of pole being supported upon two crotches, or stakes fixed upright in the ground, of the length designed for the height, say ten or fifteen feet; an opening at one end serves for the door, and an aperture upon the top serves for a chimney, and the centre of the wigwam serves for the hearth; for their fire is always kindled upon the groundthe ground also serves for their bed, and their blanket for their covering: thus they sleep with their feet to the fire, like so many radii extended in a circle. Each village or collection of huts, has a square residence termed a castle, surrounded by pallisadoes, or strong stakes fixed firm in the ground, where they lodge their old men, and in time war, their women and children; where also they secure their corn. Thus planted down, they are the merriest, happiest creatures in the world. In summer the squaws, with the children, till the corn and dress the food, clad like the men with a mantle over their shoulders, with such other light covering as decency requires; whilst the men and larger boys, hunt, and fish, and smoke, and thus they spend their time; but care, corroding care, never enters their heads, their hearts, nor their dwellings. In winter they wear stockings upon their legs, and moccasons made of deer skins upon their feet; and with their snow-shoes they traverse the pathless desert, and mount over the deepest drifts of snow with no other impression, than barely to skim along the surface. Their women are fond of ornaments, and often plait their long black hair, and decorate their arms with clasps or bracelets of silver, and even of tin, when silver is wanting; their ears and noses with jewels of such metals, for ornaments, as they can readily procure. Both sexes, but more particularly the men, are taller and straighter than the English, with small black eyes, long coarse, and always straight black hair, remarkably well proportioned, with one uniform olive, or tawny complexion. When they have a choice of food, venison is generally : preferred; but bears, as well as wild game generally, are eaten with a relish. When hunger presses, they are not wont to refuse dogs, and even snakes, neither do they regard their cookery, raw or roast, 'tis all the same to them. When an Indian enjoys a full meal, he unties his belt, and eats voraciously, and as this is consumed by digestion, if he finds not another in several days, he supplies the place of food by drawing his belt close, occasionally, with a new knot; and thus he can endure hunger, without becoming faint. This to them, is an inestimable privilege, especially in time of war. They roast their food by placing it erect, before the fire, upon a sharp stick, and change the sides as occasion may require. They are noted for their friendship as well as for their enmity, and particularly for their hospitality to strangers. They are also noted for their constancy, either as wives or husbands; and they do not admit of polygamy ; but they dissolve the marriage tie, whenever the parties may agree; yet they are reputed to be both pure in their manners, and chaste in their morals, and deportment. The squaws raise the children, and keep the records, and thus become the organs of tradition; yet the men often assemble to converse, and recount over their exploits, and thus stimulate the ambition of each other, as well as perpetuate the remembrance of events. These conversations serve also as schools of military glory for the young men, who listen to the warrior's tale, catch the martial spirit of his eye, and fired by the spirit of his manly gestures, long to act the same. Formerly their instruments of war were the bow and arrow, and the war-club; instruments also of the chase; but now since they have become acquainted with the Europeans, they use the musket, knife, and tomahawk. Their boys still use the bow and arrow, and such is their dexterity, that they will hit an English shilling five times in ten at a distance of ten, fifteen, or twenty yards. Such is the Indian's dexterity with his hatchet, that he will throw it at the distance of ten or fifteen yards, and strike the edge into a tree, and rarely miss his object. Thus much for the days of peace; but war is the great object of an Indian's life; their forms and ceremonies that relate to war, strongly mark the ferocity of their natures. When war is undertaken, the warriors assemble in council with their chief; the subject is discussed, and the question determined, generally by the old warriors, which being fixed, each one begins his preparation by painting himself in the most frightful, and hideous manner; and then begins to sing his deeds of valour, and those of his ancestors, and thus they infuse a martial spirit into the young, and fire each other with a thirst for glory. This war dance is always attended with feasting, and often their