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Publications OF THE Historical Society of Pennsylvania. HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIAN NATIONS.
Publications OF THE Historical Society of Pennsylvania. HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIAN NATIONS.
HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF The Indian Nations WHO ONCE INHABITED PENNSYLVANIA AND THE NEIGHBOURING STATES. BY THE REV. JOHN HECKEWELDER, OF BETHLEHEM, PA. New and Revised Edition. WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY THE REV. WILLIAM C. REICHEL, OF BETHLEHEM, PA. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLICATION FUND OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, No. 820 SPRUCE STREET. 1881. “The Trustees of the Publication Fund of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania” have published nine volumes, viz.: The investment
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INTRODUCTION. BY THE EDITOR.
INTRODUCTION. BY THE EDITOR.
John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder , the author of “An Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations who once inhabited Pennsylvania and the neighboring States,” was born March 12th, 1743, at Bedford, England. His father, who was a native of Moravia, a few years after his arrival at Herrnhut, Saxony, was summoned to England to assist in the religious movement which his church had inaugurated in that country in 1734. In his eleventh year, the subject of this sketch accompanie
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DEDICATION TO CASPAR WISTAR, M.D., PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
DEDICATION TO CASPAR WISTAR, M.D., PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
Dear Sir. —Having, at your particular request, undertaken the arduous task of giving to the Historical Committee of our Society an Account of those Indian Nations and Tribes which once inhabited Pennsylvania and the adjoining States, including those who are known by the name of the “Six Nations;” I have now, as far as has been in my power, complied with your wishes, or at least I have endeavoured so to do. Foreseeing the difficulties I should labour under, in writing the history of a people, of
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The reader of the following pages, having already seen what has induced me to come forward with an historical account of the Indians, after so many have written on the same subject, will perhaps look for something more extraordinary in this than in other works of the kind which he has seen. Not wishing any one to raise his expectations too high, I shall briefly state that I have not written to excite astonishment, but for the information of those who are desirous of knowing the true history of t
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PART I. HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIAN NATIONS, WHO ONCE INHABITED PENNSYLVANIA AND THE NEIGHBOURING STATES.
PART I. HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIAN NATIONS, WHO ONCE INHABITED PENNSYLVANIA AND THE NEIGHBOURING STATES.
( Note. —In annotating this work, the editor consulted, among other authorities, The Life of John Heckewelder, by the Rev. Edward Rondthaler , Heckewelder’s Narrative of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Delaware and Mohegan Indians , History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America , The Life and Times of David Zeisberger , Memorials of the Moravian Church , The Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society , The Moravians in New York and Connecticut
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History, Manners, and Customs OF THE INDIAN NATIONS. CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL TRADITIONS OF THE INDIANS.
History, Manners, and Customs OF THE INDIAN NATIONS. CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL TRADITIONS OF THE INDIANS.
The Lenni Lenape (according to the traditions handed down to them by their ancestors) resided many hundred years ago, in a very distant country in the western part of the American continent. For some reason, which I do not find accounted for, they determined on migrating to the eastward, and accordingly set out together in a body. After a very long journey, and many nights’ encampments 28 by the way, they at length arrived on the Namæsi Sipu , 29 where they fell in with the Mengwe, 30 who had li
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CHAPTER II. INDIAN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST ARRIVAL OF THE DUTCH AT NEW YORK ISLAND.
CHAPTER II. INDIAN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST ARRIVAL OF THE DUTCH AT NEW YORK ISLAND.
The Lenni Lenape claim the honour of having received and welcomed the Europeans on their first arrival in the country, situated between New England and Virginia. It is probable, however, that the Mahicanni or Mohicans, who then inhabited the banks of the Hudson, concurred in the hospitable act. The relation I am going to make was taken down many years since from the mouth of an intelligent Delaware Indian, and may be considered as a correct account of the tradition existing among them of this mo
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CHAPTER III. INDIAN RELATIONS OF THE CONDUCT OF THE EUROPEANS TOWARDS THEM.
CHAPTER III. INDIAN RELATIONS OF THE CONDUCT OF THE EUROPEANS TOWARDS THEM.
Long and dismal are the complaints which the Indians make of European ingratitude and injustice. They love to repeat them, and always do it with the eloquence of nature, aided by an energetic and comprehensive language, which our polished idioms cannot imitate. Often I have listened to these descriptions of their hard sufferings, until I felt ashamed of being a white man . They are, in general, very minute in these recitals, and proceed with a great degree of order and regularity. They begin wit
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The Shawanos or Sawanos.88
The Shawanos or Sawanos.88
The history of these people is here given, principally from the relations of old Indians of the Mohican 90 tribe, who say that they formerly inhabited the Southern country, Savannah in Georgia, and the Floridas. They were a restless people, delighting in wars, in which they were constantly engaged with some of the neighbouring nations. At last their neighbours, tired of being continually harassed by them, formed a league for their destruction. The Shawanos finding themselves thus dangerously sit
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The Nanticokes.
The Nanticokes.
The Delawares say that this nation has sprung from the same stock with them, and the fact was acknowledged by White, 95 one of their chiefs, whom I have personally known. They call the Delawares their grandfathers. I shall relate the history of the Shawanos, 96 as I had it from the mouth of White himself. Every Indian being at liberty to pursue what occupation he pleases, White’s ancestors, after the Lenape came into their country, preferred seeking a livelihood by fishing and trapping along the
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The Mahicanni, or Mohicans.
