SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONBureau of American EthnologyBulletin 149 Symposium on Local Diversity in Iroquois CultureNo. 5. The Religion of Handsome Lake : Its Origin andDevelopmentBy MERLE H. DEARDORFF 77 THE RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE: ITS ORIGIN ANDDEVELOPMENT By Merle H. Deardorff Ganioda'yoV tlie Seneca, lived at Diono'sadegi' ("there a house wasburned"),^ June 15, 1799, when he woke from a 2-hour trance to speakthe first of the "good words" which launched his career as a prophet,to his own people first, and then to the rest of the Iroquoian world.He is perhaps better known by his English name of Handsome Lake.The ensuing 16 years of his ministry were spent in the three Senecasettlements: Burnt House, Coldspring on the Allegheny above, andTonawanda near Akron, N. Y. In 1815 he went to Onondaga Castle;but he died soon after his arrival, and was buried there.Gai'wiio' ("good word; good message; gospel") is the Seneca namefor the body of Handsome Lake's separate utterances of anecdote,parable, revelation, prophecy, apocalyptic, and law laid down withdivine sanction during this period. As now recited, a history of itsorigin and some Handsome Lake biograpliical material are added.The Good Message is also the name of the religious beliefs and pra-tices of those who follow this "New Religion," as its adherents callit in English. ' Ganioda'yo', "it is a very large lake," is the title of the Federal councilor among theSeneca whose opposite number in the other moiety Is Tca'dage'onye's, of the Snipe Clan.The Ganioda'yo' title belongs to the Turtle Clan. The fact that Handsome Lake wasborn a Wolf was no bar to his holding it, since borrowing by a clan with no suitable candi-date for a vacant title is common (Fenton, 1950, p. 66).^Seneca forms in this paper are modified from Parker (1913), The Code of HandsomeLake, the Seneca Prophet, the only generally available treatment of the man and histeaching, to conform with later usage.—W. N. F., ed.The translation of the Good Message "code"' therein is from a text assembled perhaps50 years ago by Cattaraugus Seneca. Modern Good Message authorities among theSeneca criticise it as "all mixed up" and "only partly there." They do not approvealtogether of the sources from which it was assembled, saying they were largely ChristianIndians. The context of this paper will show that this comment is to be expected, sincethere are many "codes."The Parker translation is owned by many Good Message followers. At ColdspringIt serves as a trot for men preparing themselves to be "code" preachers.Other published versions of the Good Message are referred to in the context. Manynot so mentioned merely paraphrase Morgan.The Bureau of American Ethnology has three unpublished and untranslated manuscripttexts : BAE MSS. Nos. 449 and 2585 in Onondaga, and No. 3489 in Mohawk. Before thewar. Dr. Frans M. Olbrechts of Ghent had a long Onondaga text ; its whereabouts is nowunknown. 79 80 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. B. Bull. 149The Reverend William M. Beauchamp said it was "fast dying out"in his day (Beauchamp, 1907, p. 412) ; and Parker describes the griefof the Onondaga preacher, Frank Logan, over its passing (Parker,1913, p. 6). The New Religion has had its ups and downs, but it hasnot passed. The 10 Canadian and New York longhouses count atleast half the reservation Iroquoians as open followers, with no otherreligious affiliation.A good part of the rest find nothing inconsistent in attendance atboth church and longhouse. Not too many find themselves in thefix of a Mohawk Caughnawaga, with one of whom Joseph Mitchelltalked lately. He said he was sitting one night in the graveyardoutside the longhouse there, listening to Good Message followersinside, . . . singing Mohawk chants that came down from the old red-Indian time. Ithought I was all alone in the graveyard, and then who loomed up out of thedark and sat down beside me but an old high-steel man . . . He said to me, "You're not alone up here. Look over there." The bushes were full of Catholicsand Protestants who every night crept up to listen ... so I said, "The long-house music appealed to me. One of these days I might possibly join." Iasked him how he felt about it. He said he was a Catholic . . . "If I was tojoin the longhouse I'd be excommunicated, and I couldn't be buried in holyground, and I'd burn in Hell." I said to him, "Hell isn't Indian." He didn'treply. He sat there awhile—I guess he was thinking it over—and then he gotup and walked away. [Mitchell, 1949, pp. 39, 52.]The Jesuits established Caughnawaga and nearby St. Regis fortheir converts well over two centuries ago. As communities they neverhad an Indian religious tradition. When Good Message longhousesarrived within the last 25 years the sacred tobacco, the ceremonialwampum and rattles, and the rituals themselves had to be procuredfrom older establishments. Old Good Message hands (especiallyfrom New York Onondaga and Canadian Oneida, because of languageaffinities) spent years there training both people and local preachers.For the first time in history, Caughnawaga and St. Regis delegatesmade appearance with the others for the round of "Six Nationsmeetings" that starts every fall at Tonawanda, going once every otheryear to the other nine longhouses on a circuit completed once abiennium.Wliere did the Good Message get this vigor ? Why has HandsomeLake's message not gone the way of the many others brought backfrom other worlds by Indian dreamers? A few—as that of Hand-some Lake's contemporary, the Shawnee Prophet—had influence equalto his; but they lasted for a day or two and were gone. Hundredsof others must have been stillborn.Part of the answer is in the time and the place out of which thefirst "words" of the Good Message were spoken ; and the local audience No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 81to which they were addressed. Another is in the personal, accidental,and official auspices that fortified their authority, and helped spreadthem, and (to an extent acceptable at least to most Iroquoians) syn-cretize them into a body of doctrine. But most important for itsviability and its continuing healthy life is its ancestry. The GoodMessage was born of a miscegenation of Quaker with old Senecastock. Genetically the two were compatible. The hybrid was fertile,and of a disposition so generous that it made itself at home whereverit went even when it went into other Iroquoian communities withsuperficially different traits.It will be the limited purpose of this paper to examine very brieflythe background of the Good Message; to give some contemporaryaccounts of its birth and early days ; and to point to a few reasons forits growth and influence.The Burnt House of 1798—when the first Quakers arrived to es-tablish their work there—was a peculiar community. In July 1795,Pennsylvania had surveyed it and transferred it to Handsome Lake'syounger half-brother Gaiant'waka (The Cornplanter: John Abeel,O'Bail, Obale, etc.) as one of three separate tracts on the Allegheny,each of about a square mile, given this most influential of all theSeneca at the time for his services to the Commonwealth in its landnegotiations with the natives. Cornplanter got patent title to thesepieces, which meant that he held them in fee, as his private personalproperty. He sold the tract at West Hickory; and was later swin-dled out of the second tract at Oil City. This third parcel, theBurnt House, lay on the west side of Allegheny, a few milesbelow the New York-Pennsylvania line. Much Quaker help and leg-islative effort over the years have gone into keeping out the Whitepredator. Cornplanter's heirs still own and occupy it. As one goesnorth on the east side of Allegheny from Kinzua to Corydon in War-ren County, Pa., highway markers point across to Cornplanter's grave,and to the former home of Handsome Lake on what is now denomi-nated "The Cornplanter Grant" by the Whites, but still called theBurnt House by the Seneca (Deardorff, 1941).Cornplanter's unique fee title to this piece had a lot to do with thefact that in 1798 almost all the Indians on Allegheny were gatheredround him thereon. They felt safe there. Over the line in NewYork surveyors were daily expected, to start laying off what is stillthe Allegany Eeservation "agreeably to treaty of last Summer . . .to contain 42 square miles" ; and they would lay off the other "reser-vations," too, held out of the sale of Seneca title to most of westernNew York by contract between them and Kobert Morris at Big Tree,September 15, 1797. 