The
Cortland Democrat, Friday,
July 8, 1887.
A
SACHEM RAISED UP.
A
Ceremony of Great Interest to the Six Nations.
(Buffalo Express, June 30.)
Thomas Williams, 34 years old, of the Bear Clan of the Tuscarora
Indians, was yesterday made sachem and chief of that tribe to succeed the late
venerable ruler, John Mountpleasant. The ordination was solemnized by the
ancient civic and pagan rites of the Iroquois—the Six Nations—and it was an
impressive and interesting ceremony to an unusual degree. Such an ordination
has not taken place among the Tuscaroras in over sixty years, and it is doubtful
whether it will ever take place again, as the customs are fast being forgotten,
and another generation will find no chief left it is feared, who will know the chants,
rites and laws, of hereditary chieftainship. The process of choosing the sachem
who was ordained yesterday was as follows:—
John Mountpleasant is dead, and
on his coffin lies the string of wampum, symbol and token of his power. In the
council house a mournful gathering of the chiefs is held, and a messenger is
sent to the keeper of the great council fire at Onondaga. Now comes this messenger
to Syracuse, thence seven miles to the reservation of the Onondagas, bearing
the wampum to the home of Chief Thomas Webster, a pagan Indian, hereditary
keeper of the council fire of the Six
Nations. The wampum is evidence of the truth of the message that the
chief of the Tuscaroras is dead. Chief Webster takes the wampum, fixes a date
for the raising up and inauguration of a new chief, and the messenger returns.
Now the Onondagas—the gentlest
of the great Iroquois—are the keepers of the songs and chants, laws, rites and
traditions of the Six Nations, and their chief has the solemn duty of keeping
the council fire always burning— symbol of a court of equity and justice,
always open. The Onondagas send the message, by another Indian, on to the Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas and Senecas, and it is the
duty of every war-chief of those tribes to attend the inauguration of the new
sachem.
Meanwhile, at the home of the
Tuscaroras, the braves of Bear Clan give shows of prowess and of wisdom, hoping
for the nomination. By a law more ancient than the Iroquois confederation the
women of the Bear Clan nominate the chief—not the young squaws and all, but
only the women who are heads of families.
At the reservation lives Thomas
Williams, of the Bear Clan, for five years a war chief of his clan and for
several years a sub-chief of the tribe. He is leader of the Tuscorara Indian
band of twenty musicians, whom he himself instructed. He is not learned, like
the young sons of Mountpleasant, one of whom preaches in the Baptist Mission
church on the reservation. But he is a noble specimen of his race, tall, strong,
of good judgment, and a farmer with over 100 acres of land. He has a wife and five
children, and his mother was a niece of Mountpleasant, which gives him the Bear
lineage. He is looked upon most favorably by the women of the Bear Clan. He is
head officer of the Six Nations Forest Lodge of Temperance, composed of sixty
Indians. He is a leader in every public movement among the 1,414 Tuscaroras on
the reservation—which consists of 7,000 acres.
At the reservation is also
young John Chew, a lesser chief of the tribe, the son of a daughter of Mountpleasant,
which gives him also the Bear lineage. He is fairly well educated, has
influential friends among the head women of his clan, and is a candidate for
the chieftaincy.
In the early part of this month—June—a
counsel of the women is held under the trees near the Council house, and Thomas
Williams is the choice, of the majority. A few days later the chiefs of the
tribe sit in council, and are informed of the nomination. There is nothing for
the chiefs to do but to ratify the nomination and prepare for the rule of the
young Bear, and it is done with dignity.
Now begin preparations for the
gathering of the Six Nations, and for a "mourning council" to lament
the death of the great Mountpleasant. Two miles from the council house is a
grove of tall, beautiful maple trees, which for seven years has been set aside
as "general ground." It is a fine of $25 to cut a green tree on the
reservation without permission from the council, and so this grove is a marvel
of shade and quietness. In the centre of the grove of green boughs, a
"bush house" is built, 15 feet wide and 25 feet long. Strips of bark
are used to bind the boughs to the upright poles and corner posts, and on a
limb, between two trees, kettles are hung for boiling quarters of beef.