The Mahicanni, or Mohicans.
This once great and renowned nation has also almost entirely disappeared, as well as the numerous tribes who had descended from them; they have been destroyed by wars, and carried off by the small pox and other disorders, and great numbers have died in consequence of the introduction of spirituous liquors among them. The remainder have fled and removed in separate bodies to different parts, where they now are dispersed or mingled with other nations. So early as the year 1762, a number of them ha
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CHAPTER V. THE IROQUOIS.
CHAPTER V. THE IROQUOIS.
The most intelligent and credible Indians of the Lenape stock, including the Mohicans, have ever asserted, that in the whole country bounded on the north by the river St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes (including what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), on the west by the Mississippi, on the east by the Great Salt-water Lake, 108 and on the south by the country of the Creeks, Cherokees, and other Florida Indians, there were but two nations, the Mengwe, and themselves. Theirs was by far the most
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CHAPTER VI. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS.
CHAPTER VI. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS.
The Indian considers himself as a being created by an all-powerful, wise, and benevolent Mannitto; 114 all that he possesses, all that he enjoys, he looks upon as given to him or allotted for his use by the Great Spirit who gave him life: he therefore believes it to be his duty to adore and worship his Creator and benefactor; to acknowledge with gratitude his past favours, thank him for present blessings, and solicit the continuation of his good will. 115 As beings who have control over all beas
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CHAPTER VII. GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER VII. GOVERNMENT.
Although the Indians have no code of laws for their government, their chiefs find little or no difficulty in governing them. They are supported by able experienced counsellors; men who study the welfare of the nation, and are equally interested with themselves in its prosperity. On them the people rely entirely, believing that what they do, or determine upon, must be right and for the public good. Proud of seeing such able men conduct the affairs of their nation, the Indians are little troubled
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CHAPTER VIII. EDUCATION.
CHAPTER VIII. EDUCATION.
It may justly be a subject of wonder, how a nation without a written code of laws or system of jurisprudence, without any form or constitution of government, and without even a single elective or hereditary magistrate, can subsist together in peace and harmony, and in the exercise of the moral virtues; how a people can be well and effectually governed without any external authority; by the mere force of the ascendancy which men of superior minds have over those of a more ordinary stamp; by a tac
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I. The Karalit.
I. The Karalit.
This language is spoken by the inhabitants of Greenland and on the Continent by the Eskimaux Indians of the coast of Labrador. Its forms and principles are sufficiently known by means of the Grammar and Dictionary of the venerable Egede, 121 and the works of Bartholinus, Wœldike, Thornhallesen, 122 Cranz 123 and others. It is much cultivated by the Missionaries of the Society of the United Brethren, by whom we may expect to see its principles still further elucidated. It is in Greenland that beg
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II. The Iroquois.
II. The Iroquois.
This language in various dialects is spoken by the Mengwe or Six Nations, the Wyandots or Hurons, the Naudowessies, the Assinipoetuk, called by the French Assiniboils, Assinipoils, or Sioux, and by other tribes, particularly beyond the St. Lawrence. Father La Hontan distinguishes this class of languages by the name of the Huron , probably because that nation was better known to the French, whose allies they were, than the Iroquois, who were in alliance with the English. 124 All these languages,
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III. The Lenape.
III. The Lenape.
This is the most widely extended language of any of those that are spoken on this side of the Mississippi. It prevails in the extensive regions of Canada, from the coast of Labrador to the mouth of Albany river which falls into the southernmost part of Hudson’s bay, and from thence to the Lake of the Woods, which forms the north-western boundary of the United States. It appears to be the language of all the Indians of that extensive country, except those of the Iroquois stock, which are by far t
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IV. The Floridian.
IV. The Floridian.
I call by this generic name, the languages spoken by those Indian nations who inhabit the southern frontier of the United States and the Spanish Province of Florida. They are the Creeks or Muskohgees, Chickesaws, Choctaws, Pascagoulas, Cherokees or Cheerakees, and several others. It is said that there once existed among them a powerful nation called the Natchez, whose language was the mother tongue of all those southern dialects. We are told also of an Apalachian nation, who it is said lived in
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CHAPTER X. SIGNS AND HIEROGLYPHICS.
CHAPTER X. SIGNS AND HIEROGLYPHICS.
It has been asserted by many persons that the languages of the Indians are deficient in words, and that, in order to make themselves understood, they are obliged to resort to motions and signs with their hands. This is entirely a mistake. I do not know a nation of whom foreigners do not say the same thing. The fact is, that in every country, signs and motions with the hands more or less accompany discourse, particularly when delivered with a certain degree of earnestness and warmth. Foreigners,
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CHAPTER XI. ORATORY.
CHAPTER XI. ORATORY.
The eloquence of the Indians is natural and simple; they speak what their feelings dictate without art and without rule; their speeches are forcible and impressive, their arguments few and pointed, and when they mean to persuade as well as convince, they take the shortest way to reach the heart. I know that their oratorical powers have been strongly controverted, and this is not astonishing, when we consider the prejudice that exists against their languages, which are in general believed to be p
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CHAPTER XII. METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS.
