THE MEMORY AND INFLUENCE OF KATERI TEKAKWITHA AFTER HER DEATH.--MODERN
CAUGHNAWAGA.
It has been seen how the waning yet ever-brightening spark of a saintly
life went out among the Indians of the Sault, and the reader has learned
where Kateri Tekakwitha was laid to rest; but her memory is still alive
at the places where she lived and died, and even far away among the
Indians of the North and West; and wherever she is known her influence
is still a power for good. The Rev. P. Fouquet, a missionary who labors
among the aborigines of British Columbia, in a letter addressed to the
Rev. V. Burtin, Cure of Caughnawaga, P. Q., under date of July 22, 1888,
says:--
"I have spoken to hundreds of Indian villages of your admirable
_Sauvagesse_ [thus he calls Tekakwitha].... Nothing is so
useful to our Indians; her example is a great encouragement to
them in the practice of Christian virtues."
The Flathead (Kalispel) Mission in Montana, with its large Indian school
and thriving settlement of industrious Christians, owes its origin in
great part to the zeal of a few adventurous Iroquois who migrated to
that region from Caughnawaga in Canada. Among these was a certain chief
called Ignatius _the Iroquois_. He had grown up under the shadow of
Tekakwitha's cross, and after living for a time among his new friends
the Kalispel people, who gained from him and his comrades a favorable
opinion of Christianity, he did not hesitate to undertake a dangerous
journey across the great plains of the United States in order to obtain
for them a missionary. It was in paving the way for Father De Smet, the
Apostle of the Rocky Mountains, that the brave Iroquois lost his life.
When that Father succeeded after many difficulties in accomplishing the
long journey from St. Louis in the Mississippi Valley, to the Kalispels
in Montana, he reaped a most unexpected harvest of Indian converts. This
was because they still cherished the memory of Ignatius the Iroquois,
who from his youth had reverenced that of Kateri Tekakwitha. May we not
then justly claim for her a share in the success of that Kalispel
mission? Was it not her strong, sweet influence for good that had
spanned the continent at last, and raised the cross aloft among the
redmen of the Rocky Mountains?
Not alone among the Indians of the West, but far away to the East, and
beyond the Atlantic Ocean, the name of Kateri Tekakwitha is often
spoken. In April, 1888, the people of Caughnawaga joined with their
missionary, Pere V. Burtin, in celebrating the diamond wedding of his
aged parents, who live at Metz, in Lorraine. The name the Caughnawagas
have given to their beloved pastor is Takaronhianckon, which means "Two
Skies Together," because he belongs to two countries,--the land of his
adoption, and his fatherland over the sea. Pere Burtin delights in
praising the virtues of Kateri Tekakwitha, and often mentions her in his
letters. Her name has become a household word in the missionary's old
home on the banks of the Moselle, which he has not seen for more than
thirty years. This double celebration of a diamond wedding on both sides
of the Atlantic proves not only the strength of true domestic affection
that neither time nor distance has been able to obliterate, but also the
love and gratitude of the Indians to the man who forsook house and
kindred so many years ago for their sake.
Pictures of Kateri were painted by Chauchetiere shortly after her death,
and were distributed in many directions. They were first engraved and
sent to Europe by order of Madame de Champigny in the year 1695. One or
more of these reached the French Court, which was then at its most
brilliant period under Louis XIV. The powdered and befrilled ladies of
that time looked with wonder on the rough cut sent to them of a little
squaw in blanket and moccasins, holding in her hand a cross, and worthy,
they were told, to be held up as a model for the Christians of Europe.
She had indeed lived as a light in the wilderness, and was looked upon
by all who knew her as a lily of purity and star of faith.
There is a very old, full-length portrait of Kateri Tekakwitha still
hanging in the sacristy at Caughnawaga, P. Q. Others are to be seen at
St. Mary's Church, Albany, and in the possession of the Jesuits at Troy,
New York. An ideal portrait of her by Mr. Lang, completed in the early
part of the year 1889, is by far the best representation of her now in
existence. The same artist has also painted her, in a landscape of great
beauty, as just moving away from her favorite place of prayer near the
mission cross on the St. Lawrence. A Sister in the Hotel Dieu at
Montreal has a quaint colored print, representing her very much as she
appears in the rude, uncolored engraving which accompanies the account
given of her in "L'Amerique Septentrionale" by De la Potherie. The
illustration in Chauchetiere's life of her, published in quaint style by
John Gilmary Shea, in 1887, is not unlike these two.
What served far more than any pictorial representation ever made, to
keep her saintly memory before the people of her own village, was the
formation of Kateri's Band, or Les Soeurs de Catherine, as they were
called. These were young Indian girls whom Therese Tegaiaguenta banded
together after Kateri's death, and incited to imitate the virtues of her
friend, who, as she firmly believed, was still loving her and helping
her in heaven, according to her promise. It has already been said that
Therese received by common consent the name of the one who while on
earth had been her inseparable companion. Hence it is easy to account
for the fact that in a "Life of Marguerite Bourgeois," published in
1852, the author should have confused the identity of these two young
Indians of the Sault, and given an account of the Lily of the Mohawks
under the name of _Therese Tegakouita_. Their souls were locked together
in life; their names in death.
