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HURON
STORY OF CREATION fell from a torn place in the sky. She was a divine woman, full of power. Two loons flying over the water saw her falling. They flew under her, close together, making a pillow for her to sit on. The loons held her up and cried for help. They could be heard for a long way as they called for other animals to
come. animals decided the woman needed earth to live on. Turtle said, "Dive down in the water and bring up some earth." So they did that, those animals. A beaver went down. A muskrat went down. Others stayed down too long, and they died. Each time, Turtle looked inside their mouths when they came up, but there was no earth to be found. Toad went under the water. He stayed too long, and he nearly died. But when Turtle looked inside Toad's mouth, he found a little earth. The woman took it and put it all around on Turtle's shell. That was the start of the earth. holds up the earth. Time passed, and the divine woman had twin boys. They were opposites, her sons. One was good, and one was bad. One was born as children are usually born, in a normal way. But the other one broke out of his mother's side, and she died. When the divine woman was buried, all of the plants needed for life on earth sprang from the ground above her. From her head came the pumpkin vine. Maize came from her chest. Pole beans grew from her legs. The divine woman's sons grew up. The evil one was Tawis-karong. The good one was Tijus-kaha. They were to prepare the earth so that humans could live on it. But they found they could not live together. And so they separated, with each one taking his own portion of the earth to prepare. and bears, and snakes of giant size. He made mosquitoes huge, the size of wild turkeys. And he made an enormous toad. It drank up the fresh water that was on the earth. All of it. The good brother, Tijus-kaha, made proper animals that were of use to human beings. He made the dove, and the mockingbird, and the partridge. And one day, the partridge flew toward the land of Tawis-karong. "Why do you go there?" Tijus-kaha asked the partridge. "I go because there is no water. And I hear there is some in your brother's land," said the partridge. He saw all of the outlandish, giant animals his brother had made. Tijus-kaha didn't beat them down. And then he saw the giant toad. He cut it open. Out came the earth's fresh water. Tijus-kaha didn't kill any [more] of his brother's creations. But he made them smaller, of normal size so that human beings could be leaders over them. His mother's spirit came to Tijus-kaha in a dream. She warned him about his evil brother. And sure enough, one day, the two brothers had to come face to face. They decided they could not share the earth. They would have a duel to see who would be master of the world. Each had to overcome the other with a single weapon. The evil brother could be killed only by using the horn of a deer or other wild animal. then the brothers fixed the fighting ground where the battle would begin. The first turn went to the evil brother, Tawis-karong. He pounded his brother with a bag of beans. He beat him until Tijus-kaha was nearly dead. But not quite. He got his strength back, and he chased Tawis-karong. Now it was his turn. He beat his evil brother with a deer horn. Finally, Tijus-kaha took his brother's life away. But still the evil brother wasn't completely destroyed. "I have gone to the far west," he said. "All the races of men will follow me to the west when they die." It is the belief of the Hurons to this day. When they die, their spirits go to the far west, where they will dwell forever. Top
De-Ka-Nah-Wi-Da
and Hiawatha
Kateri Tekakwitha an Algonquin mother (a Christian). At age four (4) a smallpox epidemic killed her parents, her baby brother, and left her scarred with pock marks and nearly blind for the rest of her life. She was raised by her two aunts and her uncle, who was also a Mohawk chief. The Auriesville shrine stands on a hill overlooking the Mohawk River. Many Jesuits were killed here during their missionary work. The shrine attracts thousands of pilgrims, both white and Native American. had her first encounter with Christianity. To resist her uncle's attempts to marry her off, Tekakwitha was baptized on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676, into the Christian Church and was given her name Kateri (Catherine). There is a wooden shrine at Fonda and a Native American Museum under the Church. Her new religion was not accepted by her relatives, and they refused her food on Sundays, her Christian "day of rest." fled in July 1676. The Jesuit mission shielded her from the non-Christian Mohawks. Her remains are at the St. Francis- Xavier Mission on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Kateri walked 200 miles to reach St Francis Xavier. This trip took her two months, as she was very weak most of her life. But because of her faith in God, she somehow made it there. three years, in Kahnawake. She died at age twenty-four (24), in 1680. Her last words were: "Jesus, I love you." Witnesses to her death say that when she died her pockmarks left her face, and she looked very serene and at peace. July 14th in the U.S.A. my relatives in Montreal Quebec. Top