CHAPTER XII. METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS.
The Indians are fond of metaphors. They are to their discourse what feathers and beads are to their persons, a gaudy but tasteless ornament. Yet we must not judge them too severely on that account. There are other nations besides the American Indians who admire this mode of expression. Even in enlightened Europe, many centuries have not elapsed since the best and most celebrated writers employed this figure in a profuse manner, and thought it a great embellishment to their poetical and prose com
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CHAPTER XIII. INDIAN NAMES.
CHAPTER XIII. INDIAN NAMES.
The proper names of Indians are in general given to them after animals of various kinds, and even fishes and reptiles. Thus they are called the Beaver , Otter , Sun-fish , Black-fish , Rattle-snake , Black-snake , &c. They have also other descriptive names, from their personal qualities or appearances, and sometimes from fancy or caprice; but many of those are given them by the whites, such as Pipe , White-eyes , Kill-buck , &c., which are not real Indian names. They do not alway
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CHAPTER XIV. INTERCOURSE WITH EACH OTHER.
CHAPTER XIV. INTERCOURSE WITH EACH OTHER.
It is a striking fact that the Indians, in their uncivilised state, should so behave towards each other as though they were a civilised people! I have in numerous instances witnessed their meeting together, their doing business and conversing with each other for hours, their labouring together, and their hunting and fishing in bodies or parties; I have seen them divide their game, venison, bear’s meat, fish, &c., among themselves, when they sometimes had many shares to make, and cannot r
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CHAPTER XV. POLITICAL MANŒUVRES.
CHAPTER XV. POLITICAL MANŒUVRES.
In the management of their national affairs, the Indians display as much skill and dexterity, perhaps, as any people upon earth. When a political message is sent to them from a neighbouring nation, 161 they generally contrive to send an answer so ambiguously worded, that it is difficult to come at their real meaning; they conceive this to be the best way of getting rid of a proposal which they do not like, because those who sent them the message are for some time, at least, at a loss to comprehe
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CHAPTER XVI. MARRIAGE AND TREATMENT OF THEIR WIVES.
CHAPTER XVI. MARRIAGE AND TREATMENT OF THEIR WIVES.
There are many persons who believe, from the labour that they see the Indian women perform, that they are in a manner treated as slaves. These labours, indeed, are hard, compared with the tasks that are imposed upon females in civilised society; but they are no more than their fair share, under every consideration and due allowance, of the hardships attendant on savage life. Therefore they are not only voluntarily, but cheerfully submitted to; and as women are not obliged to live with their husb
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CHAPTER XVII. RESPECT FOR THE AGED.
CHAPTER XVII. RESPECT FOR THE AGED.
There is no nation in the world who pay greater respect to old age than the American Indians. From their infancy they are taught to be kind and attentive to aged persons, and never to let them suffer for want of necessaries or comforts. The parents spare no pains to impress upon the minds of their children the conviction that they would draw down upon themselves the anger of the Great Spirit, were they to neglect those whom, in his goodness, he had permitted to attain such an advanced age, whom
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CHAPTER XVIII. PRIDE AND GREATNESS OF MIND.
CHAPTER XVIII. PRIDE AND GREATNESS OF MIND.
The Indians are proud but not vain; they consider vanity as degrading and unworthy the character of a man. The hunter never boasts of his skill or strength, nor the warrior of his prowess. It is not right, they say, that one should value himself too much for an action which another may perform as well as himself, and when a man extols his own deeds, it seems as if he doubted his own capability to do the like again when he pleased. Therefore, they prefer in all cases to let their actions speak fo
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CHAPTER XIX. WARS AND THE CAUSES WHICH LEAD TO THEM.
CHAPTER XIX. WARS AND THE CAUSES WHICH LEAD TO THEM.
It is a fixed principle with the Indians, that evil cannot come out of good, that no friend will injure a friend, and, therefore, that whoever wrongs or does harm to another, is his ENEMY . As it is with individuals, so it is with nations, tribes, and other independent associations of men. If they commit murder on another people, encroach on their lands, by making it a practice to come within their bounds and take the game from them, if they rob or steal from their hunting camps, or, in short, a
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CHAPTER XX. MANNER OF SURPRISING THEIR ENEMIES.
CHAPTER XX. MANNER OF SURPRISING THEIR ENEMIES.
Courage , art, and circumspection are the essential and indispensable qualifications of an Indian warrior. When war is once begun, each one strives to excel in displaying them, by stealing upon his enemy unawares, and deceiving and surprising him in various ways. On drawing near to an enemy’s country, they endeavour as much as possible to conceal their tracks; sometimes they scatter themselves, marching at proper distances from each other for a whole day and more, meeting, however, again at nigh
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CHAPTER XXI. PEACE MESSENGERS.
CHAPTER XXI. PEACE MESSENGERS.
While the American Indian remained in the free and undisturbed possession of the land which God gave to them, and even for a long time after the Europeans had settled themselves in their territory, there was no people upon earth who paid a more religious respect than they did to the sacred character of the ambassadors, or (as they call them) Messengers of peace . It is too well known that since about the middle of the last century a great change has taken place, the cause of which, I am sorry to
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CHAPTER XXII. TREATIES.
CHAPTER XXII. TREATIES.