While Therese lived, the Caughnawagas gave her the name and a part
of the love and reverence they had shown to Kateri herself. When
once she had formed the band known as Kateri's Sisters, and had passed
from among men, then indeed there was nothing left on earth of the
Lily of the Mohawks save lifeless relics and what the old writers are
pleased to call "an odor of sanctity." _Onkwe Onwe-ke Katsitsiio
Teiotsitsianekaron._ These words, as we have already seen, may be read
on the monument at the foot of Tekakwitha's Cross, but her bones do not
rest there. They were carried to the modern village of Caughnawaga, and
some fragments of them even still farther from her grave;[75] for at the
time of the French and Indian War the Jesuits resolved to divide the
Caughnawaga mission, and remove some of their flock farther away from
the dangers of Montreal. The Tarbells--who as children had been captured
at Groton, Connecticut, in Queen Anne's War, and afterwards became too
thoroughly identified with the Caughnawagas to return to their Puritan
relatives when the opportunity offered--headed this party sent westward
from the Sault to form a new settlement. Choosing Aquasasne,--"the place
where the partridge drums,"--a plain east of a slight hill, at one of
the few spots where the rapid-vexed river glides calmly by, --they began
the mission of St. Francis Regis, and threw up a log-cabin for the
Jesuit Father Mark Anthony Gordon, who accompanied them, _bearing as a
precious treasure part of the remains of Catherine Tehgahkwitha_.[76]
This portion of her remains was lost in a fire which destroyed the log
chapel and its contents shortly before the treaty of peace was signed
between England and France, in 1763. A new wooden church soon replaced
the rude chapel, and in 1791 this in turn gave way to the present
massive stone church of that mission. The St. Regis settlement was found
to be on the New York boundary line; so the village is now part British
and part American. Methodist and Episcopal missions have been started
there at different times, but most of the Indians of the place still
adhere to the faith of Jogues and Tekakwitha.
The Catholic Iroquois,--many of them famous as warriors,--naturally
enough, sided with the French during the long period of our
intercolonial wars;[77] but when the Revolution broke out they refused
to take up arms against the people of the English Colonies at the
instigation of their British oppressors, as did the Mohawk followers of
Brant. Though urged and threatened by Sir Guy Carleton to do so, they
maintained their neutrality. Some actually joined the American army of
patriots. One of these, Atiatonharonkwen, or Louis Cook, rose to the
rank of captain. During the stirring times of 1812 the settlement at
Aquasasne was disturbed by incursions of both American and British
troops; but since that war came to an end the missions of Caughnawaga
and St. Regis have enjoyed peace and quiet. Their people have shared in
the general prosperity and progress of this country and Canada. They
support themselves by means of agriculture and the manufacture of
baskets, sleds, moccasins, snow-shoes, and other articles ornamented
with beads in the Indian fashion. The Caughnawagas, moreover, are noted
for being especially brave and skilful in the use of every kind of
river-craft. As raftsmen and pilots they are unequalled. The patriarchal
figure of the famous Caughnawaga Indian, Jean Baptiste, with his
swarthy face and bright-red shirt, seen year after year at the
pilot-wheel of nearly every excursion-steamer that shot the Great Rapid
of the St. Lawrence on its way to Montreal, will not soon be forgotten
by the many travellers whom he steered safely to their destination.
Others as skilful still dwell at the same Indian village, ready at any
time to board the steamers as they pass along.
When the Gordon expedition was being fitted out for Egypt in 1884, an
urgent invitation was extended to the Caughnawaga raftsmen to join it.
About one hundred of them did so, and dexterously carried the British
troops through the rapids of the Upper Nile. On their return they were
received in England with marked consideration, and were thanked by Queen
Victoria in person for their services to the realm. They then recrossed
the ocean to Caughnawaga, well pleased with their venture into foreign
lands.
Among these same people of the Sault are lineal descendants of those
proud Mohawks with whom the fathers of Albany maintained so long the
close alliance formed at Tawasentha, when the foundations of the city
were first laid on land belonging to the most warlike of the Five
Nations. Accordingly, when the Albanians, in 1886, prepared to celebrate
the bi-centennial of their charter, a deputation of these Mohawks was
formally invited from Caughnawaga by the Mayor of Albany. On their
arrival they were publicly received at the City Hall as honored guests,
the freedom of the city was extended to them, and they took a prominent
part in the ceremonies accompanying the celebration. They were present
in full Indian costume, both at the opening of the city gates, and at
the grand military high mass celebrated on bi-centennial Sunday at St.
Mary's, the oldest Catholic Church of the city. Their presence on that
occasion recalled with touching interest the memory of their first
apostle of Christianity, Isaac Jogues, who was sheltered from the
cruelty of his captors by the kind-hearted burghers of Albany. The
sacrifice of his life, which he offered for them when he returned to the
Mohawk Valley, had brought these Indians to the Christian faith; and the
example of Kateri--their "Little Sister," as they still call her--had
helped to hold them to it through the vicissitudes of two centuries.
The fervor of these Indian people of the Great Rapid, whose ancestors
were converted from paganism in the valleys of New York State, has not
abated since the days of Kateri, nor has the work of the Jesuit
missionaries among them been fruitless in lasting results,
notwithstanding the assertion of Kip to the contrary, in his
introduction to "Early Jesuit Missions." The large congregation of
Christian Iroquois still dwelling at the Sault is in itself a living
proof of the success and continuance of the old mission work. No one
could attend the religious observances there without being impressed by
their sincere and heartfelt devotion to the Christian faith. The Corpus
Christi procession, as witnessed by the author, in 1888, at the village
of Caughnawaga, was picturesque and edifying beyond description.
FOOTNOTES:
[75] See Hough's History of St. Lawrence County.
[76] Shea's History of the Missions, p. 339.
[77] To this period belong the curious details concerning the
traditional story of the Iroquois mission bell, and its connection with
the raid on Deerfield in the winter of 1703-4, which have been collected
by Judge N. B. Sylvester, in his "History of the Connecticut Valley."
CONCLUSION.
