The Peacemaker

By Brenda Duffey

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rushmore Press LLC
• Release date: Dec 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781957220000

Brenda Duffey

Brenda Duffey is a retired teacher of English and American history who has lived and worked in public schools all over the country. For ten years in Albuquerque, NM she worked as an eighth grade humanities teacher incorporating literature and the arts into the teaching of American history. During this time, she worked with the administration to radically change the way American history was taught to incorporate all cultures that make up this country into the teaching instead of teaching white man's political history. The most important change was incorporating the history of the Indigenous people of this country whose land was taken through wars of extermination and broken peace treaties. The Covenant Chain on the front cover is a treaty made with the Iroquois Confederacy and George Washington before the American Revolution and one that was continually violated as the new United States began its westward expansion. After ten years of teaching the actual story of American history, Brenda developed the idea for a book similar to James Michener's "The Covenant" that would teach the true story of American history in fictional form. The idea remained with her when she moved to Oregon with her second husband. In 1997 Brenda was hired by the federal government to teach one semester at Chemawa Indian School in Kizer, Oregon. The course she taught was Native American history. In the library of the school, Brenda learned about the Iroquois Confederacy and the Peacemaker. She found the starting point for her book. After two years of searching for another permanent teaching position Brenda landed a teaching position at a facility in Oregon that worked with adjudicated youth. Her Master's in Social Work was key to obtaining this position. The idea for the book never left her during the time she was there - 1998-2003. A whistleblowing experience forced Brenda into early retirement in 2003 and during this time, she began work on The Peacemaker. She finished the book in 2009 and self-published the book. After two cross country book tours, Brenda decided the book needed a second printing and revised the book in June, 2010. Brenda has devoted her time to the marketing of this book since then with one vision in mind - to bring the message of The Peacemaker to a global audience in order to awaken the public to what was lost in 1776 and what needs to be done to address the challenges created by this. That vision has stayed with her through the loss of her job, widowhood and health challenges resulting from the whistle blowing. In 2018, Brenda was able to realize her vision when she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and began a project with her older daughter. That dream was to create a model of sustainable living on 1.3 acres of land she purchased on the urban edge of Charlotte. Since then, Brenda has developed a sustainable garden, had her property listed as a certified wildlife habitat and has been busy restoring the land while her daughter has worked rehabbing the current structure on the property to use alternative energy sources. She now lives in Charlotte enjoying the companionship and support of her older daughter and finding time to spend with her younger daughter who lives in San Diego, CA. At present Brenda is busy finalizing her construction and move to her tiny home she is building on the property and planning a bigger and better garden that she hopes will serve to train urban youth about growing their own food and the principles of sustainable living presented in The Peacemaker.

Book preview

ISBN 978-1-956696-98-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-956696-99-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-957220-00-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Brenda Duffey

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Rushmore Press LLC

1 800 460 9188

www.rushmorepress.com

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

September 11, 2001

Paul Littlebear looked out the window of the taxi winding its way through New York traffic toward Newark, New Jersey’s international airport. Paul leaned his 6’2 frame forward to tap on the window separating the driver from the two fares in the back seat. Is traffic always this bad?" he asked.

Just sit back and relax, Buddy, said the cabbie. You’re going to get to the airport on time.

Relax. That was something Paul had always had trouble doing. He looked over at his twin sister, Pauline, calmly looking out the window as she gently stroked the embroidered, silver figures on the delicate, ancient belt she held between her long, slender fingers. Although the belt was very old and worn, Paul could make out the faint designs of an owl, turtle, and bear. He also now recognized the stitching that resembled seven bound arrows that had originally been sewn around a representation of a council fire. Paul studied his sister as she sat calmly holding the priceless wedding sash. How could two people who looked so much alike be so different? Paul looked at the sleek, raven hair so much like his own, hers in braids and his tied in a ponytail that reached to his shoulders. Pauline’s dark eyes were inquisitive and searching. His were brooding, announcing stay away from me. Pauline’s eyes met her brother’s as she said, Settle down, Paul, we’ll make it.

