REPORT ON THE NEW YORK INDM EXHIBIT. 



By Rev. JOHN W. SANBORN, Dikbctob. 



When the Dutch settled New Amsterdam in 1614 they found a 

 republic in the wilderness M-hose Constitution and laws were free from 

 compheations which have so often led, among other races, to conflict — 

 a Constitution framed to prevent political corruption, and which 

 achieved, in the hands of its founders, eminent success in that impor- 

 tant particular. The confederacy was in so complete a state when New 

 York was founded that historians are justified in their conclusion that 

 it had been previously in successful operation for many years. The 

 Iroquois were called the Five Nations, and included the following 

 tribes : Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas and Cayugas. Their 

 federal anns consisted of a bear, a deer, a wolf, a turtle, and a beaver. 

 _ The original piece of wampum made to commemorate the confedera- 

 tion of the five tribes, and which, therefore, antedates the Columbian 

 discovery, is owned by Hon. John Boyd Thacher, of Albany, N. Y., 

 and during the exposition was exhibited in the Government Building. 



The Tuscaroras were of true Iroquois stock, and before the arrival 

 of Columbus were reputed to have had 1,200 warriors. At a very 

 early day the tribe migrated to the valley of the Mississippi, and thence, 

 after many years, to the region in the south since known as North 

 Carolina. In 1712 the white race overpowered the Tuscaroras and 

 drove them out. After various vicissitudes the remnant of the tribe 

 found its way to the country of the Five Nations, and obtained admis- 

 sion into the ',' Ho-da-no-sau-nee," or Long House, as the Iroquois league 

 was termed. Thereafter the confederacy was known as that of the 

 Six Nations. This reception of the Tuscaroras took place about the 

 year 1715. 



The league was founded to preserve internal peace and to resist the 

 encroachments of foreign foes. A wise statesman has declared, after 

 studying the Constitution of the league, that " it was the most con- 

 summate piece of statesmanship ever devised by the wit of man." 

 Another says that " it is free from those complicated contrivances 

 which have become necessary to those nations where deceit and cun- 

 ning have increased as much as their knowledge and wisdom." 



The league had its beginning among the Mohawks, the Onondagas 

 and Senecas sooti uniting with them. Afterwards the Oneidas were 

 adopted by the Mohawks, and regard them as their fathers, while the 

 Cayugas were adopted by the Senecas, and look upon them as their 

 fathers. The Mohawks and Oneidas had each three families or elans, 

 but the others had eight. Each family had its own peculiar ensign or 

 mark, and the family sachem affixed that mark as his legal official 

 signature. 



Each nation was a republic by itself, governed by the sachems of 

 the respective families. Majority rule did not prevail. All decisions 

 were rendered unanimously, if at all. No bitter feeling was engendered, 