It is for the people of the United States, where many nationalities and
many creeds are brought into daily contact, that this book has been
written; and therefore certain occurrences which took place after the
death of Kateri Tekakwitha, and which have been given at length in some
memoirs and sketches of her life otherwise comparatively meagre, are
here purposely omitted. Thus we pass by much that might be said of the
devotion of people in various parts of Canada and elsewhere to her
memory; as also the accounts of visits made from long distances to her
grave, and to her early home in the Mohawk Valley. Steps have been taken
towards public honors in the church, and even to her canonization as a
saint.[78] Into these matters it has not been thought necessary to
enter. One exception, however, should be made. Some things occurred soon
after her death which are so closely connected with the personality of
Kateri herself, and with those who were nearest to her on earth, that
they seem properly to belong to a complete record of her life and times.
These are given in an account of certain remarkable visions in which
Kateri Tekakwitha appeared to Father Chauchetiere and two of her friends
in 1680, and twice afterwards to the same reverend father. The account
of these apparitions is to be found in "Book Third" of the manuscript
entitled, "La Vie de Catherine Tegakouita, Premiere Vierge Irokoise,"
written by Father Cholenec. It forms a part of the materials in Carton
O,[79] at the Jesuit College Library, in Montreal. A translation of it
is here given. Nothing is added, and nothing taken from the good
father's account; nor is there any call to make an apology for the
simple faith which glows in his language. It was his faith and that of
many others who knew Tekakwitha, and thus makes a part, of her history.
Cholenec's words are as follows:
"The sixth day after the death of Catherine, this was Easter Monday, a
virtuous person worthy of belief,[80] being in prayer at four o'clock in
the morning, she appeared to him surrounded with glory, bearing a pot
full of maize, her radiant face lifted towards heaven as if in ecstasy.
This vision of joy so marvellous was accompanied by three circumstances
which rendered it still more admirable. For in the first place it
lasted two whole hours, during which this person had leisure to
contemplate her at his ease. He did so with a joy and a pleasure that
cannot be expressed, Catherine having wished by so signal a favor to
acknowledge the great services she had received from him during her
life. Furthermore, this same apparition was accompanied with several
prophecies by as many symbols which were to be seen on each side of
Catherine in her ecstasy; of which prophecies some have been already
verified, others have not as yet. For example, at the right appeared a
church overturned, and opposite at the left an Indian attached to a
stake and burned alive. This happened in the month of April of the year
1680; and in 1683, the night of the 20th of August, a storm, so terrible
and with so much thunder and lightning that it could only have been
caused by the evil spirit, took up the church of the Sault,--60 feet
long, of stone masonry,--took it up, I say, at one corner with such
violence that, contrary to all likelihood, it turned it over on to the
opposite angle and dashed it to pieces. Two of our fathers who were at
the church were carried off into the air. A third, who had run to the
house to ring the bell, felt the cord suddenly wrenched from his hands,
and was carried off like the other two. All three next found themselves
on the ground under the _debris_, from which they were drawn forth with
much difficulty; and instead of having their bodies all mangled by so
violent a concussion, they came out of it with some slight hurts; this
they attributed to the prayers of Catherine, when they all three came
together again. As for me, said one, I said mass to-day in honor of
Catherine. And for me, replied the other, I was this morning at her
tomb, to recommend myself to her in a special manner. And as for me,
added the third, having for a year past a strong idea that some
misfortune was to befall the mission, I have been every day since then,
and to-day again, to pray to Catherine at her tomb to deliver us, and I
have not ceased during all that time to importune the superior of the
mission to have Catherine's bones transported into our church, without
knowing why I did it. Behold what has reference to the overturned
church. As for the Indian seen in this apparition, attached to the stake
and burned alive, that was sufficiently verified some years after, when
an Indian of this mission was burned at Onondaga, and two women the two
following years; and as we do not doubt at all that Catherine, who had
made it known so long beforehand, obtained for these Indians the
invincible constancy that they showed in their torments, we will speak
of it at the end of this third book as a marvellous effect of the power
she has in heaven.[81]
"Finally, the third circumstance of this apparition, so remarkable, is
that in the following year, 1681, on September 1st, and in the year
1682, on April 21st, the same person had the same vision and under the
same circumstances; with this only difference, that in the first
apparition Catherine was shown to him as a rising sun, with these words
which were audible to him: '_Adhuc visio in dies_;' instead of which,
in the two following ones, she was shown to him as a sun at mid-day,
with these other words: '_Inspice et fac secundum exemplar_,' God giving
him to understand by this, that he wished pictures of Catherine to be
painted, which have been worked upon for a long time, and which having
been painted, have contributed wonderfully towards making her known;
because, having been put on the heads of the sick, they have worked
miraculous cures.
"Two days after the first of these three apparitions, and eight days
after the death of Catherine, she showed herself to her good mother
Anastasia in this way. This fervent christian, after everybody had gone
to bed in her cabin, remained alone in prayer on that evening; and
feeling herself finally overcome by sleep she laid down on her mat to
rest. But scarcely had she closed her eyes when she was awakened by a
voice calling her with these words: 'Mother, arise.' She recognized the
voice of Catherine, and at once without the least fear, she raised
herself to a sitting posture and turning towards the side from which
this voice came, she saw Catherine standing near her all brilliant with
light. She had half of her body hidden to the waist in this brightness,
and the other half, said this woman, was shining like a sun. She carried
in her hand a cross, more brilliant yet than all the rest. So much light
came from it that I do not believe one could see anything in the world
more beautiful. I saw her, she continued, distinctly in this posture,
awake as I was, and she spoke these words to me quite as distinctly:
'Mother, look at this cross; oh! how beautiful it is! It has been my
whole happiness during my life, and I advise you also to make it yours.'
