The Legends of the Iroquois

by Unknown

But the Oneida said: "Thou, Onondaga, must remember the words that have been spoken in thine ears by the old men who listened to the teachings of Hiawatha, that when two hunters of the Five Nations dispute in the paths of the forest they shall not fight, but tell their dispute to the Peacemaker. The Oneida will go with thee to Kienuka."

When they had eaten and rested at the peace-home, the hunters were told that each should take half of the buck back to his village. "For," said the Peacemaker, "the animal is large, and with half each hath enough for his wife and little ones."

"The Oneida is alone in his home," said the chief. "I carry the meat to the old men and to the women who have no sons. The Oneida has seen no maiden he would take to his wigwam till he beheld Genetaska, the Peace Queen."

Then said the Onondaga: "The home of the Onondaga is desolate since the plague robbed it of the loved ones. He is a great chief and has power in his tribe, for he was never defeated on the chase or in the contest. But the Peacemaker has made his heart weak, and he can never be strong again unless she will come to his wigwam."

Then said Genetaska: "Go, thou, my brothers, and think no more of the Peace Queen, who is chosen by the tribes and may not be the wife of any. Seek thou other maidens, who will gladly become wives to you."

But when they were gone there was no longer peace in the heart of Genetaska, for the form of the Oneida was before her eyes.

When the autumn came—when its first tints had touched the forests and merely tinged the dark green with a hazy brown—the Oneida chief came at sun-setting to the peace-home and stood boldly before the Peacemaker. He said:

"The Oneida hath built a wigwam in the summer land where the Five Tribes do not care to go. He hath filled it with robes and supplied it with food and it awaits the coming of Genetaska, the Seneca maiden, who loves the Oneida. The tribes will choose another Peace Queen when thou art gone, and thy heart will no longer be heavy with the burdens of all the red children who come to thee with their troubles. Will not Genetaska go?"

The maiden looked boldly into the face of her lover and answered: "Genetaska will go."

Toward the summer land they left Kienuka, and when they came to the river they glided rapidly along in the Oneida's canoe and were lost to their people forever.