174 THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



■with other Indians the matters above referred to, and, while they always agreed aa 

 to the main facts, they generally differed only as to the underlying motives and in- 

 tentions of Red Jacket in hia various schemes. 



White men visiting Indians for information usually ask specific questions, to 

 which direct and monosyllabic answers are generally given. Seldom will an Indian 

 go beyond a direct answer and give a general or extended reply ; hence, I am not 

 surprised that you had never heard anything respecting. my statement, for as such a 

 thing has never occurred to you, you have never thought to ask concerning it. The 

 fact, however, remains the same, and I do not consider it derogatory of or a belit- 

 tling of Red Jacket's general character. Men of mind are nearly always courageous 

 and ambitious. Red Jacket was not an exception. 



You suggest the performance on my part of an act which is simjDly impossible. The 

 words sachem, sagamore, chief, king, prince, cazique, queen, princess, &c., have 

 been promiscuously and interchangeably used by every writer on Indians ever since 

 their discovery. I have seen three of the above terms used in one artic'e with refer- 

 ence to one and the same person, showing great looseness and want of discrimination 

 in the writer. Yourself, let me say, mentions John Mt. Pleasant as '.'the principal 

 hereditary sachem of the Tuscaroras." Now, my classiiication of Iroquois officers 

 would be to rank the fifty original councilors as sachems, because they are the highest 

 officers of the league. I would not use the term sagamore, because its iise is almost 

 wholly New England, and has been applied promiscuously to heads of bands, large 

 and small, and sometimes to mere heads of families. To use other terms, such as 

 king, prince, or princess (see King Philip, King Powhattan, and Princess Pocahon- 

 tas), is preposterous and presumptuous, considering the total absence among these 

 people of the paraphernalia, belongings, and dignity of royalty. My classification is : 

 League officers, fifty in numbers, " sachems; " all others ^'chiefs." The Tuscaroras, for 

 certain reasons, were not admitted to a perfect equality in the league. They were 

 not granted sachemships. Hence, Mt. Pleasant is not a sachem, only a chief. His 

 talent and character might, indeed, constitute him the head chief of his tribe, but I 

 doubt if his successor in name would take the same rank or exercise the same influ- 

 ence over the tribe that he does. Besides, the sachems alone can exercise a general 

 authority in the league, while the chiefs' authority is confined to their respective 

 tribes or bands. To invent a new name now for our fifty league "officers would pro- 

 duce endless confusion in papers and books relating to them and their affairs. The 

 task is too herculean to undertake. 



Pardon me for having been so prolix. I may also have failed to make myself un- 

 derstood, for I have been compelled for want of time to leave out a great deal of ex- 

 planatory matter. But you are such a good Indianologist that I feel certain of your 

 ability to compreh end me. 



I am, with respect, your obedient servant, 



ELY S. PARKER. 



264. ( ), Deep Lake; an old chief. Painted in 3830. (No plate.) 



265. ( ), Round Island ; warrior, half-blood. Painted in 1830. (No plate.) 



A very handsome fellow. 



266. ( ), Hard Hickory; a very ferocious looking, but a mild and amiable 



man. Painted in 1829. 



(Plate No. 204, page 104, vol. 2, Catlin's Eight Years.) 

 (See description below.) 



267. ( ), Good Hunter ; a warrior. Painted in 1829. 



(See Plate No. 203, page 104, vol. 2, Catlin's Eight Years.) 



Of this picture, aud of No. 204, Hard Hickory, Mr. Catiin, page 104, 

 volume 2, Catlin's Eight Years, writes : 



Good Hunter (Plates Nos. 203, 267) and Hard Hickory (Plates Nos. 209,266) are fail- 

 specimens of the warriors of this tribe, or rather hunters : or, perhaps, still more cor- 



