420 HISTORIC CAUGHNAWAGA
names of white men borne by the Indians of the
village, such as Tarbell, Stacey, Hill, McGregor,
Williams, McComber, and others. He was aware
that a number of prisoners had been adopted into
the tribe in the eighteenth century, but no one
had ever tried to trace them up after the tragedy
of their capture.
There were genealogical problems still unsolved
in Caughnawaga, and when Father Forbes took
over the responsibilities of the pastorate, in 1892, he
set to work to do for the Indians of Caughnawaga
what Monsignor Tanguay had done for the French
population of Lower Canada. Unfortunately he
was handicapped in his work. The registers of
baptisms and marriages dated only from 1735
and 1743, respectively, that is, more than half a
century after the foundation of the mission. But
with the help of the family traditions which were
still vivid among the descendants of the early con
verts, and with the courage and perseverance of a
Benedictine, the missionary started to plod through
the registers and to construct the genealogical
trees of the families of his flock. l He employed
1. Father Burtin was of opinion that Father Gordan took with him to St.
Regis, in 1755. a part of the register of baptisms made previous to the year
1735, and that these interesting documents were destroyed in the fire which
burned down the church at that mission. The loss is irreparable, as no other
copy is known to exist. The number of baptismal entries at Caughnawaga
were usually about thirty or forty a year. They were written in Latin and were
far from having all the exactness now required by law. The burials and
marriages, at least a part of them, were written in another book in abridged
form. Most of the marriage entries take up only two lines, wherein the husband
is indicated merely by Indian name and surname without any other indication
of the family. It was the custom then that each Indian had his own name,
so that a father who had five children would write his own name and each of
the children would write a different name. This singular custom was found
not only among the Iroquois but among other nations in Canada as well, a
circumstance that does not make easy the work of tracing Indian genealogies.
THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 421
the spare moments of several years in this arid
task, and success crowned his efforts. For in
stance, he found that Eunice Williams, one of the
Deerfield captives of 1704, had left a posterity of
cne hundred and twenty-five descendants living
in Caughnawaga; that the young boy Silas Rice,
who was captured at Marlboro, Massachusetts,
in the summer of 1703, and had married into the
tribe, had a living posterity, in the year 1900,
of over thirteen hundred descendants, and that
Jacob Hill, and John Stacey, the two boys taken
near Albany, in 1755, and adopted by the tribe,
had become the ancestors of fifteen hundred mem
bers of the Caughnawaga tribe. Another interest
ing detail, which the old registers revealed, was
that the offspring of Eunice Williams, of Deer-
field, and those of Silas Rice, of Marlboro, blended
into one by marriage, seventy-five years after the
two children had fallen into the hands of their
captors.
The unwearied delver proved, from an example
as late as 1796, the assertion made elsewhere in
this work, namely, that white men often preferred
to live with the Indians rather than return to
their own country. This was the case of Gervase
McComber, a native of Massachusetts, who, not
withstanding the entreaties of his family, refused
to leave Caughnawaga after he had gone to live
there. He was adopted as one of the tribe and in
after life filled important functions in the village.
An eloquent, if silent, tribute to the humanity
of the Caughnawaga Indians, and to the influence
422 HISTORIC CAUGHNAWAGA
which Christianity had never ceased to exercise
over them since their mission was founded in the
seventeenth century!
Father Forbes had done more than any of his
predecessors to prepare the material for a history
of the tribe. His thorough study of the registers
and of the traditions of the village had given him
a knowledge which was of the highest value; but
he left to others the task of continuing the work.
In 1903, he was transferred to another field of labour
and the Jesuits were invited to return. 1 A member
of the Order, Father Samuel Granger, had arrived
in the previous year to prepare himself for the
succession, and after an absence of one hundred
and twenty years they went back to Caughnawaga
to take up the work interrupted by the death of
Father Joseph Huguet, in 1783, and to assume the
spiritual responsibility for a couple of thousand
of the descendants of Tonsohoten and his com
panions, their own converts of 1667. The whirli
gig of time works strange transformations; but it
was a part of the eternal fitness of things, "that,"
as Bishop Bourget had insinuated to Marcoux in
1850, "St. Francis Xavier should some day wel
come back his brethren to the mission of the Sault
Saint-Louis."
1. Monsignor Joseph-Guillaume Forbes was born on He Perrot August
10, 1865. After his studies at the college and seminary of Montreal, he was
ordained March 17, 1888. He spent fifteen years at Caughnawaga, the last
eleven as resident missionary. Transferred to Ste. Anne de Bellevue, in 1903,
and to St. John Baptist, Montreal, in 1911, he was appointed to the see of
Joliette, in 1913, and was consecrated Bishop on October 9 of that year.
