Tuscarora
The Tuscarora , Skarù ∙ ręʔ or Ska-Ruh-Reh (" Indian Hemp (Indian Hemp) collectors" or "( Hemp) shirt-wearing people") are a tribe of the Haudenosaunee ("people of the long house "), better known as Iroquois League or Iroquois Confederation , an alliance of originally five (later six) tribes or nations of the Iroquois language family . In common parlance, these tribes are called the Iroquois . They are one of the indigenous groups of the Indians of North America and lived in what is now North Carolina and Virginia at the beginning of European contact around 1590. After their defeat in the Tuscarora War , they moved north to what is now the US state of New York around 1722 and joined the Iroquois League as the sixth tribe. From now on, the living and hunting area of the Tuscarora lay between the villages of the Cayuga in the west and the Oneida in the east, but mostly they settled under the Onondaga, since the Tuscarora, as refugees, had no voting rights in the Grand Council of the Iroquois League represent the Oneida (other sources: Cayuga).
The indigenous name in use today for the Iroquois League is derived from two phonetically similar but etymologically different words in the Seneca language: Hodínöhšö: ni: h ("people of the long house") or Hodínöhsö: ni: h ("long house builder "), the Mohawk, however, referred to the confederation in their language as Rotinonsionni ("people of the longhouse").
The indigenous names or designations for the individual tribes / nations are first given in the naming convention commonly used today, followed by the self-designation ( autonym ) if possible , then the Seneca designation (historically mostly the most common), then the Mohawk designation and finally the ceremonial council name (mostly borrowed from the Mohawk).
The nations of the Iroquois League included (from east to west):
- Mohawk ( Kanien'kehá: ka / Kanien'kehake - "People from the Land of Flint ", Kanienkahagen; Council name: "Guardian / Guardian of the Eastern Gate")
- Oneida ( Onyota'a: ka / Onyota'ake - "people of the (upright) standing stone", Onayotekaono or Oneniotehá: ka / Oneniote'á: ka; Council name: Latilutakówa (Onondaga) or Nihatironta'kó: wa (Mohawk) - "People of the big trees / tree trunks")
- Onondaga ( Onoñda'gega '/ Onöñda'gaga' , Onundagaono or Ononta'kehá: ka - "people from the place on the hills, ie from Onondaga", council name: Gana'dagwëni: io'geh or Rotishennakéhte (Mohawk) or Kayečisnakwe 'nì · yu' (Tuscarora) - "keeper of the council fire")
- Cayuga ( Gayogohó: no ' - "People of the Great Marshes", Guyohkohnyoh or Kanawakonhá: ka, Alternative Mohawk name: Kahoniokwenhá: ke - "People from the place where the boats are taken out of the water", Council name: Shotinennawen'tó : wane - "people / keepers of the great pipe")
- Seneca ( Onondowahgah / Onödowá'ga: ' - "People from the great mountain", Tsonontowanehá: ka / Tsonontowane'á: ka - "People from Tsonontó: wane (the great mountain)", Alternative Mohawk name: Shotinontó: wane - " Your (inhabited) mountain is big ", council name: Rontehnhohanónhnha / Ratihnhohanónhnha or Ronatehnhóhonte / Rotihnhóhonte -" guardian / guardian of the western gate ") and from 1722
- Tuscarora ( Skarù ∙ ręʔ / Ska-Ruh-Reh - "Indian Hemp (Indian Hemp) collectors" or "(Hemp) shirt-wearing people", Thatihskarò: roks / Tehatiskaró: ros / Taskaroraha: ka / Taskarorahaka; had no voting rights in the council, were represented by the Oneida).
The territory of the Iroquois League was in what is now the central part of the US state of New York . The Mohawk's residential and hunting area was the largest within the Iroquois League and was furthest to the east; they were therefore called guardians of the eastern gate - the Seneca with about 4,000 tribesmen by far the largest tribe within the league were the westernmost nation and therefore the guardians of the western gate (since the Iroquois / Haudenosaunee compared their alliance with a longhouse).
