24 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



generally had our children with us; but had no masters to oversee 

 or drive us, so that we could work as leisurely as we pleased. 



With the breaking up of the military power of the Iroquois and 

 the subjection of all Indian tribes to the federal government, the 

 men were left freer. War with them was over. The disdain which 

 they had for field labor, and the feeling that it was not a part of 

 their work clung for some time, but as the old reason for abstaining 

 from field work passed away and as the environment of the white 

 man was forced upon them, the Iroquois man gradually became the 

 man with the hoe and thought it no disgrace. This was hardly the 

 case, however, a century ago. 



The women of each settlement each year elected a chief matron, 

 ona^'o gain'dago^ et'igowane^ to direct their work in the communal 

 fields. She ordered all the details of planting, cultivation and har- 

 vesting. She also had the right to choose one or two lieutenants 

 who could give out her orders. 



Certain fields were reserved for the use of the nation, that is, to 

 supply food for the councils and national festivals. These fields 

 were called Kendiu"gwa'ge' hodi'yen'tho'. 



2 Preparation of the soil and planting. In preparing the soil 

 a digging implement made of wood, somewhat resembling a short hoe 

 was used. The blade was sometimes a large flat bone or simply a 

 piece of wood worked flat. The hoe in this case was of one piece, 

 the trunk of a sapling serving as a handle and the tough bulbous 

 root end which ran off at right angles, shaped into a blade, served 

 as the digging end.^ 



1 Literally meaning " corn plant, its field's female chief. 



2 " Use wooden hoes," Williams. Key, p. 130. 



" Spades made of hard wood." Bossee. Travels Through Louisiana, 

 p. 224 



" lis ont un instrument de bois fort dur, faict en facon d'une besche." 

 Champlain, i :95. 



" II leur suffit d'un morceau de bois recourbe de trois doigts de largeur, 

 attache a un long mauche qui leur sert a sarcler le terre et a la remuer 

 legerment." Lafitau. Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, II '."](>. 



" Use shoulder blade of a deer or a tortoise shell, sharpened on a stone 

 and fastened on a stick instead of a hoe." Loskiel. Missions of North 

 America, p. (ij. 



" Performed the whole process of planting and hoeing with a small tool 

 that resembled in some respects a hoe with a very short handle." Seaver, 

 Life of Mary Jemison, p. 70. 



Cf. Hakluyt. Voyages, III -.^zg. 



" In order to sow Indian Corn they make Pick-Axes of Wood." A Con- 

 tinuation of the New Discovery, Hennepin, Father L. Lond. 1698. 