82 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A.E. BuU. 149Now they heard that Morris was in jail ; and that he had not boughtthe land for himself, anyhow, but for some others called "the Hol-land people," They were afraid they would lose their money. Noone knew where the survey lines would fall nor what would happenwhen they fell, with these uncertainties in the picture (Pierce, Ms.1798,^ May 21-22 entries).A few lived at Long John's new settlement well up toward presentSalamanca, N. Y., where one usually turned away from the Alleghenyto go over to the other Seneca on Cattaraugus, Tonawanda, and Buf-falo Creeks. Only three or four families remained at the old largesttownsite, 9 miles above Burnt House (Sharpies, 1798, May 21 entry).Befitting his position as bearer of the biggest federal chief's nameamong the Allegheny Seneca, Handsome Lake's mark stood third onthe list of 52 Big Tree contract signers. It was he who noted thatthe square mile about the old Cuba, N. Y., oil spring, which theIndians had intended to keep, had not been included in the contractlist of reservation ; and to him Morris gave the separate paper underwhich over a half century later the Seneca were able to maintain theirtitle to it (Donaldson, 1892, p. 28).At this treaty the Seneca accepted at last the consequences of theirwrong guess when they joined the British side in the Revolution.The Genesee-Allegheny half of the Seneca had opposed takingsides at all. Such old chiefs as Kiasutha (Hodge, 1907, p. 682)remembered well what had happened in the I750's when they hadbeen caught in the middle between warring French and British ; thenthey had guessed wrong. Later these western Seneca had held outagainst Sir William Johnson's persuasions. In their Genesee-Allegheny valleys they had maintained a sanctuary for dispossessedIndians of diverse origins and kinds, from all quarters. Manyof these alien Indians had remained among their hosts to be easilyassimilated in the Iroquoian way. Few Whites were voluntarily ad-mitted to this refuge. The exceptions were some officials ; adoptive In-dians, as Moravian David Zeisberger in 1767 ; and those traders, suchas John Abeel (the Albany Dutchman who fathered Cornplanter) , who were themselves Indian in almost all but blood.The eastern Seneca, about Seneca Lake, had no such background.For a long time they had been much dependent on the favors dis-pensed by Johnson, and by his Mohawk agent, Joseph Brant. WhenSir William died (1774) his nephew, Guy, and his son. Sir John,inherited his influence if not his abilities.It was natural, then, that when the Johnsons called the Six Nationsto a great council at Oswego in July 1777, to meet St. Leger and his ' A list of the manuscripts consulted in the preparation of this paper is appended to thebibliography. No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 83army, which had come over from Canada, the response of the easternSeneca should be prompt. Brant urged all to sign up with theBritish. Mohawk, Cayuga, and the eastern Seneca were ready toaccept. But the Genesee-Allegheny contingent held out. They hadmet the Americans several times at Fort Pitt; they had listened totheir official solicitation to neutrality, and they considered it sensible.At Oswego, Cornplanter and Handsome Lake argued this position;but they were overborne. Characteristically, once the issue had beendecided by the council, all acquiesced. Cornplanter (accompanied byhis young assistant. Governor Blacksnake) and Handsome Lake wentwith the others against the American fort at Rome, N. Y., and contin-ued service with the British, Cornplanter, Brant, and old Sayenquer-aghta of the eastern Seneca (Hodge, 1910, p. 482) were the warleaders, elected by the Indians and commissioned "captains'' by theBritish. Handsome Lake, fought as a "common warrior." Only theOneida and some of the Tuscarora remained to the Americans, duelargely to the influence of their missionary, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland(Seaver, 1918, pp. 65-67; Blacksnake, MS., 1845-46, pp. 16-32; Black-snake, MS., 1850, pp. 28 ff ; Ketchum, 1864, vol. 2, pp. 421-422).The year 1779 was a bad one for the Seneca. Sullivan's expeditionto the Genesee displaced the entire Indian population of western NewYork toward British Fort Niagara. Brodhead's independent forayfrom Fort Pitt up the Allegheny burned the flats between Kinzua andCorydon, including the main town—which even before this event wascalled Burnt House. The numerous good houses and the 500 acresof fine corn at which Brodhead marveled argue population well inexcess of 1,000 (Fenton, 1945, pp. 89-93).Handsome Lake and Cornplanter, of the Wolf Clan, were nativesof the Seneca town near Avon, N. Y., to which Governor Blacksnake(also a Wolf) was brought by his mother when he was 2. In theface of invasion their families retired to Tonawanda. About 1780they all moved down to the Allegheny, to establish themselves perma-nently (Fenton, 1945, pp. 94-196; Blacksnake, MS., 1850, p. 78).To Cornplanter from Kiasutha, his old uncle, at once fell activeleadership of the local Indians. In the difficult spot where the pro-British Iroquois found themselves after the Revolution, Cornplanterat first became spokesman only for the Genessee-Allegheny Seneca.What the new United States needed was a strong native character tohead what it hoped to convert into a pro-American Indian party tooppose the pro-British faction under Brant, whose influence wasparamount among the Mohawk and the western Indians. It wasnatural that Cornplanter, as leader of the powerful Seneca elementwhich had a long tradition of action independent of the League,should be selected for the purpose ; and that he should lend himself to 84 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. B. Bull. 149 elevation by the Americans into their spokesman and favor-dispenserto the aborigines. He was always opposed, when it seemed safe, bythose of the eastern Seneca who had not gone off with Brant toCanada. The latter had their headquarters for the most part atBuffalo Creek, where Farmers Brother and Young King were theirleading figures. This element was to oppose Handsome Lake asprophet, too.During this period we hear little of Handsome Lake and much ofCornplanter. Not until Jay's Treaty settled the status of Britishoccupation along the Great Lakes, and Wayne settled the Indiansthemselves at Fallen Timbers, Ohio, in 1794, did the Indians knowwhich side would prevail. Cornplanter was constantly on the go—tothe western Indians to attempt pacification ; to Buffalo Creek to arguewith his own people ; and to New York, Albany, and Philadelphia toconsult with American officials. State and Federal.He was made much of on those city visits. He spoke no English;but he talked war and politics long with Knox, Pickering, and "Wash-ington, and he discoursed on religion and education with the numer-ous Whites who were solicitous to help his people. During his longstay in Philadelphia in the winter of 1790, he attended Quaker meet-ings with some regularity ; and he was so responsive to Rev. SamuelKirkland and the Moravian Ettwein that they considered him as goodas converted (Kirkland, MS., letter December 20, 1790; Hamilton,1940, pp. 93, 126).In February 1791 he addressed to the Quakers a request that theybring down for education his oldest son, Henry, and two other boys,to which they agreed.* The project was temporarily delayed when,on his return home, Cornplanter found that the Americans had senthim a teacher in the person of Capt. Waterman Baldwin, who hadbeen Cornplanter's prisoner during the Revolution. Baldwin cameout with Proctor « in March 1791 (Proctor, 1876, pp. 557 ff.). Hebrought horses, a plow, and a Bible. Ostensibly he was sent to helpthe Indians learn farming, reading, and writing. Actually he was aspy for the Americans, as were all of his kind at the time (Baldwin,MS., 1791).The Friends met Cornplanter again during treaty proceedings atCanandaigua in 1794; and their interest revived. On January 5, * Friends Historical Association, Philadelphia, has the original of Cornplanter's letter ofFebruary 10, 1791. It and the Friends' reply thereto of June 2, 1791, are printed inthe Bulletin of the Friends Historical Association, vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 86-87, 1936. Fur-ther MS. correspondence in the matter is In the Friends Archives, 3d and Arch Sts.,Philadelphia. • A facsimile of Thomas Proctor's autograph in the Pennsylvania Magazine of Historyand Biography (vol. 4, Philadelphia, 1880) clearly spells his name "Procter." In citing hisv/orks, however, it has seemed best to adhere to the spelling used in them, i. e., "Proctor." — M. H. D. No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 851796, they issued a circular letter, asking what Indians might liketheir services. The Oneida and Cornplanter were among the firstto reply. Quaker work at Oneida was started in 1796 and continuedto 1799 (Anon., 1805, pp. 5-11) . By 1798 Quaker interest had shiftedto the Allegheny Seneca.During the 3 years of relative quiet between 1795 and 1798 follow-ing the Canandaigua treaty, contacts between these Indians and theWhites were common. Cornplanter had a sawmill above his town,and a "Dutchman" to run it for him. This was the first mill on theupper Allegheny. Its boards went to the Army at Franklin andPittsburgh; and into the Holland Company's storehouse at Warren(1796).Civilization was touching Burnt House but it was still very muchan Indian town when the five Quakers arrived May 17, 1798. JoshuaSharpies and John Pierce, older men, accompanied the younger HenrySimmons, Jr., Halliday Jackson, and Joel Swayne to settle them inthe work. Sharpies and Pierce kept detailed accounts of what theysaw. All on the same day Pierce could report for civilization'sscore "3 horses, 14 horned cattle, 1 yoke oxen, 12 hogs—all privateproperty" ; but, next door, a "curious scene"—really an exercise of thelocal chapter of the False-face Co. (Parker, 1913, pp. 127-128)— a score for the "old Indian" side. Pierce and Sharpies tried to findout what was going on. But Henry O'Bail, now home from schoolcomplete with the white man's education and bad habits, evaded theirquestions (Pierce, MS. 1798, May 29 entry).The Quakers estimated the population at 400 living in about 30houses, of which Cornplanter's, where they were lodged, was much thelargest (Sharpies, MS. 1798, May 23, 30 entries). His residence wasreally two houses, about 10 feet apart, each 16 feet wide ; one about 30feet long and the other 24. It was roofed with bark; and made ofround poles set close together "but not churked or plastered." Thespace between the two sides served for entry (Sharpies, MS. 1798,May 23 entry).This was at once the home of Cornplanter's family (includingHandsome Lake), the community guest house, and ceremonial cen-ter—the longhouse. Out front stood the "huge block of wood formedinto the similitude of a man, and artfully painted ; embellished withskins, handkerchiefs, fine ribands, and feathers of a variety of col-ours" around which the community danced on festival occasions(Jackson, 1830 a, p. 24) . Brodhead had overturned a like image at thesame place in 1779 ; and Proctor, on his way out to see Cornplanterin 1791, had passed through the Genesee town of Caneadea where hesaw another (Proctor, 1876, p. 565). 