We’ll make it. The words reverberated through his ears as Paul remembered hearing that phrase over and over again throughout the last year—words of encouragement from his sister who had stood by him through the court-ordered drug rehab program and his shaky first year of sobriety. Paul’s nervousness and irritability now reminded him of the truth of the saying one day at a time. Paul kept telling himself to breathe and believe that he had only to think about the events of today. Nothing else mattered. He took a couple of deep breaths, sat back, and closed his eyes. He was tired, in fact, exhausted. Here we are, right on time. Paul jerked and opened his eyes as the taxi pulled over in front of the loading zone under the United Air Lines sign. He opened the door and stepped out, helping his sister before grabbing the luggage from the trunk. After tipping the driver, the two walked into the airport terminal to check-in and find the gate number for flight 93.

Prologue

The Onondaga Chief Ayonwentah sat by the lake nestled in the beautiful valley near the Seneca River. Tears of grief over so many clan brothers and sisters’ deaths including his own wife and children blurred his vision of a land filled with trees and lush foliage. This rich, fertile valley had once yielded great crops of corn, squash, and beans—the Three Sisters—and fields full of wild berries, acorns, nuts, deer, bear, and rabbits. The chief heard their moans in the wind blowing through the trees used in the building of longhouses and canoes. Nature was crying with him over the unending seasons of war, torture, and bloodshed. The Evil Twin had a stronghold on the Onondaga; they were destroying themselves as well as the earth that sustained them with their endless thirst for more—more land, more food, more power. The grieving leader had brought home his share of prisoners to torture in ceremonies where men, and women, were forced to walk on hot coals, had their fingernails torn out, and ears pierced with burning sticks before they died and were eaten in a sacrifice to the Good Twin who now had abandoned the people and the earth sustaining them. Ayonwentah looked out over the cornfields destroyed during the last attack. He filled his pipe with tobacco to smoke in a ceremonial offering to the Good Twin. Suddenly, the bright sun disappeared from the sky warning the young warrior of the bleak future ahead in a world consumed by the Evil Twin’s darkness. Through the pipe’s smoke, he saw a figure approaching from a great pine in the northeast corner of the field, holding a belt of white shells shining in the darkness like a silver moon. Dekanawida spoke to Ayonwentah telling him of his vision of an eagle emerging from a great pine. We must carry the Great Eagle’s message to all the tribes of the Iroquois—the Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Mohawk. It is our destiny to join in a great confederacy based on peace. We will exchange courtesies and wampum around our five council fires instead of killing and taking hostages. We will become strong through unification and our prosperity will be great.

I will journey with you, said Ayonwentah. Where should we start?

We must first visit Jikohnsaseh in the Valley of Peace. We will learn from her about enforcing the Gayanashagowa (Great Laws of Peace) we have forgotten. She will teach us how to return our lands to the Field of Plenty created on Turtle Island after the fall of Sky Woman.

The two prophets journeyed to visit the Mother of Nations and Great Peace Woman residing with the Cultivator Huron. These people lived in the Valley of Peace between two tall mountains created by Flint, the brother of Sapling, both sons of Lynx—the daughter of Sky Woman. Sapling was the Good Twin who worked to restore harmony to the chaos created by Flint, the Evil Twin. Flint brought darkness, mountains, and deserts to the Field of Plenty. Sapling chased Flint locking him in a cave where he broke Flint into many pieces. Sapling used his own branches and Flint’s pieces creating arrows for the people to hunt animals and use their skins and meat for sustenance and protection from the cold. Sapling made tools to cultivate the earth with Flint’s remaining pieces. He caused great waterfalls to cascade over the mountains creating rivers to nourish the people as well as the crops. Sapling rubbed pieces of Flint together to create light to penetrate the darkness and provide heat when there was no sun. Sapling appointed Jikohnsaseh, descendant of Sky Woman, to be the Keeper of the Peace. He entrusted her with a cape covered with fresh water pearls, a symbol of purity and designation of her authority to counsel the hot-blooded warriors in the Gayanashagowa when they came to the valley to recover from war. The two prophets knew her counsel would restore the warriors’ memory of the Gayanashagowa so they could take hold of the Good Message and restore the Good Mind of The Good Twin to the people of Turtle Island. Jikohnsaseh greeted the visitors with a cornucopia filled with fruits and fresh vegetables from the harvest. The Huron women wove these baskets into the shape of an upside-down funnel representing the hole the Great Mystery created in the heavens. The cornucopia was continually filled from the heavens when emptied with a grateful heart.

