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THE BELT OF SEVEN TOTEMS
Ninth Impression
* * * * * *
_BOOKS BOYS LIKE_
_PIRATES OF THE DELAWARE_
By RUPERT SARGENT HOLLAND
A stirring tale of Philadelphia a hundred years ago when highwaymen
rode out of the shadows on the way to the Green Anchor Inn and
mysterious craft lay in hiding off the Delaware Capes. Attractively
illustrated.
_HERO TALES OF OUR NAVY_
By GEORGE GIBBS
Famous sea victories from the time the first little American-built
frigate sailed out against a British man-o'-war to the days when
the Allied fleet patrolled the North Sea. 14 Illustrations by the
author.
_DO IT YOURSELF_
By DAN BEARD
A book of the big outdoors. How to pitch a tent, how to fish, build
a canoe, take a collection hike, catch wild animals and many other
things a scout must know. Latest volume in Dan Beard's Woodcraft
Series. 306 Inimitable sketches by the author.
_AMERICAN TRAIL BLAZERS_
A splendid collection of stories, based on historical facts,
which has done much to revive the early and adventurous phases of
American history for boys. The story grips and the history sticks.
Each volume finely illustrated in color and black and white.
* * * * * *
[Illustration: HE WAS SEIZED BY TWO PAIR OF BRAWNY HANDS AND DRAGGED
INBOARD Page 193]
THE BELT OF SEVEN TOTEMS
A Story of Massasoit
by
KIRK MUNROE
Author of "Under the Great Bear," "Brethren of the
Coast," "Rick Dale," "Forward March,"
"The 'Mates'' Series," etc.
Illustrated by Emlen Mcconnell
[Illustration: Logo]
Philadelphia & London
J. B. Lippincott Company
Copyright, 1901, by Kirk Munroe
Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company
at the Washington Square Press
Philadelphia, U. S. A.
_TO MY READERS_
The following story is not intended as a history; it is merely an
effort to reconcile certain apparently conflicting facts and to explain
an otherwise inexplicable situation. At the time of the Pilgrim Fathers
all American Indians--not excepting those of New England--had suffered
repeated outrage at the hands of white men, and in no case had they
been given cause to love the invaders of their country or to welcome
their presence. Why, then, did the powerful Massasoit permit a white
invasion of his territory that he could so easily have crushed? A
friendship existed from the very first between him and Edward Winslow,
and the latter seems to have exercised a great influence over the
New England sachem. What was the origin of this friendship? The
Narragansetts, while submitting to Massasoit's authority, were always
in sullen opposition to it. Why? It is to answer these questions to my
own satisfaction that I have constructed the theory herewith advanced.
Many New England natives were kidnapped and taken to various parts
of Europe. Why might not Massasoit have been among them? The wampum
belt, on which was pictured the distinguishing totems of seven leading
New England clans, was worn by both Massasoit and Metacomet (King
Philip), his son, and is still in existence. Tasquanto (Squanto) was
kidnapped from Cape Cod and taken to England, where he remained for
several years. Captain Dermer carried a number of native Americans to
London, where he sold them to be exhibited as curiosities. He finally
died of wounds received at the hands of New England Indians. Champlain
did aid a war-party of Hurons to defeat the Iroquois in one instance,
and in another was defeated by the same foe. Thus, while my story is
admittedly fictional, it has a substantial historical basis.
KIRK MUNROE.