86 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 140Burnt House women worked its 60 acres of cleared land in the oldway, while the men passed their days in shooting arrows, pitchingquoits, jumping, etc., and their nights in talk. Little game came inat this time of year. The two daily meals of bread or dumplingscooked in bear's oil were frugal, indeed; and Pierce and Sharpieswere not loath to leave it all June 7.Before Pierce and Sharpies left, they had arranged that Swayneand Jackson should settle about 9 miles upstream at the site of theold town, deliberately off Cornplanter's personal property. Here theywere to build a house and a barn for themselves, and establish an agri-culture demonstration center for the Indians. They had early ob-served that an Indian man might be induced to labor if no other In-dian man were around to see him. Henry Simmons, better equippedby reason of a year (1796-97) at Oneida, was to live with Cornplanterat Burnt House to teach the children to read and write.The diaries, correspondence, and reports of these resident Quakermissionaries, their long line of successors in the same posts, and of thedelegations from the Friends' Indian Committee, who visited themoften until very recent years, afford a continuous and unmatched rec-ord of the single Indian community over a period of more than acentury.What follows is, unless otherwise noted, summarized or extractedfrom the diary of Henry Simmons for the period February 3 to No-vember 7, 1799.Simmons had got his school started in Cornplanter's home ; but itdidn't do well. On bad days he might have 30 pupils ; on good days,none. The one activity that persisted and which caused him oftenestto "apply my Heart with fervent breathings to the Lord for his aidand support" was what went on every winter night, when the menmet at Cornplanter's house. Through Henry, Cornplanter's son, theyquizzed Simmons about white men's beliefs and customs.The subject might be "how the World and things therein werecreated first." Simmons' answer to this, as to most others, was discre-tion itself. He was not there to proselyte. He said "it was a hardQuestion." It and many others were answered in a Book which whitemen had ; and he told them what the Book said. He anticipated theirdoubts as to how white men knew that the Book was true by sayinghe knew it because,the great Spirit pleased to make them [i. e., its truths] manifest in the secret ofmy heart . . . and told them it was the only way I had to know when I wasdoing right or wrong, by strictly attending to the great Spirit in my heart, andasked them if this was not the case, when they thought of doing something whichthey ought not to do, whether they did not feel something pricking at theirHearts, and telling them not to do so. Several of the Chiefs, Cornplanter for one,confessed it was the very truth. I told them it was the great Spirit that thus No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 87pricked, and tells us not to do so, and it is the Devil that urges us to do it . . .Cornplanter informed me that when a young Man, he was a great Hunter, andoften thought of the great Spirit, who made the wild beasts and all things, and tobe sure he had always very good luck he said ... I told him that was theonly way to receive a blessing, by thinking of, and returning thanks to the greatSpirit, even the Farmers were then blest with better Crops of Grain. [Simmons,MS., 1799, Feb. 3 entry.]Simmons seized these chances to urge them to learn to read so theymight find out these things for themselves. Some agreed there wassome sense in this ; but many were inclined to credit the reports fromBuffalo Creek that a little girl up there had dreamed the Devil wasin all white people, including the Quakers ; and that it was not rightfor their children to go to school.Typical questions asked him were : Is it right for Indians and Whitesto marry ? Do both go to the same places when they die ? Do all speakone language there? His answers were not evasive, for a Quaker; buthe was not dogmatic.® • Indians raised questions such as these early in their contact with Whites. They wereasked in October 1767, of Moravian David Zeisberger when he came down the Alleghenyfor a first short visit to the three Munsee settlements about West Hickory, Forest County,Pa., called collectively Goschgoschiink. Goschgoschiink was about 50 miles below theBurnt House site, and under jurisdiction of the up-river Seneca. It had been settled inthe spring of 1765 by Indians emigrant "from Wihilusing on the Susquehannah as wellas from Assininnissink and Passikachkunk on the Tlaoga" (Hulbert and Schwarze, eds.,1912, pp. 14, 15, 20, 22).With Zeisberger was Papunhank, who had been chief at Wyalusing before his Moravianbaptism June 26, 1763. As early as 1752 he had come under Quaker influence. In 1758he removed his adherents to Wyalusing and established there a town that was in manyways like the Allegheny Seneca settlements of 1800—10 under Quaker-Handsome Lakeinfluence. John Hays and Christian Frederick Post visited Wyalusing in May and June1760. Post described at some length the good houses and the sober, industrious people : "their religion chiefly consists in strictly adhering to the ancient customs and manner oftheir forefathers" (Post, MS. 1760, May 19 entry) ; but they listened eagerly to what theMoravians and Quaker John Woolman had to tell about the Creator and the Hereafter,even if they would receive no further Instruction from white people. The Pennsylvaniaauthorities (1760) distinguished the Wyalusing people as "the Quaker or religious Indiana"(Pa. Arch., 1853, 1st ser., vol. 3, p. 743).Zeisberger returned to stay at Goschgoschiink from May 1768 to April 1770. The local"preacher," Wangomen, was a Munsee from Assininnissink who had heard Zeisberger preachat Wyalusing in 1763. He was one of a class of native preachers whoso emergence about1750 De Schweinitz, the biographer of Zeisberger, attributed to Moravian influence(Schweinitz, 1871, p. 265). Zeisberger, who had long experience with them and whothoroughly disapproved of their teachings and practice, thought otherwise. He says, "allthese preachers trace the beginning of their efforts to the Quakers, claiming that thesehad told them they were on the right way and that they should continue therein" (Hulbertand Schwarze, eds., 1912, p. 52).These Munsee and their descendants remained about West Hickory and on the Alleghenyabove, always in close association with the Seneca, until the last of them were resettledamong the Cattaraugus Seneca in 1791 (Proctor, 1876, pp. 580, 594). Some moved onto Munceytown, Canada, with the Oneida ; those who remained have merged with theSeneca. The presence of these Quaker- and Moravian-influenced Indians on the Alleghenymust be considered an important, if undefined, part of the background for Handsome Lake.Especially among the "church Senecas," Handsome Lake is accounted for by referringhis inspiration to the Bible, via either Henry O'Bail, Cornplanter's oldest (and educated)son, or a white-haired man who lived in a house in the hills back of West Hickory. Theysay that Handsome Lake used to take off by himself in a canoe, down the river, to be gonefor weeks at a time. Some curious followed him on one such trip. He landed near WestHickory and went off up the mountain to a cabin. The spies saw him sitting at a table 88 SYMPOSroM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149Other problems were not so easily disposed of, however. For in-stance, toward the end of February he once again found the Corn-planter menage in uproar with tremendous preparations for a feastand a dance going forward. Once again he had to turn the scholarsloose. To let off steam he went out in the woods and chopped downa tree. But his gage was still registering high when he got back tothe house, where the dance was in boisterous progress. He foundCornplanter, Henry O'Bail, and some of the family sitting in anapartment by themselves; and Simmons let go at the old man withalmost un-Friendly violence for allowing such things to go on in hishouse. Cornplanter said "he could not say much about it, at thepresent; but would converse on the subject the next day" (Simmons,MS., 1799, Feb. 27 entry).Next day there was a big council. At its conclusion Cornplanterinformed Simmons that "they had concluded (although they did notall see alike) to quit such Dancing Frolicks, for some of them thoughtit must be wicked, because they had learned it of white people, aswell as that of drinking Rum or Wliiskey and getting drunk, whichthey knew was