Part 18

================================================= 39 +———————————————- | STATISTICS OF OCCUPATION. RESERVATIONS. +—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—- |OOO|PPP|QQQ|RRR|SSS|TTT|UUU|VVV ————————-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—- 1. Oneida, | 18| 1| .| 6| .| .| .| 3 2. Onondaga, | 47| 2| .| 25| 1| .| 3| 1 3. Tuscarora, | 60| 1| .| 8| 3| 3| 3| 5 4. Buffalo, | 23| 1| 1| 6| 5| 1| 1| 7 5. Cattaraugus, | 80| 6| 1| 32| 7| .| 6| 7 6. Cayugas on the| | | | | | | | Cattaraugus | | | | | | | | Reservation, | 17| 1| .| 8| 1| 1| .| 2 7. Alleghany, | 96| 6| .| 46| 1| 1| 2| 7 8. Tonawanda, | 30| 2| .| 20| 2| 1| 2| 3 9. St. Regis, | +—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—- Total, |371| 20| 2|151| 20| 7| 17| 35 ================================================= KEY: OOO: Number of farmers. PPP: No. of mechanics. QQQ: Number of lawyers. RRR: No. of semi-hunters or who derive support in part from the chase. SSS: Number of persons educated at colleges or academies. TTT: No. of physicians. UUU: No. of teachers, catechists or ministers. VVV: No. of interpreters or translators of the Iroquois.

============================================================================================ 40 41 42 ————————-+—————————————+——-+————————————————————— | STATISTICS OF MORALITY. | | ANNUITIES. +—-+——-+———+—-+——-+ +—————+——————+——-+—————— |WWW| XXX | YYY |ZZZ|AAAA |BBBB | CCCC | DDDD |EEEE | FFFF ————————-+—-+——-+———+—-+——-+——-+—————+——————+——-+—————— 1. Oneida, | 1 | 133| 31 | 35| 1 | 164| ... | | | 2. Onondaga, | 1 | 330| 38 |128| 1 | 368| ... |$2,430 00 | ... | $6 60-1/3 3. Tuscarora, | 2 | 249| 63 |231| 2 | 312| ... | ... | 4. Buffalo, | 1 | 436| 5[106]| 28| 2 | 446| ... | ... |$4 80| 5. Cattaraugus, | 1 | 768| 40 | 75| 4 | 808|$12,765[107]| 500 00{A}| 4 80| 6. Cayugas on the| Cattaraugus | Reservation, | . | 97| 16 | 15| 1 | 114| ... | 600 00 | 4 80| 7. Alleghany, | 1 | 603|117 |158| 2 | 783| ... | ... | 4 80| 8. Tonawanda, | 1-| 465| 40 |200| 1 | 505| ... | ... | 4 80| 9. St. Regis, | . | ..| .. | ..| .[108]| 260| ... | 2,131 69 | ... |8 19-226/260 +—-+——-+———+—-+——-+——-+—————+——————+——-+—————— Total, | 8 |3,081|350 |870|14 |3,760| Deduct seven Oneidas, | 7| +——-+ Total, as in first column, |3,753| ============================================================================================= KEY: WWW: Churches. XXX: Number of persons who adhere to their native religion. YYY: No. of church members of all denominations. ZZZ: Number pledged to temperance. AAAA: Schools. BBBB: Aggregate population. CCCC: United States. DDDD: New-York. EEEE: U. S. Distribution—Share. FFFF: N. Y. Distribution—Share.

[106] Incomplete.

[107] These sums are the total of the annuities paid by the United States and the State of New-York to the Indians of the Tonawanda, Buffalo, Cattaraugus, including the Cayugas and Alleghany Reservations.

[108] The church of this tribe is north of the boundary line, in Canada.

NOTE.—It has not been ascertained in what manner the $500 and $600 annuities paid to the Senecas and Cayugas are divided among themselves—whether the Senecas receive any portion of that paid to the Cayugas, and the Cayugas any part of that paid to the Senecas.

DEAF AND DUMB, IDIOTS, LUNATICS AND BLIND.

I could not learn that there ever was a child born blind among the Iroquois. The traditions of the people do not refer to any instance of the kind. They believe none has occurred. It is certain, from inquiries made on the several reservations, that no such person now exists. Yet it is a subject which, from the importance of the fact in aboriginal statistics, deserves to be further investigated.