In early times, when Indian nations, after long and bloody wars, met together, for the purpose of adjusting their differences, or concluding a peace with each other, it was their laudable custom, as a token of their sincerity, to remove out of the place where the peacemakers were sitting, all warlike weapons and instruments of destruction, of whatever form or shape. “For,” said they, “when we are engaged in a good work, nothing that is bad must be visible. We are met together to forgive and forg
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CHAPTER XXIII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE INDIANS ON THE WHITE PEOPLE.
CHAPTER XXIII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE INDIANS ON THE WHITE PEOPLE.
The Indians believe that the Whites were made by the same Great Spirit who created them, and that he assigned to each different race of men a particular employment in this world, but not the same to all. To the whites the great Mannitto gave it in charge to till the ground and raise by cultivation the fruits of the earth; to the Indians he assigned the nobler employment of hunting, and the supreme dominion over all the rest of the animal creation. They will not admit that the whites are superior
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CHAPTER XXIV. FOOD AND COOKERY.
CHAPTER XXIV. FOOD AND COOKERY.
The principal food of the Indians consists of the game which they take or kill in the woods, the fish out of the waters, and the maize, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, melons, and occasionally cabbages and turnips, which they raise in their fields; they make use also of various roots of plants, fruits, nuts, and berries out of the woods, by way of relish or as a seasoning to their victuals, sometimes also from necessity. They commonly make two meals every day, which, they say, is
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CHAPTER XXV. DRESS, AND ORNAMENTING OF THEIR PERSONS.
CHAPTER XXV. DRESS, AND ORNAMENTING OF THEIR PERSONS.
In ancient times, the dress of the Indians was made of the skins of animals and feathers. This clothing, they say, was not only warmer, but lasted much longer than any woollen goods they have since purchased of the white people. They can dress any skin, even that of the buffaloe, so that it becomes quite soft and supple, and a good buffaloe or bear skin blanket will serve them many years without wearing out. Beaver and raccoon skin blankets are also pliant, warm and durable; they sew together as
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The Song of the Lenape Warriors going against the Enemy.
The Song of the Lenape Warriors going against the Enemy.
The song of the Wyandot warriors, as translated to me by an Indian trader, would read thus: “Now I am going on an errand of pleasure—O! God, take pity on me, and throw good fortune in my way—grant that I may be successful.” Thus their Almighty Creator is always before their eyes on all important occasions. They feel and acknowledge his supreme power. They also endeavour to propitiate him by outward worship, or sacrifices . These are religious solemnities, intended to make themselves acceptable t
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CHAPTER XXVII. SCALPING—WHOOPS OR YELLS—PRISONERS.
CHAPTER XXVII. SCALPING—WHOOPS OR YELLS—PRISONERS.
Scalping is a practice which the Indians say has obtained with their nations for ages. I need not describe the manner in which the operation is performed, it has been sufficiently done by others. 190 Indian warriors think it necessary to bring home the scalps of those they have killed or disabled, as visible proofs of their valour; otherwise they are afraid that their relations of the combat and the account they give of their individual prowess might be doubted or disbelieved. Those scalps are d
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CHAPTER XXVIII. BODILY CONSTITUTION AND DISEASES.
CHAPTER XXVIII. BODILY CONSTITUTION AND DISEASES.
The Indians are in general a strong race of men. It is very common to see a hunter come in with a whole deer on his back, fastened with a Happis , a kind of band with which they carry loads; it rests against the breast, that which the women use rests against the forehead. In this manner they will carry a load which many a white man would not have strength enough to raise from the ground. An Indian, named Samuel, once took the flour which was ground out of a bushel of wheat upon his back at sun-r
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CHAPTER XXIX. REMEDIES.
CHAPTER XXIX. REMEDIES.
The Materia Medica of the Indians consists of various roots and plants known to themselves, the properties of which they are not fond of disclosing to strangers. They make considerable use of the barks of trees, such as the white and black oak, the white walnut, of which they make pills, the cherry, dogwood, maple, birch, and several others. They prepare and compound these medicines in different ways, which they keep a profound secret. Those preparations are frequently mixed with superstitious p
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CHAPTER XXX. PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
CHAPTER XXX. PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
By these names I mean to distinguish the good and honest practitioners who are in the habit of curing and healing diseases and wounds, by the simple application of natural remedies, without any mixture of superstition in the manner of preparing or administering them. They are very different from the doctors or jugglers, of whom I shall speak in the next chapter. In one point, only, they seem to participate in their ridiculous notions, that is, in the different manner, which I have already notice
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CHAPTER XXXI. DOCTORS OR JUGGLERS.
CHAPTER XXXI. DOCTORS OR JUGGLERS.
I call these men Doctors , because it is the name given them by their countrymen who have borrowed it from our language, 196 and they are themselves very fond of this pompous title. They are a set of professional impostors, who, availing themselves of the superstitious prejudices of the people, acquire the name and reputation of men of superior knowledge, and possessed of supernatural powers. As the Indians in general believe in witchcraft, and ascribe, as I have already said, to the arts of sor
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CHAPTER XXXII. SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER XXXII. SUPERSTITION.
