JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 47 ; 
water in order that they might not be surprised from sudden 
attack. 
Father de La Roche, in his first attempt to Christianize the 
Indians, notes the peculiarity which distinguished the Eries from all 
the other nations of America—the astounding peculiarity of neu- 
trality between fierce and ever contending nations. They spoke a 
dialect of Iroquois in the western, and in the northern cantons the 
dialect was of the Huron type, while on the banks of the Niagara a 
very close relationship existed with the Seneca speech. 
This is the only confederacy which we read of in America, which 
was governed by a woman. According to David Cusick in his his- 
tory of the Five Nations, first published in 1825, the final destruction 
of the Eries was caused by an act of perfidy. The wampum and 
peace pipe of the Mother of Nations was held sacred; all who 
sought the shelter of her lodge were considered safe from their pur- 
suers until such time as the question in dispute should be discussed 
by representative chiefs from the nations representing the litigants, 
the Queen, through virtue of her office, rendering judgment on the 
case, a verdict from which there was no appeal. 
The central point of her authority was a place called Kieuka, 
on the Niagara ridge and not very far from the present village of 
Tuscarora. Protected by the sanctity of her office, a reputation 
which seems to give evidence of the truth of the assertion which has 
been made that the order of *Vestal Virgins was a recognized one 
among the N. A. Indians, she had a council house and a contiguous 
building, where she received messengers and ambassadors from the 
Five Nations, the Wyandot (Huron), Mississagies and others. Her 
lands extended to the foot of Lake Erie and along the head of 
Lake Ontario. Near the “head of the lake” (Ontario), an outrage 
occurred, which she caused summarily to be punished, and which 
led to the fatal breach of neutrality. The Seneca warriors had been 
received and had begun to smoke the pipe of peace when a deputa- 
tion of Mississagies were announced. These latter informed the 
queen that the two men before her had just returned from assassinat- 
*Nore.—This is a tradition corroborated by the fact that the Indians 
still shows some medicinal plants which they say are very salutary, but 
which have no virtue unless administered by Virgin hands. 
