562 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1897. 



said to them : " Take this pipe to your great council chamber at Onon- 

 daga: let it hang there in view, and should you be wavering in your 

 minds at any time, take and smoke out of it, and think of my advice 

 given with it, and you will recover and think properlj,"' and on July 

 23, 1756, in the proceedings of a council with " Pondiac" and chiefs of 

 the Ottawas, Pontawattamies, llurons, and Chii)pewas, tlie chiefs 

 being all seated. Sir AVilliam Johnson caused Poiidiac's pipe to be 

 lighted, which, after being handed around by the interpreter to all 

 l^resent, he addressed them.- 



" On September 19, of the same year, at Fort Johnson, ]S"ew York, 

 the Mohawks of both Castles, the Oueidas, the Cayougas, and two 

 Seneca sachems with the River Indians met in council, and sent to 

 acquaint Sir William that they proposed to deliver the message agreed 

 upon on the 18th to the Cherokee deputies. When Sir William came 

 in and all were seated, the four Cherokees were introduced to the coun- 

 cil by Captain Montour, and taking seats in four chairs placed pur- 

 posely for them. Sir William lighted the calumet, or pipe of i^eace and 

 friendship, and after smoking a whiff presented it to the four Cherokee 

 deputies, holding it to them while each drew a whiflf, then the gentle- 

 men present took it and Mr. Montour handed it round to every Indian 

 present. The tobacco from whence it was tilled was then put into a 

 bag to be carried home with the calumet by the Cherokees,"^ as show- 

 ing the then existing international jealousies. A desire was expressed 

 at thi& meeting to keep a knowledge of it from the French, 



Jonathan Carver, who in 1763 endeavored to cross the continent and 

 to acquaint the world with the geography of the interior of the country 

 and the lands acquired after the peace of 1763, says: "I knew that 

 many obstructions would arise in my scheme from the want of good 

 maps and charts ; for the French while they retained their power in 

 North America had taken every artful method to keep all other 

 nations, particularly the English, in ignorance of the concerns of the 

 interior parts of it, and to accomplish this design with greater certainty 

 they had published inaccurate maps and false accounts."^ 



Robert Rogers says : " When they use collars or belts of wampum, it 

 must be a matter of national importance." 



He refers also to the customs of the natives, and also to the calumet 

 of peace as being of no less importance in many transactions — "rela- 

 tive to war and peace. The bowl of this pipe is made of a soft red 

 stone, which is easily wrought and hollowed out; the stem is of cane, 

 elder, or some light wood, painted with different colors, and decorated 

 with the heads, tails, and feathers of the most beautiful birds. The 

 use of the calumet is to smoke either tobacco or some bark, leaf, or 



* Documents Relating to the Colonial History of New York, VII, p. 64. 

 2 Idem, II, p. 854. 

 3 Idem, VII, p. 327. 



^.Jonathan Carver, Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, p. xxiv, 

 introduction, London, 1781; reprint edition, New York, 1838. 