Great and powerful as the Indian concieves himself to be, firm and undaunted as he really is, braving all seasons and weathers, careless of dangers, patient of hunger, thirst and cold, and fond of displaying the native energy of his character even in the midst of tortures, at the very thought of which our own puny nature revolts and shudders; this Lord of the Creation, whose life is spent in a state of constant warfare against the wild beasts of the forest and the savages of the wilderness, who,
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CHAPTER XXXIII. INITIATION OF BOYS.
CHAPTER XXXIII. INITIATION OF BOYS.
I do not know how to give a better name to a superstitious practice which is very common among the Indians, and, indeed, is universal among those nations that I have become acquainted with. By certain methods which I shall presently describe, they put the mind of a boy in a state of perturbation, so as to excite dreams and visions; by means of which they pretend that the boy receives instructions from certain spirits or unknown agents as to his conduct in life, that he is informed of his future
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The Extract.
The Extract.
“ Traditio. —That they had dwelt in the earth where it was dark and where no sun did shine. That though they followed hunting, they ate mice, which they caught with their hands. That Ganawagahha (one of them) having accidentally found a hole to get out of the earth at, he went out, and that in walking about on the earth he found a deer, which he took back with him, and that both on account of the meat tasting so very good, and the favourable description he had given them of the country above and
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CHAPTER XXXV. INSANITY—SUICIDE.
CHAPTER XXXV. INSANITY—SUICIDE.
Insanity is not common among the Indians; yet I have known several who were afflicted with mental derangement. Men in this situation are always considered as objects of pity. Every one, young and old, feels compassion for their misfortune; to laugh or scoff at them would be considered as a crime, much more so to insult or molest them. The nation or colour of the unfortunate object makes no difference; the charity of the Indians extends to all, and no discrimination is made in such a lamentable c
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CHAPTER XXXVI. DRUNKENNESS.
CHAPTER XXXVI. DRUNKENNESS.
In treating of this subject, I cannot resist the impression of a melancholy feeling, arising from the comparison which forces itself upon my mind of what the Indians were before the Europeans came into this country, and what they have become since, by a participation in our vices. By their intercourse with us, they have lost much of that original character by which they were once distinguished, and which it is the object of this work to delineate, and the change which has taken place is by no me
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CHAPTER XXXVII. FUNERALS.
CHAPTER XXXVII. FUNERALS.
I believe that no sufficiently detailed account has yet been given of the manner in which the North American Indians conduct the funerals of their dead. Captain Carver tells us that the Naudowessies, among whom he was, kept those ceremonies a secret, and would not give him an opportunity of witnessing them. Loskiel, although he drew his information from the journals of our Missionaries, has treated this subject rather superficially. I therefore run little risk of repetition in describing what I
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CHAPTER XXXVIII. FRIENDSHIP.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. FRIENDSHIP.
Those who believe that no faith is to be placed in the friendship of an Indian are egregiously mistaken, and know very little of the true character of those men of nature. They are, it is true, revengeful to their enemies, to those who wilfully do them an injury, who insult, abuse, or treat them with contempt. It may be said, indeed, that the passion of revenge is so strong in them that it knows no bounds. This does not, however, proceed from a bad or malicious disposition, but from the violence
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Account of the Death of Leather-Lips.
Account of the Death of Leather-Lips.
“This unfortunate Chief of the Seneca 231 tribe, who had attained the sixty-third year of his age, had pitched his camp a few miles west of the town of Worthington in the county of Franklinton. From his constant attachment to the principles of honesty and integrity, he had obtained a certificate from an officer of the government as a testimonial of the propriety of his deportment. This aged Chief was suspected by the Prophet , a man of a restless, turbulent spirit, who by his exceeding address,
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CHAPTER XL. SHORT NOTICE OF THE INDIAN CHEIFS, TAMANEND AND TADEUSKUND.
CHAPTER XL. SHORT NOTICE OF THE INDIAN CHEIFS, TAMANEND AND TADEUSKUND.
The name of Tamanend is held in the highest veneration among the Indians. Of all the chiefs and great men which the Lenape nation ever had, he stands foremost on the list. But although many fabulous stories are circulated about him among the whites, but little of his real history is known. The misfortunes which have befallen some of the most beloved and esteemed personages among the Indians since the Europeans came among them, prevent the survivors from indulging in the pleasure of recalling to
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CHAPTER XLI. COMPUTATION OF TIME—ASTROMICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.
CHAPTER XLI. COMPUTATION OF TIME—ASTROMICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.
The Indians do not reckon as we do, by days, but by nights. They say: “It is so many nights’ travelling to such a place;” “I shall return home in so many nights,” &c. Sometimes pointing to the heavens they say: “You will see me again when the sun stands there.” Their year is, like ours, divided into four parts: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. It begins with the spring, which, they say, is the youth of the year, the time when the spirits of man begin to revive, and the plants and flow
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CHAPTER XLII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND ANECDOTES.
CHAPTER XLII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND ANECDOTES.
I hope I shall be excused for bringing here together into one view a few observations and anecdotes which either could not well find their places under any of the preceding divisions of my subject, or escaped my recollection at the proper time. These additional traits will contribute something to forming a correct idea of the Indian character and manners. I have observed a great similarity in the customs, usages, and opinions of the different nations that I have seen, however distant from each o
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CHAPTER XLIII. ADVICE TO TRAVELLERS.
CHAPTER XLIII. ADVICE TO TRAVELLERS.
