46 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Large kettle, Gano nV djowane'. Anciently large clay vessels were 

 used. Later brass or copper kettles obtained from the whites were 

 used. The use of clay vessels was early noticed by travelers 1 among 

 the Indians of eastern North America. There are several good de- 

 scriptions of the methods of pottery making, references to the use 

 of the vessels for cooking and several illustrations of them [see 

 % I 5l- I* seems most probable from these early accounts and illus- 

 trations that the clay kettles were placed directly over the fire, though 

 perhaps supported by three or four stones properly arranged. School- 

 craft, however, illustrates one suspended over the fire. The writer 

 once found a clay vessel in a fire pit with the remains of the fire 

 about it and four or five pieces of angular shale at the bottom as a 

 supporting base. There are several illustrations depicting this 

 method in old works. 



The coming of the traders with brass kettles was an event in the 

 history of Indian cooking. It enlarged their capacity for cooking 

 food in quantities. As brass kettles became common with them the 

 smaller clay vessels passed' out of use and were made but rarely. In 

 this way the art gradually became forgotten. 



Among the Seneca the writer found several persons who remem- 

 bered hearing in their youth how the vessels were made. They as- 

 serted that clay was thus occasionally employed up to the middle of 

 the last century. The Seneca seem to have conserved the art 2 at 

 any rate for some time after their settlement at Tonawanda, Alle- 

 gany and Cattaraugus. 



The use of brass kettles among the Iroquois is still found, some 

 of the more conservative seeming to prefer them [see pi. 10], but the 

 majority now use iron or the more modern enameled ware pots. 



Wooden mortar, Ga"niga"ta. 3 The corn mortar was made of 

 the wood of the trunk of a niiu"gagwasa, pepperidge tree or ogo'wa. 



1 These vessels are so strong that they do not crack when on the fire 

 without water inside, as ours do, but at the same time they can not stand 

 continued moisture and cold water long without becoming fragile and 

 breaking at any slight knocks that any one may give them but otherwise 

 they are very durable." Sagard. Histoire du Canada. 1638. Tross ed. 

 Paris 1866. p. 260. 



2 C/ Harrington. Last of the Iroquois Potters. N. Y. State Mus. Rep't 

 of Director. 1908. 



3 Ga'ni'ga* in Mohawk. 



Sebastien Cramoisy in his relations (1634-36) said "... we have 

 learned by experience that our sagamites are better pounded in a wooden 

 mortar in the fashion of the Savages than ground within the mill. I believe 

 it is because the mill makes the flour too fine." [See Jesuit Relations. 

 Thwaite's ed. v. 8] 



