time ample, the data furnished to me
are not in all respects complete, and in some cases wholly deficient.
Communications have been received from the Rev. Gilbert Rockwood
and Rev. James Cusick of Tuscarora; from the Rev. Asher Bliss at
Cattaraugus, and from Rev. William Hall at Alleghany, which are printed
in the appendix, and are referred to as giving the latest and most
authentic information on the progress of Christianity, letters, and
morals among these respective tribes. So far as relates to the progress
of this people in agriculture and the arts, the results of the census,
hereto prefixed, although it denotes striking depopulation, afford
the most definite, and at the same time, most favorable view of the
remains of these cantons, which has, perhaps, ever been presented, of a
whole Indian nation in America. The reluctance, which was felt in some
quarters, has rendered it less complete than it might have been made.
Still, with every proper abatement and qualification, applicable to the
reservations as departmental bodies, and to the whole as a mass, there
are strong encouragements to the friends of Christianity to persevere.
The seeds of industry are well sown; letters have been generally
introduced, and, in some instances, they have produced men of talents
and intelligence, who have taken an honorable part in the professional
and practical duties of life. Very gratifying evidences exist of the
adoption, on a large scale, of the improved arts and conveniencies of
polished life. In manners, costume and address, the Iroquois people
offer a high example of the capacities and ready adoptive habits of the
race. It only needs a reference to the statistical tables mentioned, to
show that they are not behindhand in implements of husbandry, vehicles,
work cattle, horses and the general features of their agriculture. They
are abundantly able to raise sufficient for their own consumption, and
some of the communities have a surplus which is added to the productive
resources of the State. From those who have done so well, and who have
shown such unequivocal capacities for improvement, we may expect more.
From the tree, which has produced blossoms, we may expect fruit; and
from the bearing tree which has produced good fruit, we may expect more
fruit. Under all circumstances, we may regard the problem of their
reclamation as fixed and certain. They have themselves solved it. And
whatever an enlightened people and legislature should do to favor them,
ought not to be omitted. Churches and societies, who have granted
their peculiar aids, should continue those aids; and the heart of the
philanthropist and the statesman has cause to rejoice, that after all
their wars and wanderings, mistakes and besetments, the Iroquois, made
wise by experience, are destined TO LIVE. The results of
the census, herewith submitted, demonstrate this. The time is indeed
propitious for putting the inquiry, whether the Iroquois are not worthy
to be received, under the new Constitution, as CITIZENS OF THE
STATE.