_CONTENTS_
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE VILLAGE OF PEACE 9
II. CANONICUS MAKES TROUBLE 18
III. AT THE CROSSING OF THE SHA 28
IV. THE BELT CHANGES HANDS 38
V. WHAT THE DAUGHTERS OF KAWERAS FOUND 50
VI. IN THE LODGE OF THE ARROW-MAKER 60
VII. NAHMA JOINS A WAR-PARTY 70
VIII. TWO YOUNG SCOUTS 81
IX. ON THE LAKE 91
X. AN OKI OF THE WATERS 101
XI. THE COMING OF SACANDAGA 111
XII. A MEETING OF DEADLY FOES 121
XIII. TO THE LODGES OF THE WHITE MAN 131
XIV. TWO INMATES OF A GUARD-HOUSE 141
XV. THE BITTER WINTER OF CANADA 151
XVI. A DASH FOR LIBERTY 162
XVII. A DEATH-DEALING THUNDER-STICK 172
XVIII. KIDNAPPED 183
XIX. SOLD AS A SLAVE 194
XX. ONE FRIENDLY FACE 206
XXI. A CHANGE OF MASTERS 217
XXII. NAHMA AND THE BEAR RUN AW 228
XXIII. AN HONORED GUEST 238
XXIV. NAHMA REMEMBERS 248
XXV. BACK TO AMERICA 259
XXVI. SASSACUS THE PEQUOT 270
XXVII. A ROYAL HOME-COMING 281
XXVIII. IN THE COUNCIL-LODGE 292
XXIX. WINNING A BATTLE, A WIFE, AND A FRIEND 303
XXX. THE PILGRIMS OF PLYMOUTH 314
_LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS_
PAGE
HE WAS SEIZED BY TWO PAIR OF BRAWNY HANDS AND DRAGGED
INBOARD _Frontispiece._
AS SHE CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF THE WOUNDED YOUTH THE PROGRESS
OF THE CANOE WAS INSTANTLY ARRESTED 56
NAHMA SPRANG UPON THE WHITE MAN WITH UPLIFTED KNIFE 129
"LOOK, THEN, AND TREMBLE, THOU DOG OF A MURDERER" 290
_THE BELT OF SEVEN TOTEMS_
CHAPTER I
THE VILLAGE OF PEACE
In the olden days when the whole land belonged to the red man the
village of Longfeather the Peacemaker was located on the river of Sweet
Waters, nearly one hundred miles, as the crow flies, from the place
where it flows into the sea. Its ruler was Longfeather, the only son
of Nassaup, sachem of the Wampanoags, and a man wise enough to realize
that peace was better for his people than war. So he had sent his only
son, when still a mere youth, to one after another of the surrounding
tribes that he might learn their language and establish friendships
among them. Thus Longfeather had lived for months at a time among
all the tribes dwelling east of the Shatemuc and the country of the
terrible Iroquois. He had travelled as far north as the land of the
Abenakis, from whom he learned to make snow-shoes and to construct
canoes of birchen bark. He had visited the Nipmucks and Nausets of the
eastern coast, who taught him many secrets of the salt waters from
which they gained their living. He had journeyed to the southward,
spending a year with the Narragansetts and another with the Pequots,
the wampum-making tribes. Then for a long time he had remained with the
warlike Mohicans, whose great chieftain Tamenand loved him as a son,
and taught him from his own wisdom until Longfeather became wisest of
all Indians dwelling in the region afterwards known as New England.
So many seasons of corn-planting and harvest did the youth spend in
travel and study among the tribes, that when he finally turned his
face towards his own people he was become a man in years as well as in
stature and strength. So it happened that he tarried again among the
Pequots until he had won for a bride Miantomet, a daughter of their
sachem. The principal industry of this tribe being the production of
wampum, which was made in the form of cylindrical beads, white, black,
purple, and sometimes red, cut from sea-shells, Longfeather's bride was
presented with a vast store of this precious material in the form of
strings and belts, so that in winning her the young man also acquired
much wealth.
To fittingly celebrate the home-coming of his son, Nassaup commanded a
great feast that should last for seven days, and to it were invited the
headmen of all the tribes in which Longfeather had made friends. The
place chosen for this notable gathering was the mouth of a beautiful
valley, centrally located for the convenience of the several tribes,
and gently sloping to the river of Sweet Waters. Here, then, in early
autumn, at the full of the harvest moon, were gathered hundreds of
the leading sannups of the wide-spread territory bounded by the great
white river (St. Lawrence) on the north, the salt waters that bathe
the rising sun on the east and south, and the Shatemuc (Hudson) on the
west. These, together with their families, formed an assemblage larger
and more important than any that could be recalled even by tradition,
and while much of their time was devoted to feasting and dancing, they
also discussed questions of great significance.
One of these was the meaning of a vast ball of fire, that, brighter
than the sun and glowing with many colors, had shot athwart an evening
sky on the night of Longfeather's marriage to Miantomet. To some this
phenomenon portended evil, while to others it was an omen of good
promise; but all were convinced that it was connected in some way with
the fortunes of Longfeather.
