THE SENECA PEACEMAKERS

THE SENECA PEACEMAKERS

In the course of the long war with the Cherokee it happened once that eight
Seneca determined to undertake a journey to the south to see if they could make
a peace with their enemies. On coming near the border of the Cherokee country
they met some hunters of that tribe to whom they told their purpose. The latter at
once hurried ahead with the news, and when the peacemakers arrived they found
themselves well received the Cherokee chiefs, who called a council to
consider the proposition. All but one of the chiefs favored the peace, but he
demanded that the eight delegates should first join them in a war party which
was just preparing to go against a tribe farther south, probably the Creeks. The
Seneca agreed, and set out with the war party for the south; but in the fight
which resulted, the Seneca leader, The Owl, was captured. The other seven
escaped with the Cherokee.
A council was held in the enemy’s camp, and it was decided that The Owl
should be burned at the stake. The wood was gathered and everything made
ready, but as they were about to tie him he claimed the warrior’s privilege to
sing his death song and strike the post as he recited his warlike deeds. The
request pleased his enemies, who put a tomahawk into his hands and told him to
begin.
He told first his exploits in the north, and then in the west, giving times and
places and the number of scalps taken, until his enemies were so pleased and
interested that they forgot the prisoner in the warrior. It was a long story, but at
last he came to the battle in which he was taken. He told how many relatives he
had killed of the very men around him, and then, striking the post with his
tomahawk, “So many of your people have I killed, and so many will I yet kill;”
and with that he struck down two men, sprang through the circle of warriors, and
was away. It was all so sudden that it was some moments before his enemies
could recover from their surprise. Then they seized their weapons and were after
him through the woods, but he had had a good start and was running for his life,
so that he outran the chase and finally reached the Cherokee camp in safety and
rejoined his seven companions.
On this proof of good will the Cherokee then concluded the treaty, and the
peacemakers returned to their own country.—Arranged from Schoolcraft, Notes peacemakers returned to their own country.—Arranged from Schoolcraft, Notes
on Iroquois, p. 258.

 

Source:
Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney