﻿FIFTH 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  DIRECTOR 
  I908 
  59 
  

  

  SENECA 
  SILVERSMITH'S 
  TOOL 
  OUTFIT 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1907 
  the 
  writer 
  was 
  informed 
  by 
  a 
  number 
  

   of 
  Indians 
  from 
  the 
  Allegany 
  Reservation 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  silver- 
  

   smith's 
  outfit 
  of 
  tools 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  Silversmith 
  George, 
  an 
  

   old 
  Seneca 
  Indian 
  living 
  near 
  Tunesassa 
  on 
  the 
  Allegany 
  river. 
  

   Knowing 
  the 
  extreme 
  rarity 
  of 
  such 
  tool 
  kits 
  an 
  immediate 
  effort 
  

   was 
  made 
  to 
  secure 
  it. 
  Smith 
  George 
  was 
  visited 
  and 
  the 
  outfit 
  

   purchased 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  dollars. 
  It 
  was 
  incomplete 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  the 
  

   State 
  Museum 
  had 
  not 
  a 
  single 
  Indian 
  silverworker's 
  tool. 
  As 
  much 
  

   information 
  was 
  obtained 
  as 
  could 
  be 
  imparted 
  by 
  Mr 
  George, 
  

   whose 
  deceased 
  brother 
  had 
  been 
  the 
  real 
  skilled 
  worker. 
  During 
  

   the 
  summer 
  of 
  1908 
  another 
  outfit 
  was 
  located 
  on 
  the 
  Cattaraugus 
  

   Reservation. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  Mrs 
  Nancy 
  Mohawk 
  and 
  

   was 
  purchased 
  through 
  the 
  good 
  offices 
  of 
  Chief 
  Delos 
  Big 
  Kittle, 
  

   known 
  to 
  his 
  fellow 
  tribesmen 
  as 
  Chief 
  Soinowa. 
  This 
  outfit 
  was 
  

   complete 
  except 
  for 
  the 
  brass 
  patterns 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  loaned 
  to 
  a 
  

   son 
  in 
  law. 
  It 
  was 
  promised 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  restored 
  for 
  a 
  

   few 
  dollars 
  more 
  and 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  outfit 
  already 
  in 
  hand. 
  

  

  The 
  outfit 
  as 
  it 
  stood 
  consisted 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  stained 
  pine 
  table 
  with 
  

   a 
  drawer 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  partitioned 
  off 
  to 
  contain 
  the 
  various 
  

   tools 
  which 
  consisted 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  hundred 
  chisels, 
  several 
  home- 
  

   made 
  saws 
  fashioned 
  from 
  case 
  knives, 
  a 
  blow 
  pipe, 
  a 
  candlestick, 
  

   hammers, 
  pinchers, 
  a 
  small 
  table 
  vise, 
  punches, 
  dies, 
  awls, 
  gravers, 
  

   files 
  etc., 
  and 
  several 
  boxes 
  of 
  silver 
  cuttings, 
  chips, 
  brooches 
  in 
  pro- 
  

   cess, 
  earrings 
  in 
  process, 
  glass 
  in 
  various 
  stages 
  of 
  the 
  shaping 
  

   process 
  for 
  mounts 
  etc. 
  A 
  small 
  partition 
  contained 
  several 
  flint 
  

   drills 
  and 
  a 
  flint 
  graver, 
  also 
  eight 
  pieces 
  of 
  flat 
  deer 
  bone 
  in 
  pro- 
  

   cess 
  of 
  manufacture 
  into 
  gaming 
  buttons. 
  

  

  As 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  outfit 
  secured 
  on 
  the 
  previous 
  year 
  as 
  many 
  

   data 
  as 
  the 
  Indian 
  owners 
  could 
  furnish, 
  prompted 
  by 
  vigorous 
  

   questioning, 
  were 
  secured. 
  Questions 
  which 
  might 
  suggest 
  answers 
  

   were 
  not 
  asked 
  in 
  any 
  instance, 
  this 
  being 
  a 
  better 
  method 
  to 
  employ 
  

   when 
  interrogating 
  Indians 
  unaccustomed 
  to 
  analytical 
  studies, 
  and 
  

   who 
  many 
  times 
  will 
  acquiesce 
  to 
  a 
  suggested 
  reply. 
  

  

  The 
  outfit 
  purchased 
  from 
  Mrs 
  Mohawk, 
  according 
  to 
  her 
  state- 
  

   ment, 
  once 
  belonged 
  to 
  Chief 
  Tommy 
  Jemmy, 
  who 
  was 
  once 
  tried 
  

   for 
  murder 
  in 
  Buffalo, 
  his 
  offense 
  being 
  the 
  execution 
  of 
  a 
  witch 
  

   in 
  accord 
  with 
  the 
  national 
  laws 
  of 
  the 
  Seneca 
  Indians. 
  His 
  de- 
  

   fense 
  by 
  Red 
  Jacket 
  was 
  a 
  masterpiece 
  of 
  eloquence 
  and 
  a 
  stinging 
  

   rebuke 
  to 
  meddlers 
  with 
  Indian 
  affairs 
  who 
  teach 
  Indians 
  a 
  thing 
  

   one 
  moment 
  and 
  punish 
  them 
  the 
  next 
  for 
  following 
  that 
  teaching. 
  

   Red 
  Jacket's 
  philippic 
  is 
  now 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  classics 
  of 
  Indian 
  oratory. 
  

   Jemmy's 
  silversmithing 
  tools 
  passed 
  to 
  his 
  descendants 
  and 
  finally 
  

   to 
  Mrs 
  Mohawk. 
  

  

  A 
  number 
  of 
  photographs 
  were 
  taken 
  showing 
  the 
  uses 
  of 
  the 
  

   various 
  tools. 
  Several 
  experiments 
  were 
  conducted 
  in 
  die 
  stamp- 
  

   ing, 
  graving 
  and 
  melting 
  silver 
  by 
  blowpiping 
  a 
  candle 
  flame 
  upon 
  

   the 
  metal 
  held 
  in 
  the 
  hollow 
  in 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  hard 
  wood. 
  The 
  silver 
  

   melted, 
  fused 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  withdrawal 
  of 
  the 
  flame 
  hardened 
  into 
  

   a 
  small 
  button. 
  

  

  