COUNCILS AND CEREMONIES OF ADOPTION OF NEW YORK INDIANS 413 



Probably the best account of the beginning of his mission is that 

 quoted by Morgan, as given by his grandson and successor, Sose- 

 ha-wa, at a religious council in 1848. This is substantially the same 

 as that related by a later preacher at Onondaga in 1894, of which 

 a full report was secured. After telling of his four years illness 

 Handsome Lake said : 



I began to have an inward conviction that my end was near. I 

 resolved once more to exchange friendly words with my people, 

 and I sent my daughter to summon my brothers Gy-ant-wa-ka, or 

 Cornplanter, and Ta-wan-ne-ars, or Blacksnake ... A man spoke 

 from without and asked that someone might come forth. I arose, 

 and as I attempted to step over the threshold of my door I stumbled, 

 and would have fallen had they not caught me. They were three 

 holy men, who looked alike and were dressed alike. There was 

 another whom I would see later. The paint they wore seemed but 

 one day old. Each had in his hand a shrub bearing different kinds 

 of fruits. One of them addressing me said : We have come to com- 

 fort you. Take of these berries and eat; they will restore you to 

 health. Morgan, p. 234 



Before his daughter returned he seemed dead, but Blacksnake 

 found parts of his body still warm. It was the early morning. 

 When the sun was halfway to the zenith he opened his eyes, but 

 answered no questions and closed them again. At noon he awoke 

 once more, telling what he had seen and rehearsing it next day 

 to the assembled people. The official statement at Onondaga was 

 to the same effect, but the common story is that he lay several days 

 inanimate, as follows : " The people gathered for the burial, but 

 for some cause Cornplanter had the funeral delayed, and after 

 three days the spirit of Handsome Lake came back to the body and 

 it lived again." The source of this variation is obvious, but it is 

 not supported by the preaching. 



For full information on the doctrines of the new religion refer- 

 ence is made to the two accounts mentioned, though the leading 

 features will be sketched now, principal stress being laid on the 

 gathering in its mode of procedure. It is called by sending out 

 strings of white wampum, with the usual tally stick attached, as 

 in figure 2. White wampum only is used while the preaching lasts. 

 For this there are 10 long strings united in a bunch as in figure 1. 

 At the meeting at Onondaga in 1894, the return of the invitation 

 wampum, the welcome speeches and answers, formed one day's 