After these few words she disappeared, leaving her mother full of joy,
and her spirit so filled with this vision that after many years she had
still the memory of it as fresh as on the first day. It seems that
Catherine, in gratitude for the assistance she had received from
Anastasia, wished by the sight of that cross so beautiful and so
ravishing, and by the words she added, to dispose her to bear generously
the one that God was preparing for her; because she has lost since then
three of her children killed in war, the eldest of whom was one of the
captains of the village; a disaster which she bore with heroic
constancy, so much had she been fortified within by this apparition of
her dear daughter.
"Catherine was seen also by her companion, one day when she was alone in
her cabin. She sat down beside her on her mat, recalled to her something
she had done, and after giving her some advice for her conduct, she
withdrew. As for the rest, the great affection Catherine had for the
cross, and the manner in which she appeared to her mother Anastasia,
gave the idea of painting her with the cross in her hand as the posture
most suitable to her.
"But God has spoken still more clearly as to the sanctity and merit of
Catherine, his spouse, by authentic testimony. I mean those prodigious
graces, and so numerous, that he has already bestowed and continues to
bestow through her intercession, on every sort of people."
The record is ended; and yet one thought lingers. The moccasin trail of
our "Little Sister" leads ever onward to the lodge of the true God.
There, if we follow, though with steps not half so swift as hers, Kateri
will not fail to greet us with her low, sweet, friendly Caughnawaga
greeting: "Sago!"
[Illustration: MODERN CAUGHNAWAGA, P. Q.
(_From the Landing._)]
FOOTNOTES:
[78] See Appendix--Note =F=, Indian Petition to Rome.--As recently as
July 30, 1890, there was a large and enthusiastic gathering of
Americans, Canadians and Indians at Tekakwitha's grave, presided over by
the Bishops of Montreal, Albany and Nicolet, for the purpose of
assisting at the solemn dedication and blessing of her newly placed
monument.
[79] Another manuscript contained in this same _Carton O_, which will
doubtless be carefully examined by those who are interested in promoting
the cause of canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha, is that of M. Remy Cure
of La Chine, dated March 12, 1696, and testifying to miracles worked
through her intercession in his own parish.
[80] This person was Father Chauchetiere. He says in the Preface to his
life of Catherine Tegakouita: "Catherine me porta dans une vision a
faire des peintures pour l'instruction des sauvages, etc."
[81] Some account of the Iroquois martyr, Etienne, who fulfilled this
prophecy of the vision, has been already given in Chapter XXI. For
further details see Kip's "Early Jesuit Missions," Pages 119-123.
APPENDIX.
NOTES.
A. LOCATION OF MOHAWK VILLAGES.
There is much confusion and apparent discrepancy in the various accounts
given of Mohawk villages in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as
may be seen by consulting the works of O'Callaghan, Parkman, Martin,
Schoolcraft, Morgan, and others. A few prominent and unmistakable facts,
however, are accepted by all. There were certainly three principal
fortified towns in the Mohawk Valley all through the early colonial
days, built and occupied by the _Caniengas_ (_Kanienkehaka_), or "People
of the Flint," as they chose to call themselves, but who were known to
the Dutch as _Maquaas_, to the French as _Agnies_, and to the English as
_Mohawks_. These people were divided into three clans or _gentes_, each
named for a certain animal, and each governing a town or castle of its
own. Their three towns varied in name and location, but seem always to
have borne the same relation to one another. As General Clark briefly
expresses it: "The castles _first_, _second_, and _third_ (from the
east) correspond to _Lower_, _Middle_, and _Upper_, and also to the
_Turtle_, _Bear_, and _Wolf_." Kateri Tekakwitha dwelt at the first, or
Turtle Castle, which was nearest to the Dutch settlers. These last
worked their way up the Mohawk Valley from the Hudson; while the
Indians on their part were also moving gradually westward, rebuilding
their villages after short intervals, sometimes on the northern and
sometimes on the southern bank of the Mohawk, but always in the same
relative order,--that is, Turtles to the east, Bears in the centre, and
Wolves to the west.
The following extracts from letters of Gen. John S. Clark to the author
of this volume will be of interest to all who wish to know what sort of
proofs and arguments have been used in locating the sites of the Mohawk
villages which were in existence during the times of Isaac Jogues and
Kateri Tekakwitha:--
FEBRUARY 10, 1885.
The determination of the exact position of all the so-called
Mohawk Castles at definite dates can never be ascertained. This
you can readily understand by reading Father Pierron's account
in 1668 (Relation, 1669), where he speaks of seven large
villages extending over a space of seven and a half leagues
(nearly nineteen miles), and that from many causes they often
changed to new locations, where, according to circumstances,
they might remain five, ten, and in rare instances fifteen
years. I have identified in the neighborhood of forty different
sites occupied at some time between 1620 and 1750. Fortunately
the very particular account of Father Jogues' captivity and the
death of Goupil furnished a sufficient number of references to
the topography of the locality, to enable me, after many years'
study, to identify with almost absolute certainty the exact
site of this one castle, OSSERNENON. This gave the key to the
second and third. These determined, Father Pierron, in 1667
(the next year after the three castles were burned by the
French), speaks of visiting the third castle, which had been
_rebuilt a quarter of a league above_. This gave me a test
fact. In company with some friends living near there, and who
were well acquainted with all sites, as they supposed, where
Indian relics had ever been found, I pointed out the precise
point on the map, and said we must find a site here, or my
theory must fall to the ground. They answered that then my
theory must fail, for certainly if any Indian village had ever
existed at that point they would have heard something of it. My
answer was, "I have more confidence in Father Pierron than I
have in your opinion." We visited the spot, and on inquiring of
the farmer who owned the land, if any evidences existed, at the
particular point in question, of Indian occupation, he
answered: "We have found great quantities of relics, and you
can find plenty of them to-day,"--as we did. Since that they
have never questioned facts mentioned in the "Relations."
