THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 183 



Dr. Oronhyatekha, a Mohawk, said that after so much eloquence from clergymen 

 and members of Parliament, they would not consent to listen to a common Indian. 

 Still he was proud of being a Mohawk, as they were the best people on the face of 

 the earth, and that for the following reasons : Every Mohawk who was left alive had 

 left the other side after the war ; but not so the whites — some of them remained. He 

 then gave a humorous account of the origin of the Iudians, which accounted for the 

 superiority of the red men. It was asserted that Indians made women do all the 

 work and treated them as inferior creatures ; but this was incorrect, as they knew 

 to their cost. They did just as they pleased, and as a matter of fact the chieftain- 

 ship in Indian tribes descends by the woman, and woman controls the education of 

 the children. Sir John Macdonald, as Mr. White had stated; had reason to be a 

 friend to the Indians, as he had got the idea of confederation from the confed. 

 eracy of the Six Nations. Again, philologists had shown that language is the index 

 of character. Indians cannot swear except in English, and, further still, they had 

 never drunk whisky until the advent of the whites. This was the result of bad 

 company. He prayed the white men to keep liquor from the Indian. He wanted 

 the members of Parliament present to tell of the class of people they had met, and 

 to work in order that the Indians might get the right of the franchise. 



Rev. S. Forneri, of Adolphustown, was the next speaker. * * * The Indians 

 were, he proceeded to say, in the first rank of U. E. Loyalists, as, according to Rev. 

 Dr. Stuart, they had landed on Quinte" fourteen days before their white brethren. 

 * * * rp| ie -^ ea f a confederation was suggested to the United States by the Six 

 Nations, and we had got the idea from our neighbors. * * * 



He thought we all should continue to sink or swim with England. * * * We 

 should rather remain satisfied with British connection. The Mohawks did not wish 

 to sever their connection with Britain, and if closer connection were made, as some 

 supposed, the Mohawk Nation would have a representative, as in 1860 they had 

 elected the Prince of Wales a chieftain. * * * 



Rev. E. H. M. Baker, rural dean, expressed the pleasure it afforded him, as the 

 clergyman who had the Indians as his spiritual charge, of welcoming so many visitors. 

 He had come from the United States, but he was born a British subject. He said 

 that they were that day by a curious coincident celebrating three great events ; first, 

 it was the tercentenary of the handing over by the Six Nations of the Ohio Valley to 

 the British authorities ; secondly, it was the bicentenary of the conversion of the 

 Mohawks to Christianity, and thirdly, their landing in 1784. The Mohawks had come 

 from the United States because they foresaw it would be for their good, and he then 

 graphically described the encroachment of the whites on the Indians in that country. 

 He said that he discerned in the near future two political movements, viz, the passage 

 of a prohibitory law, which would be a boon to the Indians, and the other, the en- 

 franchisement of the Indians. When these two measures were secured there was 

 sure to follow prosperity for the Indian population of Canada. 



Rev. G. A. Anderson, of Penetanguishene, dealt with the religious history of the 

 Mohawks. Rev. Dr. Moore had been sent out by Queen Anne to the Mohawk Valley. 

 He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Andrews in 1710, who brought the communion service 

 which was there to be seen beside him on the stand. He had erected a chapel, the 

 money being furnished by the Queen's bounty. Mr. Barclay was the next clergyman, 

 and he in time was followed by the well-known Dr. John Stuart, who came with them 

 to Canada and erected a chapel of large oak timber, the remains of which could be 

 seen a few years ago. The Mohawks when they came brought a little captive white 

 girl, who refused to part from the Indiaus even at the solicitation of her friends. 

 Her name was Christina Smart and she died in 1881, aged one hundred and eleven 

 years, and she was the great grandmother of their honored chief, Sampson Green. 

 The reserve previous to their arrival had been occupied by the Ojibways, and many 

 pld relics of that tribe had been turned up during recent years. He hoped the 