evil, but they had a Hussleing kind of play and dancetoo twice a year of their own production originally, which theythought to continue in the practice of."Worst of all were the community drunks which occurred whenthe men got home from Pittsburgh, where they took the winter'sfurs. That of 1799 started about the middle of May. It lasted forseveral weeks. Some died from fighting and exposure. When theliquor was gone and remorse had set in, Simmons sent up river forSwayne and Jackson, and asked Cornplanter to call the council. Thethree Quakers attended, and sternly admonished the Indians. Afterthe usual interval, Cornplanter spoke for all when he acknowledgedthe great fault to be their own; that they had taken "a resolutionnot to suffer any more whiskey to be amongst them to sell, and hadthen chosen two young men as petty chiefs, to have some oversightof their people in the promotion of good among them" (Simmons,MS., 1799, May 26 entry) . Simmons witnessed the Worship Dances around the "wooden image,or God"; and "a great feast, after their ancient custom, by way ofremembrance of their dead . . . the present one being made on ac-count of the old Chief's daughter who had been dead upwards of4 months." He witnessed, too, the killing of a witch with knives. on which lay a book from which an old man in a black coat read to him. The book, theysay, was the Bible. They have no name for the old man. All the evidence indicates thatHandsome Lake did not live on the Allegheny until long after Zeisberger's day there, andthat no other white preacher was resident on the upper river until the Quakers came in1798. It is possible that a vague recollection of Zeisberger is incorporated In this "originlegend" for Handsome Lake's teaching. No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 89done by three men at the command of the Old Chief. "Howeverworthy of death she might have been I know not, but I took her to bea bad woman" (Simmons, MS., 1799, Jmie 13 entry) . The local dreaming seemed to reflect something of Simmons' in-fluence. For instance, a young man told a dream he had when outhunting. He thought an Indian struck him with a knife, and hethought he must die. Soon he found himself on an upward path,where were tracks of many people. At length he came to a houseinside of which "he beheld the beautifulest Man sitting there thatever he saw in his life." He could not accept the invitation to sitdown; but passed out a door opposite the one he came in. Aftersome further travel he came to another building with an uncommonlarge door, "in which a man met him, who looked very dismal, hisMouth appeared to move in different shapes." Here he saw a lot ofdrunken, noisy Indians, some of whom he recognized as having beendead several years. "Amongst them was one very old white-headedwoman, whom they told him was dying, and when she went, the Worldwould go too." Their "ofRcinator," the man who had met him, of-fered him some stuff to drink, "like melted pewter, which he toldhim he could not take, but he insisted he should, by telling him hecould drink Whiskey and get drunk, and that was no worse to takethan it, he then took it, which he thought burnt him very much."He saw people being punished for their earthly wrongs. He washimself charged with wife beating. At the end, though, he was toldthat if he forsook all evil practices which he had been guilty of, heshould have a Home in the first house which he entered. He wokeup crying. Now "he confessed in the Council that he had been guiltyof all these actions above mentioned," and said he intended to dobetter.Simmons said he thought this dream was true ; that the old grey-headed woman was the Mother of Wickedness. When she was deadthe Worldly Spirit would go too. Cornplanter remarked that eventhe Devil would die if all tried to do good (Simmons, MS., 1799, Feb.27 entry).It is important to note that many of the reforms usually ascribedto Handsome Lake himself had actually been instituted in his owncommunity before June 15, 1799, the date of his first visions. Thecommunity had decided there should be no more whiskey at Corn-planter's town ; had appointed two young chiefs to see to it that thisresolution was enforced and to have general supervision over localmorals. It had been determined that all of their miscellaneous festi-vals and dances should go, as being merely invitations to riot, andtaken from the Whites, anyhow, together with their whiskey; butthat the Worship Dances should be kept, since they were native and 90 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149always had been religious. Witch killing was approved; confessionpracticed.Questions about theology and morals had been referred to Simmons,and answered in the Quaker way: Look inside. You have a Lightin there that will show you what is good and what is bad. Wlienyou know you have done wrong, repent and resolve to do better.Outward forms and books and guides are good; but they are madeby men. The Great Spirit himself puts the Inner Light in everyman. Look to it. Learn to read and write so that you may discoverfor yourself whether or not the white man's Book is true. Learnto distinguish good from evil so that you may avoid the pricks ofconscience in this world and prosper; and that you may avoid pun-ishment in the next.Local Indians before Handsome Lake had gone to the other worldin their dreams and returned with a conviction of sin that was relievedby repentance and resolution to reform. Dreaming such as this couldbe matched in many times and places, among many Indians. Theimportant point here is that Simmons could unreservedly approveof it, and pronounce it true, with no quibbling over its theologicalimplications. No one but a Quaker could have done so at the time.During all this, Handsome Lake had lain in the house of Corn-planter, a very sick man. A dissolute life had worn him out.Sixth Month, 15th. The Cornplanter being from home about three-fourthsof a mile, where he had men employed to build him a house ... an expresscame to him that his Brother or Step Brother was dying (who had been onthe decline of life for several years) he straightway went, and found a numberof his people convened and his Brother laying breathless for the space of halfan hour, but in about 2 hours after he came to himself again, and informedhis Brother how he was and what he had seen, which was thus, as he lay orsat in the house, he heard somebody call to him out of the house, he immediatelyarose and went out, his daughter seeing him asked where he was going he toldher he would soon be back, and as he stood without, he saw three men by theside of the house, he then fainted and fell gently to the ground without beingany sick, and the men had bushes in their hands with berries on them, ofdifferent kinds, who invited him to take some and eat, and they would helphim, and that he would live to see such like berries ripe this summer he thoughthe took one berry off each man's bush. They told him the great Spirit was muchdispleased with his people getting drunk, but as he had been sick a great while, hehad thought more upon the great Spirit, and was preserved from drinking strongdrink to excess, and if he got well he must not take to it again for the great Spiritknew (not only what people were always doing) but also their very thoughts, andthat there was some very bad ones among them, who would poison others, butone of them was lately killed, yet there still remained one like her who was aman. He requested his brother to call his people in council, and tell them whathe had said to him, and if they had any dried berries amongst them, he wished allin the Council might take it if it was but one apiece, which was done accordinglythe same day, where myself and companion (Viz) Joel Swayn, attended, at therequest of Cornplanter when a large number of them assembled with shorter No. 5] REUGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 91 notice than ever I had seen them before. [All seemed moved, includingSimmons.]Note.—The three persons aforesaid told him there was four of them, but onedid not come, expecting to come to see him [some] time hence. And he oftentold his Brother Cornplanter, he expected that person would soon come. As hecontinued in a poor state of health for many weeks after. One night he dreamtthe absent person came (who appeared like the great Spirit) and asked him ifhe did not remember the three men who came to him some time before, and toldhim there were four of them altogether, but one of them stayed behind and in-tended to come some time after, and he was the very one, now come to take himalong if he was willing to go as he pitied him seeing he had suffered very much ; He did not give him any answer . . . but in the morning when he awoke he saidhe would go and put on his best clothes, then wished to see his Brother, and wasafraid he should not get to see him before he would be gone, as he was some dis-tance off, a messenger went immediately to inform his Brother thereof, who whenhe came, attended pretty steadily with him through the course of the day, andabout evening he fainted away, which held him but for a short space of time, afterrecovering he told his Brother not to put any more clothes on him, or move him,if he did go. Soon after he said he was now going, and he expected to return,but thought he should go as far as to see his Son who had been dead severalyears, and his Brother's Daughter who had been dead about 7 months.He then fainted or fell into a trance in which posture he