Ayonwentah and Dekanawida ate heartily as they discussed their mission with the Mother of Nations. What is it that you desire? asked the Clan Mother.

That all tribes shall live together in peace and prosperity.

To do this, you must remember the Gayanashagowa.

Will you teach us once more?

Jikohnsaseh recited the principles of the Gayanashagowa while stroking the pearls adorning her cape, Remember prayers of gratitude. There is always enough when abundance is shared and gratitude is given back daily to the original source. If ideas of sharing and equality precede reality in the hearts of humans, the manifestation of physical needs being met will follow. Women should possess the titles of chiefship and name the chiefs. As keeper of the council fires, they should hold veto power over war and all property should be controlled by them. Healing power comes from natural forces of the earth. Therefore, remember this law: In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the next seven generations.

How will we remember these laws? asked Dekanawida.

Jikohnsaseh handed the men a sash from her waist and a cornucopia filled with white clam shells emulating her pearls. Weave these clamshells into chains like this sash to weave the words into your heart.

We can exchange this wampum with other nations to bind us together at council fires where we share the Gayanashagowa, said Dekanawida.

How else will you express the Great Law to the individual tribes? asked Peace Woman.

The new Confederation will be united as the Haudenousaunee (People of the Longhouse). The clans will live in longhouses where there are many fires, one for each family, yet all living as one household under one chief mother. The clan mothers will appoint the chiefs who hold council for the Great Confederation. If any chief violates the Gayanashagowa, the clan mothers will remove him.

This is a good message, said Jikohnsaseh. I take hold of it. I embrace it as the first to join. Thus, when the sun went out and there was complete darkness did The Peacemaker start his journey to create the Great Peace of the 11th Century—one that would bless the People of the Longhouse with harmony and wealth until the arrival of those stirring up the spirit of the Evil Twin to bring darkness upon the land once more.

CHAPTER 1

Morning Dove stepped from the longhouse into the crisp, autumn night, illuminated by a big, bright Green Corn Moon and the seven dancing stars, whose presence would bless the harvest and the long, winter nights ahead. She looked out over the Mohawk Valley and sighed, remembering a time only ten short years ago when she was a child and the villages of the different clans of the Mohawk filled the valley for as far as she could see. Now, her family members of the Bear Clan were one of the few remaining that kept the traditions of the great Haudenosaunee. The arrival of people from across the big ocean was bringing changes to her valley, and Morning Dove, a young Mohawk of 20, found this unsettling during the time of celebration.

Morning Dove’s family shared a house in the center of the village. All inside the house were busy preparing for the harvest festival. There would be several days of non-stop celebrations and feasts. The men had returned from the hunt, and ceremonies would mark the passage from the old year to a new season of darkness and time of night. Her father, Great Bear, and leader of the clan, along with her twin brother Soaring Eagle and other village warriors, had brought home a bear from the hunt. Its meat was being prepared for the religious feast. After the feast, there would be dancing and rubbing of the bear grease onto the skin to provide protection from the cold winter months ahead. During this time of darkness, the seven dancing stars would light the night. The stars’ disappearance in the spring would signal the earth’s readiness to accept the new seeds, planted at just the right time to mature before the first killing frost.

Morning Dove’s family shared a house near the ceremonial longhouse at the village center. The family members were preparing for the harvest festival. The morning began with a thanksgiving prayer and a tobacco offering to the Good Twin. The clan women then filled their cornucopias with foods from the harvest for the celebration. The prayers of gratitude said over the baskets would ensure the next harvest would be just as abundant. The men returned from the hunt, ready for the ceremonies preparing for the winter months ahead. Morning Dove’s father, Great Bear, chief of the Bear Clan, her twin brother Soaring Eagle, and other village warriors brought home a bear from the hunt

Let us prepare the meat for celebration and take the skins and fat to preserve for winter warmth, said Spotted Owl. A member of the False Face Society wearing a black and red ceremonial mask showed Morning Dove the turtle rattles and dice made from plum pits to be used in the mid-winter ceremonies while the frozen earth lay dormant.

