﻿COUNCILS 
  AND 
  CEREMONIES 
  OF 
  ADOPTION 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  INDIANS 
  433 
  

  

  New 
  York 
  councils, 
  as 
  something 
  remarkable 
  and 
  connected 
  with 
  

   distant 
  nations. 
  Thus 
  in 
  1712 
  the 
  Delawares 
  carried 
  a 
  calumet 
  to 
  

   the 
  Iroquois 
  which 
  attracted 
  attention. 
  It 
  had 
  " 
  a 
  stone 
  head, 
  a 
  

   wooden 
  or 
  cane 
  shaft, 
  and 
  feathers 
  fixt 
  to 
  it 
  like 
  wings, 
  with 
  other 
  

   ornaments." 
  Some 
  western 
  Indians 
  came 
  to 
  Albany 
  in 
  1723, 
  leav- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  calumet 
  there. 
  In 
  explanation 
  of 
  their 
  unusual 
  present 
  they 
  

   said: 
  

  

  A 
  calumet 
  pipe 
  among 
  our 
  nations 
  is 
  esteemed 
  very 
  valuable, 
  and 
  

   is 
  the 
  greatest 
  token 
  of 
  peace 
  and 
  friendship 
  we 
  can 
  express. 
  A 
  

   calumet 
  pipe 
  and 
  tobacco 
  is 
  used 
  when 
  brethern 
  come 
  together. 
  

  

  As 
  though 
  this 
  were 
  necessary 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  they 
  described 
  its 
  

   use 
  and 
  meaning, 
  and 
  induced 
  the 
  Albany 
  people 
  and 
  Iroquois 
  to 
  

   smoke 
  with 
  them, 
  saying: 
  

  

  When 
  one 
  brother 
  comes 
  to 
  visit 
  another 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  common 
  prac- 
  

   tice 
  among 
  us 
  to 
  smoke 
  a 
  pipe 
  in 
  Peace 
  together 
  and 
  reveal 
  our 
  

   Secrets 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  and 
  therefore 
  desire 
  that 
  according 
  to 
  our 
  Custom 
  we 
  

   take 
  each 
  a 
  Whiff 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  Calumet 
  Pipe 
  in 
  token 
  of 
  Peace 
  and 
  

   Friendship 
  Which 
  being 
  done 
  said 
  we 
  thank 
  the 
  Brethern 
  for 
  smok- 
  

   ing 
  out 
  of 
  our 
  Calumet 
  of 
  Peace 
  and 
  is 
  a 
  sufficient 
  proof 
  to 
  us 
  of 
  

   your 
  friendship. 
  O'Callaghan, 
  5 
  '.693 
  

  

  Not 
  till 
  175 
  1 
  is 
  there 
  any 
  farther 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  ceremonial 
  pipe 
  

   in 
  New 
  York, 
  appearing 
  then 
  as 
  something 
  strange. 
  The 
  Catawba 
  

   chiefs 
  had 
  come 
  north 
  on 
  a 
  peace 
  embassy 
  to 
  Albany, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   council, 
  having 
  " 
  lit 
  their 
  pipes, 
  the 
  king 
  and 
  one 
  more 
  put 
  them 
  

   in 
  the 
  mouths 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  sachems 
  of 
  the 
  Six 
  Nations, 
  who 
  smoked 
  

   out 
  of 
  them." 
  A 
  little 
  later, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  council, 
  " 
  the 
  chief 
  sachem 
  

   of 
  the 
  Senecas 
  lit 
  a 
  pipe, 
  and 
  put 
  it 
  into 
  the 
  mouths 
  of 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  

   Catawbas, 
  who 
  smoked 
  out 
  of 
  it, 
  and 
  then 
  he 
  returned 
  it 
  among 
  the 
  

   Six 
  Nations." 
  O'Callaghan, 
  6:724 
  

  

  Sir 
  William 
  Johnson 
  afterward 
  presented 
  the 
  Onondagas 
  with 
  a 
  

   massive 
  calumet, 
  for 
  great 
  occasions, 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  used 
  at 
  the 
  coun- 
  

   cil 
  with 
  Pontiac, 
  held 
  at 
  Oswego 
  in 
  1766. 
  Then 
  it 
  was 
  more 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  seen 
  at 
  councils 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  but 
  never 
  became 
  popular. 
  

   On 
  a 
  certificate, 
  used 
  by 
  Johnson 
  and 
  representing 
  a 
  council, 
  the 
  

   calumet 
  lies 
  on 
  the 
  ground, 
  while 
  Johnson, 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  fire, 
  

   presents 
  a 
  medal 
  to 
  an 
  Indian 
  on 
  the 
  other. 
  This 
  interesting 
  design 
  

   is 
  from 
  a 
  blank 
  certificate 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  Historical 
  

   Society. 
  Three 
  officers 
  sit 
  on 
  a 
  bench 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  and 
  three 
  Indians 
  

  

  