remained 7 hours, hislegs and arms were cold, his body warm but breathless, he knew not how hewent out of the world, but soon perceived a guide going before him, who appearedto have a bow and one arrow, and was dressed in a clear sky colour. His guidetold him to look forward. When he did, behold the two deceased ones beforenoted, were coming to meet him, dressed in the manner of his guide, and afterembracing each other, they turned aside to sit down to converse together whereinthe daughter expressed her sorrow, in frequent hearing her father (viz) Corn-planter and brother Henry disputing together some time so high as to get veryangry at each other, her brother thinking he knew more than his father , . .The young man then addressed his father in this way, being much concernedthat he had suffered so much and that his own son then living had taken solittle care of him, but would go out of the way when his father grew worse forfear of having some trouble . . . Guide said every Son ought to do good for theirfather. [Simmons, MS.]The guide then told Handsome Lake that they had one fault to findwith him, his drinking. He must do it no more and "he must quit allkinds of frolicks and dancing, except their Worship Dance, for thatwas right, as they did not make any use of liquor at the time, etc."The guide told him the great Spirit made liquor to use, not to abuse.Those who got drunk need not expect to come to "that happy place."He was told to look round toward the river. There,he saw many canoes loaded with kegs of whiskey, and also saw an ugly fellowwhom the guide told him was the D. C. going about very busy doing and makingall the noise and mischief he could amongst the people. Guide told him theyoften dreamt, and some times their dreams were true from the great Spirit ; butthey would not believe it was from him, but from the Devil, and when the D. C.have told them something, they have concluded it was the great Spirit, and thatpleases the D. C. he being thought the greatest and most honored, having themost people on his side.905645—51 7 92 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. BuU. 149Further told him that white people were come into their towns to instructtheir children, and that is right if they can all agree to it, but many of them arenot willing, but will keep to their old habits of living, well that may be righttoo" [but they must not drink whiskey].[Guide expressed sorrow that a great sickness was about to smite their villageunless they mended their ways and thought more on the great Spirit.] Hispeople must collect together in worship, and cook a white dog and every one eatthereof, as a preventative against the sickness. [Simmons, MS.]The guide then told him to return ; he would not see them any moreuntil he died, and perhaps not then, unless he did right as long ashe lived.After Cornplanter heard all this he called a council, and sent forSimmons. They asked the Quaker what he thought of it. "Itold them there had been instances of the same kind amongst whitepeople even of the Quakers, falling into a trance, and saw both thegood place, and bad place, and saw many wonderful sights which Idid believe." Henry said he didn't see why the same could not betrue among them, since they and the Quakers were of one flesh andblood. He warned, though, that Handsome Lake may not havereported exactly.The same day they prepared the White Dog Feast, of which allpartook.Next day Simmons found Handsome Lake much improved. Hewas told that the Indians liked some of the white people's ways verywell, and some Indian ways very well. It would take some time tolead the Indians out of their set ways. Meanwhile, they would keepmany of their old things, as their Worship Dances, as the only waythey had of worshiping the great Spirit. He remarked that thewhite people had killed their own Saviour. Simmons was astonishedat this : "how he had heard about our Saviour I know not" ; and hewas human enough to retort that it was the Jews that had killed theSaviour and "neither did I know but what the Indians were theirdescendants."The long passage beginning with the word "Note," is inserted inthe diary between that for June 15 and that for August 11, as ofwhich date preparation began for the forthcoming Green Corn Feast,which is their fall Worship Dance. This festival started August 28.Nearly 200 danced around "their wooden image, which had a whitedog hanging on it, with some wampums, ribands, and paint abouthim." Two men at his feet beat the time with turtle rattles. Sim-mons describes, without naming it, the Great Feather Dance, theCreator's own dance. The festival closed with "A Husleing or Lot-tery play," the Great Bowl Game.When, soon after, Simmons left for home, Halliday Jackson'sdiary takes over. Jackson remarks on March 1, 1800, that the In- No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 93dians generally had collected at Cornplanter's Town to perform theiryearly sacrifice. So zealous were they to have everyone get therethat they hauled lame people 13 or 14 miles on deerskins. Jacksonwent down at the Indians' request to write down some visions of Corn-planter's brother. Jackson himself left June 17 (Jackson, MS., 1800) . His "Manners and Customs of the Seneca Nation of Indians, in theyear 1800" is the best summary we have of the situation at Corn-planter's Town. He mentions Handsome Lake's name once in thisaccount.We may take it that the culture which Jackson describes is whathe and his friends found in 1798. He says the Indians believe in oneall-wise being they call How-wa-neeo ; an evil spirit, Nish-she-o-nee ; and a place of happiness for the good. He mentions no equivalentof Hell. Twice a year preliminary to their Worship Dances an ex-amination of men, women, and children takes place, "whether theyhave committed any offenses or evil acts. Of these it is often thecase that the offender makes confession, the design of which is, thatall wrong things may be done away and reconciliation take place . . .and a promise on the part of the aggressor to try to do better for thefuture; which done, the council then assembled forgive them." Hedescribes "the Harvest Dance" and the Personal Chant, "the thank-ing or cheer songs." These two, with the Great Feather Danceand Bowl Game, constitute the Four Sacred Ceremonies of the GoodMessage. It is notable that all four were associated originally withthe two sober Worship Dances, rather than with their "frequent ban-quets, in which they regale themselves with strong liquors, andpass whole nights in singing, dancing, and music" (Jackson, 1830 a,pp. 23-31).In his "Civilization of the Indian Natives," however, Jackson givesan account of the activities of Handsome Lake for the years 1800-1802(Jackson, 1830 b, pp. 42-45) . He had acquired considerable influenceover the nation. In his zeal against witchcraft he had accused someof the Munsee at Cattaraugus of responsibility for illness in Corn-planter's family, which brought on a quarrel between them and theSeneca which was, however, peacefully adjusted. He was advisingagainst schools for the children. The Indians might farm a little,and build houses; but they must not sell anything they raised, butgive it away to one another ... in short, enjoy all things in common.Some of the younger men were dissatisfied; but his stock was gen-erally high. In "Account of a visit made by Penrose Wiley, JohnLetchworth, Anne Mifflin, Mary Bell & Company to the Seneca In-dians, settled on Allegany River, 10 mo. 1803," ^ Cornplanter re- ^ MSS. of Mary Gilbert in Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York. 94 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149sponded to the usual Quaker admonitions by saying that it was thefirst time any women had come to see them. What they had said "agrees with what our Prophet has told us, therefore, it must betrue. He has told us that we should live in peace and goodwill, andthat if we drank whiskey we should never go to Heaven." Corn-planter's sister confirmed the fact that these Indians had left offdrinking whiskey "this four years; and are resolved to drink it nomore."From their first meeting the Quakers had urged on Cornplanterthe necessity for teaching his people to farm with the plow, and tokeep domestic animals. Game was growing scarce; and would getscarcer. Cornplanter agreed to this, and solicited their help for theinstruction. This was a main object of the Quaker mission to histown. The Iroquois were farmers by inheritance; but the plow re-quired manpower where the hoe had been the women's implement.It was part of their fixed belief that the bond between women andthe crops was so close that only women could make them grow. BeforeHandsome Lake's advent as prophet, the council had agreed (1799)to see what the men could do with the plow. They experimentedcautiously in the spring of 1801. "Several parts of a large field wereploughed, and the intermediate spaces prepared by women with thehoe, according to former custom. It was all planted with corn ; andthe parts ploughed . . . produced much the heaviest crop." Cattlestocks increased beyond the feed supply. Fields and pastures werefenced; good houses, with shingle instead of bark roofs, were built.Visiting Friends were justifiably delighted with the progress they saw(Jackson, 1830 b, pp. 40-46).When the Indians went down to Pittsburgh twice a year with furs,moccasins, deer hams, bearskins, and tallow, they returned with cloth-ing and provisions, instead of whiskey. The Pittsburgh merchantstook to keeping jugs of sugar-water on their counters for the custo-mary "treat," since the Seneca refused whiskey (Wrenshall diary,MS., 1803).In early 1802 Handsome Lake, with Seneca and Onondaga associates,came home from Washington bearing letters expressing President Jef-ferson's approval of the Prophet and his teachings. Jefferson advisedthe Indians "to open your ears to the council of Handsome Lake, tolisten to his advice and to be governed by his precepts." He consentedto Handsome Lake's appointment of Charles Obeal (Cornplanter'sson) and Strong as the two j'oung men the "four angels" had told theProphet to select to care for his "business." Jefferson took pains tosend Cornplanter assurance of his continued confidence.Joseph Elkinton, the resident Quaker at Tunesassa, found theoriginals of these letters cherished in the possession of Governor Black- No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 95 snake at Allegany, and copied them in his journal for June 20, 1827.The Indians regarded them (and they still do) as the Government'sendorsement of Handsome Lake and his teachings. The letters wereof the greatest importance in establishing Handsome Lake as aProphet, and putting him beyond effective reach of the faction thatopposed both him and Cornplanter. The opposition came mostlyfrom the Buffalo Creek quarter, but loud echoes reached Burnt House,too. The objection was not so much to Handsome Lake as to theQuaker influence over him, which was growing. These officialendorsements elevated him to a position above even that of Corn-planter, up to then about the only Seneca able to command suchcredentials.Cornplanter was an Indian. As such he understood the Indian,Handsome Lake. He could and did value the good he was doing ; andthere is no evidence of an open break between them. But Cornplanterdid not go along with his brother's zeal against witches and schooling.These and other factional divisions at Burnt House resulted in agradual exodus starting about 1803, and led to the eventual repopula-tion of the Allegheny higher up. In 1803 the Quakers consulted withCornplanter and his council about establishing a new and much largerfarm on a Tunesassa Creek tract, east of the river and outside of theAllegany Reservation line, where they planned to erect mills and aboarding school. Their project was approved.* Coldspring, notfar from Tunesassa but west of the river, became the new Indiancenter with a new council house, which Jackson describes as of Septem-ber 15, 1806 (Jackson, MS., 1806).Handsome Lake's influence was dominant at Coldspring, thoughhe was still resident at Burnt House in 1809. During the summer of1806 he visited some of the Seneca towns on the Genesee "to dissuadethem from the use of strong drink, and to encourage them in habitsWork on the Tunesassa project started in 1803. The large building which housed theboarding school was torn down a few years ago and most of the farm sold. Extensionof public-school facilities to Allegany Reservation seemed to make these phases of thework, in which so many Indians had received elementary and vocational training, no longernecessary.The long line of resident Quakers who worked out here their "calls to service" spentmuch time in the early days assembling and copying down all matter they could findlating to relations between the Friends and the Indians ; and, especially, to these localIndians.The bound volumes which contained thousands of pages of this valuable material wereremoved when the building was wrecked. Many had previously been copied by the Penn-sylvania Historical Project, WPA, and are at the Pennsylvania Historical and MuseumCommission, Harrisburg. The originals are in the Department of Records of the YearlyMeeting of the Religious Society of Friends of Philadelphia and Vicinity under theRepresentative Meeting, 302 Arch Street, Philadelphia. There are several sets of hand-copied "Indian Records" there : one set of 10 volumes ; another of 5 ; and one entitled"Indian Records" but subtitled "Joseph Elkinton's Journal." The 5-volume set and theElkinton Journal were received at the Department of Records in 1943. The 5 volumes area partial duplication of the 10-volume set. Quite possibly the 5-volume set and theJoseph Elkinton set came to them from Tunesassa, since the description fits. 96 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149of industry" (Jackson, 1830 b, p. 51) . He and the Quakers were nowin such close accord that, after the Quaker delegation of 1806 haddelivered its usual counsel—to love the Lord and one's neighbor,listen to the Inner Voice in trouble, live harmoniously with families,permit no liquor, cards, or gambling—Governor Blacksnake couldreply for the Indians, in Handsome Lake's presence, that, "your youngmen and us are like one. When we want anything done we consultthem and they assist us and our Prophet tells us what to do and sowe get instruction from both" (Jackson, MS., 1806, September 15-16entries).In 1807 another witch was killed on the Allegheny, at the Prophet'sdirection (Turner, 1849, p. 509).Erastus Granger, Indian agent, writes the Secretary of War fromBuffalo Creek, August 25, 1807, that, "the old Prophet, whom youonce saw at Washington . . . has acquired an unbounded influenceover the Six Nations—his fame has long since reached some of thewestern Indians, and for two years past they have been sending mes-sengers to him . . . the delegation which I mentioned in my last,consisting of Shawonees * and others, came on purpose to see him."Granger proposes that this influence be capitalized for the UnitedStates by sending him, with Cornplanter and other friendly Seneca,to persuade the western Indians to peace. Accordingly, a pass wasissued August 20, 1808, to Kon-a-di-a, Cornplanter and others "abouttaking a journey to the Westward . . . The object of their Journey isthat of a friendly nature, as it respects the people of the UnitedStates. They expect to meet the western Indians in council" (Bab-cock, 1927, pp. 23-25).War was brewing. The New York Indians knew it, and wantednone of it. The Oneida, Onondaga, Stockbridge, and Tuscarora metin council at Onondaga September 28, 1812, and addressed a letter tothe President saying they saw trouble coming between the UnitedStates and the British. Washington had told them at the close of theRevolution to be sober and stay out of wars. "Our good prophet ofthe Seneca tribe, who is now with us in this council, has given us thesame advice and our tribes have entered into a league to follow thatadvice" (Ketchum, 1865, vol. 2, pp. 424-425). » Note that Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee Prophet living in nearby Ohio, had hie flratvision late in 1805 ; that it was almost a duplicate of Handsome Lake's ; that his originalteachings were regarded by the Shakers who knew him very well as "Christian" ; thatthose of the nearby Tippecanoe absolved him from all blame for what happened there.Most contemporary accounts of him and his teachings and activities have come downfrom sources either unfriendly or second-hand and partial, as Forsyth (1912, pp. 273-278)usually heavily relied on ; or via observers of his teaching and practice among Indiansother than his own Shawnee, as most of those cited in Mooney (1896, pp. 670-700). (SeeDean, 1918, p. 308; and MacLean, 1903, pp. 213-229, for the other side of the picture.) No. 5] REUGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 97The Amerians piously professed to want only neutrality out ofthe Indians. Actually, they actively enlisted them wherever andwhenever they could. Handsome Lake was neutral as a Quakerthroughout this war. It is significant that most of the Indians whofinally joined the Americans in July 1813 at Buffalo were from BuffaloCreek. Few or none came from Tonawanda, Allegany, and the otherstrongly Handsome Lake communities. Red Jacket, Cornplanter,and Blue Sky talked against participation. Wlien Jasper Parrishforwarded from Canandaigua the few Onondaga recruits he was ableto get, he told them to go straight to Buffalo and "not to call on theold Prophet, for he must not interfere with the wishes of our greatchief." The Indians said they would go to see him on the way, butit was for a religious purpose (Ketchum, 1865, vol. 2, pp. 424-425,432^33).Handsome Lake was now at Tonawanda after 10 years' ministry atBurnt House, 2 at Coldspring, and a short stop at Cattaraugus. Themessengers had told him he must "take four steps from Burnt House."He took the last in 1815, when he went to Onondaga. These samemessengers had told him he must never be alone; but, as he nearedOnondaga, he missed his favorite knife. Leaving his companions incamp, he retraced his steps to look for it. When he returned, hisfriends saw that all his strength had gone from him. They helpedhim to the town. The people there did what they could, but he diedsoon after, on August 10, 1815. They buried him at Onondaga. Thesenior federal chief, by a figure of speech, deposited the "horns ofoffice" on top of his grave until another Handsome Lake should beinstalled (Parker, 1912, pp. 9-13, 78-80, pi. 9; Morgan, 1878, p. 96).His words never died. Even modern Good Message followers (whoread the books) are likely to say that they were lost for awhile untilthe people at Tonawanda asked Handsome Lake's grandson, JimmyJohnson (Sosheowa') to recall them, about 1840 (Morgan, 1851, p.230) . This is a mistake.Timothy Alden, president of Allegheny College, on one of his fre-quent visits to the Seneca, reached Cattaraugus July 10, 