Morning Dove held the dice in her hands and said, I remember playing Gus-ka’-eh on the cold winter nights as a child. Playing the game helped remind me of the contest between the Good and Bad Twin and the importance of keeping the ceremonies during the time of darkness to insure the return of the light. Now, I will lead the children in play and tell the stories of the Seven Star Dancers holding the light until time for the season of light and renewal.

We have prepared the turtle rattles for the curing ceremonies, said the masked member of the False Face Society.

A woman about the same age as Morning Dove entered and announced the name chosen for her son born during the summer. Our son will be named Standing Oak after the sturdy but flexible tree. That’s when Morning Dove left the longhouse for the autumn night’s solace.

Morning Dove looked at the storehouses containing the harvest. Each year, there seemed to be fewer storehouses, as the land for tilling was reduced due to the growing number of Europeans settling the land and building villages surrounded by fences keeping others from sharing the bounty. These Europeans were ignorant of the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy set forth by The Peacemaker. He preached, In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the next seven generations. The Haudenosaunee were straying farther from this law with each passing generation. More families were forgetting the native customs. There were fewer families attending the periodic rituals in the ceremonial longhouses. Each part of the longhouse was a symbol of the Iroquois connection to the natural world. There were doors at either end. One door opened to the east, the rising sun and Hudson River, while the other opened to the setting sun and Lake Erie on the west. The north side faced the St. Lawrence River and the south wall faced the Susquehanna River. There was a walkway in the middle that represented the Mohawk River.

As the people kept the ceremonies in the longhouse, the Mohawk people had lived in peace and prosperity, but that was changing. The people were becoming more dependent upon the European goods received in exchange for trapping the beaver. What would happen when the beaver were gone? Already, those who hunted the beaver were traveling farther north and coming back with fewer pelts. Morning Dove sensed the earth’s response to this lack of respect, and it filled her with a chilling fear darkening her spirits during the celebration. She looked to the sky and thought of the great Onondaga Chief Ayonwentah, messenger of The Peacemaker.

The Peacemaker had dreamed of a great, white pine tree growing on top of a cliff. Overhead, an eagle kept watch. He interpreted this dream to mean that the five nations of the Iroquois—the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca—would stop fighting and unite in one league of friendship making them strong against their common enemies. The Onondaga Ayonwentah heard this message and journeyed with The Peacemaker to the Valley of Peace ruled by Jikohnsaseh, a descendant of Sky Woman. After receiving Jikohnsaseh’s counsel and support, the two prophets established the great Iroquois Confederacy that had prospered and dominated the Great Lakes area of North America for over 300 years. Morning Dove cherished the stories she heard about her people’s history, recorded on sashes of purple and white beads called covenant chains. Treaties between the Iroquois and other nations were sealed by an exchange of this wampum. Every year, representatives of the Six Nations came together in a Grand Council located at Onondaga Lake, the seat of the Iroquois Confederacy. There, representatives discussed conflicts and appeased bad feelings. Complaints were heard and satisfaction achieved by exchanging wampum.

The Mohawk Clans of the Wolf, Turtle, and Bear guarded the eastern door of the nations at the Mohawk and Hudson River junction. The Seneca guarded the western door at the thundering water called Niagara Falls. The Central Fire’s keeper was the Onondaga who hosted the annual councils. In between these tribes were the Cayuga and the Oneida, or Granite People. The Tuscarora, added to the Confederacy in the 1720s, was at the Empire’s southern edge. These tribes’ villages had stretched in groups for a 240-mile stretch known as the Mohawk Trail.

Here, the plentiful rivers and streams were rich hunting grounds for salmon, geese, ducks, bear, elk, and deer. There were maple, oak, beech, birch, and elm trees and the pine that symbolized the strong Confederacy. It was from these woods that the Haudenosaunee fashioned their longhouses and covered them with their bark. Here, they had lived in peace and cultivated the soil until it needed renewal. Then the tribe would move, reclaiming the land as forest according to their Great Law.