Bishop Forbes published a prayer book in the Iroquois tongue (16mo, 568 pp.)
and several annuals dealing with affairs of the Caughnawaga mission. Hia
Indian name is Tenhonikonrhaihe: he has a brilliant mind.
THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 423
With the arrival of the Jesuits this volume
may end. Historic Caughnawaga treats of the
past; the future must be permitted to take care of
itself. Suffice it to say that, since the return of
the old Order to its ancient mission, the affairs of
the tribe are being looked after with an enthusiasm
which recalls the earlier days. During the past
twenty years, men of zeal like Fathers Melangon,
Granger, and Gras, recognizing the value of the
traditions and the examples bequeathed to them
by their predecessors, both remote and proximate,
have followed and are still following with watch
fulness and care the temporal and moral welfare
of their dusky flock. l They are bending their
energies, as missionaries had done before them,
towards the uplift of this Iroquois remnant of the
seventeenth century, who loyally admit that, if
they have survived the wreckage of two hundred
and fifty years, it is due to the influence exercised
over them by the Christian religion which was
wholeheartedly accepted by their warrior fore
fathers. That influence has continued uninter
rupted down the years; from 1667 to the present
day the black-robe has ever been the true friend
of the Caughnawaga tribe.
The past twenty years have witnessed a number
1. Faithful to their ancient traditions, the Iroquois adopted these three
missionaries into their tribe.
During his term of office at Caughnawaga, Arthur Melancon was known
as Tekaronhianeken: two skies united, the name borne by Burtin.
Samuel Granger received the name Kenawentshon: always day, which.
Bishop Forbes has informed us. is the same as Ondessonk, borne by the martyr
Isaac Jogues.
Joseph Gras, the present pastor of Caughnawaga, is called Tekronhioken:
between two skies.
424 HISTORIC CAUGHNAWAGA
of changes in the life of the village, and the in
troduction of not a few improvements in the habits
and customs of the Indians themselves. Homes
are neat and tidy; higher ideals than mere animal
wants are inculcated; music and other refinements
have added an elevating influence to family life
in Caughnawaga. The Indian women have, as a
general rule, discarded the shawl of their ancestors,
and they are not averse, the younger ones es
pecially, to lingering over the pages of the latest
books of fashion.
The public health and physical well-being of
the Indians had long been a matter of anxiety
for those in charge of them. It is pathetic to
read in old letters and reports of the lack of scien
tific treatment which the sick and suffering in the
village had to bear in the days when their mis
sionaries for instance, Marcoux and Burtin
were not merely pastors of souls but doctors of
bodies as well, and when kindly but unskilled Indian
neighbours had to act as nurses and attend to all
the menial wants in the homes of the sick. 1 In
after years the systematic visits of physicians to
the village took much responsibility off willing
shoulders, while the hospitals of Montreal opened
their doors to patients who needed more serious
attention. But in the twentieth century even the
1. In 1821, Lord Dalhousie refused a petition to appoint a physician for
Caughnawaga, such appointments being made only in times of war. In the
same note the governor requested that the term sauvas.e shou d not be used
in respect of any Indian living in civilized society in Lower Canada. He
trusted that all the Indians knew and practised the habits and regulations
of their civilized neighbours. Canadian Archives, Indian Correspondence.
C., p. 307.
THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 425
poor Indian could reasonably claim the care and
treatment given to his more advanced white
neighbour.
In 1905, a hospital was established in Caugh-
nawaga and placed in charge of competent nurses
whose skill and Christian charity are at the service
of all. In this new institution are treated not
merely the ordinary ills to which humanity is heir,
but also others one would hardly look for in an
Indian village. The Iroquois no longer hunt as
their ancestors did; barely a fifth of the entire
population till the soil; the rest prefer to work on
steel bridges and live perched in the air at the
top of lofty structures. In this risky trade they
have specialized in recent years, and the accidents
that occur show the opportuneness of a local hos
pital which was not needed in less strenuous years.
The little row of graves in their village cemetery,
recalling the Quebec bridge disaster of 1907, in
which forty of them lost their lives, are reminders
that as long as they are engaged in such employ
ments they are not immune from danger to life
and limb.
But in the past twenty years it is rather in the
domain of education that Caughnawaga has wit
nessed the most important changes. Readers of
these pages will recall the efforts of Marcoux and
Burtin to impart a smattering of intellectual train
ing to the children of their flock and at the same
time safeguard their traditional faith, without
which mere instruction would have profited them
little. Happily those nineteenth-century struggles
426 HISTORIC CAUGHNAWAGA
have practically ended. For several years the two
Indian industrial schools at Wikwemikong, on
Manitoulin Island, received children of the Caugh-
nawaga Indians. The boys were trained by the
lay-brothers of the Jesuit Order, while the girls
were carefully looked after by a band of zealous
women whose long experience among the Indians
had given them an unrivalled efficiency in their
chosen profession. Thus the Indian children of
both sexes were educated according to their needs
and taught practical trades, which would enable
them to earn their living honourably. A few years
ago, these schools were transferred to Spanish, on
Georgian Bay, where the admirable work is being
encouraged and subsidized by the Canadian Govern
ment.