1818. Fewwere home. They said many chiefs of the Seneca, Oneida, and Cayugawere meeting at Tonawanda "upon the same business you are on," andthe people were there. Alden spent July 16 and 17 at the Tonawandacouncil. The local white teacher, Jabez Hyde, was with him. FromHyde's narrative we get our best picture of what was going on(Hyde, 1903).In spite of heroic efforts to keep them out, evangelical Christianmissionaries were infiltrating the Seneca. Their insistence on theirown one true way of salvation ( on which no two agreed) , on Sabbath-keeping, and a dozen other alien dogmas were issues the Quakers had 98 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149never required the Indians to resolve. Their long tradition of unani-mous action had led to a series of Indian councils at Tonawanda, tofind whether all views could not be reconciled. Various compromiseplans were tried. But about 1820 the permanent division into twocamps was effected. One party (mostly about Buffalo Creek, Tus-carora, and Oneida) went its way to "church"; the other stayed inthe Quaker-Handsome Lake longhouse, with the Good Message.It was one of these councils that Alden attended, in 1818. Its "greatobject . . . was to revive the moral instructions formerly receivedfrom . . . Konnedieyu, the prophet, as he was called . . . Manyspeeches were made, in which the lessons inculcated by the prophet,were recounted, and their importance urged . . ." John Sky, a Tona-wanda chief, spoke for 3 hours, summing up with : "You must not doanything bad; you must not say anything bad; you must not thinkanything bad ; for the Great Spirit knows your thoughts, as well asyour words and actions. This is what the prophet taught us. Youknow it—and this is according to the word of God!" Alden saw apublic confession; heard relation by one Kasiadestah of a typicaldream ; and a "preaching to repentance" . . . still the essential ingre-dients of a general "Six Nations Meeting" (Alden, 1827, pp. 53-62).Friend Joseph Elkinton had to contend with "an old Prophet" atAllegany in 1825-27, who—in Handsome Lake tradition—said "aFnake would go down the river and the water would not be fit to drinkfor a day" unless the people repented (Elkinton, MS., 1827, May 2entry).In 1838 there were two great prophets at Tonawanda and BuffaloCreek. "The former states that there are four angels which are an-nually sent to him by the great spirit . . ." ; and so on, as though itwere Handsome Lake himself speaking (Dearborn, 1904, pp. 55,90-91).Young Ely S. Parker—later U. S. Grant's military secretary — wrote down and translated Jimmy Johnson's October 2 and 3, 1845,Good Message recitals at Tonawanda (Parker, 1919, pp. 251-261).G. S. Riley of Rochester was with him, and described what they saw(Parker, 1916, pp. 126-132). Ely again made notes of Johnson atTonawanda October 4, 5, and 6, 1848. These form the basis forMorgan's account of Handsome Lake's gospel (Morgan, 1851, pp.233-259). Morgan followed Ely's notes faithfully in reporting whatJohnson said, but he departed widely from Ely's glosses on it andits ceremonial accompaniment (Fenton, 1941, pp. 151-157). The cor-respondence between Morgan and Parker shows that if Morgan hadlistened more carefully to Ely he might have avoided the generalcriticism of his "League" made by Seneca who read it: "There'snothing actually wrong in what he says, but it isn't right either. Hedoesn't really understand what he is talking about." No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 99Any discussion of the Good Message with Seneca friends elicitsthe remark: "Everything else the Iroquois do is different from onecommunity to another—sometimes even from one house to another.But Gai'wiio' is the same at all longhouses." There is as much andas little truth in this as there is in, "Qiristianity is the same every-where."Fenton's and Speck's reports on the annual ceremonial cycles atthe Coldspring and Newton Longhouses (within a few miles of oneanother) and at Canadian Sour Springs Cayuga exhibit the greatdiversities that obtain (Fenton, 1936 and 1941; Speck, 1949).The inference in Parker's statement (Parker, 1913, pp. 7-8) thata Coldspring Meeting of Cattaraugus chiefs settled '"forever thewords and form of the Good Message," with a certain canonized textresulting therefrom is mistaken. There is no one text of the GoodMessage. Versions vary from preacher to preacher; from one long-house to another; and from time to time. Parker's Good Messagetook 3 days for recitation. The common allotment now is 4; butat Sour Springs in 1949 the preacher found 5 necessary to completehis version, which contained material that the delegates there fromColdspring had never heard before.Nor is it correct to suppose that the only legitimate inheritanceof all the Good Message is through Owen Blacksnake to Johnsonto Stevens to Edward Cornplanter (Parker, 1913, p. 19). The ver-sion now heard at Coldspring, from DeForest Abrams, came toDeForest from Oscar Crow, who learned it from Jackson Titus, whomight have heard it from Handsome Lake himself. The languagein which it is couched contains so much obsolete Seneca—"big, dic-tionary words," they say—that DeForest himself doesn't know ex-actly what some mean. Wlien he appeared before the Sanhedrinof chiefs at Tonawanda to make his 4-day trial recital of the GoodMessage in September 1949, Chief Heenan Scrogg, the oldest Seneca "preacher" present, was appointed to judge its orthodoxy, since hehad the best chance of understanding it. When DeForest finished.Chief Scrogg said that he didn't get all of it, but in what he did heheard nothing wrong. So DeForest passed, and was qualified topreach the Good Message on the 10 longhouse circuit of "Six NationsMeetings." ^° ^'' Good message followers think and speak of the Tonawanda Longhouse as gajus'towanen, usually translated, "central fire." Literally, "big light," "big brightness," itsapplication to the place is an extension of its specific use as a name for the strings ofwampum lodged there.The story is that Handsome Lake died at Onondaga possessed of these strings ; thatthey were returned to Tonawanda by his companions on his last trip.This palladium of the Good Message is variously described. It seems to consist ofabout 30 strings and several large belts. The strings are com.bined into about 10 strands.On some the beads are of one color ; on others, of several colors. The belts bear "pictures 100 SYMPOSroM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. BuU. 149Before this ordination he might recite only at Coldspring. Eachlonghouse has its staff of local preachers. For the local bienniel "SixNations Meeting" attended by delegates from all the others, an out-side preacher must be called. Those eligible for such calls must havebeen accepted at Tonawanda in the manner described. Comparison ofthe various versions that have been recorded from time to time shovesthat the prophecy and biographical sections have been most expanded.There are changes in the personnel of Heaven and Hell, too. For in-stance, it was Farmers Brother whom Handsome Lake saw (as re-ported at Tonaw^anda in 1845) under the Dante-like sentence of per-petually attempting to remove a never diminishing pile of earth — punishment for his part in Indian land sales (Parker, 1919, p. 260). or designs and lines around them. ... No white man has ever seen or handled them, andnone ever will as long as Gai'wiio' is alive," writes a Seneca informant.Theoretically, these strings are to be brought out for reading by one of the few whocan do it, at each Tonawanda session which starts off the bienniel circuit of "Six Nationsmeetings." Actually, they seldom appear.In September 1949, a large crowd had gathered to see them on a Thursday afternoon.In the longhouse they spread a table with a clean white cloth to receive them. Thedelegation of chiefs repaired under bright skies to the house of the current bearer of thetitle, Ganiodai'io', who is their custodian. By the time they had covered the distancea small cloud had appeared ; so they returned without the strings. The prospect, then,that any individual may see and hear the strings is governed by the probability that therewill be a perfectly cloudless sky at Tonawanda, N. Y., on a certain afternoon once every2 years, and that he will be on hand for that occasion.The strings may not be brought out on any but a clear day. One must think that thechiefs welcome even a little cloud, since they handle the strings at their peril. If a beadshould be lost, or harmed in any way, the handler pays the penalty in continuing badluck for himself and his family.It is, however, easily possible to find Indians who have seen the strings and who arewilling to give a physical description of them. To find one willing or able to give areliable account of what the strings say when read has, to date, not been possible. Manyreasons are given ; and, as is usual with Indians, they are good ones, designed to save theface of the inquirer. Only one Seneca friend has come right out and said frankly, "Theremay be somebody with an evil mind that may try to get me for telling secrets I shouldn't.Just like that Wm. Morgan and the Masons. Get my meaning, Brother."Gajiis'towaneh is not for white men—quite properly.Tonawanda is, then, a Mecca for the Good Message, but each longhouse is a law untoitself when it is at home. It is only when interlonghouse recognition is involved that itmust go to Tonawanda. It may have its ha-ta -'ha' ("a talker, speaker")—the "localpreacher"—whose