THE IROQUOIS POLICY.
Few popular notions, it may be affirmed, are so far from the truth as
that which makes the Iroquois a band of treacherous and ferocious
ravagers, whose career was marked everywhere by cruelty and devastation.
The clear and positive evidence of historical facts leads to a widely
different conclusion. It is not going too far to assert that among all
uncivilized races the Iroquois have shown themselves to be the most
faithful of allies, the most placable of enemies, and the most clement
of conquerors. It will be proper, in justice to them, as well as in the
interest of political and social science, to present briefly the
principles and methods which guided them in their intercourse with other
communities. Their system, as finally developed, comprised four distinct
forms of connection with other nations, all tending directly to the
establishment of universal peace.
1. As has been already said, the primary object of the founders of their
League was the creation of a confederacy which should comprise all the
nations and tribes of men that were known to them. Experience, however,
quickly showed that this project, admirable in idea, was impossible of
execution. Distance, differences of language, and difficulties of
communication, presented obstacles which could not be overcome. But the
plan was kept in view as one of the cardinal principles of their policy.
They were always eager to receive new members into their League. The
Tuscaroras, the Nanticokes, the Tuteloes, and a band of the Delawares,
were thus successively admitted, and all of them still retain
representative in the Council of the Canadian branch of the confederacy.
2. When this complete political union could not be achieved, the
Iroquois sought to accomplish the same end, as far as possible, by a
treaty of alliance. Two notable examples will show how earnestly this
purpose was pursued, and how firmly it was maintained. When the Dutch
established their trading settlements on the Hudson River, one of their
first proceedings was to send an embassy to the Five Nations, with
proposals for a treaty. The overture was promptly accepted. A strict
alliance was formed, and was ratified in the usual manner by an exchange
of wampum belts. When the English took the place of the Dutch, the
treaty was renewed with them, and was confirmed in the same manner. The
wampum-belts then received by the Confederates are still preserved on
their Canadian Reservation, and are still brought forth and expounded by
the older chiefs to the younger generation, in their great Councils.
History records with what unbroken faith, through many changes, and
despite many provocations from their allies and many enticements from
the French rulers and missionaries, this alliance was maintained to the
last.
If it be suggested that this fidelity was strengthened by motives of
policy, the same cannot be affirmed of the alliance with the Ojibways,
which dates from a still earlier period. The annalists of the
Kanonsionni affirm that their first treaty with this widespread people
of the northwest was made soon after the formation of their League, and
that it was strictly maintained on both sides for more than two hundred
years. The Ojibways then occupied both shores of Lake Superior, and the
northern part of the peninsula of Michigan. The point at which they came
chiefly in contact with the adventurous Iroquois voyagers was at the
great fishing station of St. Mary's Falls, on the strait which unites
Lake Superior with Lake Huron; and here, it is believed, the first
alliance was consummated. After more than two centuries had elapsed, the
broken bands of the defeated Hurons, fleeing from their ravaged homes on
the Georgian Bay, took refuge among the Ojibways, with whom they, too,
had always maintained a friendly understanding. Their presence and the
story of their sufferings naturally awakened the sympathy of their
hosts. The rapid spread of the Iroquois empire created alarm. A great
agitation ensued among the far-dispersed bands of the Ojibway name.
Occasional meetings between hunting-parties of the younger warriors of
the two peoples,--the Iroquois arrogant in the consciousness of their
recent conquests, the Ojibways sullen and suspicious,--led to bitter
words, and sometimes to actual strife. On two occasions several Ojibway
warriors were slain, under what provocation is uncertain. But the
reparation demanded by the Ojibway chiefs was promptly conceded by the
Iroquois Council. The amplest apology was made, and for every slain
warrior a pack of furs was delivered. The ancient treaty was at the same
time renewed, with every formality. Nothing could more clearly show the
anxiety of the Iroquois rulers to maintain their national faith than
this apology and reparation, so readily made by them, at the time when
their people were at the height of their power and in the full flush of
conquest. [Footnote: The Ojibway historian, Copway, in his "_Traditional
History of the Ojibway Nation_" (p. 84), gives the particulars of this
event, as preserved by the Ojibways themselves. Even the strong national
prejudice of the narrator, which has evidently colored his statement,
leaves the evidence of the magnanimity and prudence of the Iroquois
elders clearly apparent.] These efforts, however, to preserve the
ancient amity proved unavailing. Through whose fault it was that the
final outbreak occurred is a question which the annalists of the two
parties differ. But the events just recounted, and, indeed, all the
circumstances, speak strongly in favor of the Iroquois. They had shown
their anxiety to maintain the peace, and they had nothing to gain by
war. The bleak northern home of the Ojibways offered no temptation to
the most greedy conqueror. To the Ojibways, on the other hand, the broad
expanse of western Canada, now lying deserted, and stretching before
them its wealth of forests full of deer, its lakes and rivers swarming
with fish, its lovely glades and fertile plains, where the corn harvests
of the Hurons and Neutrals had lately glistened, were an allurement
which they could not resist. They assumed at once the wrongs and the
territories of their exiled Huron friends, and plunged into the
long-meditated strife with their ancient allies. The contest was
desperate and destructive. Many sanguinary battles took place, and great
numbers of warriors fell on both sides. On the whole the balance
inclined against the Iroquois. In this war they were a southern people,
contending against a hardier race from the far north. They fought at a
distance from their homes, while the Ojibways, migrating in bands,
pitched their habitations in the disputed region.
