BRANTFORD

EXPOSITOR

SOUVENIR

~ The Six Nations ~'

NUMBER

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~~;re,.v HERE are few 1.1isto ri cal even.ts r.ecorded in" ~:ne ri ca ~hat ~r~ more interesting

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th an that touchmg the consolldatl~)t1 of t~e l~ Ive NatIOns 111tO o.ne vast confederation, under the state~mansht p of HIawatha, nearly four centu n es ago.
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In following up the history of thI S peop le we find them..! su?sequent. to th.el l
alliance, engage d .in a~ the early co lo ni al wars. French and EnglIsh colonists altke
feared, yet pandered to, thIS g~cat
wa r-like nation, who at one tune
ru led the land fr om the Atlantic
sea-board to the Mississippi , and
fr om North Carolina to the great
lakes and river St. Lawrence.
That the
remnant of
thisall-power- : - ' - , 1
full
people
who once dictated terms
to
ever y
white and red
race on the
continent, is,
in the present day, a I
law abiding, :':.\"/
peaceful,
semi -agricultural nation,
occupying a

g reat portion of our OWI1
county, and the ~ ladjoining
one of Haldimand, is t ellin g
evidence of the Nineteenth
century march of advancement, and the possibilities
of all intelligent races th at
are given oppo rtuniti es of
absorbing what is best in
their sister-nations, whether
it be art, habit, or handicraft.
The English and the
Iroquois, as we know them
in the county of Brant,
have mad
a brot he rl y
exc han ge of many things,
within the last few decades,
\\ Itich ItcljJpi;y