Nothing is so common as the indiscriminate charge laid upon traveller of relating strange and wonderful things for the mere purpose of exciting admiration and raising themselves into consequence. I believe for my part that this accusation is in general unjust as well as unfair, and that travellers seldom impose upon others except when they have been imposed upon themselves. The discredit which they have fallen into is more owing to their errors and mistakes than to wilful imposition and falsehoo
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CHAPTER XLIV. THE INDIANS AND THE WHITES COMPARED.
CHAPTER XLIV. THE INDIANS AND THE WHITES COMPARED.
If lions had painters! This proverbial saying applies with equal force to the American Indians. They have no historians among them, no books, no newspapers, no convenient means of making their grievances known to a sympathising world. Why, then, should not a white man, a Christian, who has spent among them the greatest part of his life, and was treated by them at all times with hospitality and kindness, plead their honest cause, and defend them as they would defend themselves, if they had but th
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CONCLUSION.
CONCLUSION.
I have thus finished the work which was required of me by the Historical Committee of the American Philosophical Society. On reading over the printed sheets which have been kindly sent to me from Philadelphia, as they issued from the press, I have noticed several errors, some of which may be ascribed to me, others to the transcriber of the manuscript, and very few to the printer. I regret that there are among them some mistakes in dates and names of places; they are all rectified in the errata.
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PART II. A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE REV. JOHN HECKEWELDER. OF BETHLEHEM, AND PETER S. DUPONCEAU, ESQ., CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE HISTORICAL AND LITERARY COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, RESPECTING THE Languages of the American Indians.
PART II. A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE REV. JOHN HECKEWELDER. OF BETHLEHEM, AND PETER S. DUPONCEAU, ESQ., CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE HISTORICAL AND LITERARY COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, RESPECTING THE Languages of the American Indians.
The following Correspondence between Mr. Heckewelder and Peter S. Du Ponceau, Esq., Corresponding Secretary of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, and subsequently, till his death in 1844, President of that Society, is appended as a fitting sequel to the preceding Account....
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, desirous of taking the most effectual means to promote the objects of their institution, directed their corresponding secretary to address letters in their name to such persons in the United States as had turned their attention to similar objects, and solicit their assistance. Among other well-informed individuals, the Reverend Mr. Heckewelder of Bethlehem was pointed out by the late Dr. Caspar Wistar, President of the
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CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE INDIAN LANGUAGES. LETTER I. MR. DUPONCEAU TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE INDIAN LANGUAGES. LETTER I. MR. DUPONCEAU TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelphia , 9th January, 1816. Sir. —As corresponding secretary to the Historical Committee of the American Philosophical Society, it is my duty to solicit the aid of men of learning and information, by the help of whose knowledge light may be thrown on the yet obscure history of the early times of the colonization of this country, and particularly of this State. Our much-respected President and common friend, Dr. Wistar, has often spoken to me of the great knowledge which you possess respect
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LETTER II. DR. C. WISTAR TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER II. DR. C. WISTAR TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelphia , 9th January, 1816. My Dear Sir. —Inclosed is a letter from the corresponding secretary of the Historical Committee of our Society, which will inform you of our wishes to preserve from oblivion, and to make public, all the interesting information we can procure respecting the history of our country and its original inhabitants. I believe there is no other person now living who knows so much respecting the Indians who inhabited this part of America, as you do, and there is no one wh
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LETTER III. MR. HECKEWELDER TO DR. WISTAR.
LETTER III. MR. HECKEWELDER TO DR. WISTAR.
Bethlehem , 24th March, 1816. My Dear Sir. —Last evening I was favoured with a letter from you, covering one from the corresponding secretary of the Historical Committee of the American Philosophical Society, dated 9th January, and a book, for which I return my best thanks. If an apology for not having written to you since I left Philadelphia can be admitted, it must be that of my having been engaged in all my leisure hours, in completing my narrative of the Mission, a work of which, even if it
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LETTER IV. FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.
LETTER IV. FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.
Bethlehem , 3d April, 1816. My Dear Friend. —With Captain Mann, of your city, I send David Zeisberger’s Grammar of the Language of the Lenni Lenape, (otherwise called the Delaware Indians.) As the book is not mine, but left by will, to be placed in the Library at Bethlehem, I can do no more than send it for perusal; or, if wished for, to have a copy taken from it, which, indeed, I myself would cheerfully have done for you, were it not that I must spare my weak eyes as much as possible. I believe
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LETTER V. FROM MR. DUPONCEAU TO DR. WISTAR.
LETTER V. FROM MR. DUPONCEAU TO DR. WISTAR.
Philadelphia , 14th May, 1816. Dear Sir. ash;When you write to your friend Mr. Heckewelder, I beg you will request him to answer the following questions: 1. What name did the French give to the Delaware nation? 2. I find in Zeisberger’s Vocabulary, page 11, that Gischuch means the sun . In the Grammar, I see that the Delawares divide their year by moons, and call them anixi gischuch , &c. So that gischuch signifies moon as well as sun , how is it? 3. I find in the Grammar that the pronou
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LETTER VI. FROM DR. WISTAR TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER VI. FROM DR. WISTAR TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelphia , May 21st, 1816. My dear Friend. —I am much obliged by your kind letters, which are very interesting, and will, I hope, obtain from 274 us some of the valuable information which has been left unpublished by our ingenious colleague the late Dr. Barton. The Grammar of your venerable friend, Zeisberger, is regarded by Mr. Duponceau as a treasure. He thinks the inflections of the Indian verbs so remarkable that they will attract the general attention of the literati. Inclosed is a lett
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LETTER VII. MR. HECKEWELDER TO MR. DUPONCEAU.