Morning Dove had been born into such a village in 1733, but the strong currents from the Great Ocean to the East had brought new people to the land. These people did not honor the Great Peace and used wampum for gaining power instead of promoting peace. The Dutch settled the area around the Hudson River in the late 1600s calling the land New Amsterdam. That was when the beaver trade first began. Confederacy men were seduced into hunting the beaver to trade for metal, cloth, strings of wampum, firearms, and firewater. The council fires were now filled with dissention rather than consensus, and agreements were constantly broken by those greedy for more wampum unwilling to wait for the annual councils to resolve differences.

The strife had worsened due to the arrival of the French black-robes who settled the area around the Great Lakes to convert these savages to Christianity. These black-robes had the support of their countrymen who started forming alliances with the Huron against the Dutch and, eventually, the English settlers of the region. The Dutch armed the Iroquois against the French, and the Dutch Indian Wars between 1624 and 1626 had already whetted the appetites of the Iroquois men for blood.

The black-robes also brought the Black Death. In 1634, a smallpox epidemic reduced the Mohawk population from 20,000 to 10,000 and Mohawk warriors returned to raiding settlements and taking hostages to rebuild their numbers. The French built Ft. Orange on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario to protect the French from the warriors. In addition, the English colonials were now moving into the area settling the land and using it for farming.

Morning Dove was troubled by her brother Soaring Eagle’s behavior. When Spotted Owl married Great Bear, he moved into her longhouse and she appointed him chief and keeper of the fires for the Bear Clan. Morning Dove and her twin, Soaring Eagle, had been their first-born. Morning Dove would eventually become the clan mother and her twin Soaring Eagle had been appointed to the men’s council by her mother when he was 18. Spotted Owl had recently removed Soaring Eagle from the council because he abused the Gayanashagowa.

Soaring Eagle had taken a liking to the white man’s firewater and started hunting the beaver to trade the pelts for the appealing drink. He became involved in many disputes while under the influence and violated the tradition of waiting to settle disputes at the yearly council meeting. Instead, he acted impulsively and violently. Soaring Eagle recently participated in a raid on an English farm and kidnapped a beautiful English woman with red hair and opaque skin named Jane. She was adopted into the village and was now carrying his child.

Morning Dove loved Jane and welcomed her as a sister but suspected that Jane could never be fully devoted to Mohawk traditions; her child would have ties to the English threatening her people. Morning Dove grieved this loss in addition to family members lost to the Black Death. Morning Dove remembered when her grandmother and grandfather succumbed to a raging fever burning their bodies from the inside and resisting the efforts of the False Face Society offering magic turtles and burning incense. The pox even resisted tobacco offerings, taking not only Morning Dove’s grandmother and grandfather but also a younger brother and sister.

Morning Dove recalled the great mourning in the village as the bodies of her family and others were burned instead of receiving the traditional burial in earthen mound graves. The gifts made for the dead were placed in empty graves. For her grandmother, there were wampum beads, her grandfather and brother, gourds of oil, and for her little sister, a deerskin cap adorned with porcupine quills. Feasts for the dead were prepared each year at the midwinter ceremonies to insure the spirits’ eternal peace. Because the graves were empty, however, Morning Dove doubted this would happen.

Although disturbed by these events, Morning Dove was hopeful because of White Stag—the representative Spotted Owl appointed to replace her brother. White Stag was the same age as Morning Dove and his good looks made her heart race and palms sweat. He was tall and broad-shouldered with sleek black hair and dark wide-set eyes that poured into her soul. These eyes reflected the ancient leader’s strength, for White Stag did not engage in drinking the European rum. Tomorrow, Spotted Owl would approve White Stag’s appointment to the council. Morning Dove drew an excited breath, exhilarated by the thought of marrying White Stag. Where did you come from? You startled me, she said to the handsome figure in the moonlight’s shadow.

