

20 FIRST FLOOR, SOUTHWEST WING 

This league was formed probably as early as 1539 and with the purpose, 
as its founders boasted, of bringing peace and breaking up the spirit of 
perpetual warfare. It is interesting to note that the Indians recom- 
mended it as a model to the colonies. The Oneida Indians were the 
only members of this league who, as a tribe, adhered to the colonists in 
the war of the Revolution. 
In the wall case on the right are shown the dress, occupations and 
dwellings of the Lroquois. <A life-size model of an Iroquois representing a 
messenger is holding out a belt of wampum. ‘This wampum, made chiefly 
of the shells of the “quahog’’ or common hard clam of our 
markets, was utilized in various ways: It was greatly prized 
as an ornament and as trimming on garments; was an important feature in 
religious ceremonies and festivals, being the token by which the Indians 
confessed and took oaths; and was the object by which public transactions 
Wampum 
were commemorated. Wampum was not used as currency however, the 
Indians having no standard of value until they found it in our currency, 
but it did come nearer currency than any other kind of property, and when 
sold to white settlers the strings were counted and reckoned at half a cent a 
bead. The woman in the right of the case is pounding corn in a primitive 
mortar. (Corn and tobacco are our legacies from the Indian.) The 
matrons of the Iroquois owned their own property in distinction from their 
husbands; they sat in council by themselves and had the right to terminate 
a war. 
On the left is a collection of grotesque masks. These were worn by 
the False Face Societies. The Indians were very superstitious 
‘False : ; : Se 
and believed in the existence of demons or evil spirits who 
Faces ’”’ 
were without bodies, legs or arms, and possessing hideous faces 
only, were characterized as “false faces.” There eventually grew up a 
society calling itself the “False Face Band’’ whose members were supposed 
to have power to counteract the evil done by these demons and to possess 
the capacity to heal sickness. Pictures by De Cost Smith illustrating this 
society are on exhibition in this hall. 
The earliest Indians of the vicinity of New York City are represented 
by the archeological collections in the first alcove on the left. 
Local : : 
ae Here will be seen remnants of their crude pottery, weapons, 
Indians cooking utensils, and various implements made of stone, 
wood or bone, collected chiefly from burial sites on Man- 
hattan Island, Staten Island and Long Island. On the top of one of the 
cases is a portion of an original dugout canoe which was excavated in 
Oliver Street in 1906 when a telephone conduit was being laid. ‘This canoe 
and a large earthern pot are among the very few good specimens that 
have ever been found representative of New York City Indians. 