Another matter discussed early and late with unflagging interest was
the rumored appearance in remote regions of a race of beings having
human form, but unlike any heretofore known. They were said to have
white skins and hairy faces, and were believed to control thunder and
lightning, which they used for the destruction of all who came in their
way. Some of them were also described as bestriding fire-breathing
monsters of such ferocity that they carried death and destruction
wherever they went. Most of these rumors came from the south and from
lands so remote that they had been many months travelling from tribe
to tribe and from mouth to mouth. Whether the beings thus imperfectly
described were gods or devils none could tell. At the same time those
who heard of them agreed that in spite of their form they could not be
human, for were not all men made in one likeness, with red skins, black
hair, and smooth faces?
It was disquieting that, while most of these rumors came from the
far-distant south, some of them also came from the north, and located
the white-skinned strangers not more than a month's journey away. At
the same time it was comforting to have all stories agree that, while
they appeared from the ocean borne on the backs of vast winged monsters
of the deep, they always, after a while, disappeared again as they had
come.
Longfeather further reassured those who discussed these matters by
relating a tradition that he had received from Tamenand. It concerned
other supernatural visitants who had once come even to the land of the
Wampanoags; but so long ago that not even the great-grandfather of the
oldest man living had seen them. They also were described as of white
skin and having hair on their faces. It was not told that they rode
fire-breathing dragons, or that they were armed with thunderbolts, but
they had come from the sea and returned into it again when they were
ready for departure. To be sure, they had slain many of the native
dwellers and caused great fear throughout the land, but after going
away they had never again been seen. To this day, however, traces of
their visitation remained in the form of certain pictured rocks that
they had inscribed, and which no man might remove or even touch, under
penalty of death.
The simple-minded forest-dwellers listened to these tales with the same
dread that would inspire us of to-day upon hearing that inhabitants of
some distant planet, bringing death-dealing weapons that were unknown
to us, had invaded the world. They shuddered, gazing furtively about
them as they listened, and drew closer together as though for mutual
protection. Although the fears thus aroused sobered the red-skinned
assemblage and left it in small humor for further festivities,
this was not regretted by Nassaup, since it rendered them the more
willing to listen to a plan that he wished to propose. It was one so
long considered that it had become the chief desire of his life, and
was nothing more nor less than a federation of all the tribes there
represented, in the interests of peace, mutual aid, and protection.
For two days was this proposition discussed, and then it was accepted.
A belt of wampum, on which was worked his own totem, was given to
each of the seven head chiefs present, and a great belt of the same
material, in which the seven totems were combined, was presented to
Longfeather. On account of his wisdom he had been unanimously chosen
to rule the allied tribes, and this Belt of Seven Totems was the badge
of his authority. So Longfeather became Peacemaker and Lawgiver to all
that region, and on account of its central location he established his
official head-quarters upon the very spot where the great assemblage
had been held. Thus was founded the village of Peace, in which all
questions affecting relations between the tribes were discussed and
treaties were made. It was a place of refuge to which all persons
accused of wrong-doing and in danger of their lives might flee, with a
certainty of protection until their cases could be considered by the
Peacemaker. It also became a trading-point to which were attracted the
skilled makers of such articles as were most in demand among the tribes.
Large areas of nearby lands were brought under cultivation, and these,
fertilized with fish taken in quantities from the teeming river,
produced wonderful crops of beans, maize, and pumpkins. No war-parties
ever visited the village of Peace, but there was a constant coming
and going of strangers. To it travelled the Abenakis, bringing furs,
maple-sugar, and highly prized ornaments of copper that had come to
them from the far west. Here they exchanged these things for bales of
dried fish from the eastern coast, seal-skins, or belts of wampum.
Here, also, they found expert makers of flint arrow-heads, knives, and
hatchets, weavers of mats, and workers in clay, from whom they might
procure rude vessels of earthen-ware.
Above all, here dwelt Longfeather, to whom could be submitted all
disputed questions, with a certainty that he would settle them wisely
and justly. Thus it happened that the village of Peace became the
political capital and chief trading-point of all New England long
before ever a white man had set foot in that region. Here, too,
some twenty years after its founding, was born Nahma, the son of
Longfeather, a lad whose strange adventures in after-life are now for
the first time about to be related.