doings and sayings need to satisfy only his own folk. But whenha-ta -'ha' wants to become hai-wa • no'-ta ("a teller, a reciter") he must present himselfat Tonawanda for the judgment of his equals, in the true tradition of the Iroquois council.The chiefs who head community moieties when they function for the Good Message purposesneed the same confirmation at Tonawanda, if they obtain more than local recognition.At Tonawanda, too, the plans are made for "Six Nations meetings." Conflicts are adjusted ;preachers are invited. It is a unifying influence, of course ; but in the way that such "international" councils have always been, among the Six Nations.The 1949 circuit schedule arranged at the Tonawanda meeting (September 24-30, 1949)was : Caughnawaga, starting October 1 (Saturday).St. Regis, October 8.Onondaga Castle, N. Y., October 15.Coldspring, October 22.Canadian Onondaga, October 29.Sour Springs Cayuga, November 5.The 1950 schedule will be set at the initial Tonawanda meeting and will include Cat-taraugus in New York and Seneca, Lower Cayuga, and Oneidatown (sometimes calledMunceytown) in Canada. No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 101Red Jacket is substituted for Farmers Brother in the Edward Corn-planter version (Parker, 1913, p. 68). DeForest now sticks closelyto the text as he remembers it. He is coached in it and helped byhis family and the Good Message "elders." If he runs true to form,as he gets older and easier in the role of preacher he will add to or sub-tract from it. This is what Henry Redeye, Oscar Crow, WesleyWliite, Hiram Jacobs, and all the other preachers at Allegany didwhen they got old, they say.We find the same diversity in doctrinal interpretation that has beennoted in Good Message services and text. The Sour Springs Cayugachiefs officially approved Speck's statement of their creed (Speck,1941) . This form could have obtained no such approval at any otherlonghouse, very probably. For instance: The Cayuga seem com-pletely to have assimilated Jesus. They have equipped him withthe origin legend, so necessary to establish his status, in "The Father-less Boy" story (Speck, 1949, pp. 3, 31, 127-129, 141). None of thelonghouse folk at Coldspring who have read it has ever heard it.Jesus' status there is very different ; and differently based.Perhaps widest doctrinal variation occurs in the practice and con-ception of confession—as much difference as there is between HolyRoller and Catholic. We should expect Catholic-rooted St. Regis toaccent the element of satisfaction, absolution in a "sacrament" super-ficially so like the one they have known in church. At Coldspringthe emphasis is on the pledge taken either privately or openly to quitthe confessed sin "forever, as long as I live." Some require shouting,in a camp-meeting style public rehearsal, from the penitent. Othersfrown severely on this and favor confession silently, by brief formulaany time and anywhere. Any consideration of Iroquoian confession,then or now, that regards it as a single sacrament with universal en-tire function—therapeutic, penal, magic, or otherwise—must misssome of its meanings for various Iroquoians (Jackson, 1830 a, pp.23-27; Morgan, 1851, pp. 170, 187-188; Myrtle, 1855, p. 49; Parker,1913, pp. 28, 44, 45, 57, 69; Fenton, 1936, p. 16; 1941, pp. 152-155;La Barre, 1947, p. 307; Speck, 1949, pp. 51-53).The adaptability of the Good Message was inherent. We can seethis best reported in the case of what happened when it reachedOneida in the very early ISOO's. The Reverend Samuel Kirkland,long resident there, reports its impact on that heavily missioned com-munity. In 1799 Oneida saw its first White Dog Feast in 30 years.In 1798 a young Grand River Mohawk of high character had a visionin which he talked with "Thauloonghyauwangoo, which signifies Up-holder of the Skies or Heavens." That principal figure in the oldIroquoian pantheon complained of neglect by all but the Seneca. HisWhite Dog offering had been withheld ; hence the wars, diseases, and 102 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149famines. The young Mohawk dreamer got inmiediate attention.Even Brant had to bow to public opinion and consent to a dog burn-ing, stipulating that it must not be considered anti-Christian.When word of this reached old Blacksmith, the last surviving paganchief at Oneida, he gathered the population willing to help andstaged his feast, at about the same time Handsome Lake was havinghis first vision. Blacksmith's participants were warned not to drinkrum for 10 days "or they would pollute the sacrifice and informedhis adherents that the eating of the flesh of the roasted dog in thatancient rite was a transaction equally sacred and solemn, with that,which the Christians call the Lord's feast. The only difference isin the elements ; the Christians use bread and wine, we use flesh andblood" (Kirkland, MS., 1800, February 23, 26, entries).The first Indians to bring back word of Handsome Lake to Oneidawere of the Christian party there. They insisted that HandsomeLake banned the White Dog Feast; gave absolution from sin afterconfession ; taught that those who had the Bible must follow it, andthat those who had been baptized must observe all its precepts orthey would be lost ; and they held their services on the Sabbath Day.Kirkland was quite flabbergasted at this new competition. He keptdiscreetly quiet ; allowed the Good Message preachers to speak at hisservices . . . and waited to see what would happen (Kirkland, MS.,1806).We know that Handsome Lake did not ban the White Dog Feast,but enjoined it on his followers; that he had no such Catholic con-ception of confession ; he had the common Lidian attitude toward theBible : it is all right for the Whites, but if it were intended for Indiansit would be so fixed that they could read it. We know, too, that foryears the distinguishing mark of a "church Indian" on the Senecareservations was the fact that he kept the Sabbath, while Good Messagefollowers did not.What happened was that when the Good Message party was formingat Oneida, it had to select from the local stock of ritual and beliefwhat it could use. Its followers decided that their Prophet had gothis knowledge from the same source as the Bible. Since they hadto make inclination one way or the other, it was toward Christianitywhich they had known for a long time, rather than toward the recentlyimported paganism. There was nothing in Handsome Lake's actualdoctrine itself that prevented marshaling his authority behind theirselection since, to him, things of this sort were accidental rather thanfundamental.What happened at Oneida is what always happens to the GoodMessage wherever it goes among Iroquoians.The record bears out the early observation that Handsome Lake didlittle moi'e than give a certain ethical content to the old Seneca beliefs. No. 5] RELIGION OF HANDSOME LAKE—DEARDORFF 103 rather than the other position which seems to consider that he in-vented almost everything in present Iroquoian religious and moralpractice (Wolf, 1919) . It may be that the Strawberry Feast, now asimportant as New Year's and the Green Corn Feast in the annuallonghouse ceremonial cycle, was instituted by Handsome Lake whenhe awoke from his first vision (Parker, 1913, pp. 25-26). If so, thisis just about the extent of what can be identified as a positive additionto practice prior to the Good Message; and the Strawberry Feast isin no essential wise different from important parts of New Year'sand the Green Corn Feast with which it rates (Fenton, 1936)."Handsome Lake addressed himself at first to the elimination ofdrinking and witchcraft and the abuses connected with and arising outof them. As he went along he took in more territory ; but one cannotescape the fact that his home community had already recognized asevil everything that Handsome Lake originally condemned and hadnot only resolved to eradicate it, but had set up the machinery withwhich to do it. Charles Obeal and Strong, the two young men ap-pointed by Handsome Lake at the direction of the "four angels" tolook after community morals, are, if not identical in person, the sameas the two young men that Cornplanter told Henry Simmons the com-munity had decided to appoint for the same purpose, before HandsomeLake's first vision. The immediate inspiration for these resolutionsand actions was Quaker.At first Handsome Lake opposed the Quakers at some points, butnot for long. They valued him as an ally ; and it was through themthat he got his Government certification. They had come, as one ofthem put it, to "find out what good thing the Indians wanted to do,and then to help them do it" ; not to proselyte. Their own attitudetoward good and bad, conscience, the Bible, and God Himself was nottoo unlike that of the Indians themselves. It was not long beforeHandsome Lake was making such accommodations as : It is all rightto learn to farm in the white man's way, hut only that you may growmore to give away to the needy—not that you may have more to sellfor profit; reading and writing are not good for Indians, hut it iswell that some of your children learn them so they may deal withthe Whites for you.Handsome Lake's numerous sensible accommodations are the pointat which he parts company with most other prophets of his race andkind. As a rule, they advocated a complete turning away fromall things White, when tliey did not actively urge their forcibleextermination.When old John Sky said in 1818 that what Handsome Lake taughtwas simply : "/>