Finally, both sides became weary of the strife. Old sentiments of
fellowship revived. Peace was declared, and a new treaty was made. The
territory for which they had fought was divided between them. The
southwestern portion, which had been the home of the Attiwandaronks,
remained as the hunting-ground of the Iroquois. North and east of this
section the Ojibways possessed the land. The new treaty, confirmed by
the exchange of wampum-belts and by a peculiar interlocking of the right
arms, which has ever since been the special sign of amity between the
Iroquois and the Ojibways, was understood to make them not merely allies
but brothers. As the symbol on one of the belts which is still preserved
indicates, they were to be as relatives who are so nearly akin that they
eat from the same dish. This treaty, made two centuries ago, has ever
since been religiously maintained. Its effects are felt to this day.
Less than forty years ago a band of the Ojibways, the Missisagas, forced
to relinquish their reserved lands on the River Credit, sought a refuge
with the Iroquois of the Grand River Reservation. They appealed to this
treaty, and to the evidence of the wampum-belts. Their appeal was
effectual. A large tract of valuable land was granted to them by the Six
Nations. Here, maintaining their distinct tribal organization, they
still reside, a living evidence of the constancy and liberality with
which the Iroquois uphold their treaty obligations.
3. When a neighboring people would neither join the confederacy nor
enter into a treaty of alliance with it, the almost inevitable result
would be, sooner or later, a deadly war. Among the nomadic or unsettled
Indian tribes, especially the Algonkins and Sioux, the young men are
expected to display their bravery by taking scalps; and a race of
farmers, hunters, and fishermen, like the Iroquois, would be tempting
victims. Before the confederacy was formed, some of its members,
particularly the Caniengas and Oneidas, had suffered greatly from wars
with the wilder tribes about them. The new strength derived from the
League enabled them to turn the tables upon their adversaries. But they
made a magnanimous use of their superiority. An enemy who submitted was
at once spared. When the great Delaware nation, the Lenapes, known as
the head of the Algonkin stock, yielded to the arms of the Kanonsionni,
they were allowed to retain their territory and nearly all their
property. They were simply required to acknowledge themselves the
subjects of the Iroquois, to pay a moderate tribute in wampum and furs,
and to refrain thenceforth from taking any part in war. In the
expressive Indian phrase, they were "made women." This phrase did not
even imply, according to Iroquois ideas, any serious humiliation; for
among them, as the French missionaries tell us, women had much
authority. [Footnote: "Les femmes ayant beaucoup d'autorité parmi ces
peuples, leur vertu y fait d'autant plus de fruit qu'autre
part."--_Relation of_ 1657, p. 48.] Their special office in war was that
of peace-makers. It was deemed to be their right and duty, when in their
opinion the strife had lasted long enough, to interfere and bring about
a reconciliation. The knowledge of this fact led the Lenapes, in
aftertimes, to put forward a whimsical claim to dignity, which was
accepted by their worthy but credulous historian, Heckewelder. They
asserted that while their nation was at the height of power, their
ancestors were persuaded by the insidious wiles of the Iroquois to lay
aside their arms, for the purpose of assuming the lofty position of
universal mediators and arbiters among the Indian nations. [Footnote:
Heckewelder's _History of the Indian Nations_, p. 56.] That this
preposterous story should have found credence is surprising enough. A
single fact suffices to disprove it, and to show the terms on which the
Delawares stood with the great northern confederacy. Golden has
preserved for us the official record of the Council which was held in
Philadelphia, in July, 1742, between the provincial authorities and the
deputies of the Six Nations, headed by their noted orator and statesman,
the great Onondaga chief, Canasatego. The Delawares, whose claim to
certain lands was to be decided, attended the conference. The Onondaga
leader, after reciting the evidence which had been laid before him to
show that these lands had been sold to the colonists by the Delawares,
and severely rebuking the latter for their breach of faith in
repudiating the bargain, continued: "But how came you to take upon you
to sell land at all? We conquered you. We made women of you. You know
you are women, and can no more sell land than women. Nor is it fit that
you should have the power of selling lands, since you would abuse it.
