Evening star., 1934-09-23
|ROQUO|S INDIANS
IN ANCIENT RITES
"Gathering of the Six Ma
tions" Under Way in
New York.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

AKRON, N. Y, September a.
CN.A.NA.).-The throb of tomtoms
once again Vbrates through the still
air of the forests, dim shadows fit
across the moonlight. and the sacred
timbers of the long house shake under
the shuttle and stamp of moccasined
feet.
For the runners have been sent
forth, and. from the far corners of
the ancient Iroquois domain, the In
dians who still worship the Great
Spirit and cling to the customs of
their forefathers have gathered on
the Tonawanda reservation of the
Senecas, a few miles north of here,
for the annual gathering of the Six
Nations"
Come From All Corners.
From far St. Regis, the Mohawks
have come Onondagas from Syra-
cuse and Oneidas from Canada are
here. Cayugas, who once sold their
lands to the pale faces have answered
LIl6 summons from LIlelT SCdLIGTcO
homes on the reservations of other
nations. Senecas from other reserva-
tions have joined with their Tona-
wanda brothers, while a handful of
Tuscaroras, from the adopted tribe,
have paid brief visit to the gath
ering.
An air of gravity underlies the
gaiety of the gathering, for this is
no mere social function. 1t partakes
also of the nature of a religious re-
vival, in which those who have
drifted into the ways of the white
man may be won back.
Mornings are devoted to preaching.
Blind Alexander Clute, wise man of
the Senecas who has taken up his
abode on the st. Regis reservation,
extols the virtues of Handsome
Lakes doctrine, the basic doctrine of
the great Iroquois, or Five Nations,
Confederacy, which emphasizes tenn
perance, honor and purity.
Nearly 500 Feast.
At noon the visitors, and there are
nearly 500 of them, are fed, constitut-
ing no small drain on the depression
shrunken pouches of the Seneca
hosts.
In the afternoon there is great
intermingling Of the nations, in which
relatives and friends from widely
separated reservations gather In little
groups to talk over old times.
The great dances of the gathering,
all ceremonial in character, are held
in the evening. Then it is that the
mask OF stolidity which the white
man has learned to know, drops
away and the Indian emerges in all
his ancient freedom.
The long house, plain, frame
structure, perhaps 80 by 100 feet,
painted white and furnished with
rude wooden benches, is packed by
eager Indians who appropriate even
one of the two musicians benches set
in the center, leaving the tomtom
beaters and gourd shakers scarcely
room to play their instruments. Wom-
en- and men sit In separate sections,
| All Join in Dance.
| A tomtom begins a muted beat
gradually increasing in tempo and
volume until the required rhythm has
! been reached. The gourds join in
with their sibilant rattle and "chug'
| Half a dozen of the older men shuttle
! into the cleared space, their feet feel
+ ing gropingly for the steps of half
forgotten dances. More join them
Then the women take their places in
| the long line of dancers shutting
| slowly about the room. Women and
men alternate in the line, but there
| appears to be no difference in their
steps.
Each dance is performed to the
accompaniment, not only Of tomtom
| and gourd but a wild, high-pitched
| chant in which only the older men
join. These chants, the Senecas ex-
| plain. are so old that the meaning
of the words has long since been for
gotten, although the sounds are
handed down from one generation to
another.
(Copyright. 1884 by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Incl