Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-08-26
The Passlaa q .he lrossoi,.

4 a splctureSques event took place 1t
Albany short time ago. which has
not received the attention It merits.
1t was the last general council OF the
old Indian confederacy known as the
Iroquois Of Five Nations. The object
of the council was to transfer to the
state university the custody of the re-
naming wampum belts. or symbols Of
authority. Of the confederacy, and 30
chiefs, some of them clad in Indian
costume and ali of them Of Iroquo;s
lineage, took part in the ceremonies.
Originally there were about 30 Of these
belts. hut at present only about one
third of them can be found. The sur
render of these tokens of power. relics
which the descendants OF the former
tribes have sacredly guarded, prac-
ticaily marks the formal termination
of the existence Of the Iroquois
League.
At the time America was discovered
the Iroquois was the most aggressive
and highly organized body Of
aborigines north of the Gulf of Mexico.
The home of the confederacy-then
composed of the Mohawks, the Oneidas,
the Onondagas, the Senecas and the
Cayugas-was substantially the north
ern half of what is now New York
state. but through conquest it had ex
tended its dominion from the Great
Lakes on the northern borders almost
to the Cuff coast. and had the dis
cpvery of America been deferred q
century longer it is probable the
Iroquois would have dominated the en-
tire continent. The Five Nations owed
their success not so much to numbers
and daring as to the system of govern
ment they maintained. This system,
as the terms confederacy and league
imply. was really a crude republic.
Like all the American tribes, the Five
Nations cherished a spirit of freedom
and independence, but they early per-
ceived the advantage of cooperation,
and upon this principle their military
and civil institutions, If institutions
they can be called, were built. This
and enabled them to dominate nearly
the whole country. 1t was with pride
that Europeans saw such strength and
intelligence of organization among
denzens of the woods, whom they be-
lieved to be totally ignorant of all the
instincts of civilization.
Nor were the Iropuois deficient in
the arts of peace. They built no such
temples as the Aztecs. but they reared
structures of beams and bark, divided
ir13 various compartments, and they
INSTRUCTED palisades or Notifications
d4sMood for mutual protection. They
carried hieroglyphic writing to high
state, and not only fashioned house,
hold utensils out of stone, but often
displayed not little skill and taste in
|Nersohal attire. Warlike as their
Enatural qualities We're also, their coun-
try was dotted with fields of maize
beans, squashes. pumpkins, tobacco
and other vegetables, either useful or
edible, and they took care to provide
stores of such supplies for the winter
and against long campaigns All this
bespoke a measure of intelligence and
civilization among these children Of
the forest that was not suspected.
In American history, however. the
Iroquois will be chiefly remembered for
the aid they furnished English ana
Dutch settlers of New York state in
resisting French aggressions from
Canada. They fiercely opposed white
settlement of their country at the out
set, but eventually they yielded to the
| inevitable and assisted in preserving it
from Latin invasion. 1t is no exag-
geration to say that it is owing ma
terially to English alliance with the
Iroquois that French is not the tongue
of this section OF the republic today.
No doubt these alliances were often
inspired by cupidity and indicative
ness on the part of the Five Nations.
| but this does not lessen the fact that
their services were of immense value
to the future development Of New York
state, while as a rule they were in
fexibly loyal to the treaties into which
they entered. For these reasons the
state does Well to perpetuate the
memorials of power of these dusky
| warriors.
| First Assistant Postmaster Perry L.
Heath writes home from Europe.
where he Is taking a vacation: IT'S a