This very land that you now claim has been consumed by you. You have had
it in meat and drink and clothes, and now you want it again, like
children, as you are. But what makes you sell land in the dark? Did you
ever tell us that you had sold this land? Did we ever receive any part
of the price, even the value of a pipe-stem from you? You have told us a
blind story--that you sent a messenger to inform us of the sale; but he
never came among us, nor have we ever heard anything about it. And for
all these reasons we charge you to remove instantly. We don't give you
the liberty to think about it. We assign you two places to go, either to
Wyoming or Shamokin. You may go to either of those places, and then we
shall have you more under our eyes, and shall see how you behave. Don't
deliberate, but remove away; and take this belt of wampum." [Footnote:
Golden: _History of the Five Nations_, Vol. II, p. 36 (2d Edition).]
This imperious allocution, such as a Cinna or a Cornelius might have
delivered to a crowd of trembling and sullen Greeks, shows plainly
enough the relation in which the two communities stood to one another.
It proves also that the rule under which the conquered Delawares were
held was anything but oppressive. They seem to have been allowed almost
entire freedom, except only in making war and in disposing of their
lands without the consent of the Six Nations. In fact, the Iroquois, in
dealing with them, anticipated the very regulations which the
enlightened governments of the United States and England now enforce in
that benevolent treatment of the Indian tribes for which they justly
claim high credit. Can they refuse a like credit to their dusky
predecessors and exemplars, or deny them the praise of being, as has
been already said, the most clement of conquerors?
4. Finally, when a tribe within what may be called "striking distance"
of the Confederacy would neither join the League, nor enter into an
alliance with its members, nor come under their protection, there
remained nothing but a chronic state of warfare, which destroyed all
sense of security and comfort. The Iroquois hunter, fisherman, or
trader, returning home after a brief absence, could never be sure that
he would not find his dwelling a heap of embers, smoldering over the
mangled remains of his wife and children. The plainest dictates of
policy taught the Confederates that the only safe method in dealing with
such persistent and unappeasable foes was to crush them utterly. Among
the most dangerous of their enemies were the Hurons and the eastern
Algonkins, sustained and encouraged by the French colonists. It is from
them and their historians chiefly that the complaints of Iroquois
cruelties have descended to us; but the same historians have not omitted
to inform us that the first acquaintance of the Iroquois with triese
colonists was through two most wanton and butcherly assaults which
Champlain and his soldiers, in company with their Indian allies, made
upon their unoffending neighbors. No milder epithets can justly describe
these unprovoked invasions, in which the Iroquois bowmen, defending
their homes, were shot down mercilessly with firearms, by strangers whom
they had never before seen or perhaps even heard of. This stroke of evil
policy, which tarnished an illustrious name, left far-reaching
consequences, affecting the future of half a continent. Its first result
was the destruction of the Hurons, the special allies and instigators of
the colonists in their hostilities. The Attiwandaronks, or Neutrals,
with whom, till this time, the Iroquois had maintained peaceful
relations, shared the same fate; for they were the friends of the Hurons
and the French. The Eries perished in a war provoked, as the French
missionaries in their always trustworthy accounts inform us, by a
perverse freak of cruelty on their own part.
Yet, in all these destructive wars, the Iroquois never for a moment
forgot the principles which lay at the foundation of their League, and
which taught them to "strengthen their house" by converting enemies into
friends. On the instant that resistance ceased, slaughter ceased with
it. The warriors who were willing to unite their fortunes with the
Confederates were at once welcomed among them. Some were adopted into
the families of those who had lost children or brothers. Others had
lands allotted to them, on which they were allowed to live by
themselves, under their own chiefs and their native laws, until in two
or three generations, by friendly intercourse, frequent intermarriages,
and community of interests, they became gradually absorbed into the
society about them. Those who suppose that the Hurons only survive in a
few Wyandots, and that the Eries, Attiwandaronks, and Andastes have
utterly perished, are greatly mistaken. It is absolutely certain that of
the twelve thousand Indians who now, in the United States and Canada,
preserve the Iroquois name, the greater portion derive their descent, in
whole or in part, from those conquered nations. [Footnote: "Ces
victoires lear caasant presque autant de perte qu'a leurs ennemis, elles
ont tellement depeuplé leurs Bourgs, qu'on y compte plus d'Estfangers
que de naturels du pays. Onnontaghe a sept nations differentes qut s'y
sont venues establir, et il s'en trouve jusqu'a onze dans Sonnontoiian."