The Iroquois League was first known to the French as Ligue des Iroquois and later as Confédération iroquoise ("Iroquois League ") or Ligue des Cinq-Nations and to the British as Five Nations ("Five Nations"); from 1722 with the entry of Tuscarora after the lost Tuscarora War as Ligue des Six Nations or Six Nations ("Six Nations"). Politically, had the Seneca in the final decision-making in the Council (Grand Council) of the Haudenosaunee as so-called. "Older Brothers" ( Elder Brothers very large) together with the Mohawk and Onondaga impact. Due to the central / central location of their tribal area, their capital "Onondaga" was also the seat of the Great Council (consisting of 50 elected clan chiefs or Hoyane ) of the Haudenosaunee and the Onondaga symbolically the keepers of the council fire of the Iroquois League ; They were responsible for the preparation, organization and decision-making of the council meetings as well as the preservation of the wampums , which were used to document the council decisions. The chiefs were organized into three groups: the "older brothers" ( Older Brothers - 8 Seneca chiefs and 9 Mohawk chiefs), the "younger brothers" ( Younger Brothers , with 9 Oneida chiefs and 10 Cayuga chiefs) and the "keepers of the council fire" ( fire keepers , with 14 Onondaga chiefs), the Onondaga therefore had an outstanding and often decisive function. Today there are also 6 Tuscarora chiefs, previously the Tuscarora had no voting rights in the tribal council.
Residential area and environment
In the 15th century, several Iroquois-speaking tribes lived in what is now the US states of Virginia and North Carolina . The Tuscarora were the largest and best-known of these tribes with around 5,000 tribesmen (some estimates range up to around 25,000 - but this should also have included all other neighboring Iroquois-speaking tribes), while the Meherrin , Nottoway , Coree and Neusiok are rather unknown. The living and hunting area of these tribes extended over the eastern edge of the Piedmont to the coastal plains of Virginia and North Carolina. The region is crossed by numerous rivers, such as the Nottoway, Meherrin, Roanoke, Tar and Neuse Rivers. The fertile soil and the climate in this area ensure a long-lasting annual growth phase. Most of the villages of the Indians living here were east of the Fall Line on the banks of these rivers.
The Tuscarora were divided into three regional groups that inhabited several villages:
- Kǎ'tě'nu'ā'kā ', Katenuaka, Ga-te-no-wah-ga or Kautanohakau ("People of the Submerged Pine-tree / Pine-tree in water.")
- Akawěñtc'ākā ', Akawenteaka, Akawenchaka, Ag-wan-te-ga ("People of the Two-Row"), also known as Kauwetsaka, Kauwetseka or Cauwintch-AAga ("People of the Water", this is also that Autonym of the neighboring "Kauwets'a: ka" or Meherrin .)
- Skarū'ren ', Skuarureaka or Sca-ru-re-ah-ga (" Indian Hemp (Indian hemp) collectors", "(Hemp) shirt-wearing people"), probably once the largest group, so the nation is now general known as "Tuscarora" .
Culture
Like their neighbors, the Tuscarora lived mainly from growing maize , hunting and collecting wild herbs. In the late autumn the entire village moved to the hunting quarters, where they lived until the end of winter or the beginning of spring. The normal Tuscarora house had a round or oval floor plan, surrounded by tree saplings sunk into the ground. These were bent towards the middle and tied together in the center, so that a dome was created, which was covered with pieces of bark. Inside there were benches all around and the floor was covered with animal skins and bast mats. The hunting quarters were rectangular huts with a solid roof that stood close together, in contrast to their summer houses, which were widely scattered between the cultivated fields. The fireplace was in the middle of the house. There were no cupboards, but elevated storage areas on which the inmates could cover themselves with mats and animal skins.
The ecological diversity in this country and the skills of the Iroquois peoples in the coastal plain in fishing, hunting, gathering and corn cultivation led to a more than adequate livelihood. In addition to the winter community hunt, the men hunted deer , bears , beavers , raccoons , possums , rabbits , squirrels and turkeys . Sturgeons and herrings were caught in spring with fish weirs , nets or clubs on their regular migrations to the spawning grounds upstream . Dried saltwater fish could apparently be purchased from coastal residents. Men and women gathered materials and wild plants that were needed for ceremonies, household chores, trade and nutrition. The nuts of mock chestnuts (chinquapin or chinkapin) (Castanopsis) and chestnuts (American or Allegheny chinkapin) (Castanea pumila) were collectively collected in late summer. The Tuscarora were known for their excellent use and application of various natural fibers (seed and bast fibers as well as rushes) for the production of clothing, cords, fishing nets, baskets and mats. These goods were obtained from silk grass , Indian Hemp (Indian hemp) , rushes and bulrushes (Cattail) and were very popular as a commodity, so that the Tuscarora not only use them for their own use, but also for their indigenous neighbors and later also for the European ones Immigrants made. Therefore they were known to the neighboring tribes as "Indian Hemp (Indian hemp collectors", "(hemp) shirt-wearing people") . They also make wooden bowls and pans for the residents of the Piedmont, which were exchanged for furs and skins. Much of the raw materials needed could be collected near the villages, but others required travel to distant areas.