Among the Oneidas, prior to the removal of the principal body of this tribe to Wisconsin, there was one lunatic—a young man who was kindly taken care of, and who accompanied them on their removal to the west. There is also an instance of a deaf and dumb child, among those of the tribe who remain in the State. This person, who is a female, now under 12 years of age, was recently taken to the Onondaga reservation by her relatives, and is now at that location.

There is one idiot among the Onondagas, a young man under 21 years of age. He is supported by his relatives and friends.

I also found one idiot among the Tuscaroras.

My inquiries on the several reservations of the Senecas, at Tonewanda, Buffalo, Cattaraugus and Alleghany, did not result in detecting a single person who was either deaf and dumb, an idiot or a lunatic. As the Senecas are seven-fold more numerous than the highest in number among the other cantons, this result, if it should be verified by subsequent and fuller inquiries, after more thoroughly explaining the object of the information sought for to each band, would offer a remarkable exemption from the usual laws of population. There are no means of instruction for this class of persons on the reservations. The care of the three individuals above designated, calls for the same disproportionate tax on time, which is elsewhere necessary, and the admission of these persons to the State Lunatic Asylum, and the Deaf and Dumb Institute at New-York, free of expense, would seem to be due to them.

Among the St. Regis, which is the only tribe I did not visit and take the enumeration of, it is not known whether there be any persons of either class.

One or two additional facts may be added to the preceding statistics in this connection.

I found three saw mills, with twenty-one gangs of saws, on the Alleghany reservation, and also two council houses and two public schools, constituting public property, belonging exclusively to this reservation, which were valued by the appraisers, under the treaty of 1842, at $8,219.00.

On the Cattaraugus reservation, there is the church, council house and farms, connected with the schools, being the property of the Indians and not the missionary society, which were valued together, by the same appraisers, at $3,214.50.

There is on the Buffalo creek reservation, a saw mill, valued at $404.75, a church built originally at an expense of $1,700, valued at $1,200, and a council house, valued at $75; making a total amount of public property, including all the preceding, of $13,113.25.

The total amount of private valuations on the Buffalo and Tonewanda reservations, under the treaty of 1842, was not exactly ascertained, but it is about $80,000. This is entirely Seneca property and funds. Its payment to individuals, in the sums awarded, is based on their removal to Cattaraugus and Alleghany, agreeably to the terms of the compromise treaty of 1842.

The Onondagas possess one saw mill, well built and in good repair, which is of some value to them, and might be rendered more so, under a proper system of management.

APPENDIX.

(A.)

Letter from the Secretary of State to Henry R. Schoolcraft, &c.

SECRETARY’S OFFICE, } _Albany, June 25th_, 1845.}

HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT, Esq.

SIR—I have deemed it proper to appoint you to take the enumeration of the Indians residing on the following reservations, to wit: The Oneida, Onondaga, Tuscarora, and the Reservations of the Senecas, one or more in each of the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus and Erie, and also of the Tonewanda Indians in the county of Genesee.

Your duties are summarily defined in the fifteenth section of the act of the Legislature, which authorizes me to make this appointment, and to which I invite your attention.

On calling at this office you will be furnished with the proper blanks to enable you to perform the duties of the important trust committed to your hands, which will indicate with sufficient precision the method of ascertaining the numbers, ages, sex, condition and classification of the remnants of this interesting race. You will find, on running through and examining the blanks for these returns, full scope for all the information that can be of any practical use.

I desire you will be very particular and minute in your inquiries in respect to every matter which relates to agricultural and statistical information, as well as of all other information called for by the returns, which will be furnished to you.

It is believed, from the information which has been received at this office, that there may be found, at the different reservations, Indians who were not originally of the tribe or stock to which they now profess, perhaps, to belong. You will, as far as may be in your power, and without exciting the jealousy and distrust of the Indians, endeavor to ascertain the number of their people, now living at the different reservations, who are not of the original stock or tribe with whom they are now sojourning.