Greenhalgh visited all the castles in 1677, and found them on
the _north side_. His description gives sufficient facts to
warrant a _reasonable probability_ as to the locations of the
four principal castles at that date, but not absolutely
certain. Apparently at this date the lower castle, Kaghnawaga,
was on the west bank of the Cayudutta, near Fonda; and here my
conclusions must end for the present, until I collect all the
facts possible to be obtained having a bearing on the question.
These are references to topography, distances from other known
points, and anything that by hint or direct evidence can be
used in the solution of the problem.... My present opinion is
that your mission chapel of 1676 was northwest of Fonda, on the
west side of Cayudutta Creek....
You mention the fact of small-pox prevailing in her town in
1660, and ask, Would they be likely to move the site of the
village for that reason? Most certainly. I have evidence that
they did remove in 1659, but have never been able to ascertain
the cause. Quite possibly this may have been the reason. This
removal, as I suppose, was made to the west bank of Auries
Creek, on top of a high hill and about a mile west of
Ossernenon.
About 1649 the Iroquois entered on their policy of conquering
their neighbors and making of them one family and one people,
as they expressed it. From that date to 1675, great numbers
were added,--many more than could be provided for in the way of
adoption into families; consequently they were permitted to
settle in villages by themselves in the near vicinity of the
large ones. In this way was the number increased from three in
1640 to seven in 1668, and this also accounts for an apparent
discrepancy as to numbers in accounts of different writers.
One party finding a village in two parts near each other would
describe it as _two_; another would consider it as one.
I suspect your _petit village_, Gandawague, was one of this
character; that is, a small village near the greater one. One
other fact occurs to me, that may be of use to you. Gandawague
was a district along the river,--ordinarily meaning "at the
rapids." A slight variation may make it mean _above_ or _below_
or the _other side_; and so on in numerous relations of
localities to the rapids. It will be found exceedingly
difficult to determine the precise meaning of these words.
In the early part of June, 1885, General Clark, in company with Rev. C.
A. Walworth, of Albany, and the author of this biography, revisited all
the castle-sites in the Mohawk Valley which were supposed to be in any
way connected with the lifetime of Kateri Tekakwitha. What follows was
written soon after this expedition.
AUBURN, N. Y., June 29, 1885.
Since my return home I have given my time to a review of all
the evidence relating to sites of first and second castles from
1640 to 1680, and have framed a theory that apparently
harmonizes _all the facts_, and shall be much obliged for any
argument or presentation of facts that will be inconsistent
with it.
First, I assume that in all the changes of the Bear clan during
this time, they did not remove more than a mile and a half from
their original position on the high hill;[82] second, that soon
after 1666 they removed to the opposite side of the river, on
the Fox farm, where Greenhalgh found them in 1677, "_on a flat
a stone's-throw from the river_." You will remember that this
site was on an elevated plain, unlike any other site visited.
Now after Ossernenon was abandoned, say about 1650 or 1655, all
subsequent descriptions place Gandawague _two leagues_ from
Andagoron until 1668, when the people of Gandawague removed to
the Cayudutta (Kaghnawaga), and when the accounts all place
the two castles near each other,--in Dr. Shea's translation
_two miles_. Theoretically, this makes a change of three miles
for the lower castle,--a distance exactly corresponding to that
between the high hill at Auries Creek and Kaghnawaga on the
Cayudutta,--the village Andagoron having remained substantially
stationary. I firmly believe that the site on the Fox farm was
the one visited by Greenhalgh. If this be correct, it
determines approximately the other; for they were near each
other, one chapel answering for both villages.
On applying the test of distance to the battle-ground,[83] this
is found correct; and measuring the four leagues as we did to
Teonnontogen, it also corresponds.
Now the removal from the west bank of Auries Creek was not made
bodily, but gradually. The villages were destroyed in October,
1666. They could do nothing in the way of establishing
themselves in a new position that year, having to make
themselves shelter for the winter. The next year, _after the
bark would peel_, they could commence building their new houses
on a new site, and during the spring clear new fields for corn,
and in the course of the year a partial removal could take
place. The palisading could be completed during the year, and
in 1668 the village could be said to have changed. The new
chapel was built in 1669, and in this year also they were
attacked by the Mohegans. When Gandawague was visited in 1667
no mention is made of a removal; but the fact is mentioned of
the removal of Teonnontogen a quarter of a league higher up. I
conclude that if Gandawague or Andagoron had either of them
been removed, the fact would have been mentioned, and that
indeed they returned temporarily to the old sites, which may
not have been so completely destroyed as was Teonnontogen. This
will reconcile all the facts, and I am unable to see any
material antagonism at any point. The name Gandawague must not,
however, be confounded with Caughnawaga, although for a time
it may have been transferred to the new site.
I have been unable to find any data from which to determine
when or about when Ossernenon was transferred to Auries Creek.
The asking of the Dutch for men and horses in 1659 to draw
palisades, _according to the translators_, was to repair their
castles, and in one case for the "castles which you are
building." They don't agree. The name on the Vanderdonck map,
1656, and that on Vischer's, 1659, of "Canagero," give a hint
that the transfer had been made as early as 1655; and the very
remarkable language of the Jesuit Fathers Fremin, Pierron, and
Bruyas, which describes Gandawague as "_the very place watered
by the blood of Jogues_," etc., almost leads one to think the
removal may have been made as early as 1646; but I conclude
that Ossernenon and Gandawague being only a mile apart, the
description "_this is the place_" would be sufficiently
specific as to locality, the village (people) being the same. A
critical study of the original Dutch may enable us to determine
whether in 1659 they were building a _new_ or repairing an _old
castle_.