Canadian bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) was a traditional remedy for fever and rheumatism and was used to induce vomiting. It was also very popular because it was needed to dye hair. To acquire it, they had to hike to the foot of the mountains , where they could meet hostile Indians. The Tuscarora were known for using copper to make jewelry. They also made long journeys west to obtain the raw material, as well as for salt.
Corn was the only and most important grain. It was dried and ground into flour, which was the main ingredient in soups and was used to make bread. Cucumbers, squash and beans were also grown. There were orchards in the settlements where apples, peaches and quinces were harvested. Work done by women included cooking meals for the entire family, as well as making mats, baskets, and clothing. Young men worked in the fields in the growing season before the autumn hunt began. When moving to the winter quarters, the women transported the food supplies. Upon arrival, their main duties were to find firewood, cook food, and make household items. Some men, e.g. B. bad hunters or roofs , collected tree bark to cover the huts, made bowls and dishes from wood, carved tobacco pipes from clay and ran back to the summer village to take care of the elderly people who were left behind. Young girls ground the maize in large wooden bowls or mortars with pestles and helped the women collect nuts, tubers and wild fruits.
In addition to hunting and fishing, the men of the Tuscarora went on military expeditions against their enemies, sometimes leading to areas up to 700 miles away. It was impressive how the warriors, separated into several groups, met at a predetermined destination in unknown territory. Precise planning, organization and collaboration was a prerequisite for such undertakings. This task was taken over by the war chiefs. The opinion and experience of the old men in a village were always taken into account when making decisions.
Regarding the life cycle of the Tuscarora, rites have been handed down that were customary with adolescents and the dead. During puberty, some young people had to undergo the Huskenaw rite . Around 1755 there was still a ritual that accompanied the transition of the boy or girl to adult status. The young people came to a secluded hut where they had to drink a liquid made from hallucinogenic plants. In this isolation they were held for a period of two to three weeks, sometimes up to a few months. After returning to the village, they sometimes did not speak to other residents for several weeks. Before a funeral, it was customary for the corpse to be wrapped in mats made of reed. After that, a ritual meal took place and a shaman spoke about the dead man, mentioning his good qualities and achievements. Village chiefs and well-known people from the tribe were given a special burial.
Social organization
As with the other Iroquois peoples, the smallest economically autonomous unit was the family. Several families lived in one longhouse and several longhouses formed an exogamous and matrilineal clan , which was differentiated and named on the basis of animal names (so-called "family badges") or totem animals - birds and animals. The clans were mostly assigned to three phratria (clan associations): water (turtle / turkey, eel / eel and beaver / beaver clans), land (bear / bear, wolf and deer / stag clans) and air (hawk / falcon, heron / Herons and Snipe / Snipe Birds Clans). Understood these phratries / clan associations as a kinship group ( Matri Lineage ) ( "single-line descent group") that they belong together on a common mythical ancestress attributed, therefore Klan members were allowed to each other not become sexually intimate as this for incest held has been. They were considered to be related by blood. Such ethnic groups functioned as an independent solidarity and economic community, mostly shared land ownership and often lived together as a settlement group. Each clan (approx. 50 to 200 people) was again divided into two moieities ("halves") and was led by a clan mother elected by the women for life (men could not vote).
The Tuscarora were divided into two moities: Moiety (A): Bear / Bear and Wolf Clans and Moiety (B): Eel / Eel, Snipe / Schnepfenvögel, Beaver / Beaver, Turtle / Turkey and Deer / Deer clans.
The Iroquois society was matrilineal. The head of a family was always a woman and the children belonged to the maternal line. The longhouse, the soil and the harvest were the property of the woman. After the marriage, the man moved into his wife's longhouse and the children became members of their clan ( matrilocal ). The rules of descent were matrilineal ("in the line of the mother": maternal line) and the right of inheritance favored the daughter or the next female member of the family. An older woman was also in charge of a long house. This also applied to the clan, whose leading wife was assisted by a male chief elected by women . All important people were elected by women and could be deposed by them if they were not up to the task. No war could be waged without the consent of the women and a mother could forbid her son to participate in the campaign.
history
The first settlements of the English colonists emerged in the 1650s and 1660s on the north side of the Albemarle Sound . In the late 1660s there was armed conflict between the Tuscarora and colonists. An undated peace treaty from that period lies in the Edenton , North Carolina courthouse . This shows that no Tuscarora settlement was allowed to be built north and west of the Roanoke River . In addition, no Tuscarora were allowed to be less than half a day's journey from the English settlements. Relations between Tuscarora and colonists remained strained. The indigenous peoples realized that the whites were taking their land from them for nothing in return. In addition, their relatives were captured and sold as slaves , cheated by the white traders and bottled with alcohol. As the majority of the Tuscarora lived apart from the slowly advancing colonists, they were initially able to retain their autonomy . Small amounts of European merchandise and arms changed little in the culture and way of life of the North Carolina Indians until the early eighteenth century. The Tuscarora War of 1711 brought a decisive turning point .