MOHAWK NATION/LIFE & CULTURE
given the Six Nations many ceremonies and customs to bring them closer to their natural environment. Ceremonies -- like the Sap Ceremony, the Moon Ceremony, the Strawberry Ceremony, and the Midwinter Festival -- are all practiced to show thankfulness to the Creator. beginning at dusk when the Pleiades are directly overhead (usually around the New Year). The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the struggle between Teharonhiawako (Holder of the Heavens) and Sawiskera (Mischievous One); it is an opportunity to give thanks to the Creator and hail the new solar cycle. At the beginning of the festival, the participants extinguish all household fires and then rekindle them. Many other traditional Six Nations ceremonies take place during the Midwinter Festival: the Great Feather Dance,
the Drum Dance, the Ceremony of Chanting, and the Great Betting. Everyone gives thanks for the dreams that have provided them with guidance in the previous year and they discuss dreams they have difficulty understanding. Top
POCAHONTAS she was considered a Indian Princess...however, princess was a term given in part by the whites denoting any women single women without a husband particularly a daughter of a chief. Among the native Americans there is no such title given. t means a troublesome child who gets into everything. had her first encounter with white men and the legendary Captain John Smith and here the story of the romance the two of them shared was born. Whether it was in his eyes or hers that this existed the story goes that he was captured by natives and brought to Powhatan. and later was grabbed and was about to be beaten with clubs by the Indians when a little girl rushed to his side, this of course being Pocahontas, and saved him from certain death. Then once again the story takes a twist and it would seem because of Powhatan's daughters actions he adopted Captain John Smith as a son. Soon afterwards Pocahontas and the Captain became friends. with her father or would bring messages from her father with other members of the tribe when they went to town to trade goods. By today's standards she was a bit of a tomboy and totally uninhibited as young children were at that time. This endearing her to the young men with her antics, is what also attracted Capt. John Smith to her. she had wit, charm, and was a bit
mischievous. of necessity still continued but it was less often as the hostilities increased. Her visits to Jamestown became less frequent because of these things. Somewhere along the line Capt. John Smith also became injured and had to return to his homeland England, and when finally Pocahontas returned to Jamestown she was told he was dead. though that her encounters with the English was not yet over. Pocahontas and hold her for ransom. With the assistance of a lesser chief of the Patowomeck Indians, Argall was able to lure her onto his ship, and was told she would not be able to leave the ship. After a period of adjustment to captivity she eventually became calm and got accustomed to her fate. Word was sent to Pocahontas father his daughter would be returned, if he would release the English prisoners he was holding,
he goods they had stolen and some corn to boot. she eventually moved to a new settlement. It was in this new place her education began and she learned of the Christian faith. She also met John Rolfe, a successful business man here, and she was allowed certain freedoms in this new settlement. A year had passed since Pocahontas was captured and 150 armed men brought Pocahontas into Powhatans territory to demand the rest of the ransom. The Englishmen were attacked by the Indians and during the confrontation burned many houses, and destroyed many villages and killed many of the native men. Pocahontas was eventually reunited with her two brothers and spoke of John Rolfe to them saying she was in love with him and wanted to marry him. Powhatan gave his blessings to his daughter and the prospect that this marriage would finally bring some peace to the area again.