LETTER VII. MR. HECKEWELDER TO MR. DUPONCEAU.
Bethlehem , 27th May, 1816. Dear Sir. —I was this morning favoured with a letter from my friend Dr. Wistar, inclosing some questions which you wish me to answer. I lose no time in complying with your desire. Your first question is, “what name the French did give to the Delaware nation?” I believe the Baron de La Hontan meant them when he spoke of the Algonkins, whom he describes as a people whose language was understood by many nations or tribes. So is certainly that of the Delawares. While I wa
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DELAWARE NUMERALS.
DELAWARE NUMERALS.
Now, there can be no doubt that these two sets of numerals belong to the same language, but I am astonished at seeing the same words written so differently by a Swede and a German, when there is so little difference in the powers of the alphabetical signs of their languages. I am particularly struck with some words that are written with R by the Swede and with L by the German author. In all Zeisberger’s Grammar I have not been able to find the letter R in one single Delaware word, neither is it
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Queries.
Queries.
1. In Mr. Zeisberger’s Grammar, double consonants are frequently used, as in Pommauchsin , Lenno , Lenni Lenape . Quære : Are the two consonants fully and distinctly sounded, thus: pom-m-auchsin — Len-n-o , as in the Italian language, or is only one of the consonants heard, as if it were thus written: pomauchsin , leno . In this latter case what is the reason for using two consonants, if only one is sounded? 2. Mr. Zeisberger frequently puts a comma or apostrophe (’) before or after the letter N
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EXAMPLES.
EXAMPLES.
Ach pil, bleibe du (remain thou); a ch pi ch tique, wenn sie nicht da sind (if they are not ere); nda hh enap, wir waren gegangen (we had gone); kda hh imo, ihr gehet (you go). I am, &c. Bethlehem , 20th June, 1816. Dear Sir. —Your favors of the 10th and 13th inst. have been duly received. I shall now endeavour to answer the first. The second shall in a few days be attended to. I am glad to find that you are so much pleased with the forms of our Indian languages. You will be still more s
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INDICATIVE, PRESENT, POSITIVE.
INDICATIVE, PRESENT, POSITIVE.
Now for the personal forms in the same tense....
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SIXTH PERSONAL FORM. THEY.
SIXTH PERSONAL FORM. THEY.
In this manner verbs are conjugated through all their moods and tenses, and through all their negative, causative, and various other forms, with fewer irregularities than any other language that I know of. These conjugations, no doubt, you have found, or will find in Mr. Zeisberger’s grammar, but the few examples that I have above put together, are necessary to understand the explanation which I am about to give. The words you quote are: “ getannitowit n’quitayala ,” I fear God , or rather, acco
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LETTER XI. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XI. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
Bethlehem , 24th June, 1816. Dear Sir. —I now proceed to answer the several queries contained in your letter of the 13th inst. 1. The double consonants are used in writing the words of the Delaware language, for the sole purpose of indicating that the vowel which immediately precedes them is short, as in the German words immer , nimmer , schimmer , and the English fellow , terrible , ill , butter , &c. The consonant is not to be articulated twice. 2. The apostrophe which sometimes follow
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LETTER XII. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XII. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelp , 13th July, 1816. Dear Sir. —I have received your kind letters of the 20th and 24th ult. It is impossible to be more clear, precise, and accurate, than you are in your answers to my various questions. The information which your letters contain is of the highest interest to me, and I doubt not will prove so to the Committee, by whose orders I have engaged in this Correspondence, on a subject entirely new to me, but with which I hope in time and with your able assistance, to become bett
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LETTER XIII. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XIII. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelphia , 18th July, 1816. Dear Sir. —In your letter of the 27th of May you have said that you believed the Delaware nation were those whom the Baron La Hontan meant to designate by the name of Algonkins . In a subsequent letter, (June 20th,) you seem to consider them as distinct nations, but nearly allied to each other; you say you are not well acquainted with their language, which is not the same with that of the Lenape, though there is a considerable affinity between them. Upon the whole
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LETTER XIV. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XIV. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
Bethlehem , 22d July, 1816. Dear Sir. —I received at the same time your two letters of the 13th and 18th inst., the last by our friend Dr. Wistar. I think you are wrong to complain of the little importance attached by the learned of Europe to the study of Indian languages and of the false ideas which some of them have conceived respecting them. The truth is that sufficient pains have not been taken in this country to make them known. Our Missionaries have, indeed, compiled grammars and dictionar
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LETTER XV. FROM THE SAME.
LETTER XV. FROM THE SAME.
