﻿412 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Spiritualism 
  developed 
  there 
  from 
  a 
  small 
  germ, 
  and 
  has 
  had 
  a 
  

   wide 
  following. 
  The 
  new 
  religion 
  of 
  Handsome 
  Lake, 
  the 
  Seneca 
  

   prophet, 
  was 
  intended 
  only 
  for 
  one 
  people 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  restricted 
  

   to 
  them. 
  It 
  had 
  some 
  good 
  results, 
  but 
  is 
  fast 
  dying 
  out. 
  

  

  While 
  Iroquois 
  belief 
  was 
  in 
  its 
  chaotic 
  and 
  transition 
  state, 
  the 
  

   Seneca 
  prophet 
  Ga-ne-o-di-yo 
  appeared 
  and 
  proclaimed 
  a 
  new 
  

   revelation. 
  Born 
  on 
  the 
  Genesee 
  river, 
  about 
  1735, 
  as 
  is 
  said, 
  but 
  

   probably 
  later, 
  he 
  had 
  a 
  reputation 
  for 
  idleness 
  and 
  intemperance 
  

   for 
  about 
  60 
  years, 
  differing 
  little 
  in 
  this 
  from 
  many 
  of 
  his 
  people. 
  

   Becoming 
  ill, 
  he 
  was 
  thought 
  dead, 
  but 
  revived, 
  claimed 
  a 
  revela- 
  

   tion, 
  changed 
  his 
  ways, 
  and 
  taught 
  a 
  new 
  religion, 
  primarily 
  di- 
  

   rected 
  against 
  drunkenness 
  and 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  lands, 
  both 
  matters 
  of 
  

   importance. 
  Though 
  the 
  date 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  1790, 
  the 
  best 
  author- 
  

   ities 
  place 
  it 
  10 
  years 
  later. 
  Sose-ha'-wa, 
  his 
  successor, 
  definitely 
  

   said 
  it 
  was 
  in 
  1800, 
  and 
  this 
  date 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  correct. 
  Still 
  

   another 
  proof 
  of 
  the 
  date 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  visit 
  of 
  some 
  Quak- 
  

   ers 
  or 
  Friends 
  to 
  Onondaga 
  in 
  1809. 
  The 
  visitors 
  said: 
  

  

  We 
  had 
  a 
  satisfactory 
  time 
  with 
  them, 
  which 
  was 
  greatly 
  in- 
  

   creased 
  when 
  we 
  were 
  informed, 
  not 
  only 
  by 
  themselves, 
  but 
  the 
  

   interpreter, 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  totally 
  refrained 
  from 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  ardent 
  

   spirits 
  for 
  about 
  nine 
  years, 
  and 
  that 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  natives 
  will 
  touch 
  

   it. 
  Aborigines' 
  Corn., 
  p. 
  163 
  

  

  The 
  interpreter 
  was 
  Ephraim 
  Webster, 
  and 
  Clark 
  gives 
  his 
  ac- 
  

   count, 
  though 
  with 
  an 
  erroneous 
  date. 
  At 
  his 
  trading 
  house 
  he 
  

   treated 
  some 
  chiefs 
  who 
  were 
  going 
  to 
  a 
  council 
  at 
  Buffalo, 
  and 
  

   brought 
  out 
  the 
  bottle 
  for 
  them 
  on 
  their 
  return 
  : 
  

  

  To 
  the 
  utter 
  astonishment 
  of 
  Mr 
  Webster, 
  every 
  man 
  of 
  them 
  re- 
  

   fused 
  to 
  touch 
  it. 
  This 
  he 
  at 
  first 
  understood 
  to 
  denote 
  the 
  fiercest 
  

   hostility 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  He 
  was 
  not 
  long 
  left 
  in 
  this 
  painful 
  state 
  of 
  anxiety 
  

   and 
  suspense. 
  The 
  chiefs 
  explained, 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  met 
  at 
  Buffalo 
  a 
  

   prophet 
  of 
  the 
  Seneca 
  nation, 
  who 
  had 
  assured 
  them, 
  and 
  in 
  this 
  

   assurance 
  they 
  had 
  the 
  most 
  implicit 
  confidence, 
  that 
  without 
  a 
  total 
  

   abstinence 
  from 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  ardent 
  spirits, 
  they 
  and 
  their 
  race 
  would 
  

   shortly 
  become 
  extinct, 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  entered 
  upon 
  a 
  resolution 
  

   never 
  again 
  to 
  taste 
  the 
  baneful 
  article 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  hoped 
  to 
  De 
  

   able 
  to 
  prevail 
  on 
  their 
  nation 
  to 
  adopt 
  the 
  same 
  salutary 
  resolution. 
  

   Many 
  at 
  this 
  early 
  day 
  adopted 
  the 
  temperance 
  principles, 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  

   at 
  least 
  three 
  fourths 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  nation. 
  Clark, 
  1 
  1105 
  

  

  Several 
  allusions 
  to 
  his 
  character 
  as 
  a 
  prophet 
  and 
  teacher 
  were 
  

   made 
  by 
  the 
  authorities 
  at 
  Washington 
  in 
  1802, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  

   mention 
  of 
  this 
  in 
  the 
  preceding 
  century. 
  

  

  