518 THE MOUNDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
Nations, where tribes of Indians were, or had been, subjugated by the 
Troquois, and reduced to the condition of women, and were formally 
prohibited from engaging in any warlike enterprises, and were en- 
joined to spend their time and energies in tilling the earth, and the 
Iroquois were accustomed to express themselves respecting such sub- 
jugated tribes like this: ‘We have put petticoats upon them,’ which 
meant that thereafter they were required to do only servile work. 
This in my opinion was another evidence that anciently the Iroquois 
men did not do any agricultural labor.” 
Per contra, Charlevoix* speaks of a tradition current among them, to 
the effect that, formerly—before their arrival in New York—they were 
almost exclusively occupied in husbandry, and were bound to furnish a 
part of their harvest to the Algonquins, who in their turn agreed to 
supply them with a certain share of the products of the chase, and to 
defend them against all enemies whatsoever. Headds that this arrange- 
ment was very advantageous to both parties, but that in the estimation 
of the Indians it caused the Algonquins to rank higher than the Iro- 
quois, for the reason that among them a successful hunter is on a level 
with a great warrior, and inferentially both take precedence of a hus- 
bandman. This however is but tradition, and is given for what it is 
worth, though it is proper to say that Charlevoix introduces it with the 
remark that it is the only part of Iroquois history that has come down 
to us clothed with any appearance of probability, and that both Col- 
dent and Morgani give place to the story. Without stopping now to 
inquire into its truth or falsity, we may be very sure that during the 
whole of the seventeenth and part of the eighteenth centuries, the Iro- 
quois warrior had but little time to devote to agriculture. What with 
fighting the French and Hurons on the north; the Miamis and [linois 
on the west; the Cherokees, Catawbas, and Shawnees on the south, to 
say nothing of his immediate neighbors in New England on the east, 
it would seem as if his hands were so full as to leave but little time for 
hunting, much less for raising corn; and that under the circumstances 
*Charlevoix Letters, pp. 124, et seq.: London, 1763. La Potherie tells the same 
story, but gives it as a fact. See Historie de l Amerique, vol.1, pp. 188, et seq.: Paris, 
1753. The same author, vol. 1, p.18, asserts that the men did clear the ground, 
fence in the fields, and prepare the bunches of corn for drying. He also adds that 
when husband and wife are much attached to each other, they do not separate their 
work, though ordinarily they do not cencern themselves about each other’s duties. 
Lafitau, vol. 1, p. 78, says that the men braided the corn into bunches, and adds that 
it is the only occasion on which the women call on the men for help. 
t“The Adirondacks - - - employed themselves wholly in hunting, and the 
Five Nations made planting of corn their business. By this means they became useful 
to each other by exchanging corn for venison. The Adirondacks, however, valued 
themselves as delighting in a more manly employment, and despising the Five Nations 
in following business which they thought only fit for women.” History of the Five 
Nations, p. 22: London, 1747. 
t “Tradition informs us that, prior to the occupation of New York, they resided 
in the vicinity of Montreal, upon the northern bank of the St. Lawrence, where 