I heard a noise around the storehouse, so I came to see if the corn was safe from the foxes, said White Stag. The noise turned out to be you. Why aren’t you joining the harvest celebration with the others?

I couldn’t resist enjoying the beauty of this night alone. Soon, the nights will be cold with only the light of the Seven Dancers and our ceremonial fires inside. How I wish the Green Corn Moon could last forever!

If it were always here, we wouldn’t appreciate it the way we do now. Each season has a purpose, and that purpose must be fulfilled during its time or life’s cycle is changed. Let us always give thanks for each season.

I’m afraid with each passing season. Each season, there is less peace and more destruction. White Stag agreed as he looked up into the light of the Green Corn Moon as it passed behind the dark branches of the great pine tree.

CHAPTER 2

Morning Dove adjusted the bone comb holding back her sleek, dark hair. This had been the comb her mother and grandmother had used on their wedding days. There were two carved figures entwined as one to symbolize her union with White Stag. The comb also had the feather of a morning dove and a porcupine quill, symbolizing peace maintained by the strength of unity.

Morning Dove’s deerskin dress was belted at the waist with a beautiful sash made from shiny, purple glass beads. Each design symbolized the important spirit guides that had empowered the sachem women of the Mohawk. Morning Dove especially liked the design of the owl that symbolized her mother, able to see through the darkness and full of wisdom. It would take such strength to guide the Mohawk through the dark times ahead.

The Huron had joined forces with the French against the British settlers in this land that had now been named New York. White Stag had told Morning Dove the name came from an Englishman named the Duke of York. What kind of an animal was a duke or a york? Morning Dove had never seen such animals in the thick forests of the valley. White Stag had told her these Englishmen named places after themselves. That didn’t make sense to Morning Dove who believed humans got their direction from the natural world. What animal had taught this Duke of York? Morning Dove also wondered why the Europeans walled off great sections of land, separating the people from their brothers and sisters in the forests. These walled-off areas were called forts.

The French were building more of these forts along the Mohawk Trail, and the Iroquois were aligning with the 13 fires of the English settlements called colonies. Morning Dove worried that the Iroquois were beginning to lose touch with their traditions as they began to act and think like these English. Young warriors like her brother, Soaring Eagle, were looking forward to once again wearing the warrior paint and striking out against the enemy. Unfortunately, under the influence of firewater, these warriors often attacked at random, not recognizing the difference between French or English. In a drunken rage, Soaring Eagle had led an attack on a family of English settlers. He had brought home a captive, a blue-eyed English woman who had moved into his apartment in the family longhouse. She had been accepted into the family as was the custom. The captive’s name was Jane. She was already carrying her brother’s child.

Every year, there were more and more tribes coming into the Confederacy lands as a result of losing their lands to these colonists. Their demands for lands seemed endless. Competition for supremacy in the fur trade was also causing wars among the tribes. The Mohawks had fought the Mohicans in 1626, and the Beaver Wars of 1638-1684, along with disease, had greatly reduced the population. The capture and adoption of defeated enemies such as Jane had become common among the Iroquois. Thus, the clans were losing their identity and connection with their elders.

There was also the continuing threat from the French who were gaining more control of the fur trade along the Great Lakes as a result of their alliance with the Huron. More and more tribes were being converted to the religion of the blackrobes and breaking with the strong traditions that had held the villages together for so many centuries. The Huron and Miami were cooperating with the French as they built strong forts along major rivers in what the English called the Ohio Country. These were a threat to both the nations of the Iroquois as well as the ever-expanding English colonists. Morning Dove’s mother had been hopeful that inviting the British and their colonists into the Confederacy would help strengthen the Confederacy and promote peace.

Spotted Owl and Great Bear had attended a meeting in 1744 with all the members of the Iroquois Confederacy and commissioners from the colonies of Virginia and Maryland in a place called Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There, the Iroquois had ceded 300,000 acres of land in this Ohio Country to the English. That had led to the great migration of English settlers into the area and more trouble with the French. Another treaty conference had been held in July of 1752 to unite the Iroquois Six Nations with the Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandotte, and Virginians to combat the ever-growing threat from the French and their Indian allies.