In Caughnawaga itself the Government has
built modern schools for the Iroquois, and the
enlightened sympathy of Mr. Duncan Campbell
Scott, the deputy superintendent-general of Indian
Affairs, has enabled the missionaries to enlist as
teachers of the Indian children an Order of women
the Sisterhood of Ste. Anne whose work in the
village is already producing results. Contrary to
the impression which Paul Bourget, the Fiench
writer, carried away with him, after his visit in 1894,
namely, that there is a limit prescribed by blood
beyond which an Indian race cannot be educated, l
it will only be necessary to spend a day or two
in Caughnawaga and to come in contact with dozens
1. O*trt-Mer, Vol. II, p. 221.
THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 427
of tawny-skinned, dark-eyed children, to see how
well gentleness and piety and refinement are
keeping pace with purely secular training.
These Indian children will be the men and
women of the next generation; they are having
opportunities of which their fathers and mothers
were deprived. And yet the Iroquois of to-day are
living in a marvellous age and are sharing in its
advantages. They own automobiles and are ready
to risk their lives in them; they use the telephone
in communicating with the outside world; wireless
telegraphy is no longer a mystery to them; nor
do aviators flying over their village get more than a
passing glance. They read the newspapers and
discuss politics. They fought in Flanders and shed
their blood for the sake of Democracy. They
boast of having shaken hands with governors and
foreign ambassadors at home and abroad. They
welcomed to Caughnawaga a Russian consul-general,
a State councillor of France, a mayor of Montreal.
They had the pleasure of listening to the thrilling
voice of Emma Calve, the famous soprano, who
sang for them in their village church. Men like
Theodore Botrel, the poet of Brittany, Father
Bernard Vaughan, the Jesuit orator, Count de Les-
seps and Lieutenant Flachaire, both distinguished
aviators, and dozens of other celebrities, sought
and received honorary affiliation in the tribe.
The Iroquois of Caughnawaga are riding on the
tide; what of the generation which will succeed
them? In 1890, they abandoned the system of
428 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS
tribal chiefs, under which for centuries they were
content to live, and, like their pale-faced neigh
bours, they are now governed by municipal laws.
With the wider outlook which a more thorough
civic education is giving them and with the
franchise of citizenship at their disposal for the
asking, one may safely predict an evolution in Indian
life during the next few years that would undoubt
edly surprise Tonsohoten and the proto-converts
of 1667, were they to visit their old mission after
an absence of two hundred and fifty years.
Analytical Index
ABENAQUIS: At war with the
English; promised French coopera
tion, 149; defend their possessions,
167.
ACHIENDASE: Tribal name of
Jacques Bruyas, 168.
ALLUMETTE ISLAND: Home of the
Algonquins, 220.
AMHERST GENERAL: Piloted down
the Lachine rapids by Caughnawaga
Indians, 271.
AMPERE, JEAN-JACQUES: Visits
Caughnawaga, 413.
ANDROS, SIR EDMUND: Succeeds
Dongan as governor of New York, 95.
ANGOULEME DUCHESS OF: Her
interest in the pseudo-Bourbon heir,
318.
ANTOINE, EUGENE, O.M.I.: Wel
comed by Marcoux, 396; studies
Indian character and language, 401;
retires from the pastorship, 404;
sketch, 405n.
APPONYI, COUNT RUDOLPH: Re
veals origin of paintings in church
at Caughnawaga, 383.
ARCHIBALD, REV. GEORGE: Aids
school at St. Regis, 370.
AROUSENT: Indian spy, 159;
conveys message to Mohawks, 160
ATHASATA: (Kyrn, the Great
Mohawk) His conversion and bap
tism, 30; personal influence among
tribesmen, 31; prevents violation of
treaty, 53; offers his cabin for a
chapel, 59; accompanies De Denon-
ville against the Senecas, 81; leads
Indians in Schenectady raid, 95;
slain at Lake Champlain, 97; praised
after death, 98.
AUBERY, FATHER, S.J.: Converts
an Englishman, 246.
AULNEAU DE LA TOUCHE, PlERRE,
S.J.: Visits Caughnawaga, slain by
the Sioux, 225; remains discovered;
his mother aids the Canadian mis
sions; her honorary affiliation to the
Jesuit Order, 225n.
AVAUGOUR, F D ., S.J.: Receives
note from Minister, 213.
AVAUGOUR, D , GOVERNOR: Writes
concerning liquor traffic, 25.
