﻿METALLIC 
  ORNAMENTS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  INDIANS 
  51 
  

  

  to 
  be 
  given 
  to 
  y 
  e 
  Chief 
  Warriors, 
  to 
  be 
  worn 
  about 
  their 
  necks 
  as 
  a 
  

   token 
  that 
  they 
  shall 
  allwaies 
  be 
  in 
  a 
  readinesse 
  to 
  fight 
  under 
  her 
  

   Banner 
  against 
  the 
  common 
  enemy. 
  O'Callaghan. 
  Col. 
  Hist. 
  5:222 
  

  

  Very 
  proud, 
  doubtless, 
  were 
  these 
  hundred 
  warriors, 
  but 
  the 
  cus- 
  

   tom 
  begun 
  by 
  the 
  English 
  two 
  centuries 
  ago, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  French 
  

   still 
  earlier, 
  has 
  come 
  down 
  to 
  our 
  own 
  day. 
  

  

  In 
  July 
  1 
  72 
  1 
  the 
  governor 
  of 
  Pennsylvania 
  presented 
  the 
  Seneca 
  

   chief 
  Ghesont 
  with 
  a 
  gold 
  coronation 
  medal 
  of 
  the 
  king, 
  charging 
  

   him 
  " 
  to 
  deliver 
  this 
  piece 
  into 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  man 
  or 
  greatest 
  

   chief 
  of 
  the 
  Five 
  Nations, 
  whom 
  you 
  call 
  Kannygoodk, 
  to 
  be 
  laid 
  up 
  

   and 
  kept 
  " 
  as 
  a 
  token 
  of 
  friendship 
  between 
  them. 
  Hazard. 
  

   Minutes, 
  3 
  1130 
  

  

  Possibly 
  the 
  plate 
  mentioned 
  in 
  Penhallow's 
  Indian 
  Wars 
  was 
  

   silver 
  medals 
  or 
  badges. 
  The 
  Six 
  Nations 
  and 
  Scaghticoke 
  Indians 
  

   were 
  well 
  received 
  in 
  Boston 
  in 
  1723, 
  and 
  the 
  lieutenant 
  governor 
  

   " 
  gave 
  each 
  of 
  them 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  plate, 
  with 
  figures 
  engraven 
  

   thereon, 
  as 
  a 
  turtle, 
  a 
  bear, 
  a 
  hatchet, 
  a 
  wolf, 
  etc., 
  which 
  are 
  the 
  

   escutcheons 
  of 
  their 
  several 
  tribes. 
  And 
  the 
  more 
  to 
  oblige 
  them 
  

   to 
  our 
  interest, 
  they 
  had 
  a 
  promise 
  made 
  of 
  one 
  hundred 
  pounds 
  a 
  

   scalp, 
  for 
  every 
  Indian 
  that 
  they 
  killed 
  or 
  took." 
  Penhallow, 
  1 
  :ioi 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Canadian 
  Antiquarian 
  and 
  Numismatic 
  Journal 
  for 
  January 
  

   1899, 
  Mr 
  R. 
  W. 
  McLachlan 
  gave 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  medals 
  awarded 
  to 
  

   Canadian 
  Indians. 
  In 
  this 
  are 
  many 
  interesting 
  particulars, 
  the 
  

   author 
  being 
  a 
  specialist 
  in 
  these, 
  and 
  putting 
  many 
  early 
  notices 
  

   in 
  an 
  accessible 
  form. 
  The 
  following 
  observation 
  is 
  of 
  general 
  in- 
  

   terest: 
  

  

  Size 
  was 
  of 
  great 
  importance 
  to 
  the 
  red 
  man, 
  who 
  was 
  no 
  admirer 
  

   of 
  miniature 
  medals. 
  Some 
  were 
  struck 
  exceeding 
  three 
  inches 
  in 
  

   diameter. 
  These 
  were 
  for 
  the 
  great 
  chiefs, 
  for 
  there 
  were 
  smaller 
  

   medals 
  for 
  lesser 
  lights. 
  . 
  . 
  While 
  we 
  may 
  be 
  inclined 
  to 
  believe 
  

   that 
  more 
  minor 
  than 
  great 
  medals 
  were 
  distributed, 
  as 
  there 
  

   could 
  not 
  help 
  but 
  be 
  more 
  lesser 
  than 
  " 
  Great 
  Chiefs," 
  this 
  fact 
  is 
  

   not 
  borne 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  existing 
  medals; 
  the 
  larger 
  medals 
  

   are 
  by 
  far 
  the 
  more 
  abundant. 
  This 
  may, 
  in 
  a 
  measure, 
  be 
  accounted 
  

   for 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  minor 
  chiefs 
  more 
  readily 
  parted 
  with 
  their 
  

   medals; 
  and 
  that, 
  too, 
  at 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  there 
  were 
  few 
  collectors 
  in 
  

   the 
  country 
  to 
  secure 
  and 
  hand 
  them 
  down 
  to 
  posterity, 
  while 
  the 
  

   great 
  chiefs' 
  medals 
  passed 
  from 
  father 
  to 
  son 
  as 
  an 
  insignia 
  of 
  

   office. 
  . 
  . 
  Old 
  silversmiths 
  relate 
  that, 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  60 
  years 
  ago, 
  

  

  