Tuscarora War 1711–1713
Towards the end of the 17th century, the living conditions of the North Carolina Indians became increasingly unbearable. The colonial administration was chaotic and important decisions were made not in North Carolina but in England by the Lords, the English owners of the plantations. The whites disregarded the agreed borders with the tribal areas of the Indians, who were considered savages without rights. Agreements and contracts were often forgotten or were based on failure and submission from the start. The hunting grounds of the Tuscarora and other tribes increasingly dwindled and the indigenous hunters were simply killed or driven out if they wanted to exercise their rights. In this state with no rights for Indians, they could not trust any whites or government officials. White men kidnapped Tuscarora children, women and men, to be sold as slaves in the northern colonies or the Caribbean. And on top of all that, there was the alcohol abuse that demoralized the Tuscarora.
The Tuscarora chose an opportune time to attack the whites. Many Quakers who had left England because of the persecution there had fled to North Carolina. They argued violently with the colonists about their dealings with the Indians and were not prepared to wage war against them. There was also resistance to military use among the rest of the white population. Christoph von Graffenried , leader of numerous Swiss and Palatinate settlers, and the land surveyor John Lawson made an unannounced expedition through the tribal area of the Tuscarora at this time. Both were captured on the orders of Tuscarora chief Hancock and taken to the main village of Catechna . Graffenried was able to convince his guards to release him, but Lawson was sentenced to death and executed. Shortly thereafter, the Tuscarora began to attack the white settlers on the Trent and Pamlico Rivers , along with warriors from the Coree , Pamlico , Mattamuskeet , Bear River and Machapunga . These sudden and unexpected raids terrified the white settlers throughout the colony. Governor Edward Hyde of North Carolina sought help from Virginia , but it was reluctant and scanty. Hyde also sent a call for help to South Carolina , which Colonel John Barnwell set out with a small force of white fighters and some 500 Yamassee Indians. Barnwell defeated the Tuscarora and made a peace treaty with them in 1711. Shortly thereafter, Barnwell, apparently angry about unpaid wages from North Carolina, broke that treaty and killed numerous Tuscarora or sold them as slaves. In 1712 the Tuscarora fought back and destroyed white settlements on the Neuse , Pamlico and Trent Rivers. After almost two years of war, the Tuscarora suffered a decisive defeat in 1713 against 33 white and 1,000 Indian warriors under Colonel James Moore of South Carolina. The Tuscarora suffered heavy loss of life and capture, a total of 950 men, women and children.
The mighty chief of the northern Tuscarora, Tom Blunt (or Blount) was responsible for the final betrayal . So far he had taken a neutral position in the conflict with the whites. By a cunning deception he handed over Chief Hancock , the leader of the Indian revolt from the south, to the whites, who immediately executed him. The rebellious Tuscarora began to flee north, a process that would continue at intervals for ninety years. Chief Blunt was recognized as the sole leader of the Tuscarora by the Virginia and North Carolina governments.
Escape north
In September 1713, the Iroquois informed a delegation from Albany , the seat of government in New York , that many of the Tuscarora had left their villages and were on their way north. In September of the following year, Governor Hunter learned of the arrival of the Tuscarora, who had found a home in the Iroquois villages. At that time there were about 500 Tuscarora families with the Iroquois. Around 1722 the refugees from the south were officially accepted as the sixth nation in the Iroquois League. The Tuscarora moved into a village that lay between the villages of the Oneidas and Onondagas . In the 18th century, some Tuscarora also lived on the Juanita and Susquehanna Rivers in Pennsylvania , as well as other small groups in Pennsylvania and New York. In 1736 there were reports of 250 warriors living in a Tuscarora village west of the Oneidas, and around 1750 they inhabited several settlements in the same area.
