Eastward of the Neutrals, lay the territories of the Five Nations, or Iroquois League. Clark's map of this region, showing locations of the several tribes and of their villages, is given in Hawley's Early Chapters of Cayuga History, 1656-84 (Auburn, N. Y., 1879); Morgan (Iroq. League) also gives a map, showing locations in recent times. For historical sketch of the tribes included in the League, see Beauchamp's Origin of N. Y. Iroquois (cited in note [21], ante) pp. 119-142; he says: "The Huron-Iroquois family thus seems to have been the last wave of the migratory tribes advancing from the west and northwest, and had not reached the sea 300 years ago, except a few individuals on the St. Lawrence. The Tuscaroras might also be excepted.... Almost parallel with these [the Algonquins], but a little later as a whole, the Huron-Iroquois, finding the southern regions occupied, advanced along the north, through Michigan, Canada, and Ohio, pressing toward the sea, but generally prevented from reaching it by the Algonquins. This is very nearly the tradition of the Delawares, who represent the Iroquois as moving from the west in a line parallel with their own migrations, but a little in the rear. The Huron-Iroquois occupied temporarily the solitudes of Canada and New York, as well as Michigan and Northern Ohio, gathering strength within their narrow limits, until they could force a passage south along the Susquehanna. There the Andastis stopped and grew strong. The Eries passed along the south shore of their lake, the Hurons and Neutrals on the north. The Tuscaroras reached North Carolina, and all the southern Iroquois may have had temporary homes in New York at an early day." For estimates of the military strength of the respective tribes, in 1660 and 1677, see Parkman's Jesuits, p. 297.
(1) Sonontoerrhonons (Senecas): see note [21], ante. (2) Ouioenrhonons (Ouiogweronons, Oiogouins, or Goyogouins): the Cayugas, next east from the Senecas, and probably kindred with them. The name of the tribe is derived from that of the lake, the meaning of which is variously rendered. Beauchamp says (Iroq. Trail, p. 57): "D. Cusick makes it Go-yo-goh, 'mountain rising from water;' Albert Cusick, Kwe-u-kwe, 'where they drew their boats ashore;' L. H. Morgan, Gwe-u-gweh, 'at the mucky land.' All seem to refer to the higher and firm land beyond the Montezuma marshes." Much valuable information regarding this tribe is given in Hawley's Early Cayuga Hist. (cited supra); on p. 21, a note by Clark thus mentions their chief towns: "Their principal village, Goi-o-gouen (a name also applied by the early French writers to the country and canton of the Cayugas), appears to have been located at this time [1657] about 3½ miles south of Union Springs, near Great Gully Brook. Thiohero, ten miles distant, was on the east side of Seneca River, at the northern extremity of Cayuga Lake. The archæological remains in the vicinity of Goi-o-gouen indicate different locations occupied at different periods, one of which was on a point at the junction of two ravines about four miles from the lake; this was very ancient, and probably occupied in the prehistoric age." The site of Thiohero has been recently identified, 2½ miles east of Savannah. (3) Onontaerrhonons (Onnontaes, Onnondaetonnons, or Onnontagués): the Onondagas (in their own tongue, Onondáhka). Beauchamp says (Orig. of N. Y. Iroquois, pp. 123, 124, 130): "It is very likely that there was an earlier Huron-Iroquois settlement of Central New York [before the coming of the Mohawks] from Jefferson county, where there are many fort sites. Among these are traces of Huron burial customs, and the earthenware is generally finer than that farther south, there being often temporary deterioration in such things, as men recede from the parent stock. From that region the Onondagas certainly came, as they relate.... I have little doubt that the Onondagas were driven out of Jefferson county by the Hurons, about the same time that the Mohawks had to leave Montreal." An interesting mention of this tribe, at nearly the same time as Brébeuf's (possibly a little earlier), is made by Arent Van Curler (who calls them "Onnedagens"), in his Journal of 1634-35, (accompanied by an Iroquois vocabulary), a translation of which, with notes by James G. Wilson, is published in Annual Report of Amer. Hist. Association, 1895, pp. 81-101. This was probably the most influential of the Five Nations; their village of Onnontagué (Onondaga) was the capital of the confederacy, where their principal councils were held. Clark says (Early Cayuga Hist., p. 9): "This was situated on a considerable elevation between two deep ravines, formed by the west and middle branches of Limestone Creek, in the present town of