It is important that you do not consolidate or bring into one return any more than the inhabitants of one reservation, and a sufficient number of blank returns will be furnished to enable you to accomplish this object without any difficulty, and you can use some one of the columns which will otherwise be found useless, to denote or mark the number who derive their subsistence from the chase.

It is expected that you will complete the enumeration, and file the several returns in the Secretary’s office by the first day of September next, that I may be able to prepare abstracts and copies to be submitted to the Legislature at the next session.

You will no doubt experience some difficulties in the performance of the duties devolved upon you, owing to the jealousy of the Indians and the novelty of these proceedings; this, it is believed, being the first effort of the kind ever attempted by the State. You will assure our red brethren, that, in taking this enumeration of them, and making the inquiries into their present condition and situation, the Legislature, the Governor of the State, or any of the officers, have no other objects in view but their welfare and happiness.

The Indians within our State are under its guardian care and protection, and it is a high duty that is now to be performed of sending a competent and well qualified citizen to visit them, and inquire particularly into their situation. We have no connection with the government of the United States, or any land company, which prompts to these inquiries into their present social condition.

You will be at liberty to extend your inquiries to the early history and antiquarian remains of the Indians in the central and western parts of the State, but it is desired that these may be as brief as the nature of these inquiries will allow.

With these views of the subject I commit this important trust to your hands, confidently expecting and anticipating a very satisfactory result.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, Your ob’t ser’t, N. S. BENTON, _Secretary of State_.

P. S. Please to advise me of your acceptance, and also state when you will probably call here to receive the blanks and commence your duties.

[_a._] Fifteenth Section of an Act relative to the Census or Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the State, passed May 7, 1845.

§ 15. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to appoint suitable persons to take the enumeration of the Indians residing on the several reservations in this state, who shall in respect to such reservations perform all the duties required of marshals by this act; and shall also return the number of acres of land cultivated by such Indians, and such other statistics as it may be in their power to collect, and as the secretary of state in his instructions shall prescribe; for which service they shall be paid out of the treasury upon the warrant of the comptroller such suitable compensation, not exceeding two dollars per day, as the secretary shall certify to be just. All expenses incurred by the secretary of state in executing this act shall be paid by the treasurer upon the warrant of the comptroller.

[_b._] Attorneys or Agents of Indians appointed by the State.

=========================================================================== TRIBE. | ATTORNEY OR AGENT. | RESIDENCE.| COUNTY. ——————————+——————————————-+—————-+—————— Oneida Indians, | Spencer H. Stafford, Att’y, | Vernon, | Oneida Seneca Indians, | Cephas R. Leland, do | Hanover, | Chautauque Onondaga Indians, | Wm. W. Teall, Agent, | Syracuse, | Onondaga ===========================================================================

[_c._] Reservations

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY: Reservation on the Allegany river, Oil Spring reservation.

ERIE COUNTY: Buffalo creek reservation, Part of Cattaraugus reservation.

ALLEGANY COUNTY: Part of Oil Spring reservation in this county.

GENESEE COUNTY: The Tonawanda reservation is principally in this county.

ONONDAGA COUNTY: Onondaga reservation.

NIAGARA COUNTY: Tuscarora Indian reservation.

ONEIDA COUNTY: Oneida reservation.

(B.)

Extracts from a Rough Diary of Notes by the way.

Such parts only of these notes and memorandums are retained, as have been referred to, as original materials, of which there is some particular fact or statement, which has not been exhausted. Sometimes the note itself was chiefly of a mnemonic character, and designed to recall further particulars entrusted to the memory.

MEMORANDA, NEW-YORK, JULY 1.

ANTIQUITIES OF NEW-YORK.

Localities to be examined, namely: 1. POMPEY, Onondaga. Vestiges of a town, 500 acres. Three circular walls, or elliptical forts, 8 miles apart. These formed a triangle, enclosing the town.

2. CAMILLUS, Onondaga. Two forts. One 3 acres on a high hill. East, a gate, west, spring 10 rods off. Shape elliptical. Ditch deep. Wall 10 feet high. Second fort, half a mile distant. Lower ground. Constructed like the other. About half as large. Shells, testaceous animals—plenty. Fragments, pottery. Pieces of brick. “Other signs” of ancient settlement, found by first settlers. [Clinton.]

