﻿HISTORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  IROQUOIS 
  389 
  

  

  No 
  allotment 
  can 
  be 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  Six 
  Nations 
  lands, 
  nor 
  can 
  an 
  

   assignment 
  in 
  severalty 
  of 
  them 
  be 
  had 
  on 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  a 
  common 
  

   and 
  general 
  division 
  or 
  absolute 
  removal, 
  as 
  is 
  usual 
  with 
  ordi- 
  

   nary 
  reservation 
  Indians. 
  The 
  present 
  occupancy 
  or 
  recorded 
  

   titles 
  would 
  prevent 
  this, 
  and 
  the 
  courts 
  would 
  undoubtedly 
  pro- 
  

   tect 
  them. 
  While 
  land 
  tenure 
  among 
  the 
  Six 
  Nations 
  is, 
  as 
  a 
  

   rule, 
  secure 
  in 
  the 
  families 
  enjoying 
  it, 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  title 
  for 
  

   many 
  years 
  largely 
  depended 
  upon 
  visible 
  possession 
  and 
  im- 
  

   provement 
  rather 
  than 
  upon 
  the 
  record 
  evidence 
  common 
  to 
  white 
  

   people. 
  Verbal 
  wills 
  recited 
  at 
  the 
  dead 
  feasts, 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  

   of 
  witnesses 
  to 
  the 
  devise, 
  were 
  usually 
  regarded 
  as 
  sacred, 
  and 
  

   a 
  sale, 
  with 
  delivery 
  of 
  possession, 
  was 
  respected 
  when 
  no 
  writ- 
  

   ten 
  conveyance 
  Was 
  executed. 
  Of 
  late 
  years 
  written 
  wills 
  have 
  

   become 
  common. 
  . 
  . 
  The 
  clerk 
  of 
  the 
  Seneca 
  nation 
  keeps 
  a 
  

   record 
  of 
  grants 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  council.. 
  Generally, 
  the 
  clerk, 
  

   whether 
  of 
  chiefs, 
  as 
  with 
  the 
  Onondagas 
  and 
  Tuscaroras, 
  or 
  of 
  

   trustees, 
  as 
  with 
  the 
  St 
  Regis, 
  has 
  the 
  custody 
  of 
  the 
  records 
  of 
  

   official 
  proceedings 
  respecting 
  grants 
  or 
  sales 
  of 
  lands. 
  . 
  . 
  An 
  

   applicant 
  for 
  land, 
  after 
  petition, 
  secures 
  a 
  vote 
  of 
  council 
  or 
  of 
  

   chiefs 
  of 
  a 
  tribe 
  or 
  nation, 
  as 
  the 
  case 
  may 
  be, 
  with 
  the 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  asked 
  for, 
  and 
  a 
  copy 
  of 
  that 
  vote 
  is 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  

   a 
  permanent 
  title 
  to 
  himself, 
  his 
  heirs 
  and 
  assignees. 
  . 
  . 
  The 
  

   infrequency 
  of 
  transfer 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  family 
  and 
  the 
  publicity 
  of 
  the 
  

   act 
  when 
  such 
  a 
  transfer 
  is 
  made 
  have 
  been 
  esteemed 
  sufficiently 
  

   protective. 
  . 
  . 
  As 
  with 
  white 
  people, 
  there 
  are 
  and 
  will 
  be 
  Six 
  

   Nations 
  Indians 
  landowners 
  and 
  Six 
  Nations 
  Indians 
  landless. 
  

  

  In 
  1890 
  there 
  were 
  27 
  schools 
  on 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  reservations, 
  

   besides 
  the 
  Thomas 
  Asylum, 
  and 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  teachers 
  has 
  

   been 
  since 
  increased. 
  Irregular 
  habits 
  and 
  a 
  feeling 
  that 
  school 
  

   education 
  was 
  of 
  little 
  use 
  have 
  interfered 
  with 
  study, 
  but, 
  as 
  

   the 
  benefits 
  are 
  realized, 
  there 
  are 
  better 
  results 
  and 
  attendance. 
  

   Reading, 
  writing 
  and 
  arithmetic 
  are 
  seen 
  to 
  be 
  useful, 
  and 
  a 
  

   common 
  education 
  is 
  desired. 
  General 
  Carrington 
  well 
  said 
  : 
  

  

  No 
  people 
  are 
  quicker 
  to 
  catch 
  opportunities 
  for 
  easy 
  gain. 
  A 
  

   system 
  of 
  rewards, 
  stimulative 
  of 
  effort 
  in 
  the 
  education 
  of 
  their 
  

   children, 
  if 
  well 
  advised 
  and 
  fostered, 
  would 
  be 
  worth 
  its. 
  cost 
  

   and 
  accomplish 
  lasting 
  good. 
  

  

  The 
  early 
  French 
  missionaries 
  understood 
  this. 
  In 
  1669 
  Father 
  

   Bruyas 
  found 
  his 
  Oneida 
  pupils 
  daily 
  increasing, 
  but 
  he 
  had 
  

   been 
  shrewd 
  in 
  his 
  management, 
  and 
  said 
  : 
  " 
  Whoever 
  knows 
  

   how 
  to 
  repeat 
  on 
  Sunday 
  all 
  that 
  is 
  said 
  during 
  the 
  week, 
  has 
  

   a 
  string 
  of 
  glass 
  beads, 
  or 
  two 
  little 
  glass 
  cylinders, 
  or 
  two 
  rings 
  

   of 
  brass." 
  

  

  