They never did receive the full ransom. tried to decide what to do about it all. He finally decided to marry Pocahontas because she had been converted to Christianity. Pocahontas was baptized and named Rebecca and married John Rolfe on April 5, in the year 1614. As was hoped by all...a general peace returned between the English and the Indians. who was in charge of the settlement where Pocahontas now lived, set sail on a voyage back to England hoping to gain some financial support, bringing with him the Algonquins to make a impression to his would be supporters. Pocahontas husband and their young son accompanied them. Their arrival was anticipated with much publication of the voyage and its purpose. She was there presented to King James the first, the royal family, the whole of the cream of the crop to society. At the same time Capt. John Smith was there whom she had not seen for eight years and thought dead. When she first saw him again she was in shock and was unable to even speak. After a time, she would speak of old times with him, and at one point addressed him as "father" and when he objected to that she became defiant and said... "Were you not afraid to come into my fathers country and cause fear to all the people? And fearing you here, I shall call you father, and you shall call me child, and so it will be forever and ever your countryman. This was their last meeting. Along the way, Pocahontas became seriously ill from pneumonia and it became apparent she would not survive the trip. She was taken ashore, and as she lay dying, she confronted her husband saying, "all must die. Tis enough that the child liveth." She was buried in a churchyard in Gravesend England. She was only 22years old. always saw to it that the strangers ..Englishmen received food from the Indians. She intervened on more than that one occasion with Capt. John Smith to save lives of individual colonist. In her behalf, John Smith later wrote, "Pocahontas was the instrument to preserving this colony from death, starvation, and utter confusion." She was a vital link between Indians of Virginia and the colonist. between the Indians and the English colonist. Top
JOSEPH BRANT Canagaraduncka, an influential Mohawk leader. In 1753, Joseph Brant's sister, Molly, met and married William Johnson, a British agent for Indian Affairs. Their relationship would have a profound impact on Brant's life. Joseph Brant was 13 when he first met William Johnson. Following fighting in the war against the French, Brant spent much of his time at the Indian Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut. There he learned how to speak English and studied Western history. He left school after a year to do some work as a translator for the Anglican Missionary. Soon after, he began working for Johnson, as his secretary. death of William Johnson, Brant became secretary to Johnson's nephew and successor - Guy Johnson. Brant soon began playing a crucial role in Mohawk-British relations. He traveled to England with Johnson to negotiate the return of Mohawk land. In exchange, they offered native support throughout the U.S. Revolution. The English received Brant well for various reasons including his familiarity with Western culture and his command of the English language. British appointed him captain of the allied native forces. Brant spent much of his time trying to amass the support of his people, but many natives resented his fidelity to the British Crown. In fact, revisionists often hold Brant accountable for dividing his people and destroying the Six Nations. While nations such as the Mohawks and the Seneca sided with Britain; the Oneida and the Tuscarora supported the Americans throughout most of the Revolutionary period. and his people land along the Grand River. Haldimand left office before the land grant was legal.
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THE
STORY OF CREATION giving birth to male twins; the right-handed twin was named Teharonhiawako (Holder of the Heavens) and the left-handed one was named Sawiskera (Mischievous One). Teharonhiawako was the more righteous of the two. Sawiskera had a great capacity for evil and was deceitful enough to convince his grandmother that he was really the righteous one. When their grandmother died, the twins could not agree on what to do with her body. Sawiskera just wanted to discard it, but Teharonhiawako had other plans; he honored his grandmother by placing her up in the night sky; this is how the Moon came to be.
