History, Manners & Customs of Indian Nations (Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States). John Heckewelder
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Nations were at war with the United States, and until the peace made with them in 1795.23
At last, being sensible of their humbled situation, and probably dreading the consequence of their former insolent conduct to the other Indian Nations, and principally the Delawares, whom they had so long and so much insulted, were they not to make some amends for all this contumely? They came forward, at the critical moment, just previous to the Treaty concluded by General Wayne, and formally declared the Delaware nation to be no longer Women, but Men.
I hope to be believed in the solemn assertion which I now make: That in all that I have written on the subject of the history and politics of the Indian Nations, I have neither been influenced by partiality for the one, or undue prejudice against the other, but having had the best opportunities of obtaining from authentic sources, such information in matters of fact, as has enabled me to make up my mind on the subject, I have taken the liberty of expressing my opinion as I have honestly formed it, leaving the reader, however, at liberty to judge and decide for himself as he may deem most proper.
I wish once more to observe, that in this history it is principally meant to shew, rather what the Indians of this country were previous to the white people’s arrival, than what they now are; for now, the two great nations, the Iroquois and the Delawares, are no longer the same people that they formerly were. The former, who, as their rivals would assert, were more like beasts than human beings, and made intrigue their only study, have, by their intercourse with the whites, become an industrious and somewhat civilised people; at least many of them are so, which is probably owing to their having been permitted to live so long, (indeed, for more than a century) in the same district of country, and while the British possessed it, under the protection of the superintendent of Indian affairs; while the latter have always been oppressed and persecuted, disturbed and driven from place to place, scarcely enjoying themselves at any place for a dozen years at a time; having constantly the lowest class of whites for their neighbours, and having no opportunity of displaying their true character and the talents that nature had bestowed upon them.
My long residence among those nations in the constant habit of unrestrained familiarity, has enabled me to know them well, and made me intimately acquainted with the manners, customs, character and disposition of those men of nature, when uncorrupted by European vices. Of these, I think I could draw a highly interesting picture, if I only possessed adequate powers of description: but the talent of writing is not to be acquired in the wilderness, among savages. I have felt it, however, to be a duty incumbent upon me to make the attempt, and I have done it in the following pages, with a rude but faithful pencil. I have spent a great part of my life among those people, and have been treated by them with uniform kindness and hospitality. I have witnessed their virtues and experienced their goodness. I owe them a debt of gratitude, which I cannot acquit better than by presenting to the world this plain unadorned picture, which I have drawn in the spirit of candour and truth. Alas! in a few years, perhaps, they will have entirely disappeared from the face of the earth, and all that will be remembered of them will be that they existed and were numbered among the barbarous tribes that once inhabited this vast continent. At least, let it not be said, that among the whole race of white Christian men, not one single individual could be found, who, rising above the cloud of prejudice with which the pride of civilisation has surrounded the original inhabitants of this land, would undertake the task of doing justice to their many excellent qualities, and raise a small frail monument to their memory.
I shall conclude with a few necessary remarks for the information of the reader.
Lenni Lenape being the national and proper name of the people we call “Delawares,” I have retained this name, or for brevity’s sake, called them simply Lenape, as they do themselves in most instances. Their name signifies “original people,” a race of human beings who are the same that they were in the beginning, unchanged and unmixed.24
These people (the Lenni Lenape) are known and called by all the western, northern, and some of the southern nations, by the name of Wapanachki, which the Europeans have corrupted into Apenaki, Openagi, Abenaquis,25 and Abenakis.26 All these names, however differently written, and improperly understood by authors, point to one and the same people, the Lenape, who are by this compound word, called “people at the rising of the Sun,” or as we would say, Eastlanders; and are acknowledged by near forty Indian tribes, whom we call nations, as being their grandfathers. All these nations, derived from the same stock, recognise each other as Wapanachki, which among them is a generic name.
The name “Delawares,” which we give to these people, is unknown in their language, and I well remember the time when they thought the whites had given it to them in derision; but they were reconciled to it, on being told that it was the name of a great white chief, Lord de la War, which had been given to them and their river. As they are fond of being named after distinguished men, they were rather pleased, considering it as a compliment.
The Mahicanni have been called by so many different names,27 that I was at a loss which to adopt, so that the reader might know what people were meant. Loskiel calls them “Mohicans,” which is nearest to their real name Mahicanni, which, of course, I have adopted.
The name “Nanticokes” I have left as generally used, though properly it should be Néntico, or after the English pronunciation Nantico.
The “Canai,” I call by their proper name. I allude here to those people we call Canais, Conois, Conoys, Canaways, Kanhawas, Canawese.
With regard to the Five, or Six Nations, I have called them by different names, such as are most common, and well understood. The Lenape (Delawares) are never heard to say “Six Nations,” and it is a rare thing to hear these people named by them otherwise than Mengwe; the Mahicanni call them Maqua, and even most white people call them Mingoes. When therefore I have said the Five or Six Nations, I have only used our own mode of speaking, not that of the Indians, who never look upon them as having been so many nations; but divisions, and tribes, who, as united, have become a nation. Thus, when the Lenape (Delawares) happen to name them as one body, the word they make use of implies “the five divisions together, or united,” as will be seen in another place of this work. I call them also Iroquois, after the French and some English writers.
The Wyandots, or Wyondots, are the same whom the French call Hurons, and sometimes Guyandots. Father Sagard, a French Missionary, who lived among them in the 17th century, and has written an account of his mission, and a kind of dictionary of their language, says their proper name is Ahouandâte, from whence it is evident that the English appellation Wyandots has been derived.
There being so many words in the language of the Lenape and their kindred tribes, the sound of which cannot well be represented according to the English pronunciation, I have in general adopted for them the German mode of spelling. The ch, particularly before a consonant, is a strong guttural, and unless an Englishman has the use of the Greek χ, he will not be able to pronounce it, as in the words Chasquem (Indian corn), Cheltol (many), Ches (a skin), Chauchschisis (an old woman), and a great many more. Sometimes, indeed, in the middle of a word substitutes may be found which may do, as in the word Nimachtak (brethren), which might be written Nemaughtok, but this will seldom answer. This is probably the reason that most of the English authors have written Indian words so incorrectly, far more so than French authors.
The Delawares have neither of the letters R, F, nor V, in their language, though they easily learn to pronounce them. They have a consonant peculiar to them and other Indians, which is a sibilant, and which we represent by W. It is produced by a soft whistling, and is not unpleasant to the ear, although it comes before a consonant. It is not much unlike the English sound wh in what, but not so round or full, and rather more whistled. W before a vowel is pronounced as in English.
Part I.
History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations, Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighbouring States