New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-01-10

icaIy assert that the name Hosee Noke," at psee
2'o OF the notes h an unadutcrsted fiction OF my
own, created for the occasion. suggested by wild.
hait1aZy, unrIy andrew sot Of fellow, an Indian
who always took the lead in all the grotesque dances
held at the Onondaga Castle, who bore similar name
ard who was a Rrnner' and who is since dead.
AGAIN, the speech OF Hiawntbs, as it appears at
page 2e0 Of the Notes., Is pure invention of nv
own and It is identical, verbatim, with the same
speech in Caiks "OnOndaga" Vol. l., at page o
which is Ike the manuscript furnished TO Mr. School
ciief ~ mo through the editor Of TIE Commercial
Adreyf'ser. In the "Notes," however, Mr. s. ha,
transpcsed the word Onondaga and entirely omitted
the word Mohawk, which should be in It's place which
change wholly destroys the force truth and beauty Of
the illusions, for II makes them totally nappicable as
rendered in the "Notes." The Onondagas were a.
ways knows as The People of the Hills" Father
Hennepin, Lib H., page lO4, styles them the Ir-
quois Highlander." and in early times the Mohawks
were styled the "Great Tree" TO which the Dutch
first made fad the chain OF friendship in their inter-
cOurse with the Five Nations" The names of the
Senecas and Cayugas omitted in their proper
places IN the Notes., as are abO the name, of the
several other Indian nations.
The version OF Hawatha, or the Origin Of the On
ondaga Council Fire" in the larger work Of Mr..
Schoolcrat is merely an abridgement of the story
it appears in the Notes" though the speech of ha-
watha is retained mainly. Most of the first part of
the tradition If entirely omitted y the large work
with the supplementary addition the note account.
ing for the source OF its derivation.
The name Hi-a-wat-ha is purely Onondaga. II has
no c1stence or counterpart among the Indians beyond
the precincts Of the Confederate Nations Other ma
tions may have their "Quetzalcostl," their Mani
ton their 'ManabozhO' their "Mondamn" or
other dvnites, known by various and possessed
Of line characteristics, yet the roquois alone have the
true Hi-awat-ba, the great founder OF their league.
Upon the appearance Of the tradition Of Hlawatba
in the Notes the Iroquois,' in 1877 called the
attention of several of my friends to the fact of its
having been previously read before the Manus Ly-
ceum and we compared the manuscript copy retained
BY me with the version in the 'Notes on the Iro-
quos," and found them identical in the delneation
throughout, and verbatim in many entire paragraphs,
which circumstance could not possibly have occurred,
bad the tradition been derived from the verbal mar
'rationG Of the late Abraham LIE Fort, an Onondaga
"Chief."
These gentlemen my friends above referred to- will
attest to the facts herein set forth.
For myself claim particular merit or distinction
for the tradition OF Hiawaths, the source of its orr
gin, asit appears In English.
Nor do wish in the remOtest sense to detract par
tele from the wel-earned fame of Mr. SchOocraft in
regard to bis Indian researches. But since the trad
ton Of Hiawatha has become the theme and substance
Of a purely American poem, which is attracting a
worldwide attention. and the origin Of the tradition
has been wrongully atributedin note at the end of
the volume and has been introduced into the greatest
Indian work of the age par excellence, derived
" from the verbal variations Of the late Abraham lie
Fort Onondaga chief" is as well that the public
should be informed truly of the source.
'.... JOSHUA V. H. CLARK.
BEnnlips Onondaga Co.. n. Y, Jan. 2, 1856.