Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1909 — INDIAN LORE FOR LONDON. [ARTICLE]

INDIAN LORE FOR LONDON.

Information on Iroquois Customs Given by a Mohawk Chieftain. Among London’s interesting visitors today is a blue blooded chief of the Mohawk Indians, the head of the Bear clan, the tribe whose exploits have been immortalised by Fenimore Cooper. His name is Thanakariner, and he follows the profession of a man of medicine. His fine physique, his swarthy complexion and his rather striking attire tender him conspicuous. Out of deference to English custom the Mohawk celebrity had shed his buckskin and feathers for a navy blue suit and white waistcoat when he was interviewed by a representative, says the London Daily Chronicle. In response to the usual greeting he remarked: “Devedon hnon, yanih donh, nyawean,” which is Caniengahaka, the' Mohawk tongue, and signifies “Extremely well, thank you.’’ By upbringing the chieftain is in sympathy with the suffragists. He had much to say about the influence and authority of women in the Mohawk land. There they rule the roast “They select the chiefs of our clans,’’ Thanakarlneh said. “The men -are not consulted in the matter at all. I myself was chosen by the women’s council —a representative body of the various clans such as ‘The Bear,’ ‘The Wolf* and ‘The Turtle.’ “There is no such thing as my title being handed down from sire to son. If one of the present chiefs dies the Indies assemble in council and nominate a successor, who seldom is the son of the dead hero. They cast about for that Mohawk who is physically and mentally fittest for the distinction, and so long as he is of the clan he is proclaimed its chief. “This matriarchal system has obtained among the Mohawk Indians for generations, and not the slightest demur is ever made by those who fancy their claims have* been overlooked. If a militant agitation against the rule of Indian squaws arose there would be seen the counterpart of the suffragist demonstrations in London.*’ The Mohawks are one of the six tribes who inhabit the Six Nation Indian Reserve —a territory of 53,000 acres in Ontario, Canada, on the banks of the Grand River, lying sev-enty-five miles west of the Niagara Falls and about forty miles north of Lake Erie. The'five other tribes are the Senecas, Oneldas, Cayugas, Onondagas, and the Delawares and Tu'scaroras, the last being taken in “out of charity,” as the chief put it One of the chiefs is named Hiawatha.

But if the women select and appoint the chiefs, the latter administer the laws. They seldom make new enactments and their Council is something like a HouSe of Lords, because each chieftain has the same status among his tribe as an English earl. The Council consists of about nine representatives of each tribe and meets monthly. There is no President or Speaker. The system is on a purely democratic basis of. absolute equality. - Sometimes the legislators assemble in full war paint, and with the pomp and circumstance attending their position. Mr. Brant-Sero, an English speaking Mohawk Indian of the Turtle clan, who accompanied the chief, added the opinion that the decorum and dignity of the Chieftain’s Council would put to shame some of the uproarious proceedings he had witnessed in England. There are no lawyers In his Utopian land. “It Is regarded as a contemptible profession, because It causes mischief and trouble over technical matters that a little common sense will smooth over,” he observed in explanation. Chief Thanakarineh has adopted the name “G. W. Hill” for the purpose of his profession of medicine. It was contrary to etiquette among the Indian doctors, he said, to boast about their achievements, but he modestly claimed to cure pneumonia in half an hour. “I mean,’’ he explained, “that in that time I can get a patient out of a crisis and on a good way to recovery/’ Although preserving his secret, the wary chief —who, of course, is a hefballst—said that tie powdered only one root and administered it with water. Thanakarlneh’s skill was noised abroad and he was summoned by the Ontario Medical Council for practising among whites without being a registered practitioner. He was fined, and unsuccessfully appealed against the decision. So he came to England to submit his case to the Privy Council, who declined to reopen the matter. Thanakarineh can therefore only prescribe. “I must not feel the pulse,” he said.