3. EAST BANK OF SENECA RIVER. Six miles south of Cross and Salt lakes. Forty miles south of Oswego. Discovered 1791, New-York Magazine, 1792 with picture writing, on a stone 5 feet by 3-1/2, and 6 inches thick, evidently sepulchral. Two hundred and twenty yards length. Fifty-five yards breadth. Bank and ditch entire. Two apertures middle of parallelogram, one towards the _water_, other _land_. Second work, half a mile south. Half-moon. Outwork. Singularity, extremities of the crescent from larger fort. Bank and ditch of both, large old trees. Pottery well burned, red, indented. East, these works traced 18 miles east of Manlius square.

4. OXFORD, Chenango county.

East banks Chenango river. Great antiquity. North to Sandy creek, 14 miles from Sacketts Harbor, near one which covers 50 acres. Fragments of pottery. West in great numbers.

5. ONONDAGA TOWN.

6. SCIPIO.

7. AUBURN, two forts.

8. CANANDAIGUA, three forts.

9. Between Seneca and Cayuga lakes—several.

10. RIDGEWAY, Genesee: Several forts and places of burial.

11. ALLEN’S RESIDENCE, 1788. Two miles west. A flat. Deserted Indian village. Junction of Allen’s creek with Genesee. Eight miles north of Kanawageas. Five miles north of Magic Spring. Six acres. Six gates. Ditch eight feet wide. Six feet deep. Circular on three sides. Fourth side, a high bank. A covered way, near two hundred years old. Second, half a mile south, on a greater eminence. Less dimensions. But deeper ditch. More lofty and commanding.

12. JOAIKA: Twenty-six miles west of Kanawageas. Six miles further. Tegatainedaghgwe, or double-fortified town. A fort at each end. First about four acres. Two miles distant another. Eight acres. Ditch about first five or six feet deep. Small stream one side. Traces of six gates. Dug way to the water. Large oaks two hundred years old or more. Remains of a funeral pile—bones. Mound six feet by twenty—thirty diameter—(sixty to ninety.)

13. PATH TO BUFFALO CREEK: Heights—fortified.

14. WEST OF TONAWANDA: Still another.

15. ON BRANCH OF THE DELAWARE: A fort one thousand years old, by trees.

16. SOUTH SIDE OF ERIE: Cattaraugus creek to Pennsylvania line, fifty miles. Two to four miles apart—some half a mile. Some contain five acres. Wall and breast-works of earth. Appearance of ancient beds of creeks. [Note the geological change.] Lake Erie retired from two to five miles.

17. FURTHER SOUTH: A chain of parallel forts. Two table grounds. Recession of lake.

All these vestiges denote long periods of time, and probably different eras of occupation. Who preceded the Iroquois? Who preceded their predecessors? Do these vestiges tell the story? How shall we study them? By antiquities; by language; by comparison with other races of America, Asia, Africa, Europe.

* * * * *

ALBANY, _July 5th_.—Examine the site of ancient Mohawk residence in 1609, on the island and its vicinity at the mouth of Norman’s Kill. Look for their ancient burial places. Bones, pieces of pottery, and other objects of art may tell something bearing on their history. Is the Oasis opposite the turnpike gate, the site of their ancient burial-ground? Is this the spot denoted by their name of Tawasentha, or is it to be sought in other places, at the mouth, or up the valley of this stream?

* * * * *

UTICA.—The Mohawk valley appears to have no monumental, or other evidences of its having been occupied by races prior to the Mohawks.

* * * * *

VERNON.—Who were the original race that first set foot in Oneida county? When did the Oneidas come? Where did they originate, and how? They are said to be the youngest of the Six Nations.

L. Hitchcock Esq. says that he was present, when a boy, some forty years ago, when the last executions for witchcraft among the Oneidas took place. The suspected persons were two females. The executioner was Hon Yost. They were dispatched unawares, by the tomahawk.

Sachan, a strong wind, or tempest, was the Oneida name for Col. L. S.

The principal tributary to the Oneida creek which traverses this rich grazing town, is called after the noted chief, (to adopt the common pronunciation,) SCANADO. It means a deer. The old orthography, for this word is Skenandoah.

Mr. Tracy, of Utica, whose authority on this point is good, gives Tegesoken, as the Indian name of Fish creek. It means, _between the months_.