feast is dogs' flesh, that they may partake of the fierceness as well as the sagacity of that animal. The dance being ended, they often paint the plan of the expedition upon the smooth surface of a large bark, or the surface of some tree recently peeled, so as to denote not only the manner of attack; but the nation to be attacked. Such are the ceremonies that precede an expedition; those that accompany a return are no less peculiar. The day before the warriors enter their village, two heralds advance, and at a distance halt, and commence a most hideous savage yell, which by its particular expressions of sound announces the success of the enterprise, whether good or bad. If the heralds announce success, the village is alarmed, and an entertainment is provided for the conquerors, who advance with a firm and manly step; the leader bears the scalps, each stretched upon a how, and raised upon a pole. The boldest warrior is dispatched from the village to receive the scalps, and flies to the hut from whence he came, to bear them to his companions; the warrior follows swift as VOL. II. 27 an arrow in its flight; if he overtakes the flying messenger then he robs him of his meed of praise; but if not, then the flying messenger is admitted into the number of the victors, and shares with them the glory. The warriors follow with their wonted firm majestic pace, and as they enter the village, their wives and children, amidst the attending villagers, bid them welcome, with silent admiration, and the profoundest reverence. A feast is then got ready, of which they all partake in silence; this being ended, one warrior, by appointment from amongst the conquerors, stands for the orator of the day, and relates the whole adventure; not one question yet is asked; and then a savage dance concludes the joyous scene. Their mode of war is ambush, stratagem, and surprise; they never face their enemy, unless in desperate cases, and then not often long. Their sagacity in following their enemy's track, unless upon a rock, or in the water, is very great; they will not only discover his route, but his numbers, and the rapidity of his movements, by the traces of his steps in the grass, sand, or snow. Women and children, when taken, they generally kill and scalp; but the warriors are reserved for those tortures, which are the triamphs of revenge, and the subjects of their own exultation, when doomed to suffer under the tortures of their enemies. Sometimes the warrior prisoner is received into the family of some one whose friends are lost in war, and adopted in their stead; then all possible kindness is used to attach the stranger to the family interest, and make him love, respect, and cherish his new friends. His presence and his enjoyments are held as dear, and his blood as sacred as those of their departed friend, and the smallest violation of the one, would be considered equally ignominious with the other. Thus much of war. When peace is their object, the Indians send a messenger with a pipe, the bowl of which, made of red clay, is fixed upon a stem made of a long reed, richly painted, and ornamented with gay plumage. With this he finds a safe passport through hostile tribes, in quest of a distant enemy, and when he finds him, proffers him the calumet of peace, and tells his terms; if they are good, both smoke the pipe; war ceases and peace and friendship are again restored. This calumet is the symbol of peace common to all the Aborigines of North America, except the Flat-heads; and in order to bring them under its all-commanding influence, the Five Nations waged against them a thirty years' war. The language of the Five Nations, like all the Indian languages of North America, is a strong, nervous, forcible, guttural language. The solemnity as well as gravity of its tone, depend altogether upon the generosity of its feet, as may be seen by the following Lord's prayer, in their language.* "Soungwǎunehă, cauroŭnkyāwgā, tēhsēētărōan, sauhsoněyōūstă, ēsă, săwǎnēyou, okěttāūhsĕě ă, ehněāūwōung, nă, câuroŭnkyawgă, nūghwōnshāūgă nēǎttěněl ně: ă āūgă, tāugwăunăutōrōnoǎntōūghsiēk, tōāntaūgwělēēwběyōustaŭng, chěnēēyĕut, chāquǎtāută ēhwhĕyoŭstāūună, toughsaŭ, taugwǎussă ēnēh, tāwăutŏitě ǎugăloughtounggă, nāsāwně, sāchĕaŭtaūgwāss, coǎntēhsă ōhāunzāīckǎw, ē-ă, săwăunēyou, ēsă, săshāutztă, ēsă, soungwäsoŭng, chenně uhāūngwā, āuwen.” The terminations of these Indian verbs never change, as in the languages of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin; but all the mutations are prefixed, and they have also a dual as well as a singular and plural. The guttural aspirations necessary to the articulation of this language, as well as the great length of its words, renders it both harsh and difficult; but the dialect of the Oneidas is much softer * The radicals of the Five Nations are all the same. |