Yesterday was the day for the
inauguration. From the Onondagas have come Chief Webster, Chief Thomas, Daniel
Lafort, John Thomas and John Johnston; from the Oneidas are Abraham Hill,
Stephen Obediah and Daniel Fish; from the Senecas are Chauncey Abraham, Isaac
Doctor, Jake Doctor and Black Chief. All these are war chiefs, each speaking a
different tongue. The Mohawks and Cayugas cannot send their war-chiefs, but by
braves who come as representatives they send their strings of wampum.
From New York comes a white Woman,
Mrs. Harriet Maxwell Converse, an adopted Seneca of the Snipe Clan, and named
"Ga-ya-wis-ha-oh," (The Bearer of the Law). She is to sit in the bush
house and assist in the ceremonies.
Just before noon the Indians of
the reservation and their guests begin their journey on foot two miles to the grove.
It is a perfect June day—warm and bright. The hay is ready for cutting and all
the crops bid fair to be unusually plenteous. At the entrance to the grove a
council fire has been built, and when that spot is reached the Indians halt to
hold the mourning council. They are sad because they have no ruler. Soon the
new sachem will be raised up; gladness will follow, and all will join in a
dance at the council house, at sunset. But now they are sad.
When the great confederation
was formed—nobody knows how long ago—the Five Nations were divided into two
branches—the elder and the younger. Of the two former were the Senecas, Mohawks
and Onondagas, and of the latter were the Cayugas and Oneidas. When, over two
hundred years ago, the Tuscaroras (fleeing from their home in North Carolina
after being nearly exterminated by more powerful tribes,) were adopted by the Five
Nations, they were classed with the younger division. Yesterday the younger tribes
were the mourners, because the bereavement was theirs.
On one side of the road facing
the fire the elders sat upon the ground, and on the opposite side sat the
younger. Chief Webster, the songster and high priest, as it were, and Chief
Obediah, his assistant, stood up and scattered tobacco around the fire. This,
it is said, is done to appease the Evil Spirit, and to drive him away, that the council may be guided entirely
by the Great Spirit. Then, walking slowly up and down between the rows of sad
chieftains, these singers chanted the ancient song of woe.
At the conclusion of the chant—sung
in long, measured, wailing tones—a brief intermission was had, when again Chief
Webster chanted in the Onondaga tongue. After a pause, Chief Obediah chanted,
and alternating thereafter the singers chanted the rest of the mournful song in
Onondaga. After another solemn and prolonged pause, at a signal, all arose, and
the younger tribes, being the chief mourners, led a procession into the grove.
Now their sadness begins to change to gladness.
All the chiefs sit down in the
bush house, the elder on the right, and the younger on the left side. The women
sit and stand at the other end. Pipes are lit, many of the squaws smoking also.
Overhead the trees are rustling, and under the huge pot a fire a crackling, for
the feast is soon to come.
When all are assembled, Chief
Elias Johnston, whose Indian name means "The Pine Tree," arises. He is now master of ceremonies.
He is, by merit, but not by heredity, a chief over all the clans of the Tuscaroras,
and second chief under the sachem. By right, the Tuscaroras are not allowed a sachem—it
is only by courtesy of the Five Nations that this honor is conferred upon their
ruler.
Chief Johnston opens the
Council with an invocation in the Tuscarora tongue. Then Chief Webster arises,
stands at his side, and begins to recite in Onondaga the laws of the great Iroquois,
relating to chieftaincy. He first returns to Chief Johnston the wampum belt once
worn by Mountpleasant, and carried to him by the messenger, as an evidence that
he is the keeper of the council fire and preserver of the laws. Strings of
wampum are also used by Chief Webster in reciting the laws, and he holds them
in his hand, and counts off each bead with his fingers, as he recites the law
it stands for.
