88 [Senate 



Indian art. The mythology of the Iroquois taught that it was a 

 journey of ten days from earth to heaven after death. They conse- 

 quently buried with the dead, guns, tomahawks, bows and arrows, 

 pipes, brass and earthen vessels containing corn, venison, etc.; and 

 in general all the valuables of the deceased, as they would be needed 

 for the journey. Similar customs appear to have prevailed through- 

 out the whole Indian Family. Among the specimens furnished are 

 several which were found beside the skeletons of Indians. Three of 

 the four iron tomahawks were found buried in this manner. The 

 brass kettle was taken from an Indian grave at the site of the old 

 Indian village of Ga-nun-da-sa-ga, near Geneva, which was destrojed 

 by General Sullivan in September 1779. It was thrown out by the 

 ploughshare five years since, after having lain in the earth at least 

 half a century. The gun lock, and portion of a rifle barrel, were 

 also found beside the skeleton of an Indian in Mendon, Monroe 

 county; the skeleton being in a sitting posture, with the gun barrel 

 against the shoulder. 



One specimen of an oval stone, with a groove around its greatest 

 length, is furnished. Stones of this description were set in the heads 

 of war-clubs by means of thongs, and thus made formidable weapons. 



Perhaps the most singular relic in this little collection is the Moc- 

 cason Needle. It was found at Fort Hill near Leroy in the county 

 of Genesee, beside a skeleton very much decayed.. The bone is from 

 the deer, and taken near the fort. Similar bones are found in the 

 Ohio mounds. The Iroquois used the same bone of the deer, and 

 for the same purpose. In fact it is from the known use to which 

 the Iroquois put this bone, that we infer that the Mound Builders 

 used it for similar purposes, and we thus establish an identity of art 

 between them in moccason making. Of the people who constructed 

 the trench enclosures upon the hill tops in our State, we know 

 nothing. Their works, although inferior in magnitude and different 

 in style from the embankments and enclosures of the West, are 

 nevertheless possessed of the same general features; and there is every 

 reason to believe that they are the remains of the same people who 

 built the mounds. The Iroquois know nothing of these trench en- 

 closures. They disdain all connection with them, and all knowledge 

 of their objects. Not even a tradition have they preserved con- 

 cerning them. When the area within these enclosures is turned 

 with the plow, fragments of pottery, of shells, and of human bones 

 are found mingled with the soil; and not unfrequently stone pipes of 

 singular design, implements, and ornamen^:s are thus brought again 

 into light. The Moccason Needle in question was found in this 

 way. When this Fort Hill was first visited by the white man, trees 



