"First, they declared the Delaware nation to be the Woman in these words:—
"'We place upon you the long gown of a woman, and adorn you with earrings.'
"This was as much as to say that thenceforward they were not to bear arms.
"The second sentence was in these words:—
"'We hang on your arm a calabash of oil and medicine. With the oil you shall cleanse the ears of other nations that they listen to good and not to evil. The medicine you shall use for those nations who have been foolish, that they may return to their senses, and turn their hearts to peace.'
"The third sentence intimated that the Delawares should make agriculture their chief occupation. It was:—
"'We give herewith into your hands a corn pestle and a hoe.'
"Each sentence was accompanied with a belt of wampum. These belts have ever since been carefully preserved and their meanings from time to time recalled."[174]
Opinions of historians about this tradition have been various. It has generally been considered a fabrication of the Delawares, to explain their subjection in a manner consoling to their national vanity. Gen. Harrison dismisses it as impossible;[175] Albert Gallatin says, "it is too incredible to require serious discussion;"[176] Mr. Hale characterizes it as "preposterous;"[177] and Bishop de Schweinitz as "fabulous and absurd"[178].
On the other hand, it is vouched for by Zeisberger, who furnished the account to Loskiel, and who would not have said that the wampum belts with their meaning were still preserved unless he knew it to be a fact. It is repeated emphatically by Heckewelder, who adds that his informants were not only Delawares but Mohegans as well, who could not have shared the motive suggested above[179].