The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-01-07
AN INDIAN LEGEND.
How Peace was Brought About Be-
tween the Hurons and
lroQuois.

wild, rocky region of northeastern Mus
koka, Canada, far beyond the limit of
any Of my former explorations. In the
vicinity of Bracebridge / engaged rs
guide, philosopher and friend" an old
Iroquois Indian who knew every inch Of
the territory over which, if his own ac-
count was to be believed, he had roamed
for nearly eighty years.
One day as we sat smoking ON the
bank Of a river, which my guide said was
the Ashke-Muk, the old Indian pointed
to a spot about twenty feet up the face
of a precipice and said;
"You see that caves Wonderful thing
happen there once; me tell you about it"
Hooked closely at the place indicated
and saw, through q tangled maze Of wild
creepers, what appeared to be a dark
hole, some three feet wide and five feet
high. John said this was the entrance to
a large cavern, the existence Of which
had been quite unknown to his tribe,
formerly inhabiting the fertile plain,
until revealed to them by the occurrence
of events which he proceeded to relate.
Twill not attempt to follow the old mans
ve~rnacular, but give the legend in his
own simple words as nearly as | a
"a long, lone ting ago." said he,
"when l was a very small boy, my peo-
pie, a large band of the great Iroquois
tribe, dwelt upon the good land, where
we stopped last night. Game was plen-
tiful in those days, both winter and sum-
mer. The river, then much bigger than
49, -. f-.1l - Eo1 Nc ~no1o -ns.~l
much corn and were contented and
happy. Where are they now? Gonei
Gonel All gone but poor old John. The
white mans rum and smallpox, the
white mans ways have swept them
from the earth.
s'Our head chief, M~atchedash, was a
great warrior and ruled his people wise
" and well. He had no sons and but
one daughter, Minnekoma, beautiful as
the morning sum-, fleet of foot as a wild
deer, with eyes like stars, and hair
glossy as the ravens wing. All the
young men of the tribe laid their gifts
at her feet only to be rejected. But
one brave, Ojetlxas would not be repulsed.
Far and near he sought for the choicest
spoils Of the chase and brought them to
her wigwam; yet still she turned coldly
away.
"Ojetka was a crafty, cunning war
rior, and with rich presents bought the
old chief over to espouse his cause. All
was in vain. Minnekoma's face was
hard toward him and she would not lis
ten. Matchedash was much angered;
but she was his only child and had great
influence in the tribe, and he would not
give her away against her will. None
could tell why the maiden refused to
given her heart to q Huron lover; for
some time before Thyendaga, a noted
warrior of that tribe, with which the
Iroquois were then at peace, had asked
her in marriage and had offered her fa-
Their great wealth in gifts; but the old
chief spurned him away, saying that his
daughter must wed only an Iroquois,
and none of u tribe had seen the HUI
ron since. Ojetka hid his grief and put
on a careless air to throw Minnekoma of
her guard, but all the time he was on
the watch, and a evening when the
sun was low he saw her leave the lodge
and wander slowly away into the forest.
Even Ojetka dared not be seen to fol-
low or spy upon Minnekoma's move
ments, so, he went of, at first another
way, to the woods and then made a wide
sweep to strike her trail. Soon he found
this and crept along it, sure, slow and
silent as a panther. In a little while he
came to a clear spot, where had been an
an old camp, and saw Minnekoma stand
ing there with bowed head, listening.
Pretty soon he heard the low call of a
pigeon, and then Thyendaga stepped out
from the other side and clasped the
young squaw in his arms. Ojetka's heart
burned with rage, and softly he drew an
arrow to its head. but dared not shoot
while the two stood together. Bime-
by, they turned and came straight to-
ward him, and now he let his arrow fly;
but the starry eyes Of Minnekoma had
seen him! Quick as the lghtning's fash
she bent the Huron down, and the arrow
passed over his head. Then out from his
cover sprang Ojetka, and, whirling his
tomahawk in the air, sent it fercely at
his rivals breast.
"But Thyendaga, tall and springy as a
cedar, strong as an oak, was now ready,
and the bright blade whistled by with
out hurt, and with his own tomahawk
appraised in three great leaps he was
upon his foe. His first blow struck the
knife from Ojetka's hand and the next
buried the ak in his brain. Down like a
log he fell dead! Thyendaga shouted a
cry of victory and stopped down to teaf
off the scalp, but at that moment was
seized on all sides at once by six Iro-
luois, who were returning from a hunt
and had come to the place of the fight
Just as Ojetka fell. Now they bound the
prisoner between two warriors, and TAX
ing up the dead eody set off to camp,
singing the song of mourning as they
went. Soon the council was called, and,
although it was clearly shown that the
Huron had killed In his own defense, he
was condemned to die by running the
gauntlet. That night he was tied to a
tree and guarded by three warriors; but
he was well fed, and his legs were left
unbound, 30 that he might be strong
and make much sport when the time
came.
IAN night long Minnekoma watched
for a chance to free him, but the guards
slept not and the morning came. Then,