ABORIGINAL USE OF WOOD IN NEW YORK l6l 



vices. In the deep snows of winter the snowshoe became a great 

 aid, but nothing helped his feet in summer. As soon as possible, he 

 availed himself of the horse, though it never became to him what it 

 was to the prairie Indian. Wentworth Greenhalgh rode to Canan- 

 daigua and beyond on horseback in 1677; Colonel Romer rode to 

 Onondaga in 1700; less than 50 years later parties of horsemen came 

 there from Pennsylvania. By that time the Iroquois had horses, and 

 probably much before. When Canassatego and his chiefs came to 

 Lancaster Pa. in 1744, Witham Marshe wrote: " The deputies of 

 the Six Nations, with their followers and attendants, to 1 the number 

 of 252, arrived in town. Several of their squaws, or wives, with 

 some small children, rode on horse-back, which is very unusual with 

 them." Marshe, 7: 178 



He noted also that " they placed their cabins according to the rank 

 each nation of them holds in their grand council. The Onondagoes 

 nation was placed on the right hand and upper end, then the others 

 according to their several dignities." Roger Williams noted their 

 desire for horses in New England. At the close of the colonial 

 period the Senecas had many horses, and Mr Morgan represented 

 a saddle of the 19th century, called ah- da' -da- qua. At present all 

 prefer driving to riding. 



Snowshoes vary much in construction ; but New York forms are 

 usually a light frame, covered with a network of sinews or leather. 

 The frame is pyriform in outline, usually not quite 3 feet long and 

 nearly half as broad. The network, which has apertures about an 

 inch across, covers all but a short space near the front, where the 

 foot is fastened, allowing the toes to turn down when the heel 

 rises. Fig. 2 is from an Onondaga example, 4 feet long. Mr Mor- 

 gan has a good figure of a snowshoe, which the Senecas call 

 ga-weh'-ga. The Onondagas term it ta-yiin-twen-ky-en-tuk'-wah, 

 putting a board on the foot. 



Among the Hudson bay Eskimos the Nenenot use four kinds of 

 snowshoes, the swallow tail, beaver tail, round end and single bar. 

 All these have network, but vary in outline. Those of Little Whale 

 river are of a long oval form and made of flat spruce boards. These 

 are used in soft snow. Bruyas may allude to something like this, 