Within the Iroquois League, the Tuscarora apparently had the closest ties to the Oneidas and Onondagas. There they had contact with missionaries , including Samuel Kirkland . Under his influence, the Tuscarora and Oneida decided to support the American cause in the American War of Independence , while most of the Iroquois of the other five nations sided with the English. When the war began, the Tuscarora were initially neutral, but in the spring of 1766 they decided to fight the British on the side of the Americans. General James Clinton's expeditionary army then burned three Tuscarora villages on the Susquehanna River. In July 1780, Mohawk captain Joseph Brant led his troops to the remaining Oneida and Tuscarora villages to destroy them. Some of the survivors fled to Niagara , others to Schenectady , where they spent a particularly harsh winter. After 1780, all Tuscarora were evicted from the areas where they had lived before the war. About 130 surviving Tuscarora moved to Canada and accompanied other Iroquois who had fought on the side of the British. The British Crown had promised them land on the Grand River in Canada for their services . Around 1790 there was another group of Tuscarora in a village with 26 houses on Lake Genesee . A total of around 400 Tuscarora are said to have lived in the United States at that time.
Around 1798 the Tuscarora were awarded a three square mile reservation at Lewiston in Niagara County , New York State. A government delegation traveled to North Carolina in 1801 to sell the tribe's remaining land holdings. They received $ 13,722, with which the reservation in New York was enlarged to approximately 10 square miles or 25 km². The majority of the Tuscarora who stayed in North Carolina decided to move north to their relatives in New York. The Tuscarora migrated to Canada became part of the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in what is now the Canadian province of Ontario .
Todays situation
Descendants of the Tuscarora can now be found in three areas of North America. In the northeast, near Lewiston in New York, is the Tuscarora Reservation with 1152 tribal members (2010 census). More around 2004 Tuscarora (2010 census) live within the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Ontario, Canada.
Various groups and organizations of Tuscarora ancestry exist in North Carolina , but none of them are federally recognized. These include: The Southern Band Tuscarora Indian Tribe in Windsor, North Carolina; the 1978 Hatteras Tuscarora ; the Tuscarora Tribe of Indians at Maxton (1979); the Tuscarora Nation of Indians of North Carolina (2006) and the Tuscarora Nation One Fire Council in Robeson County (2010).
Some of the descendants live in Oklahoma. These are Tuscarora, who lived with the Mingo in the early 19th century, first in New York, then in Ohio and Kansas and finally in Oklahoma. From 1937 they are members of the newly founded Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma and settle in the northeastern part of Oklahoma. The tribe is federally recognized .
The highest estimate of the Tuscarora population in the early 17th century was around 5,000 tribal members. The number of Tuscarora descendants in the early 21st century was 5,600.
Tuscarora offspring in Oklahoma
Some Tuscarora descendants now live in Oklahoma. They are mainly descendants of the Tuscarora, who were forcibly relocated from New York to Oklahoma along with other Iroquois groups of the Seneca and Cayuga in the early 19th century. Their common names were Mingo and were later forced to relocate to the Indian territory of Kansas and then Oklahoma. In 1937 the descendants joined the state-recognized Seneca Cayuga tribe of Oklahoma. The nation owns territories in the northeast corner of the former Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Overview map: Learning Longhouse: Tuscarora Nation (Ska-Ruh-Reh). Blog page, 2014, part of the learning materials of the Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, New York State (English; the two Tuscarora communities in the US and Canada).
- ↑ In the historical specialist literature and to this day the names for the Iroquois League, whose tribes and institutions are borrowed from the Seneca language (the largest tribe within the league at the time) - today these are supplemented or replaced by the Mohawk language, as this is currently the most widely spoken language of the Iroquois League (Onkwehonwehneha).
- ^ Haudenosaunee Confederacy - The League of Nations
- ↑ Kanienkeha - An open source endangered language initiative
- ↑ Kahnawà: ke Branch of the Mohawk Nation
- ↑ According to today's Haudenosaunee, however, the Mohawk council name most often given as "guardian / guardian of the eastern gate" is a frequent misunderstanding on the part of Europeans and can be traced back to their interpretation that the Mohawk as the easternmost nation as the "guardian of the eastern door within the Confederation "were known; however, this name was never officially used among the Haudenosaunee, but only used and spread by the Europeans.
- ↑ a b c d e f Douglas W. Boyce: Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 15: Northeast, Iroquoian Tribes of the Virginia-North Carolina Coastal Plain , pp. 282-285.
- ↑ This can be understood as meaning both the frankincense pine (Loblolly Pine) and the bald cypress (Bald Cypress)
- ↑ Neyuheruke 300 - Nooherooka Trees
- ^ Douglas W. Boyce: Handbook, Volume 15: Northeast pp. 286-288.
- ↑ a b c d e f g David Landy: Handbook, Volume 15: Northeast, Tuscarora among the Iroquois pp. 518-521
- ^ Encyclopedia Britannica , Tuscarora. Retrieved October 26, 2016 .
- ↑ 2010 census . Retrieved October 26, 2016 .
Web links
literature
- Charles Callender: Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, Chapter: Illinois, pp. 673-680. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978. ISBN 0-16004-575-4