In a letter to Rev. C. A. Walworth, March 3, 1885, General Clark wrote
as follows:--
"Gandawague was in 1677 unquestionably on the hill northwest of
Fonda, about a mile back from the river. A fine spring on the
west bank of the Cayudutta marks the central point of the
village, and the pits some distance to the north were their
granary where they stored their corn. A smaller village was
probably near Mr. Veeder's house."
B. THE WORDS "GANDAWAGUE" AND "TEKAKWITHA."
Gandawague may possibly mean, as General Clark has suggested, neither
more nor less than "At the Turtle Village." In compound words the
Indians frequently drop syllables, and certain letters are
interchangeable as follows:
{ KAN[/A]DA--[/A][/N][/A]WA[/R][/A]--KE }
{ GAN----DA--------------WA----------GE }
{ _Village_-----------_Turtle_------_At_}
The name of this first, or Turtle, Castle of the Mohawks has been
written in many different ways, as may be seen by a glance at the list
here given:--
OSSERNENON
Asserue
Oneougoure
GANDAWAGUE
Gannaouage
Gandahouague
Andaraque
Kachnuge
Kaghnuwage
Kaghenewage
Kahnawake
Caghnawagah
Cahaniaga
CAUGHNAWAGA
With all this variety of spelling, only three or four distinct names are
represented. An Indian word had no written form of its own. Consequently
an Englishman, a Dutchman, and a Frenchman, each putting it down in
black and white for the first time, would naturally represent the sound
of the word by very different letters. The three forms thus arising
could not be identified at once as the same in meaning and sound without
a knowledge of several languages. Since such scholars as Dr. O'Callaghan
and M. Cuoq, however, have taken up the task, new light has been thrown
on the subject, and much that at first sight seemed hopelessly confused
in the early colonial accounts has been made clear and intelligible.
There is quite as much variety in the different ways of spelling
Tekakwitha's own name as in the case of her birthplace and early home.
Here are some of the forms used:--
TEGAKOUITA
Tegahkouita
Tehgahkwita
Tehgakwita
TEGAKWITA
Tekakoueita
Tegahcouita
Tekahkouitha
Takwita
TEKAKWITHA
A grammatical explanation of this name is given in a note to the
"Lexique de la Langue Iroquoise," by J. A. Cuoq, _pretre de
Saint-Sulpice_, as follows:--
TEKAKWITHA est la 3 p. fem. sing, de pres. de l'ind. du v.
_tekkwitha_, cis-locatif de KKWITHA,[84] et consequemment ce
mot signifie; _elle approche,--elle meut qq. ch. en avant._
C. TAWASENTHA.
Tawasentha, or "The Place of Many Dead," is near the mouth of the
Norman's Kill, just south of Albany. Many Indians were buried there, as
numerous bones and skulls brought to light from time to time bear
witness. Schoolcraft once visited the spot, and examined these relics.
It was there, too, that the Song of Hiawatha was sung, as Longfellow
tells us:--
"In the vale of Tawasentha,
In the green and silent valley,
By the pleasant water-courses
Dwelt the singer Nawadaha.
There he sang of Hiawatha,
Sang the Song of Hiawatha."
Another couplet might be added to the above, with less of poetry in it,
to be sure, but quite as much or more of Indian history,--
There the Mohawks went a-fishing
In the days of Tekakwitha.
D. MOHAWK TRAILS.
In the summer of 1885 the Rev. C. A. Walworth, in company with the
author, drove from Amsterdam on the Mohawk River to Jessup's Landing on
the Hudson, following as closely as possible the route (described in
Chapter XVI.) over which the Lily of the Mohawks probably passed in
escaping from Caughnawaga to Lake George, and thence to Canada. An
account of this drive was sent to General Clark, after which the
following information was received from him:--
"The account of your journey is very interesting, especially
that part relating to the fords above and below Jessup's
Landing. I had rewritten my note relating to the trails from
head of Lake George, and enclose the same.... On the Upper
Susquehanna and Alleghany the present fords almost invariably
mark the crossing-places of the aboriginal trails; and without
doubt the two fords described above and below Jessup's Landing
were the places of crossing the Upper Hudson in that vicinity.
The same facts will apply also at Glenn's and Baker's Falls as
now known."
A copy of the note on trails above mentioned as enclosed in the letter,
is here given:--
"TRAILS FROM LAKE GEORGE--From the head of Lake George two
trails led to the Hudson. The first led southwest through a
valley about eleven miles to the _ford below_ the month of
Sacondaga, at present _Luzerne_, thence along the Sacondaga to
Northampton, striking the Mohawk at the lower castle in the
vicinity of Schoharie River. The dotted line from the head of
Lac du Saint-Sacrement on the map in 'Jesuit Relations,' 1665,
apparently was intended to represent this route. The curves
correspond to those of the Sacondaga in number and location.
From Luzerne a branch continued down the Hudson about five
miles to the vicinity of Jessup's Landing, where a crossing
was made _at the ford_ above the falls. This appears to have
been the route of Jogues at this time, as indicated by the
distance given of six leagues equal to fifteen miles.
"The second led southeasterly about nine miles, nearly on the
line of the present railway to Glenn's Falls, from whence were
several diverging lines. One led south along the west bank of
the Hudson. Another took almost an air-line for Schenectady on
the Mohawk, passing between Owl Pond and Saratoga Lake, and
west of Ballston Lake, at the north end of which a branch
diverged to the westward leading direct to the Mohawk Castles.
