WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 43/ 



nothing in comparison with his words." Four great belts were 

 given. Others followed from a Cayuga chief. During the stay of 

 the French colony at Onondaga lake, one of the most touching 

 incidents was the presentation of eight belts by the Onondagas, on 

 the death of two Frenchmen in 1656. This was in keeping with 

 their usual customs, for '' these nations make each year reciprocally 

 presents of friendship in the councils and public assemblies." 



It will suffice to mention a few out of the many belts recorded in 

 the Jesuit Relations and in various colonial documents. In 1646 

 Father Jogues gave a belt of 5000 beads to the A/[ohawks, to break 

 the bonds of a French child, and another for the deliverance of a 

 Huron girl. He also gave some Onondagas 2000 beads to an- 

 nounce the coming of the French. In 1661 a Cayuga ambassador 

 came to Montreal and ''displayed 20 beautiful presents of porcelain, 

 which spoke more eloquently than he, though he failed not to speak 

 with good grace, and to deduce all points of his embassy with 

 spirit." When Garakontie arranged an embassy of Onondagas and 

 Senecas in 1664, he " made for this a prodigious collection of porce- 

 lain, which is the gold of the country, in order to make us the most 

 beautiful presents which had ever been made us. There were 

 among others a hundred collars, of which some were more than a 

 foot wide." The embassy was attacked and scattered on the way 

 to Canada. 



Among belts sent by the French in 1670, on account of the 

 murder of some Oneidas and Senecas, the most beautiful was one 

 of 5000 black beads intended for the latter nation. The murderers 

 were punished; but the missionary shrewdly adds, "They approved 

 of the governor's justice, but I nevertheless believe that they would 

 have better liked 10 collars of porcelain than the death of these 

 three Frenchmen." Chauvigniere, called Raghquanonda by the In- 

 dians, brought a French belt to Onondaga in 1747, which was 7 

 feet long and 6 inches wide. The Iroquois presented several belts 

 at Albany in 1682, which were 15 and 16 rows deep. In 1713 four 

 southern nations came to Onondaga with 20 large belts and six 

 strings, and sent 10 more belts the next year. The Nanticokes sent 