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iilUt C

goo I to both nations than
t hos
rstwhile
intermll sk t sh t ,
Th
" nadian s hav ad ltd th
11' '1'h I r qu is nati llal gam' of I, r)s ' ha ' been
~ ana li et! iz 'd, and alth ugh thirty y ars ag
it \Va '
absolutely unkno \ n am( nI t th ' whit s it is to-day known th 'world v r as 'anada" nati( nal
sport. Sn w h ing, t b gganing, an' ing, ar all adap~ations fro~ll the r d man, who in his turn
has adjusted him 'e lf t
iviliz d habit , and cu ·tom " profit in g by their ex ellences and, let us tru t,
learn ing as little harm as p ssible fr m their imperfections.
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It has been a lon g b ut astonishingly rapid leap fro m th~ \~Ig\\'am, and the cO,~r1.~tl fire ~f a
rt-\( WAP. DANce '
century ago, to the neat littl e, well -ordered, governmental ,bUl,ldll1g, kn ow t~ as the S IX. N atlo~ls
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Council House," at Ohsweken, yet through all that time With Its chan ges In ,the Imp,enal parltament! Its strange happenings 111 Canad ian politiCS, tl~e . Iroqu ois nation have held their system of government intact. It stan~s to-~ay, as It stC?od I.n the days
o f, Hlaw3;tha, unsha ken , un ad ~lterated, unaltered, a lt vmg monument to the magnificent statesmanship o f the man who conce ived It, and carned It, and culmmated It b~fore ever the whIte man ha~ entered th~ depths of America's forest lands.
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Th~ IndIan r~serve o n th? Grand nver has dwlt1dled from what was the first Imperi al g rant, that is, the lands t~1at !ay for SIX m,llcs ,lI1 depth 0!1 each SIde
o~ the river from, ItS source to ItS mouth, t? a tract com,Prisin g but fifty-two thousand acres, the g reate r po rtion of w hl c l~ I,S ynd,er cultlvatl.o n, for ';lnltke west~rn
tnbes the IroqUOIs have shown a g reat aptitude for agnculture as those who have v isited their annual industrial exhibItIOn 111 the spacIOus agncu ltural budding at the village of Ohsweken will readi ly testify.
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The little vi.tlage o f Ohsw<:ken i~ o f much inter~st to the visi tor, being as it is the seat of the Six Nations' governme nt, wh~l:e t,l,le local "pa!'liament" is
held, and the affaIrs o f the natIOn discussed and dIsposed of by the lineal descendants of Hiawatha's" Fifty-two Noble famtlles, who compnsed the first
great council of the confederation.
The present council house was erected in 1863 and since that time has been in constant usarre. Pri or t o that year va rious buildings were used in vario us localiti~s. . At o~~ time th.e co uncil hou ~e. \·vas at the now vi ll age of Middleport, and in yeteariier times some assert it ~as one of the) ancie~t , ~l.11d nowdesolated butldmgs on I utela H e Ig hts. In additIOn to the Ohsweken council house, there are two others devoted to the exclUSIve use. of the 1 agan mdl ans, one
for the Cayugas, the other fo r the Onondagas. These latter buildinas are called" Lona Houses" and are in reality the p laces of worship of these two conservati.ve old tri!=>es,. where}hey hold ~~ei,; various relig ious dances and bfestivals througho~t th e y~ar, worshipping in the exquisite beauty o.f " Pagat: " faith, and
Simple belt ef 111 the Great SP ll'lt, that. won~rou.s, peaceful, large-h earted God of the unchristianized indian, that G?d that t}1ey believe no SIl1 can really
estran~e them fr om, whose lov.e and favor IS the.lrs, It matters not how un worthy they may be, that God that is pleased WIth th e SImple dances a nd feast~ ~f hiS
red children, w ho harbors no Ill-thoug ht or feel111 g towards them and who has for souls and bodies after death whether they be bad or good , ltmltless
reaches of Happy Hunting g rounds, and throug h all eternity the' happy atmosphere known only where an everla;ting " Peace-Pipe" is in daily use between
God and man .
. But in early times the dances of the domesticated Iroquois were not always the outcome of relig ious zeal and good-fellowship with the Grec~.t Spirit; for
Amenca l<1le~v no , grea~er terror than when a band. of e ig ht or ten ~housand I.roquois warriors chose to don their wC!:r pai(~t, and set forth c~~1quenng and t~
conquer; theIr fielce v l sa~es, a~1d half-naked bodies, decorated With the ommous streaks of black and red, meantl1g
Blood and D~ath, . ah~ays the \~a l
colors o f the Mohawks. I' o r mdes across the country could their terrible war cries be heard and the hated Huron crouched fearfull y 111 hIS wI g wam beSide
the GeOt'gi~n bay, and the faithful Jesuit fathe,r crossed himself to no purpose, when the Iroquois ro used with a just ire, impassioned by a taunt, marche~ north
ward, and m one fell battle extermlllated JesuIt and Huron leav inrr the little christian hamlet a desolation and dancinrr a triumphant war dance on the htlls that
overlook Penetan~llishene. No, it is not a fiction. The an~estors ~f those calm-eyed Indian men, of thos~ low-voiced, gentle-faced wornen,who on m~rket days.
throng our busy little stre ets, were some of the bravest, most intrepid and valiant warriors known to the h isto ry of th e worid ; men who defended their co untry
~tnd th.e .( ashes of their fathers," agail;st the inroads of a g reat all-conquering race; men who fou ght, and bled, and died ~o hold the weste rn continent against at.l
tr~ co mm g ~astern power, as England.s sons woul~ battle and fall to-day, were their OWll mother country threate ned With a power that w?uld eventuallyannlhdate., subject- then ~Ias. ! abs?rb their blood, theIr traditions, their nation , until naug ht promises to remain save a memory. The Iroqu(:)\!:; got. a bad name ,for
~eroclty and blood thlrstmess m the early days of American history, but I can tell you, reader, that those Indian warriors were savage. WIth a ng h~eous patr~ot­
Ism , an~ ~l:at they won the resp~ct of the whole world by the way they co ntended and wrestled to retain their forest homes, theIr game, th~lr gods. ~ he
whole clvlltzed world wo uld ha,ve h~ssed them had t~ey not loved the land and fou ght fiercely for the soil where ,their C!:ncestors wer~ born, and Itved ~l11d died,
and p~rhaps the ances~()r of thiS qU1et-:nan~lered IndIan , who any day you mi g ht see in our streets, was o nce an md 0!1~ ltable war-stamed brave, standmg ankle
~eep 111 the blood of ), r~llch and Engltsh mvaders, fighting with the desperate savagery, born only of the pre-mOt1ltlOn of a l o~t cause, a lost l3;nd ,. a los.t contment, never to be regallled ; of a scattered people never aa ain to be a nation and then with the noblest of that military valor, 111 after years lmkmg hIS fate
with his own cOIl4uero rs .. And th.en p<:rhaps ~he strangest b of all things has bappened: that to this v ery Iroquois who fought ~nd killed yo r own an.cestors,
then afterwards fo ug ht Sl?~ by Side WIth their sons against the colonists, perhaps to this very man who fought so fiercely for hiS 0 \''''21 country, then WIth such
ardor and valor fo r the Bntlsh flag, you owe the possession of your peaceful home in Canada to-day.
E. PA L[ E J II ST