AYLMER, LORD: Named gover
nor of Canada, 348; admits bell for
Caughnawaga free of duty, 349;
appoints a teacher in the village
school, 366.
BARRE, SIEUR DE LA: Appointed
governor, 63; asks the king to aid
Kahnawakfe, 63; declares war on the
cantons, 68; his failure, 71.
BAVEUX, LEONARD, O.M.I.: Cor
responds with Marcoux, 386; presents
petition to clergy of France, 395.
BEDINI, MGR. CAJETAN: Visits
Caughnawaga; his after-career, 412.
BAYNES, GENERAL: Issues mili
tary orders, 323.
BEAUCOURI, SIEUR DE: Organ
izes an expedition of raiding Indians,
242.
BEAUHARNOIS, MARQUIS DE: Ap
pointed governor, 218; organizes ex
pedition against the Foxes, 219; re
primands Caughnawaga chiefs, 231;
blames missionaries for contraband
trade, 235, 237.
BEGON, INTEND ANT: Estimates
cost of clearing new site for Caugh
nawaga, 174.
430
HISTORIC CAUGHNAWAGA
BELLESTRE, M. DE: Visits Caugh-
nawaga, 265; raids the Palatinate,
266.
BELLOMONT, EARL OF: An enemy
of the Jesuits, 132; encourages en
croachments on French, 135; dreads
Jesuit influence, 145; resolves to
place ministers in the cantons, 146.
BIGOT, INTENDANT: Mentions the
English fear of Indians, 294.
BILLIARD, PIERRE, S.J.: Exer
cises ministry at Caughnawaga, 252;
first missionary at St. Regis, 255;
sketch, 252n.
BISHOP OF MONTREAL: Edified
by young men of Caughnawaga, 389;
writes to Marcoux about successor,
394.
BLACK POT: Slain by Algonquins,
130; mourned by tribesmen, 131
BLOOMFIELD, GENERAL: Inter
view with Eleazar Williams, 322.
BONDOUR: Meeting with Peter
Schuyler, 140.
BONIFACE, FRANCOIS, S.J.: Ar
rives from cantons with converts, 31;
sketch, 3 In.
BONNECHERE: Passed by De la
Bretonniere, 220.
BOQUET, CHARLES: Accompanies
Tonsohoten to the colony, 17.
BOTREL, THEODORE: Affiliated to
the tribe, 427.
BOUCHERVILLE, LlEUT.-COLONEL:
Leaves Caughnawaga with militia,
323.
BOUCHETTE Mr.: Interviewed by
Indians. 339n.
BOUGAINVILLE, Louis -ANTOINE
DE: Acompanies General Montcalm to
Caughnawaga, 263; sketch, 264;
affiliated to the tribe, 265; frequent
visitor at Caughnawaga, 268.
BOURGET, PAUL: Visits Caugh
nawaga, 426.
BOUT DE L ISLE:
the Iroquois, 94.
Attacked by
BRADDOCK, GENERAL: Arrives in
America, 256.
BRADSTREET, GENERAL: Threat
ened by Indians, 270; gives his
version of trouble in the West, 273.
BRANT, JOSEPH: Explains the In
dians share in the American Re
volution, 299; exaggerates the facts,
300.
BRETONNIERE, JACQUES-QUENTIN
DE LA, S.J.: Accompanies expedi
tion against Foxes. 219; impressions
of the journey, 221; replaces De
Lauzon, 221; second expedition to
the West, 234; named to succeed
Tournois, but refused by the Indians.
251; sketch, 219n.
BRIAND, BISHOP: Sympathizes
with Indians on death of Huguet.
213.
BROWNING, WILLIAM: Member
of Gage s military council, 278n.
BRUCE, GENERAL: Accompanies
Prince of Wales, 403.
BRUNEAU, DR.: Gives Marcoux
medical care, 394.
BRUYAS, JACQUES, S.J.: His life
in the cantons, 54; arrives at Kah-
nawake, 55; ambassador to Indian
tribes, 69; accompanies De Denon-
ville as chaplain, 81; asked to open
fresh negotiations, 86; named Super
ior general of Jesuits in Canada. 126;
sent by De Calliere to cantons, 143;
dies at Caughnawaga; his influence
over the tribe, 168: composes an
Iroquois grammar, 169w.
BURNETT, GOVERNOR: Sends a
sharp letter to Vaudreuil, 196; his
envoys circumvented, 200.
BURTIN, NICHOLAS V., O.M.I.:
Describes ancient site of La Suzanne,
181; appointed missionary at Caugh
nawaga, 405; difficulties in his
ministry, 411; collects material for
the history of Caughnawaga, 415;
publishes life of Kateri Tekakwitha,
416; sketch, 416n.
BURTON, BRIGADIER GENERAL:
Orders survey of seigniories, 285.