Cowassalon creek, _i. e._, bushes hanging over the water.

Canastota. One pitch pine tree.

Aontagillon. Brook of the pointed rock.

Kunyonskota. White creek (on Dean’s patent.)

Kanaghtarageara. Place of washing the penis. This is a dark ravine. This word appears to be Mohawk.

Sa-da-quoit. Smooth pebbles in the bed of the stream—creek at New-Hartford. All these are in Oneida county.

* * * * *

Ot, Judge J. says, means water in the Oneida tongue.

Otsego, he adds, is from Ot, water, and Sago, hail, welcome, how d’ye do? This I don’t believe. It is not in accordance with the Indian principles of combination.

ONEIDA LANGUAGE.

The Oneidas call a man, Lon gwee. “ a woman, Yon gwee. “ God, Lonee. “ Evil Spirit, Kluneolux.

Some of their words are very musical, as Ostia, a bone; ahta, a shoe; kiowilla, an arrow; awiali, a heart; loainil, a supreme ruler.

The French priests, who filled the orthography of this language with the letter R, committed one of the greatest blunders. There is no sound of R, in the language; by this letter, they constantly represent the sound of L.

ONEIDA CASTLE, _July_.

In a conference with Abraham Denne, an aged Oneida, he stated that Brandt was brought up by his (Denne’s) grandfather, at Canajoharie; that he was a bastard, his mother Mohawk, and did not come of a line of chiefs. Says, that Scanado was a Tory in the war, notwithstanding his high name; that he acted against us at the siege of Fort Stanwix. The anecdote of an Indian firing from a tree, he places, while they were repairing the fort; says that after the man got up, he drew up loaded rifles with a cord; that both Scanado and Brant were present.

Says Scanado was adopted by the nation, when quite young; came from the west; does not know of what tribe, but showed himself smart, and rose to the chieftaincy by his bravery and conduct. Says, that the (syenite) stone on the hill, is the true Oneida stone, and not the white stone at the spring; was so pronounced by Moses Schuyler, son of Hon Yost, who knew it forty years ago; that the elevation gave a view of the whole valley, so that they could descry their enemies at a distance by the smoke of their fires; no smoke, he said, without fire. They could notify also, from this elevation, by a beacon fire. The name of the stone is O-ne-a-ta; auk, added, renders it personal, and means an Oneida. The word Oneida is an English corruption of the Indian.

ORIGIN OF THE ONEIDAS.

Abraham Schuyler, an Oneida, says that the Oneidas originated in two men, who separated themselves from the Onondagas. They first dwelt at the outlet of Oneida lake. Next removed to the outlet of Oneida creek, on the lake, where they fortified. Williams says he was born there, and is well acquainted with the old fort. They then went to the head of the valley at the Oneida stone, from which they were named. Their fourth remove was to the present site of Oneida Castle, called a skull on a pole, where they lived at the time of the discovery of the country and settlement of the colony by the Dutch, (i. e. 1609 to ’14.)

_Site of the Oneida Stone, Stockbridge._

ETYMOLOGY.

Asked several Oneidas to pronounce the name for the Oneida stone. They gave it as follows:

O-ni-o-ta-aug. O-ne-u-ta-aug. O-ne-yo-ta-aug.

The terminal syllable, _aug_, seems to be a local particle, but carries also with its antecedent _ta_, the idea of life or existence, people or inhabitants.

Onia is a stone. The meaning clearly is, People of the (or who have sprung from the) Place of the _Stone_.

Adirondack, Jourdain, pronounces Lod-a-lon-dak, putting l’s for r’s and a’s. It means a people who eat trees—an expression ironically used for those who eat bark of trees.

For Cherokees, he gives We-au-dah.

For Delawares, Lu-na-to-gun.

What a mass of fog philologists are fighting with, who mistake, as the eminent Vater and Adelung have, in some cases done, the different _names_ of the same tribes of American Indians for different _tribes_.

* * * * *

ANTIQUE CORN HILLS.

Counted one hundred cortical layers in a black walnut—centre broke so as to prevent counting the whole number, but by measuring estimated one hundred and forty more. If so, the field was deserted in 1605.