_Relation of_ 1657, p. 34. "Qui feroit la supputation des francs
Iroquois, auroit de la peine d'en trouver plus de douze cents (i. e.
combattans) en toutes les cinq Nations, parce que le plus grand nombre
n'est compose que d'un ramas de divers peuples qu'ils ont conquestez,
commes des Hurons, des Tionnontateronnons, autrement Nation du Petun;
des Attiwendaronk, qu'on appelloit Neutres, quand ils estoient sur pied;
des Riquehronnons, qui sont ceux de la Nation des Chats; des Ontwaganha,
ou Nation du Feu; des Trakwaehronnons, et autres, qui, tout estrangers
qu'ils sont, font sans doute la plus grande et la meilleure parties des
Iroquois." _Ret. de_ 1660, p. 7. Yet, it was this "conglomeration of
divers peoples" that, under the discipline of Iroquois institutions and
the guidance of Iroquois statesmen and commanders, held high the name of
the Kanonsionni, and made the Confederacy a great power on the continent
for more than a century after this time; who again and again measured
arms and intellects with French generals and diplomatists, and came off
at least with equal fortune; who smote their Abenaki enemies in the far
east, punished the Illinois marauders in the far west, and thrust back
the intruding Cherokees into their southern mountains; who were a wall
of defence to the English colonies, and a strong protection to the many
broken bands of Indians which from every quarter clustered round the
shadow of the "great pine tree" of Onondaga.] No other Indian community,
so far as we know, has ever pursued this policy of incorporation to
anything near the same extent, or carried it out with anything like the
same humanity. Even towards the most determined and the most savage of
their foes, the Kanonsionni, when finally victorious, showed themselves
ever magnanimous and placable.
The common opinion of the cruelty of the Iroquois has arisen mainly from
the custom which they occasionally practiced, like some other Indians,
of burning prisoners at the stake. Out of the multitude of their
captives, the number subjected to this torture was really very
small,--probably not nearly as large in proportion as the number of
criminals and political prisoners who, in some countries of Europe, at
about the same time, were subjected to the equally cruel torments of the
rack and the wheel. These criminals and other prisoners were so tortured
because they were regarded as the enemies of society. The motives which
actuated the Iroquois were precisely the same. As has been before
remarked, the mode in which their enemies carried on their warfare with
them was chiefly by stealthy and sudden inroads. The prowling warrior
lurked in the woods near the Iroquois village through the day, and at
night fell with hatchet and club upon his unsuspecting victims. The
Iroquois lawgivers deemed it essential for the safety of their people
that the men who were guilty of such murderous attacks should have
reason to apprehend, if caught, a direful fate.
If the comparatively few instances of these political tortures which
occurred among the Iroquois are compared with the awful list of similar
and worse inflictions which stain the annals of the most enlightened
nations of Europe and Asia, ancient and modern,--the crucifixions, the
impalements, the dreadful mutilations--lopping of hands and feet,
tearing out of eyes--the tortures of the rack and wheel, the red-hot
pincers, the burning crown, the noisome dungeon, the slow starvation,
the lingering death in the Siberian mines,--it will become evident that
these barbarians were far inferior to their civilized contemporaries in
the temper and arts of inhumanity. Even in the very method of punishment
which they adopted the Indians were outdone in Europe, and that,
strangely enough, by the two great colonizing and conquering nations,
heirs of all modern enlightenment, who came to displace them,--the
English and the Spaniards. The Iroquois never burnt women at the stake.
To put either men or women to death for a difference of creed had not
occurred to them. It may justly be affirmed that in the horrors of
Smithfield and the Campo Santo, the innate barbarism of the Aryan,
breaking through his thin varnish of civilization, was found, far
transcending the utmost barbarism of the Indian. [Footnote: The Aryans
of Europe are undoubtedly superior in humanity, courage and
independence, to those of Asia. It is possible that the finer qualities
which distinguish the western branch of this stock may have been derived
from admixture with an earlier population of Europe, identical in race
and character with the aborigines of America. See Appendix, Note F.]