Each law is interpreted by a
Seneca, who speaks also the language of the Mohawk, Oneida and Tuscarora
tribes. During the recitation hardly a motion is made by the listening chiefs,
who sit with set faces and quietly smoke. Chief Obediah, who is deformed in the
right leg and lame, assists in the recitation of the laws, and at the
conclusion Chief Johnston speaks a few words, and two young men from seats in
the front row, stand up. One is Thomas Williams and the other is John Gainsworth,
also of the Bear Clan of the Tuscaroras. He is to be ordained as war-chief of
the Wolf Clan, because there are no Wolves alive to fill the office.
This has probably never been done before, and it is significant as
showing the sure decline towards extinction of the Indian race. The last
war-chief of the Wolves was married to a squaw of the Bear Clan, hence his children
are Bears. Time came for him to die, and by an old law of the Iroquois he was
allowed to will the office to young John Gainsworth, son of one of the old
man's daughters, and a Bear, and to his successor forever.
Chief Johnston first presented
Thomas Williams to the council. He spoke of the young chief's merits—his
prowess, wisdom and learning, his love for his tribe, devotion to his family
and of his lineage in the Bear clan making him eligible for the chieftaincy. Some
of the visiting chiefs spoke asking about the nomination of Williams by women,
and ratification by his council, and the opposition were also heard—those who favored
the election of John. But Chief Webster held that Williams was the legally chosen
ruler, and soon the voice of the opposition was hushed. Gainsworth's merits and
qualifications were then related by Chief Johnston, and he was duly presented
and accepted by the council, after the will of the old Wolf chief was declared
and not disputed.
Now begins the feast, in a
ceremony ancient and interesting. The Council house is cleared of squaws and
big dishes of bread, salt, and cooked beef are brought in and set upon the
ground. It is blessed by the Onondaga chief; is passed around the council and
is eaten amid general conversation, joke-making, and laughter. There is no
reason now to be sad. Soon the food is gone and the council breaks up, the men
going to join their squaws and papooses under the trees, where are spread dinners
more tempting.
The rest of the afternoon is
spent in walking in the grove talking of crops, and in conversation with the
white visitors. Among the latter arc ex-Mayor C. W. Hutchinson, of Utica, an
adopted Seneca; Dr. Joseph C. Greene, of the Buffalo Historical Society, who,
as a "Medicine Man," was two years ago adopted as a helper and member
of the Iroquois; and several prominent citizens of Niagara Falls and Suspension
Bridge. More members of the Historical Society would have attended had not circumstances
unexpectedly combined to keep them away. Mrs. Mountpleasant, widow of the late
chief, in mourning black, was also on the ground—an interesting and refined
woman.
In the evening at the Council
house began the green corn dance, the war [dance], hunting and other ancient
merry-making dances, which were kept up, with eating and drinking of temperance
drinks until morning. Every Indian on the reservation belongs to either the
Presbyterian or Baptist church, as there are no pagan Tuscaroras, and no intoxicating
liquors are allowed on the reservation.
FALLING A MILE.
The Marvelous Jump Made by a Man With a Parachute.
Quincy, Ill., July 5, 1887.—The much
talked-of leap from a balloon was made by Prof. Thomas S. Baldwin at the fairgrounds in this city yesterday. Thirty
thousand people witnessed the performance. Baldwin ascended to the height of
one mile, and then holding his parachute launched himself into space. The
parachute is an umbrella shaped affair, with ribs of cord, which are prolonged
and fastened to a ring, to which the aeronaut clings.
The parachute is made of silk
and is eighteen feet in diameter. When the jump was made the parachute was
closed and the first 200 feet the aeronaut dropped like a rock. Then as the
parachute expanded the speed became leas rapid and the aeronaut and his strange
apparatus floated steadily down like a bird. The descent was accomplished in three
minutes and twenty seconds.
Mr. Baldwin struck the ground
with some force in a sliding manner, but was not even jarred by the shock. The
descent varied about a quarter of a mile from the vertical.
Baldwin, called by his friends “The Man Bird,” is a native of Quincy,
twenty six years old. He was for several years an attaché of Herald, but for the last few years has
been studying and practicing athletics and ballooning. He made a similar leap
in California last winter, the distance being about a thousand feet.
Illinois
Public Archives, Quincy Public Library, City of Quincy balloon: http://idaillinois.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/qpl/id/2109/rec/2
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