Pompey, N. Y., two miles south of the village of Manlius. It contained at this time [1656] 300 warriors, with 140 houses, several families often occupying a single house. Their cornfields extended for two miles, north and south, and in width from one-half to three-fourths of a mile, interspersed with their dwellings. The grand council chamber was here, in which all matters of interest, common to the several nations of the League, were decided. This site was abandoned about 1680." Beauchamp writes: "At the time of Champlain's attack on the Oneida town, the Onondagas were living on the east side of Limestone Creek, about 1½ miles west of Cazenovia Lake. Alarmed by this invasion, they went farther south, selecting a site which commanded the whole valley. Then, as the Huron war progressed favorably, they went northward again, crossing the ridge and reaching the west branch of Limestone Creek, being on its banks a little south of Pompey Center about 1640. In 1654, Le Moyne visited them at their great village still farther north, at Indian Hill, two miles south of Manlius village. Thence, by a gradual removal, they went to the east side of Butternut Creek, where their fort was burned in 1696. Soon afterward, they occupied the east side of Onondaga Valley, but were almost entirely on the west side of the creek by 1750; and after the sale of their lands they retired to their present reservation." (4) Onoiochronons (Oneiouchronons, Oneiouts, or Onneyouts): "the people of the stone," commonly known as Oneidas. This tribe and the Cayugas were of somewhat inferior rank among the other Iroquois tribes. According to Pyrtæus, "the alliance having been first proposed by a Mohawk chief, the Mohawks rank in the family as the eldest brother, the Oneidas as the eldest son; the Senecas, who were the last that consented to the alliance, were called the youngest son." Cf. Relation for 1646, chap. i.: "Onnieoute is a tribe which, the greater part of its men having been destroyed by the upper Algonquins, was compelled to call upon the Annierronnons to repeople it; whence it comes that the Annierronnons call it their daughter." They lived almost entirely in Madison county, having usually one village, but sometimes two. Their settlements were entirely confined to the valleys of Oneida and Oriskany Creeks,—mainly the former." (5) Agnierrhonons (Agnongherronons, Anniengehronnons, Agniers, or Aniers): "the people of the flint," called Maquas by the Dutch, and Mohawks by the English; the easternmost of the Iroquois tribes, occupying the lower part of the Mohawk River valley. They were probably the inhabitants of Hochelaga (Montreal), whom Cartier found in 1535, and the name Canada, then first used by the French, is itself a Mohawk word. Their own traditions represent the Mohawks as living on the St. Lawrence, in alliance with the Algonkin tribe of Adirondacks; a dispute arising between them, the former were driven out by their Algonkin neighbors, probably late in the sixteenth century.—See Beauchamp's N. Y. Iroquois; cf. Sulte's sketch of the Algonkin-Iroquois wars, in vol. [v.] of this series, note [52]; the latter thinks that the Montreal Iroquois had retired to Lake Simcoe by 1615. Beauchamp says (Iroq. Trail, p. 55): "The three Mohawk castles were in Montgomery county. When first visited by the Dutch, there was a castle for each clan, the Bear, Wolf, and Turtle. Two villages only were in existence about 1600, as the Wolf clan sprang out of the Bear (according to an early writer), having probably lived with them. One of the two villages is on the south side of the river; the other is in Ephrata, in Fulton county." Wilson says, in a note on Van Curler's Journal (Am. Hist. Asso. Rept., 1895, p. 99): "The abandoned castle pointed out by the Mohawks seems to have marked their farthest eastern extension. Their early villages were in a radius of a dozen miles from Canajoharie, but they moved eastward until checked by the Mohicans. Later, European pressure forced them back until the western castle was at Danube." The sites of these Mohawk towns in 1642, as identified by Clark, are thus given by Shea, in his translation of Martin's Life of Jogues (3rd ed., N. Y., 1885), p. 85: "Ossernenon (Osserinon, Agnié, Oneougiouré, or Asserua), later Cahniaga or Caughnawaga, was near the present station of Auriesville; Tionnontoguen, on a hill just south of Spraker's Basin, about 13 miles west of Ossernenon; Andagaron, or Gandagaron, between them, and also on the south side of the river." Beauchamp makes some corrections on Clark's map, which will be noted in later volumes. It was at Ossernenon that the martyrdom of Isaac Jogues occurred—an event which is now being commemorated by the erection of a costly memorial church, at Auriesville.
