The league of the Iroquois and other legends : from the Indian muse

Front matter

PS

The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text.

Chapter I. Proem, 3

II. The Fore-World, 9

III. The Comino op Hayo-went-ha, 37

" IV. The Wondrous Deeds, 37

" V. Hayo-went-ha's Journeying, 49

" VI. SoNa of Hayo-went-ha, 59

"■ VII. Nyah-tah-wanta, 69

" VIII. The Wooing, - 83

" IX. Song op Nyah-tah-wanta, 97

" X.' The Bridal, - 105

'• XI. The After Days, 117

" XII. The Council, 185

'' XIII. Speech op Hayo-went-iia, 153

' XIV. Hayo-went-ha's Mourning, 168

XV. The League, 171

XVI. The Feast, 183

" XVII. Hayo-went-ha's Parting Words, 195

" XVIII. Hayo-went-ha's Departure, 205

" XIX. The Broken Heart, 215

" XX The Better Land, 225

Xll CONTENTS.

MISOELLAE"EOUS.

WINONA, - - 339 THE GREAT SNAKE OF CANANDAIGUA.

[A SENECA TRADITION.]

Chap. I. Origin of the Seneca Nation, . - 253

II. The Great Snake, 257

" III. The Battle, - 261

'^ IV. The Victory, - - 266

THE SHINING MANITO, ... 271

ORIGIN OF THE RED WILLOW, ... 278

THE BEAR-WIFE, ... 281

SHIN-GE-BIS, - - 288

SPEECH OF ME-TET-A, 291

THE LAST OF THE HUNTER RACE, 294

Vocabulary, =o=,oo„,.. 317

PRINCIPAL PERSONS.

PRONOUNCED

HayO- WENT-HA. (Hd yo-went-hd)

The great Mythological Hereof the Iroquois. The founder of the League.

Manabo-zho.

(Man-a b'6-zho)

The great Mythological Hero of the Algonquins.

Manito.

(Man-i-to)

Guardian Spirit.

Inigorio.

fIn-i-gd-H oj

The Good Mind.

OWAY-NEO.

(0-way-ni-o)

The Great Spirit.

OSSEO.

fOs-sd-oJ

A famous Magician.

OWENEB.

(0-we-nei)

Bride of Osseo.

Scene. Onondaga and the Lake Region of Central New York.

^sl^

J # I

OF THB

IROQUOIS.

Seen from afar the rude barbaric years Are darh with blood and rapine, wrong and crime,

Wherein alone the Savage Man appears ; Yet near beheld, from the remotest time

A human sotd dwelt in each stalwart form, And Beauty's smile a grace to Woman lent ;

Throbbed human hearts with human passions warm, Though sheltered by the vngicam's barky tent.

PROEM.

No more — alas ! why still recall What to the Past must still belong ?

No more — what other word can fall To make a fuller sorrow - song ?

No more return the days gone by; The troubled winds, with ceaseless moan,

In sough and sob, in wail and sigh, Still blend their anguish with my own.

In vain the aching breast enfolds Each scene it may no longer see.

Save that some drops of comfort holds The hallowed urn of memory.

Though vain we mourn a glory fled — The fairest forms no longer fair,

A cheerful song for loved ones dead May win us from more fell despair. 2

THE LEAGUE OF THE IROQUOIS.

I thread the forest lone. I wMt Where once your sheltering wigwams stood,

Bewailing your untimely fate, My People of the wild and wood.

No more as in the olden days Shall here your hunter -bow be bent,

Where, learned in nature's simple ways.

You dwelt in lowly life content.

fallen Braves ! forevermore Yon crystal floods that leap and toss,

Shall wail along their saddened shore, Deploring so love's olden loss.

While rolling suns shall burn and glow.

The seasons crown the waiting j^ears,

The fairest Summer's cheek shall show Some grief- betokening trace of tears.

No pilgrim wind that homeless sings But murmurs of departed braves ;

No zephyr o'er the wild that wings But lingers by forgotten graves.

Soft through the twilight's silver sheen, Methinks the glimmering stars above

Far shining in the blue serene, Bend low with pitying eyes of love. •

PBOEM.

And often to my tearful eye, When yonder orbs grow dim and pale,

Tall, painted, sable forms go by.

And on the night -winds shriek and wail.

Oh ! dusky shades do verily haunt The failing ground on which I tread ;

Or out of love's unweaning want Is born a semblance of the dead.

And once familiar voices call, Sad as the night-bird's mournful cries.

From out the hush at twilight -fall Where prone each tented roof- tree lies ;

Or where the latest watch-fire shone.

Or plume -crowned warrior lingered last ;

Where darkly rests each fading, lone Memento of a glory passed.

Mementos ? — ah ! where shall I turn For relics of the things that were ?

No fragment of life's broken urn Rests by each empty sepuleher ;

Of noblest breasts beneath the sands Is left no monumental trace ;

No grave-posts set by loving hands.

No to -terns mark their dwelling place.

THE LEAGUE OF THE IBOQUOIS.

Ye lingering few who weakly stand Where strong of old your fathers stood '

The rulers in a mighty land — Unmeasured leagues of wave and wood !

Ye proudly keep, howso bereft, Still of the bold heroic will,

Though of that realm to you are left But narrow belts of vale and hill.

Where once you bore the warrior -bow Or fleetly led the hunter -chase,

Now, fate - constrained, you reap and sow — Now toil as doth the Toiler -race.

If others plant on fairer wold.

And harvest more of golden ears,

I this recall, that they do hold The vantage of a thousand years.

Though silent, yours a soul intense ; Still is the dusky breast imbued

With slumbering fire, whose eloquence Once thrilled the forest solitude.

And when the thoughts that hold and thrall In other speech take form again,

You, standing in the council -hall.

Shall stir anew the hearts of men.

PROEM <

Thoiigli war to-day could but degrade, Has lost for you its use and place,

It was your warrior -bow that made You first among the Dusky Race.

And though our shrinking souls abhor The cruel deed, the wild excess,

The valor that is born of war Is kin to every nobleness.

It was the foe, fierce, brave and strong.

Who for your homes contending stood.

That brought the need which wrought erelong Your mighty League of Brotherhood.

And though it only lives in name, Or on the bold historic page,

keep its bright, proud hero -fame Unsullied still from age to age !

And were it better so, did they — The fore -time virtues — still remain ?

The virtues of one race and day May be another's vice and bane.

Though nevermore to warrior bold Shall time renew each glorious deed,

Still to the Bond in spirit hold, The precepts of its founder heed.

THE LEAGUE OF THE IBOQVOIS.

On Mm to whom your lofty fame You owe, still let your reverence wait;

Give honor due the noble name Of Hayo-went-ha, good and great.

Among you as in days of old May love-inspiring chieftains stand ;

Who wise the ancient lore unfold Hid in the sacred Wampum-band. °

And what the Future hath in store I would not, if I might, divine ;

Enough for you, that evermore The Past all glorious shall shine.

Wherein till Time's corroding hand Has made all valor's records dim,

The Iroquois shall proudly stand For daring deeds the synonym.

THE FOKE-WOIILD.

Vast fields unfenced save hi/ the purple round Of the high-arching heavens; the grand on-su>eep Of rivers that far stretch from zone to zone ;

Lakes ivide out-reaching the horizon's hound; Hoar mountains wonder-wrapped, suhlime and lone; Woods that in loild unbroken heautij sleep Age unto age : — a fairer world apart !

Such, Nature huilding on her larger plan.

With temples, altars, shrines surpassing Art, Was once the home of the Primeval Man.