1^8 NEW ^■()RK 



ATE .MUSEUM 



The raids of the Adirondack or Abenaki of the north, and the 

 hostility of the southern Iroquois at length compelled the Lauren- 

 tian Iroquois, the Mohawk, Onondaga and Oneida tribes, to form 

 a compact which later took in the Cayuga and then the Seneca. 



The Onondaga early had pushed farther south, leaving their east 

 Cmtario (Jefferson county) strongholds and occupying the hilly 

 country south of Onondaga lake, in the present Onondaga county. 

 The incursions of the Abenaki made this necessary. The Mohawk 

 soon followed owing to disagreements with the Laurentian Huron. 

 In their southern migration they came upon the Mohawk valley 

 country where they established themselves first on the highlands 

 north of the river, in the present Fulton and Montgomery counties, 

 and later on the southern side of the river. The Oneida band, long a 

 separate body, moved westward into the highlands of jNladison 

 county. Still west and on the hills near Limestone creek were the 

 Onondaga and beyond them the Cayuga living along the Seneca 

 river and southward about Cayuga lake. 



Between these divisions of Iroquois in spite of a common origin 

 and common stock dialects there were frequent feuds and much 

 jealousy. In general their southern neighbors gave them too much 

 trouble to leave much time for war between themselves. The 

 Mohawk sent war parties north to harass their foes, the Huron and 

 Abenaki and even the Micmac, but in turn were disturbed by the 

 Conestoga or Andaste, whose Chemung valley settlements made war 

 on the Cayuga also. The Seneca and Erie tribes in the Genesee 

 country and along Lake Erie were in constant intercourse and per- 

 haps allied for defensive purposes. The westernmost Seneca set- 

 tlements were especially friendly w^th the Erie. On both sides of 

 the Niagara river were the villages of the Attiwandaronk or Neu- 

 tral, considered an old and parent body of all the Huron-Iroquois. 

 Within one of their villages near the Niagara lived Ji-gon-sa-seh. 

 " The Mother of Nations," a woman who was a lineal descendant of 

 " the first woman of earth." 



The Neutral had a series of eastern settlements occui)icd by a 

 band calling themselves the Wenro. 



The pressure of the eastern Irocpiois and the additional i)o\ver 

 their friendship would give, made the idea of a confederacy to the 

 Seneca an inviting one and a large portion of the nation subscribed 

 to it. The Erie were not kindly disposed to the idea and the south- 

 ern Iroquois were not at all attracted by it. The Neutral saw no 

 need of enterincr the lea^rue since thev made no local w:ir and since 



