ABORIGINAL CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS OF NEW YORK 67 



articles accompanying these. Fig. 182 is a smaller one from the 

 same grave. 



It will be remembered that the proper name of the Mohawks was 

 Kaniengas, People of the flint, and that their proper symbol was a 

 steel and flint; often only the former. Their associations were not 

 so much with the flint as material for arrows. From almost the first 

 they connected with it its fire producing powers. As soon as they 

 had guns — and they were the earliest New York indians to possess 

 them — they saw occasional economy in the use of their favorite 

 stone. On this point there is a curious passage in the Jesuit relations 

 of 1668, of an incident which happened when the French missionaries 

 were about two miles north of Ticonderoga. ' We all stopped in 

 this place, without knowing the cause of it, until we saw our savages 

 gathering upon the edge of the water, gun flints, all nearly shaped. 

 We gave this not much thought at the time, but afterwards learned 

 the mystery, for our Iroquois told us that they never fail to stop in 

 this place, to render homage to a nation of invisible men, who dwell 

 there in the depth of the water, and are occupied in preparing gun 

 flints, nearly all ready for the passers by, provided they do their de- 

 voirs in presenting them tobacco; if they give much of it they make 

 them a large largess of these stones.' These men were farther de- 

 scribed, but the French concluded that, in storms, ' when the wind 

 comes across the lake, it casts upon this shore a quantity of stones, 

 hard and fit to strike fire.' This sufficiently shows that the Iroquois 

 often provided their own gun flints, instead of using those imported 

 by traders. 



Many scrapers are almost or quite elliptical, and some circular 

 forms may be gun flints. Fig. 184 is a fine example of the former 

 class from Brewerton. It is of drab flint, thin and Hat, and the edges 

 are beveled all around from one surface. Tt is one and three eighths 

 inches in length. One much like this is from Auburn, and is one and 

 five eighths inches long. It is by no means a rare form, but grades 

 into knives. 



A heavy, rounded, triangular scraper from Oswego Falls, has a 

 double curve in the long section, and is one and one half inches long. 

 Another of similar outline is from Cross lake. It is, however, uniform 

 in thickness, with edges abruptly beveled in opposite directions, 



