292 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



occupation in New York and Ontario, we are led to believe that 

 the Huron-Iroquois were the immediate successors of the mound 

 building people in this area. Our belief is confirmed by the abun- 

 dance of polished slates in Ontario in close proximity to the later 

 Huron-Neutral sites. This fact has confused some archeologists, 

 and led to the statement that the polished slates are Huron or 

 Neutral artifacts, but the graves of the two peoples tell different 

 stories. 



The Iroquois once established culturally, did not copy mound 

 artifacts. Indeed, they seem to have deliberately avoided the use 

 of the distinguishing badges of their vanquished foes. Just as the 

 conquerors of the first mound people of Ohio beat up the mica 

 ornaments and hammered into shapeless masses the copper tools 

 and gorgets of their despised victims so did the Iroquois taboo or 

 avoid with deliberateness, the banner stone and the gorget and 

 similar artifacts of polished slate. And do not even civilized peoples 

 in conflict, renounce academic degrees and decorations given by 

 enemies when amity did exist ? 



Thus we may account for the difference between the pottery, 

 decorative art, implements and earth works of the Iroquois and 

 their predecessors. This difference likewise makes it possible for us 

 to define the polished slate area and fix the limits of the Iroquoian. 



One final and important observation remains to be made concern- 

 ing the similarity of the mound-building people with the Iroquois. 

 The mound-builder and the Iroquoian culture areas adjoin and 

 overlap. These two areas are characterized by the highest artistic 

 development in America north of Mexico, excluding perhaps the 

 northwest coast and the Pueblo areas. The pipes of the mound- 

 builders carved with effigies of animate forms are beautiful specimens 

 of aboriginal art. Many of the carvings are realistic. In the 

 adjoining Iroquoian area, later in its development we find another 

 sort of smoking pipe modeled from clay. On many of these pipes 

 are modeled forms of birds, animals and human figures and faces. 

 The point of essential difference between the pipe art of the mound 

 building Indians and the Iroquois is that the former employed stone 

 and the latter clay. One carved and the other modeled, but each 

 produced the finest types of pipes of their kind and each demonstrated 

 a fine capacity for imitating zoomorphic forms. There is a kinship 

 in this artistic feeling that speaks perhaps of mere contact and 

 perhaps of the closer ties of blood. 



