The Iroquois Towns

NOTE E.

THE IROQUOIS TOWNS.

The list of towns comprised in the text contains twenty-three names. Of this number only eight or nine resemble names which have been in use since the Five Nations were known to the whites; and even of this small number it is not certain that all, or indeed any, were in these more recent times applied to their original localities. My friend, General John S. Clark, of Auburn, N. Y., who has made a special study of the positions of the Indian tribes

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and villages, and whose notes on this subject illustrate the excellent work of Dr. Hawley on the early history of the Cayuga nation, ¹ has favored me, in a recent letter, with the following brief but valuable summary of what is known in regard to the Iroquois towns:--

"When the Mohawks were first known, they occupied three principal towns on the south side of the Mohawk river, between Canajoharie and Schoharie creeks. The most eastern was that of the "Turtles" (or Tortoise clan), and was usually designated as such, and by the Dutch as the Lower or First Castle. The Middle or Second Castle was commonly termed the village of the "Bears;" while the Third or Upper Castle was generally called Teonnondoge or Tionnontogen, a name apparently having reference to the 'two mountains' near which the original town stood. After these towns were destroyed by the French, in 1666, their people removed to the north side of the river,--those of the lower town retreating a few miles up the stream to the rapids; and then for a hundred years this was generally known as Caughnawaga (Kahnawake) "At the Rapids." The Middle or Second Castle was called Gandagaro in 1670, Kanagiro in 1744, etc. The third appears to have retained its old name in all positions.

"When the Oneidas were first known they occupied a position on the headwaters of the Oneida inlet, and afterward gradually drew northward toward the lake. Their great town was usually called by the name of the tribe, as Onneiot, Onoyut, etc. One site, occupied about 1700, was called and known generally as Kanowaroghare, said to signify 'a head on a pole.'

"The Onondagas, first known in 1615, occupied several sites, from a point south of the east end of Oneida lake, where they were when first known, to the Onondaga valley; but in all cases the chief town, when named, was called Onondaga, from the name of the tribe. Their great village in the Onondaga valley, according to Zeisberger, was known in 1750 as Tagochsanagecht, but this was a form derived from the name of the Onondagas as used in council. In all ages this chief town, wherever located, had other minor towns within from two to five miles, but they are rarely named. The great town was also divided into districts, one for each clan, each of

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which must have been known by the clan name, but this is seldom referred to. This rule held good also in all the large towns. A 'Bear village' was not occupied exclusively by members of the Bear clan; but these predominated and exercised authority.

"The Cayugas in 1656 occupied three villages,--Onnontare, on a hill near the Canandaigua river,--Thiohero, near the foot of Cayuga lake ('By the Marsh,' or, 'Where the Rushes are'),--and a third, which generally took the name of the tribe, Cayuga, but was occasionally divided into three districts, like the other large towns.

"The Senecas, when visited by the Jesuits, occupied two great towns, and several minor villages. The eastern of the two towns, near Victor, was called Gandougarae. The western, on Honeoye creek, nearly always, in all localities, took the name of the stream, which signifies 'bending.' It is said that when the League was first formed, it was agreed that the two great Seneca towns should be called by the names of two principal sachems; but I am unable to find that this was carried out in practice. In La Hontan's narrative of the De Nonville expedition, the great western town was separated into two parts, Thegaronhies and Danoncaritowi, which were the names of two important chiefs; while De Nonville's and other accounts describe it as Totiakton, 'at the bend.' This discrepancy, however, is found in all cases where the several towns are mentioned, as it was quite common to speak of them by the name of the principal chief. Thus, Cayuga in 1750 was called Tagayu, from Togahayu, the well-known chief sachem; Onondaga was called Canasatago's town, etc."

The frequent changes in the positions and names of Indian towns, thus well explained and exemplified, will account for the fact that so few of the ancient names in the list which the tenacious memories of the record-keepers retained have comedown in actual use to modern times. The well-known landmark of the Oneida stone seems to have preserved the name of the town,--Onenyute, "the projecting rock,"--from which the nation derived its usual designation. Deserokenh, or, as the Jesuit missionaries wrote it, Techiroguen, was situated near the outlet of the Oneida lake, at the point where the great northern trail crossed this outlet. A village of some importance is likely to have been always found at or near that locality. The same may be said of Deyuhhero, or Tiohero, where the main

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trail which united all the cantons crossed the river outlet of Lake Cayuga.

In other cases, though the identity of names is clear, that of the localities is more doubtful. The Kaneghsadakeh of the list, the "Hill-side town," may be the Kanasadaga of the Senecas; but, as General Clark remarks, the name might have been applied to any town on the side of a mountain. In like manner Deyughsweken (or Deyohsweken), which is said to mean "flowing out," may have been the town from which the Oswego river took its name, or a town at the mouth of any other river; and Deyaokenh, "the Forks," may have been Tioga, or any other village at the junction of two streams. Jonondese ("it is a high hill") is perhaps the same name as Onontare, which in Charlevoix's map appears as Onnontatacet; ¹ but the name may well have been a common one. A few other apparent coincidences might be pointed out; but of most of the towns in the list we can only say that no trace remains in name or known locality, and that in some cases even the meaning of the names has ceased to be remembered. General Clark sums up his conclusions on this point in the following words: "They appear to belong to a remote--I may say a very remote--age, and not to be referred to any particular known localities; and this, as it appears to me, is more to the credit of the manuscript as an archaic work."

Footnotes

184:1 Early Chapters of Cayuga History: By Charles Hawley, D. D., President of the Cayuga Historical Society.

186:1 See "Early Chapters of Cayuga History," p. 4.