﻿HISTORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  IROQUOIS 
  I49 
  

  

  All 
  traditions 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  league 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  Senecas 
  were 
  

   the 
  last 
  to 
  join, 
  and 
  their 
  own 
  date 
  may 
  be 
  cited 
  from 
  Schoolcraft 
  : 
  

   " 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  tradition 
  among 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  Senecas, 
  that 
  the 
  

   present 
  confederation 
  took 
  place 
  four 
  years 
  before 
  Hudson 
  sailed 
  

   up 
  the 
  river 
  bearing 
  his 
  name. 
  This 
  gives 
  A. 
  D. 
  1605." 
  Then 
  

   Schoolcraft 
  learned 
  that 
  Ephraim 
  Webster 
  was 
  told 
  by 
  the 
  Onon- 
  

   dagas 
  that 
  the 
  true 
  date 
  was 
  " 
  about 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  one 
  man's 
  life 
  

   before 
  the 
  white 
  men 
  appeared." 
  What 
  white 
  men 
  this 
  inland 
  

   nation 
  meant 
  may 
  be 
  a 
  question. 
  On 
  the 
  date 
  J. 
  V. 
  H. 
  Clark 
  

   cited 
  the 
  same 
  person 
  : 
  " 
  Webster, 
  the 
  Onondaga 
  interpreter, 
  and 
  

   good 
  authority, 
  states 
  it 
  at 
  about 
  two 
  generations 
  before 
  the 
  

   white 
  people 
  came 
  to 
  trade 
  with 
  the 
  Indians." 
  

  

  In 
  1875 
  some 
  Onondaga 
  chiefs 
  told 
  Mr 
  Hale 
  that 
  " 
  it 
  was 
  their 
  

   belief 
  that 
  the 
  confederacy 
  was 
  formed 
  about 
  six 
  generations 
  

   before 
  the 
  white 
  people 
  came 
  to 
  these 
  parts." 
  He 
  allowed 
  25 
  

   years 
  to 
  a 
  generation 
  or 
  150 
  years 
  for 
  all. 
  Deduct 
  these 
  from 
  

   1609 
  and 
  there 
  remains 
  Morgan's 
  date 
  of 
  1459. 
  The 
  same 
  Onon- 
  

   dagas 
  afterward 
  testified 
  in 
  court 
  that 
  the 
  date 
  was 
  about 
  1600. 
  

   It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  such 
  statements 
  are 
  not 
  reliable. 
  What 
  does 
  

   history, 
  what 
  does 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  country 
  itself 
  say? 
  

  

  In 
  1535 
  Jacques 
  Cartier 
  ascended 
  the 
  St 
  Lawrence 
  to 
  Quebec 
  

   and 
  Montreal, 
  finding 
  Iroquois 
  spoken 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  all 
  the 
  way, 
  

   and 
  preserving 
  many 
  words 
  and 
  names. 
  At 
  Montreal 
  he 
  visited 
  

   and 
  described 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  town 
  of 
  Hochelaga. 
  They 
  long 
  

   remembered 
  that 
  visit 
  and 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  mentioned 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  council 
  

   at 
  Albany, 
  June 
  2, 
  1691, 
  though 
  they 
  may 
  have 
  referred 
  to 
  

   Captain 
  Jacobs, 
  who 
  reached 
  Albany 
  in 
  1623, 
  or 
  perhaps 
  con- 
  

   fused 
  both 
  with 
  Hudson's 
  coming. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  been 
  informed 
  by 
  our 
  Forefathers 
  that 
  in 
  former 
  

   times 
  a 
  Ship 
  arrived 
  here 
  in 
  this 
  Country 
  which 
  was 
  matter 
  of 
  

   great 
  admiration 
  to 
  us, 
  especially 
  our 
  desire 
  was 
  to 
  know 
  what 
  

   was 
  within 
  her 
  Belly. 
  In 
  that 
  Ship 
  were 
  Christians, 
  amongst 
  

   the 
  rest 
  one 
  Jaques 
  with 
  whom 
  we 
  made 
  a 
  Covenant 
  of 
  friend- 
  

   ship, 
  which 
  covenant 
  hath 
  since 
  been 
  tied 
  together 
  with 
  a 
  chaine 
  

   and 
  always 
  ever 
  since 
  kept 
  inviolable 
  by 
  the 
  Brethren 
  and 
  us. 
  

  

  A 
  probable 
  reference 
  to 
  Cartier's 
  visit 
  by 
  the 
  Mohawks 
  is 
  found 
  

   on 
  the 
  map 
  of 
  1616, 
  and 
  is 
  thus 
  translated 
  : 
  " 
  But 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  one 
  can 
  

  

  