68 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



government when Red Jacket was alive, for presentation to distin- 

 guished chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy. There are, perhaps, 

 two or three specimens similar in appearance to the Red Jacket 

 medal still extant. Probably the one presented to the Red Jacket 

 Club of Canandaigua is one of this class of medals, contemporaneous 

 with that of Red Jacket. That it was ever worn by the old chief is 

 not probable. Sa-go-ye-wa-tha had only one medal, and of this he 

 was very fond and proud. During his career he owned several 

 tomahawks and gave away at least two of them, whose subsequent 

 history can still be traced; but he seemed to cling to this medal as 

 if it were a most precious heirloom or sacred amulet. 



I was present at the Six Nations mourning council, when General 

 Parker was invested with the title of Door Keeper (Don-e-ho-ga-wa), 

 one of the 50 grand sachemships of the Confederacy. This was, I 

 think, in 1850. He then wore the Red Jacket medal, and in open 

 council it was exhibited to many of Red Jacket's compeers, none of 

 whom doubted its authenticity. 



To this Mr Conover added: 



A few years since the Cayuga Indians residing in Canada em- 

 ployed an attorney in Buffalo to urge a claim against the State for 

 a portion of the annuity paid by the State to the Cayugas in the 

 United States, they having been deprived of the same since the War 

 of 1812. Among other matters put in the hands of this attorney was 

 a silver medal, a facsimile of which is to be found in the printed 

 law case. This medal is of the same size, and substantially the 

 same as the Parker medal, having the same inscription on one side, 

 viz, " George Washington, President, 1792." This medal is claimed 

 to have been presented to 0-ja-geht-ti, or Fish Carrier, at that time 

 the head chief of the Cayuga Indians, and has been in the possession 

 of every successor in office, who has been uniformly styled by the 

 same name from that day to the time of the present Fish Carrier. 

 The medal presented to the Red Jacket Club at Canandaigua, I 

 understand, is about one third smaller in size than either of the two 

 above named. 



Mr L. ( H. Morgan says of these: 



The government has long been in the habit of presenting silver 

 medals to the chiefs of the various Indian tribes at the formation of 

 treaties, and on the occasion of their visits to the seat of govern- 

 ment. These medals are held in the highest estimation. Red 

 Jacket, Corn Planter, Farmer's Brother and several other distin- 

 guished Seneca chiefs have received medals of this description. 

 Washington presented a medal to Red Jacket in 1792. It is an 

 elliptic plate of silver, surrounded by a rim, as represented in the 



