BULL. 30] 



DAWES COMMISSION DEKANAWIDA 



388 



reaching Indian Territory. He hadgood 

 talents, and in early manhood became a 

 valuable helper to the missionaries as in- 

 terpreter and speaker in public meetings. 

 He was an active worker in 1830, and 

 died about 10 years later. Two daugh- 

 ters survive him, who were educated in 

 the Presbyterian boarding school, one of 

 whom, Susan, wife of John Mcintosh, 

 rendered important service to Mrs A. E. 

 W. Robertson in her Creek translations. 

 Davis was joint author with J. Lykensin 

 translating the Gospel of John into Creek, 

 published at the Shawanoe Baptist Mis- 

 sion, Ind. Ter., in 1835, and was also a 

 collaborator with R. M. Loughridge, D. 

 Winslett, and W. S. Robertson in the 

 translation into Creek of two volumes of 

 hymns. — Pilling, Bibliog. Muskhogean 

 Lang., Bull. B. A. E., 1889. 



Dawes Commission. See Commission to 

 the Five Civilized Tribes. 



Daycao. A territory that lay 10 days' 

 journey beyond the extreme westerly 

 point reached by Moscoso, of De Soto's 

 expedition, in 1542. The name was 

 strictly that of a stream, possibly Trinity 

 r., Texas, and is spoken of also as if desig- 

 nating an Indian "province." See 

 Gentl. of Elvas in Hakluyt Soc. Publ., ix, 

 138-140, 1851. 



Dayoitgao ( ' there where it issues ' ) . A 

 former Seneca village situated at Squakie 

 hill, on Genesee r., near Mt Morris, N. Y. 

 It received the name Squawkiehah from 

 the fact that 700 Fox (Muskwaki) cap- 

 tives were settled there by the Iroquois 

 in 1681-83. The site was sold by the 

 Seneca in 1825 and relinquished by them 

 in 1827. (j. N. B. H. ) 



Da-yo-it-ga-o. — Morgan, League Iroq., 435, 1851. 

 Squakie Hill village.— Ibid., 468. Squawkie Hill.— 

 Conover, Kanadesaga and Geneva MS., B. A. E. 

 ( = Squawkiehah Ganadahah, 'Squawkiehah 

 village lying high'). Squawkihows.— Cusick, 

 Sketches Six Nations, 20, 1828. Squawky Hill.— 

 Morris treaty (1797) in U. S. Ind. Treat., 820, 

 1873. 



De. The Coyote clans of the Tewa 

 pueblos of San Juan, Tesuque, and San 

 Ildefonso, N. Mex. Those of Tesuque 

 and San Ildefonso are extinct. 

 De-tdoa.— Hodge in Am. Anthrop., ix, 3.50, 1896 

 (<rf(5a=' people'). 



Deadoses. A small Texan tribe which 

 in the 18th century lived with other 

 tribes on San Xavier r., probably the 

 San Miguel, which joins little r. and 

 flows into the Brazos about 150 m. from 

 the gulf. In 1767-68 they were said to 

 reside between Navasota and Trinity rs., 

 and in 1771 were mentioned with the 

 Tonkawa, Comanche, Towash (Wichita), 

 and others as northern Texas tribes in 

 contradistinction to the Cocos (Coaque), 

 Karankawa, and others of the coast re- 

 gion. If the Mayeyes were re?dly related 

 to the Tonkawa, as has been asserted, the 



fact that this tribe is mentioned with 

 them may indicate that the language of 

 the Deadoses resembled that of the Ton- 

 kawa. They may have been swept 

 away by the epidemic that raged among 

 the Indians of Texas in 1777-78. 



(h. E. B. J. R. s. ) 



Decoration. See Adornment, Art, Cloth- 

 ing, Ornament. 



Deep Creek Spokan. A former Spokan 

 colony that lived 17 m. s. w. of Spokane 

 falls, now Spokane, Wash. The colony 

 was established for farming purposes; 

 pop. about 30 in 1880. — Warner in Ind. 

 Aff. Rep., 67, 1880. 



Deer Skins. Apparently a division of 

 the northern Athapascans, as they are 

 mentioned as belonging to a group in- 

 cluding the Beaver Hunters, Flatside 

 Dogs (Thlingchadinne), and Slaves. — 

 Smet, Oregon Missions, 164, 1847. * 



Defense. See Fortification. 



Deformation. See Artificial head defor- 

 mation. 



Degataga. See Htand ^S'^atie. 



Dekanawida ('two river-currents flow- 

 ing together.' — Hewitt). An Iroquois 

 prophet, statesman, and lawgiver, who 

 lived probably during the secon<l and 

 third quarters of the 15th century, and 

 who, conjointly with Hiawatha, planned 

 and founded the historical confederation 

 of the five Iroquois tribes. According to 

 a circumstantial tradition, he was born in 

 the vicinity of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 

 in what then was probably Huron terri- 

 tory. He was reputed to have been one 

 of 7 brothers. Definite tradition gives 

 him rank with the demigods, owing to the 

 masterful orenda. or magic power with 

 which he worked tirelessly to overcome 

 the obstacles and difficulties of his task, 

 the astuteness he displayed in negotia- 

 tion, and the wisdom he exhibited in 

 framing the laws and in establishing the 

 fundamental principles on which they 

 were l)a8t'd and on which rested the en- 

 tire structure of the Iroquois confedera- 

 tion. Omens foreshadowed his birth, 

 and portents accompanying this event 

 revealed the fact to his virgin mother 

 that Dekanawida would be the source 

 of evil to her people, referring to the 

 destruction of the Huron confederation 

 by that of the Iroquois. Hence at his 

 birth his mother and grandmother, with 

 true womanly patriotism, sought to 

 spare their country woes by attempting 

 to drown the new-born infant by thrust- 

 ing it through a hole made in the ice 

 covering a neighboring river. Three at- 

 tempts were made, but in the morning 

 after each attempt the young Dekanawida 

 was found unharmed in the arms of the 

 astonished mother. Thereupon the two 

 women decided that it was decreed that 



