﻿1 
  82 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Governor 
  Blacksnake's 
  well 
  known 
  story. 
  The 
  Kahkwahs 
  chal- 
  

   lenged 
  the 
  Senecas 
  to 
  athletic 
  contests, 
  and 
  were 
  beaten 
  with 
  

   sanguinary 
  results. 
  "Mortified 
  and 
  angry, 
  they 
  went 
  home 
  and 
  

   were 
  soon 
  on 
  the 
  warpath. 
  Learning 
  their 
  purpose, 
  the 
  Senecas 
  

   went 
  forth 
  to 
  meet 
  them, 
  and 
  after 
  a 
  long 
  and 
  hard 
  battle 
  were 
  

   victorious. 
  

  

  David 
  Cusick 
  gave 
  the 
  common 
  Iroquois 
  belief 
  when 
  he 
  said 
  : 
  

   "About 
  this 
  time 
  the 
  Kanneastokaroneah 
  or 
  Erians 
  sprung 
  from 
  

   the 
  Senecas, 
  and 
  became 
  numerous 
  and 
  powerful 
  nation, 
  occupy- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  country 
  lying 
  between 
  the 
  Genesee 
  and 
  Niagara 
  rivers." 
  

  

  This 
  name 
  is 
  quite 
  different 
  from 
  Kahkwah 
  ; 
  but, 
  while 
  Erie 
  

   means 
  a 
  cat, 
  kahkwah 
  is 
  an 
  eye 
  swelled 
  like 
  a 
  cat's. 
  Another 
  

   identification 
  has 
  been 
  suggested 
  by 
  the 
  traditional 
  overthrow 
  of 
  

   the 
  Squawkie 
  Indians. 
  David 
  Cusick 
  also 
  gave 
  the 
  primitive 
  

   name 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  as 
  Kau-ha-gwa-rah-ka, 
  correctly 
  interpreted 
  

   as 
  a 
  cap, 
  and 
  this 
  by 
  contraction 
  resembles 
  the 
  word 
  in 
  question. 
  

   However 
  this 
  may 
  be, 
  it 
  seems 
  reasonable 
  to 
  make 
  Eighteen 
  

   Mile 
  creek 
  the 
  boundary 
  between 
  the 
  Eries 
  and 
  Neutrals. 
  In 
  the 
  

   Relation 
  of 
  1641 
  we 
  are 
  told 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Neutral 
  towns 
  " 
  there 
  are 
  

   three 
  or 
  four 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  side 
  [of 
  Niagara 
  river], 
  extending 
  

   from 
  east 
  to 
  west 
  toward 
  the 
  Eries 
  or 
  Cat 
  Nation." 
  These 
  may 
  

   have 
  remained 
  awhile 
  longer. 
  

  

  In 
  1640 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  were 
  enraged 
  by 
  a 
  French 
  collision, 
  and 
  

   proclaimed 
  that 
  the 
  Hurons 
  and 
  French 
  should 
  be 
  treated 
  alike. 
  

   The 
  Mohawks 
  captured 
  two 
  Frenchmen 
  and 
  took 
  them 
  home 
  in 
  

   triumph, 
  as 
  living 
  evidences 
  that 
  they 
  could 
  cope 
  with 
  the 
  

   whites. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  Iroquois 
  delivered 
  them 
  that 
  they 
  

   might 
  become 
  messengers 
  of 
  peace, 
  and 
  came 
  to 
  Three 
  Rivers 
  

   with 
  the 
  captives, 
  June 
  15, 
  1641, 
  with 
  20 
  well 
  armed 
  canoes. 
  

   They 
  wished 
  peace 
  with 
  the 
  French, 
  but 
  plundered 
  four 
  Algon- 
  

   quin 
  canoes 
  in 
  their 
  sight, 
  having 
  determined 
  to 
  exterminate 
  the 
  

   Algonquins 
  and 
  Montagnais. 
  They 
  also 
  proposed 
  a 
  French 
  

   settlement 
  in 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  country, 
  but 
  negotiations 
  failed, 
  and 
  

   they 
  at 
  once 
  became 
  hostile, 
  so 
  sudden 
  were 
  their 
  changes. 
  One 
  

   party 
  destroyed 
  five 
  Huron 
  canoes 
  a 
  little 
  farther 
  west, 
  killing 
  

   or 
  capturing 
  those 
  on 
  board. 
  So 
  great 
  was 
  their 
  rage, 
  so 
  per- 
  

  

  