The French expedition in the winter of 1665 to 1666, in taking
this route, failed to follow the branch leading to the castles,
and consequently found themselves, much to their surprise, in
the near vicinity of the new Dutch settlement at Schenectady.
Southier's maps show this trail, and several others diverging
at different points. It is believed that from Glenn's Falls a
trail led nearly in a southwest direction, passing along the
base of Mt. McGregor, and somewhere in the Kayaderosseras
Valley united with the branch from Jessup's Landing, and from
thence struck the Mohawk at present Amsterdam."
A year later the correspondence on Indian trails in Saratoga County at
the time of Kateri Tekakwitha was resumed as follows:--
"Since my return from Saratoga, I have given all my leisure to
the study of Indian trails in your vicinity.... I have a
manuscript map, copied from the original in the Paris Archives,
relating to the two expeditions of Courselles and Tracy, 1666.
This map shows that the first, or winter expedition, after
leaving Lake George descended the valley of the Hudson to Fish
Creek, thence passed up that stream, over Saratoga Lake, and
over Ballston Lake to the vicinity of Schenectady. This is the
precise route taken (according to Mr. Sylvester) by Lieutenant
Le Moyne in his winter expedition of 1690 (Northern Wilderness,
p. 288), in which I agree with him.
"The second Courselles-Tracy Expedition, according to the map,
crossed the Hudson at Glenn's Falls, thence passing near and
south of a _small lake_ east of Mt. McGregor (now known as
Moreau Pond), through Doe's Corners, near Stiles' Hill, and
near Glen Mitchell to present Saratoga. This is my
understanding of the map; and as you will see they followed
near the base of Mt. McGregor, and hugging the bases of the
Greenfield (or Palmerstown) hills, followed substantially the
present highway all the way from Glenn's Falls. The fragment of
a trail mentioned by you was probably a portion of this
original Indian pathway.
"From Saratoga, if we take the map as our guide, the expedition
passed near Ballston, and thence slightly curving, proceeded on
its way in a very direct course to the Mohawk Castles. They may
have taken this route, but probably crossed the Kayaderosseras
about half-way between Ballston and Lake Saratoga, on a trail
leading direct to Schenectady. When a little north of Ballston
Lake, it crossed a path leading from Schuylerville along Fish
Creek and Saratoga Lake to the Mohawk at Kinaquariones
(Hoffman's Ferry). The map, however, makes the two distinct,
and without any connection.
"Three trails led southward from Jessup's Landing,--one in
almost an air-line to Kinaquariones. I suppose that Tegakwita
followed this.
A second branched off from South Corinth, and leading in almost
an air-line to Orange, passed near the western edge of Round
Lake. A third, taking a southeasterly course, curved around Mt.
McGregor, and led very direct to the great fishing-station, at
present Schuylerville, the ancient OSSARAGUE. Your Indian
samp-bowl [hollowed in the rock] was probably not far from the
crossing-place of the two trails."
E. INDIAN DEFENSIVE WORKS.
General Clark, in describing to the writer the defensive works of the
Iroquois, mentioned one locality in New York State where he actually
found the series of hollows in the ground left by the palisadoes of an
Indian fortified village. They showed the exact arrangement of a triple
wall. He also gave, in connection with this subject, several references
to quaint and interesting works in the State Library at Albany, which
were duly examined. Some of these are given below:--
"You will find in RAMUSIO, G. B., Venice, 1606, 'Navigatione et
Viaggi, volume Terzo, etc.,' relating to America, at p. 381, a
fine two-page illustration of Hochelaga and its surrounding
palisade. This, as I understand it, was a Huron village.
ARNOLDUS MONTANUS, America, Amsterdam, 1671, p. 136, gives a
Susquehanna fortified village, with the long houses somewhat
irregularly arranged, and enclosed by a single-line palisade
work. Documentary History of New York, vol. iii. p. 9, will
show you an Iroquois village surrounded by triple or quadruple
lines of palisades, with the elevated scaffolds. You will see
numerous streams of water descending to put out the fire, etc.
It will require a vivid imagination to make out all that was
intended to be shown by Champlain."
F. INDIAN PETITION TO ROME.
Among the most interesting papers forwarded to Rome during the last few
years for the purpose of forwarding the cause of canonization of Kateri
Tekakwitha, is the following petition. Copies of it were circulated
among the Catholic mission Indians of the United States, who affixed to
it their own peculiar signatures and marks. It is here given in the
Latin, English and Flathead languages:
Noster Pater noster Papa:
Gentis Indicae nostrae, quamvis pauperrima sit et miserabilis,
valde tamen misertus est Conditor noster, nobisque dedit
religionem Catholicam. Nobis quoque iterata misericordia dedit
CATHARINAM TEGAKWITAM. Sancta haec virgo quae ut nos sumus
gentis Indicae fuit, cum multa fuerit gratia a JESU CHRISTO
donata, adolescentula facta est optima, magno erga Conditorem
nostrum amore tenebatur, et mortua est bona et sancta: nunc
autem gloriosa deget in coelis, ut credimus, et pro nobis
omnibus orat. Virgo haec, credimus, data nobis fuit magno Dei
favore; est enim soror nostra parvula. Nunc vero speramus fore
ut et tu quoque, noster Pater, qui Vicarius es JESU CHRISTI,
favorem nobis largiaris: te toto corde imploramus ut loquaris
dicens: "Vos Indi, filii mei, sumite vobis CATHARINAM in
ecclesia venerandam, quia sancta est et in coelis."
