﻿36 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Mr 
  Crisfield 
  Johnson 
  mentions 
  that 
  in 
  1796 
  there 
  came 
  to 
  Buffalo 
  

   Asa 
  Ransom, 
  " 
  a 
  silversmith 
  by 
  trade, 
  who 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  went 
  to 
  work 
  

   making 
  silver 
  brooches, 
  earrings, 
  and 
  other 
  things 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  soul 
  

   of 
  the 
  red 
  man 
  and 
  the 
  red 
  man's 
  wife 
  so 
  greatly 
  delighted." 
  This 
  

   was 
  a 
  profitable 
  trade. 
  In 
  the 
  Richmond 
  collection 
  is 
  a 
  box 
  of 
  tools 
  

   and 
  patterns 
  for 
  making 
  silver 
  ornaments, 
  obtained 
  from 
  an 
  Indian. 
  

   Many 
  white 
  persons 
  have 
  seen 
  the 
  work 
  done. 
  Josiah 
  Jacobs, 
  of 
  

   the 
  Onondaga 
  reservation, 
  told 
  the 
  writer 
  that 
  his 
  uncle 
  Ju-ne- 
  

   gant-ha 
  " 
  The 
  tribe 
  is 
  very 
  large," 
  made 
  brooches 
  out 
  of 
  silver 
  coins 
  

   on 
  a 
  small 
  anvil. 
  These 
  were 
  hammered 
  out, 
  and 
  then 
  cut 
  out 
  by 
  

   patterns. 
  Punches 
  and 
  chisels 
  were 
  used, 
  and 
  his 
  greatest 
  difficulty 
  

   was 
  in 
  setting 
  colored 
  glass 
  in 
  pendants 
  and 
  earrings. 
  Other 
  smiths 
  

   are 
  known 
  by 
  name 
  to 
  the 
  writer. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  report 
  in 
  1852 
  Mr 
  Morgan 
  says 
  of 
  this: 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  silver 
  ornaments 
  in 
  later 
  years 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  

   by 
  Indian 
  silversmiths, 
  one 
  of 
  whom 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  nearly 
  every 
  

   Indian 
  village. 
  They 
  are 
  either 
  made 
  of 
  brass 
  or 
  silver, 
  or 
  from 
  

   silver 
  coins 
  pounded 
  out, 
  and 
  then 
  cut 
  into 
  patterns 
  with 
  metallic 
  

   instruments. 
  The 
  earrings 
  figured 
  in 
  the 
  plate 
  were 
  made 
  out 
  of 
  

   silver, 
  by 
  an 
  Onondaga 
  silversmith 
  of 
  Grand 
  River, 
  under 
  the 
  direc- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  writer. 
  Morgan. 
  Fabrics 
  etc. 
  p. 
  89 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  report 
  of 
  1850 
  he 
  said 
  that 
  hatbands, 
  arm 
  and 
  wrist 
  bands, 
  

   earrings 
  and 
  brooches 
  of 
  silver, 
  were 
  principally 
  of 
  Indian 
  manufac- 
  

   ture. 
  For 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  bars 
  and 
  sheets 
  of 
  silver 
  were 
  required. 
  

  

  Three 
  bronze 
  rings 
  were 
  found 
  near 
  finger 
  bones 
  in 
  a 
  bone 
  pit 
  

   on 
  the 
  Tuscarora 
  reservation, 
  probably 
  a 
  Neutral 
  ossuary. 
  Near 
  

   these 
  was 
  a 
  recent 
  Canadian 
  penny, 
  probably 
  dropped 
  there 
  in 
  ac- 
  

   cordance 
  with 
  a 
  local 
  custom. 
  When 
  the 
  Tuscaroras 
  disturb 
  bones 
  

   or 
  take 
  anything 
  from 
  graves, 
  they 
  leave 
  a 
  small 
  coin 
  as 
  an 
  atone- 
  

   ment 
  or 
  fair 
  exchange. 
  Thomas. 
  Explorations, 
  p. 
  513 
  

  

  Most 
  collections 
  made 
  from 
  recent 
  Iroquois 
  sites 
  have 
  these 
  

   bronze 
  rings, 
  and 
  those 
  represented 
  are 
  selected 
  from 
  the 
  many 
  

   which 
  have 
  met 
  the 
  writer's 
  eye. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  remarkable 
  is 
  

   perfectly 
  plain, 
  and 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  Hildburgh 
  collection. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  simple 
  

   brass 
  or 
  copper 
  cylinder, 
  about 
  } 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  long, 
  and 
  was 
  found 
  

   in 
  Ontario 
  county. 
  Fig. 
  366 
  shows 
  this 
  fine 
  example. 
  Many 
  arti- 
  

   cles 
  which 
  have 
  a 
  copper 
  hue 
  externally, 
  appear 
  yellow 
  when 
  cut. 
  

  

  