10 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



intemperance for a century had made serious inroads on the domestic 

 and social Hfe of his people. It had demoralized their national life 

 and caused his brother chiefs to barter land for the means of a 

 debauch. It threatened the extinction of his people. Such were 

 the factors that induced the revelation. 



He was a man past the prime of life, a man weakened by disease 

 and drunkenness. Yet he assumed the role of teacher and prophet. 

 In two years' time his efforts were conducive of so much reform 

 that they attracted the attention of President Jefferson who caused 

 Secretary of War Dearborn to write a letter commending the teach- 

 ings of Handsome Lake. The Seneca construed this as a recogni- 

 tion of the prophet's right to teach and prophesy. The nature of 

 the document is revealed in the following letter, a copy of which is 

 in the possession of every religious chief of the Six Nations : 



Brothers — The President is pleased with seeing you all in 

 good health, after so long a journey, and he rejoices in his heart 

 that one of ynur own people has been employed to make you 

 sober, good and happy; and that he is so well disposed to give 

 you good advice, and to set before you so good examples. 



Brothers — If all the red people follow the advice of your 

 friend and teacher, the Handsome Lake, and in future will be 

 sober, honest, industrious and good, there can be no doubt but the 

 Great Spirit will take care of you and make you happy. 



This letter came as one of the results of Handsome Lake's visit 

 in 1802, to Washington with a delegation of Seneca and Onondaga 

 chiefs. The successful results of his two years' ministry became 

 more fruitful as time went on. In 1809 a number of members of 

 the Society of Friends visiting Onondaga left the following record 

 of the effects of the prophet's teachings : " We were informed, not 

 only by themselves, but by the interpreter, that they totally refrained 

 from the use of ardent spirits for about nine years, and that none 

 of the natives will touch it." 



The success of Handsome Lake's teachings did much to crystal- 

 lize the Iroquois as a distinct social group. The encroachments of 

 civilization had demoralized the old order of things. The old be- 

 liefs, though still held, had no coherence. The ancient system had 

 no longer definite organization and thus no specific hold. 



The frauds which the Six Nations had suffered, the loss of land 

 and of ancient seats had reduced them to poverty and disheartened 

 them. The crushing blow of Sullivan's campaign was yet felt and 

 the wounds then inflicted were fresh. The national order of the 

 Confederacy was destroyed. Poverty, the sting of defeat, the loss 

 of ancestral homes, the memory of broken promises and the hostility 