creatures -- Sawiskera worked hard trying to undo his brother's accomplishments. One day they decided to battle to determine who would be Ruler of the World. The long and grueling fight ended with Teharonhiawako disabling his brother. Instead of eliminating him, Teharonhiawako's righteousness prevailed and he generously offered his brother half the world, the nighttime. After the brothers split up, Teharonhiawako created four types of beings: whites, yellows, blacks, and reds. They all began fighting amongst themselves so Teharonhiawako separated them throughout the world, leaving the red beings (the
ancestors of the Six Nations) in their place of origin. series of visions between 1799 and 1804. Four Messengers -- the spirits of the four cardinal points -- brought the Gaiwi:yo to Sganyadai:yoh when he lay in a coma as a result of his excessive drinking habits. These four guardians, sent by the Creator, gave Sganyadai:yoh messages that would emancipate his people from the
stranglehold of the Europeans. The remaining three told Sganyadai:yoh that he was to be in charge of disseminating the Gaiwi:yo - the words of which encouraged people to return to more traditional ways. The Gaiwi:yo outlawed - among other things - alcohol, witchcraft, and abortion. While all of these were raditionally permitted, they were threatening the
survival of the community. Christianity gained popularity among the Six Nations people, the Gaiwi:yo was no longer revered; people began regarding it as heresy. Those who remained devoted to the Longhouse religion generally had political motivations; it became an act of protest against European domination. At present, less than one-third of the Six Nations people on reservations still acknowledges the word of the Gaiwi:yo. had made it for the use of the Indians. He had created the Buffalo, the Deer, and other animals for food. He had made the Bear and the Beaver. Their skins served us for clothing. He has scattered them over the country, and taught us how to take them." Top
SYMBOLISM OF THE LONGHOUSE smoke holes in the roof. The artist does this to symbolically represent the founding of the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Confederacy, which originally included Five Nations. The Five Nations are as follows: The Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. These Five Nations accepted the Great Law of Peace from the Peacemaker and joined together, in peace, like one longhouse. Actually the Peacemaker, in approximately 1140 AD, told the Five Nations that he envisioned the coming together of the Five Nations, in peace, as one long house. In approximately 1714, the Tuscarora Nation joined the Haudenosaunee and made the Confederacy Six Nations strong. The Mohawk people are the eastern door keepers while the Seneca are the western door keepers. This in accordance with how the lands were laid out for each tribes use. Interestingly enough, even the land plots were laid out in longhouse fashion for each tribe. ie:the designated areas given to each tribe were longer rather than wider and ran from north to south with each area having their own water supply so that none would have to venture from their own lands for even water.
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CONSTRUCTION AND THE USE OF THE LONGHOUSE into the ground with the Y fork at the top. These long poles are set to form a large rectangle that is spaced approximately 4 to 5 feet apart and stands 10 feet tall. Poles are laid horizontally onto the top of the Y forked foundation and tied into place with wooden splints or rope made from slipper elm...spruce or bass wood fibers. To make the foundation strong, long poles are placed horizontally along the upright poles and tied into place. contained one large extended family. All the women and children living in a longhouse were of the same clan. Longhouses had two doors and no windows. One door was located on each end of the longhouse. Numerous longhouses in an area created a village. The village was sometimes protected from intruders by a palisade which also helped to keep some animals from roaming into the area (an 18 ft. tall wooden fence). A Palisade also made a barrier against wind driven snow during the winter. The Haudenosaunee planted gardens around their homes. They planted foods like corn, beans, and squash. They also hunted game and birds, they fished, and they gathered wild plants, berries, seeds, and nuts. They were able to build these more permanent shelters because food sources were always nearby unlike the western nomadic tribes which had to follow the game and lived in tipis which were transportable. cover the outside of the longhouse. After the elm or black ash trees are felled, the bark is carefully removed in sheets that are a few feet in height and about 6 feet wide. The bark is laid out and flattened. Once the bark is prepared, the bark shingles are tied into place on the upright pole framework using bark rope. The bark shingles are overlapped to keep the rain and snow from coming inside the finished longhouse. An outer framework of poles are placed over the bark shingles and tied together to finish off the construction of the longhouse. This outer framework made the structure stronger and further secured the elm bark into place. roof framework stronger, horizontal cross beams are tied into place. The roof is between 5 to10 feet tall making the overall height of the