Andastoerrhonons (or Andastes): called Minquas by the Dutch, and Susquehannocks or Conestogas by the English. Ragueneau (Relation for 1648) mentions "the Andastoëronons, allies of our Hurons, and who talk like them." Clarke (Early Cayuga Hist., p. 36, note) thus describes them: "Andastes, a term used generically by the French, and applied to several distinct Indian tribes located south of the Five Nations, in the present territory of Pennsylvania. They were of kindred blood and spoke a dialect of the same language as the Iroquois of New York. The most northerly of these tribes, called by Champlain in 1615 Carantouannais, were described by him as residing south of the Five Nations, and distant a short three days' journey from the Iroquois fort attacked by him that year, which fort is supposed to have been located in the town of Fenner, Madison Co., N. Y. Late researches appear to warrant the conclusion that the large town called Carantouan by Champlain was located on what is now called "Spanish Hill," near Waverly, Tioga Co., N. Y. One of the most southerly tribes was located at the Great Falls between Columbia and Harrisburg, Pa., and in the vicinity of the latter place; described by Gov. Smith in 1608 as occupying five towns, and called by him Sasquesahanoughs or Susquehannas. At an early date, a tribe resided in the vicinity of Manhattan, called Minquas; and the Dutch colonists appear to have applied this term to all cognate tribes west of them and south of the Five Nations. The Jesuit Fathers had no missions among them, although frequent reference is made in the Relations to the wars between them and the Iroquois. These tribes were engaged in various wars with the Iroquois, which began as early as 1600 and continued with more or less frequency until 1675, those nearest the Five Nations being first overthrown. At the latter date, their power for further resistance appears to have been completely broken, and they were incorporated into the League; a part, however, retreated southward, and were menaced by the Maryland and Virginia troops, the last remnant falling victims to the butchery of the 'Paxton boys' [1763]." Cf. Shea's paper on these tribes, Hist. Mag., vol ii., pp. 294-297. In 1651, a part of the Minquas, then living on the Delaware River, sold their lands to the Dutch West India Company, reserving only the right of hunting and fishing thereon (N. Y. Colon. Docs., vol. i., pp. 593-600). There was also a division known as the "Black Minquas," who were claimed by the Mohawks as an offshoot.
Rhiierrhonons (Riguehronons, Eriechronons, Errieronons, or Erigas): called by the French "Nation du Chat" ("Cat Nation"). This appellation was given, according to the Relation for 1654, "because in their country are a prodigious number of wild cats." But on this point Beauchamp writes thus: "Albert Cusick, my Onondaga interpreter, tells me that Kah-kwah [another name applied to this tribe] means 'an eye swelled like a cat's,'—that is, prominent rather than deep-set; this would indicate that the name refers to a physical characteristic, rather than to the wild cats mentioned by the missionaries." This tribe inhabited the south shore of Lake Erie; they were fierce and warlike, and used poisoned arrows; they had frequent wars with the Iroquois, and were vanquished and utterly destroyed by the latter in 1655-56.
Ahouenrochrhonons (Awenrherhonons, or Wenrôhronons): a small tribe at the eastern end of Lake Erie, lying between the Eries and the Neutrals. According to the Relation for 1639, this tribe was for some time allied to the Neutrals; but, some dispute arising between them, the Awenrherhonons left their own country in that year, and took refuge with the Hurons. The Relation for 1641 (chap. vi.) mentions them as living at the town of Khioetoa (St. Michel), and as well disposed towards the missionaries.
The two remaining tribes in Brébeuf's list have not yet been identified. Beauchamp thinks the Scahentoarrhonons may have been the Skenchiohronons, mentioned as a sedentary tribe in the Relation for 1640 (indicated on Sanson's map as Squenguioron, at the west end of Lake Erie); the Conkhandeenrhonons he conjectures to have been the Carantouans, or possibly one of the divisions of the Senecas (q.v., ante).
[35] (p. [117]).—Sonontoen (Sonnontouan, Tsonnontouan, or Tegarnhies): see note [21], ante: the chief town of the Senecas. It was also known by the names of Totiakton, Theodehacto and Dá-u-de-hok-to (Morgan), meaning "at the bend," or "bended stream." It is in the town of Mendon, on the N.E. bend of Honeoye Creek, two miles N. of Honeoye Falls, and 12½ miles due S. from the centre of Rochester; see Clark's map, cited in note [21], ante.
Franquelin's Carte de la Louisiane (1684) shows Sonontouan east of the present Genesee River; south of it a point is thus designated, fontaine d'eau qui brule, "spring of water which burns." Cf. the fontaine brulante on Bellin's map in Charlevoix's Nouv. France, tome i., p. 440. René de Galinée, in his journal of La Salle's voyage (1669-70), also mentions this spring, as situated four leagues south of Sonnontouan. Marshall, commenting on this in his pamphlet, De la Salle among the Senecas, p. 23, note, describes the spring (one of many in Western New York), in which an inflammable gas rises from the water, and is readily lighted with a match.
At Sonnontouan was located the Jesuit mission of La Conception.
[36] (p. [117]).—A similar description of Ataentsic and Jouskeha is given by Sagard (Canada, Tross ed., pp. 452-455), from whom Brébeuf seems to have obtained part of the information given in the text—two sentences being the same, word for word, as in Sagard—an appropriation easily explained, in view of Brébeuf's recent arrival among the Hurons, and consequent difficulties in obtaining a knowledge of their beliefs. Sagard says that they told him that "this God Youskeha existed before this Universe, which, with all that was therein, he had created; that, although he grew old, like all things in this world, he did not lose his being and his power; and that, when he became old, he had power to rejuvenate himself in a moment, and to transform himself into a young man of twenty-five or thirty years; thus he never died, and remained immortal, although, like other human beings, he was to some extent subject to corporeal necessities."