Sunt etiam alii duo, qui licet Galli fuerint, nobis tamen sunt
quasi Indi fuissent, eo quod Indos signum crucis edocuere et
viam coeli; ideoque a perversis Indis fuerunt occisi. Eorum
nomina sunt SACERDOS ISAAC JOGUES et FRATER RENATUS GOUPIL. Hos
quoque duos vellemus habere venerandos, ut protectores, ut
advocatos.
Quos tres si nobis indulgeas PATRONOS, futurum est ut corda
nostra sint laeta, conversatio nostra bona, et filii nostri
perfecti evadant; multique Indicae gentis nondum baptizati in
ecclesiam Catholicam ingrediantur, coeli visuri gloriam.
* * * * *
Our Father the Pope:
Though we Indians are very poor and miserable, yet Our Maker
had great pity on us and gave us the Catholic religion.
Moreover He had pity on us again and gave us CATHERINE
TEGAKWITA. This holy virgin, an Indian like ourselves, being
favoured by JESUS CHRIST with a great grace, grew up very good,
had a great love for Our Maker, and died good and holy, and is
now glorious in heaven, as we believe, and prays for us all.
This virgin, we believe, was given to us from God as a great
favour, for she is our little sister. But now we hope that
thou, our Father, who art the Vicar of JESUS CHRIST, wilt grant
us a favour likewise; we beg thee with the whole of our hearts
to speak and say: "You Indians, my children, take CATHERINE as
an object of your veneration in the church, because she is holy
and is in heaven."
There are also two others who, though Frenchmen, yet are as if
they were Indians, because they taught the Indians the sign of
the Cross and the way to heaven; and for this they were killed
by bad Indians. Their names are BLACKGOWN ISAAC JOGUES and
BROTHER RENE GOUPIL. We wish to have these two also as objects
of our veneration, as our protectors and our advocates.
If thou givest us these three as our PATRONS, our hearts will
be glad, our behaviour will be good, and our children will
become perfect, also a great many unbaptized Indians will enter
into the Catholic Church and will see the glory of heaven.
Lingua _Kalispel_ (Anglice, _Flathead_.)
_L_u ku Pogot _l_u ku Lepape.
Ue mi_l_ kaekonkoint kaeskeligu, u kaeteie, u pen kutunt
kaenkonnemi_l_ils lu KaeKohnzuten _l_u kaeguize_l_ils _l_u
Sinchaumen Catholique. Negu kae_l_nkonnemi_l_ils _l_u
kaeguize_l_ils CATHERINE TEGAKWITA. Ye stuchemish pagpagt
chikuilze ezageil t kaempile _l_u kueis _l_u kutunt sinkonns
tel JESUS CHRIST, mi_l_ gest u pogtilsh, mi_l_ gamenchis
Kolinzuten, u _l_u Sinchaumis, gest u pagpagt u t_l_elil, u
yet_l_goa csimpiels 'ls chichemaskat, u kaesia kaes
chaushi_l_ils. Shei Stuchemish kaentels kutunt kaesinkonm tel
Kolmzuten ne_l_i kaempile _l_u kaep sinkusigu.
U pen yet_l_goa kaenmuselsi t-anui, _l_u ku Pogot,
kaeksnkonnemi_l_ils, _l_u ku Ni_l_kalshelpenzutis JESUS CHRIST,
t-esemilko t-kaepuus kaesgalitem kuks kolkoelt, u kuks zuti
"Igu kuisigusigult kuskeligu, akaespoteem _l_u CATHERINE
'lsinchaumen, ne_l_i pagpagt, u 'ls'chichemaskat u e_l_zi."
Negu telzi chesel ue Seme, u pen ezageil t-skeligu, ne_l_i
meyie_l_tem _l_u skeligu _l_u staktakenzut l'eseimeus, u _l_u
shushuel ch's'chichemaskat, gol shei u polstem t-kuaukot
skeligu shei _l_u eszustem KUAILKS ISAAC JOGUES, u SINSE RENE
GOUPIL. Komi ye chesel negu kaek_l_s'chitenzuten,
kaek_l_chaushizuten. _L_u ne kaeguize_l_ilt ye cheche_l_es
kaek_l_s'chitenzuten, nem lemt _l_u kaespuus, nem gestilsh _l_u
kaezuut, nem yopietilsh _l_u kaesigusigult, u nem chgoegoeit
skeligu lu estemskoli m kueis _l_u Sinchaumen Catholique, u nem
uichis _l_u'ls'chichemaskat _l_u simpielsten.
FOOTNOTES:
[82] See map in chap. iv. p. 38, showing the position of Andagoron, the
Castle of the Bears, in 1642.
[83] This was at Kinaquariones, or Hoffman's Ferry. See Pierron's
account of that battle, translated into English by Dr. Hawley, of the
Cayuga County Historical Society, in his "Early Chapters of Mohawk
History." See also a topographical note to the same by Gen. J. S. Clark,
referring to Dutch deeds which give the distance of that battle-ground
from Schenectady.
[84] KKWITHA,--eloigner, ou avancer qq. ch.; changer qq. ch. de place.
THE END
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Page reference for the illustration "Tekakwitha's Spring" has been
corrected from xvi to xiv.
Numerous missing periods have been silently restored.
Inconsistent hyphenation and use of quotation marks at beginning of
paragraphs have been retained as in the original.
Six examples of [oe] ligature have been changed to "oe".
The following typos have been corrected:
p. vi -- "Hotel" twice amended to "Hotel"
p. viii -- "cotemporary" amended to "contemporary".
p. 59 -- "Renssalaer" amended to "Rensselaer".
p. 191 -- "Saut" amended to "Sault".
p. 264 -- "Cholence" amended to "Cholenec".
p. 294 footnote -- "une vision a" amended to "une vision a".