longhouse about 15 to 20 feet tall. The roof is angled (slanted) to assure that rain and heavy snows will not accumulate and damage the roof. Snow really didn't have much chance to accumulate though because there was no insulation and the heat from hearth fires pretty much helped in the melting of the snow off the roofs. directly over every fire pit within the longhouse is left open. This is done to allow the smoke to pass through the longhouse. It is said that the Smoke Dance, which is still done today as a social dance, originated out of the need of the people to remove the smoke from the inside of the longhouse. The dancers help the smoke to rise and leave through the hole in the roof. However, during the winter months...smoke inside was thick enough that breathing was a problem and often vistors to the longhouses would complain of this and it burning their lungs. Top
and could be anywhere from 40 feet to 200 feet long. The length of each longhouse depended on how many daughters the elder mother of the clan who lived in the longhouse had. A longhouse might start out short, but could easily be made longer to accommodate her married daughter's husband and their children. from mothers to their children. One is not allowed to marry a person in the same clan. When a daughter married her husband, who had a different clan than his wife, he would come to live in the longhouse of her mother. When this couple had children, the children would have the clan of the mother. A husband did not lose his clan and become the clan of the wife, rather he lived with his wife in the house of her mother and retained his mother's clan. and each of the daughter's families had their own living area within the longhouse. floor. Mats made from cornhusk, or other woven plant fibers were laid on the platforms to sleep on. Hides and furs were also used to lay on, and were used to keep the people warm. The upper platform was used for sleeping and storage. Items like braided corn and medicine plants could be hung from the rafters until needed. Dishes made from bark or hand carved bowls and spoons were stored in their living areas. Also, bows and arrows, blow guns and other tools and ceremonial items could be hung from the rafters or stored on the upper platform. dried corn, beans, and squash (also known as the Three Sisters). The elm bark containers helped to keep the dried food items from getting moldy and ruined, and keep the small mice out a bit. Wood for the fire pits were stored in this area too. Dried meats were also kept in bark containers and hung in the rafters. Dried meat or jerky could last for many years. Also, if a family had many children, sometimes they would build a sleeping platform in the storage area for a child. the longhouse). Two families would share the one fire in the center between/opposite each families living area. the people who lived inside. When visitors came to the village, they would know right away what clan lived in a longhouse. For example, if there was a turtle painted above the door way. it would mean people of the Turtle Clan lived in that particular longhouse. This was and is important because all people of the same clan are considered to be "related", to be "family". If a traveler from another village came to this village, he would be welcomed by the people of the clan he shares, he would be offered food, and a place to rest. The clan system is very important because it helps to keep people unified and maintains peace. It was also a way of making sure no one married their relatives within the same family. Top
NATIVE DEMOCRACY EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI the shaping of the Constitution of the United States. Gayanashagowa or the Great Binding Law of the Iroquois / Six Nations Confederation. A key basis of Mohawk community structure rested with Clan Mothers. The Clan Mothers are known as Gontowisas. It was they who met in council to decide which of their male relatives would become Sachem (Chief). If the chosen Sachem proved unworthy, the Clan Mothers had the power to chastise him. They could also take his title away and bestow it upon another male relative. to their mother's clan. The women eligible to become Clan Mothers were called "Royaneh," a term best translated as "noble." Royaneh women passed down their title to their daughters. the Clan Mothers appointed a War Chief. and he served as a check to the Sachem's power. He listened to people's concerns and brought them to the Sachem's attention. Furthermore, if the Clan Mothers were displeased with the Sachem, it was the War Chief's duty to tell him so. If the Clan Mothers became unhappy with the way the War Chief carried out his duty, they could take away his title and give it to another male relative. clans were Great Bear, Painted Turtle, and Standing Rock. All the members of a clan were considered close relatives. One couldn't marry a member of one's own clan. This taboo applied to members of the same name clan within the Six Nations Confederacy. attend. They discussed matters relating to the welfare of the clan. The councils relayed their decisions to the War Chief, who made sure they were taken up with the Sachem or the Federation council. The men's and women's councils also had the power to remove the Sachem and the War Chief if necessary. If this happened, the Clan Mothers chose the replacement. Top |
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