Bethlehem , 24th July, 1816. Dear Sir. —I have now to answer your question on the subject of the Delaware verb, n’dellauchsi , which Zeisberger translates by “I live, or move about,” or “I so live that I move about.” You ask whether this is the only verb in the language which expresses “ to live ,” and whether the Indians have an idea of life , otherwise than as connected with locomotion ? Surely they have; and I do not see that the contrary follows from Mr. Zeisberger’s having chosen this parti
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LETTER XVI. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XVI. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelphia 31st July, 1816. Dear Sir. —I have received with the geatest pleasure your two favours of the 24th and 26th inst.; the last, particularly, has opened to me a very wide field for reflection. I am pursuing with ardour the study of the Indian languages (I mean of their grammatical forms) in all the authors that I can find that have treated of the subject, and am astonished at the great similarity which I find between those different idioms from Greenland even to Chili. They all appear
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LETTER XVII. TO THE SAME.
LETTER XVII. TO THE SAME.
Philadelphia , 3d August, 1816. Dear Sir. —I now return to my proper station of a scholar asking questions of his master. In your letter of the 24th ult., you have fully satisfied me that the Indians have a great number of words derived from “ roots ,” much in the same manner as in the languages of Europe, but you have said at the same time “that the manner in which the Indians in general form their words, is different from that of the Europeans.” I am very anxious to have this manner 287 explai
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LETTER XVIII. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XVIII. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
Bethlehem 12th August, 1816. Dear Sir. —I have duly received your two letters of the 31st of July and 3d of August last. I am much pleased with your metaphysical disquisitions, as you call them, and I beg you will indulge in them with perfect freedom, whenever you shall feel so disposed. I agree with you that a proper classification of human languages would be a very desirable object; but I fear the task is too hard ever to be accomplished with the limited knowledge of man. There are, no doubt,
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LETTER XIX. FROM THE SAME.
LETTER XIX. FROM THE SAME.
Bethlehem , 15th August, 1816. Dear Sir. —I sit down to conclude my answer to your letter of the 3d inst. Before I begin this task, let me give you some examples that now occur to me to shew the regularity of the formation of Indian words. 1. The names of reptiles generally end in gook or gookses . 2. The names of fishes in meek ( Namæs , a fish.) 3. The names of other animals, have in the same manner regular terminations, ap , or ape , for walking in an erect posture; hence lenape , man; chum ,
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LETTER XX. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XX. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelphia , 21st August, 1816. Dear Sir. —I have read with the greatest pleasure your two interesting letters of the 12th and 15th. I need not tell you how pleased the Historical Committee are with your correspondence, which is laid before them from time to time. I am instructed to do all in my power to induce you to persevere in giving to your country the so much wanted information concerning the Indians and their languages. The Committee are convinced that the first duty of an American Scie
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INDICATIVE PRESENT.
INDICATIVE PRESENT.
You will find the whole verb conjugated in Zeisberger, therefore I shall not exemplify further. You see there is no singular voice in this verb, nor is it susceptible of it, as it never implies the act of a single person. In the negative form, “matta” or “atta” is an adverb which signifies “no” or “not,” and is always prefixed; but it is not that alone which indicates the negative sense of the verb. It is also pointed out by wu or wi , which you find interwoven throughout the whole conjugation,
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EXTRACT.
EXTRACT.
1. “According to my humble opinion, and limited knowledge of the Indian languages, being chiefly acquainted with the Delaware and Chippeway, of ich alone I can speak with propriety, those two idioms are of one and the same grammatical structure, and rich in forms. I am inclined to believe that Mr. Duponceau is correct in his opinion that the American languages in general resemble each other in point of grammatical construction; for I find in that of Greenland nearly the same inflections, prefixe
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LETTER XXIII. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XXIII. TO MR. HECKEWELDER.
Philadelphia , 30th August, 1816. Dear Sir. —I thank you for your two favours of the 26th and 27th inst. I am very much pleased to find from the valuable extract of Mr. Dencke’s letter, which you have had the goodness to communicate, that the Chippeways have grammatical forms similar to those of the Delawares. Indeed, as far as my researches have extended, I have found those forms in all the Indian languages from Greenland to Cape Horn. The venerable Eliot’s Grammar shews that they exist in the
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THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE DELAWARE LANGUAGE.
THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE DELAWARE LANGUAGE.
Philadelphia , 1st October, 1816 Dear Sir. —Various professional avocations have prevented me from answering sooner your kind letter of the 5th ult. I thank you for the Delaware translation of the Lord’s prayer; it does not differ much from that in Loskiel, but the English explanations which you have given add greatly to its value. The information which your letter contains on the subject of the annexation to the verb of the form or inflexion indicative of the gender, is quite new to me. Though
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SIXTH TRANSITION.
SIXTH TRANSITION.
Thus I have given myself the pleasure of transcribing this single tense of one of the moods of this beautiful verb, which I find is used also in the sense of “ as I tell thee ,” &c., and is a striking example of the astonishing powers of this part of speech in the Delaware language. Can you tell me where those powers end? Is there anything which a Delaware verb will not express in some form or other? I am no longer astonished to find that Mr. Zeisberger has not displayed in his grammar a
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LETTER XXVI. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
LETTER XXVI. FROM MR. HECKEWELDER.
Bethlehem , 10th October, 1816. Dear Sir. —I have hesitated whether I should answer your favour of the 1st inst., being very soon to set out for Philadelphia, where I shall be able to explain to you verbally everything that you wish to know in a much better manner than I can do in writing. As there are, however, but few questions in your letter, and those easily answered, I sit down to satisfy your enquiry, which will for the present close our correspondence. If you think proper to resume it aft
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