The Ojibwa, Potawatomie, and Ottawa were threatening the Seneca. Tanaghrissan, chief of the Seneca, had requested that the Virginia delegates promise to build a strong house at the fork of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers so that the Seneca could keep gunpowder and necessities to defend themselves. The Miami had also joined with the French and were intimidating the Onondaga from Ft. Presque. Once again, Morning Dove’s mother had sent a delegation of matrons to speak to the French sachem about the intentions of the French. The French leader Marin had reported that the Iroquois were in no danger from the French so long as they stayed neutral in the conflict.

About the time of the Green Corn Moon, Tanaghrissan broke the neutrality and had challenged the French leader Marin. A Mingo chief (part Seneca and Cayuga) Scarouady had been sent with a delegation of 98 Ohio Indians, including Delaware and Shawnee, to Winchester, Virginia to seek the aid of Virginia against the French. Lord Halifax had responded by claiming all the lands in the Ohio Country for the English colonists and told Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia to evict the French. George Washington was to carry the ultimatum to Captain Legardeir de Sant-Pierre at Ft. LeBoeuf. The Seneca Chief Tanaghrissan and three Mingo guides had accompanied Washington and his men. This was the time of the Thanksgiving Harvest of 1753. The Iroquois had allied with the English in 1752 and sealed the alliance with a gift of a beautiful wampum belt of purple and white shells called a covenant chain. Washington was to use this alliance as a show of strength to the French Commandant in order to convince him to abandon French forts in the Ohio Country. The Delaware and Shawnee had joined with the French by 1753.

Morning Dove remembered the arrival of George Washington into her village the preceding winter after the French leader’s rejection. The three English colonists had been dressed in Iroquois fashion. They and their horses were feeble from hunger. After feasting on beaver meat and pumpkin and feeding and resting their horses, the men had prepared to leave. Great Bear had advised them to make the journey through the icy wilderness on foot since the horses would probably break down during the journey, making them more vulnerable to attack. This valuable advice proved to be a lifesaver for Washington and his men.

While traveling through the woods, Washington and his Mingo guides had been ambushed by the French and Indians. The Virginian and his companions had escaped using a homemade raft. The turbulent waters were dangerously rough, and one of the men was thrown into the water, causing frostbite to his fingers and toes. The Mingo guides had reported that Washington had returned safely to Williamsburg. For their help, the guides received another covenant chain to present to the Mohawk people. Great Bear had accepted the chain for his people. A grimace appeared on Morning Dove’s face as her thoughts returned to the present and she spied the set of deer antlers in the corner of the room.

After her wedding, the antlers would belong to her and her new husband. These antlers would have to serve as the only reminder of her new husband who would be leaving right after the wedding ceremony. After Washington returned to Williamsburg with his report, Governor Dinwiddie had raised a group of 300 English warriors who were marching into the Ohio Country to force the French to give up Ft. Duquesne. This bastion of French strength guarded the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers merged forming the mighty Ohio River that spanned the entire Ohio Country. This is the place the Seneca chief had requested a strong house, but the Seneca was now in alliance with the French and Huron. Great Bear, Soaring Eagle, and two other warriors would be going with White Stag to meet with Washington and other Iroquois allies at this strategic point shortly after the celebration. What was happening to the Great Peace? Morning Dove sighed thinking about all these dark worries on her wedding day. Spotted Owl entered just as she finished adjusting her sash. You look beautiful, my daughter. Are you happy to marry White Stag?

Oh, yes, Mother. I only wish Soaring Eagle could be as strong and brave as White Stag.

I, too, worry for your brother and our people, said her mother. We need guidance from our spirit leaders in this time of worry. We must keep our ceremonies and council fires and pray for strength and guidance for our leaders. White Stag is such a leader as is your father, Great Bear. Together, they will lead our people away from the death and destruction that haunts us because of lust for land and firewater. Listen to the morning dove and gentle wind as it whispers words of wisdom and direction for you, she said. But enough worry about tomorrow. Let us finish with preparations for this happy day.

I love you, Mother. I will try to be as wise and kind with my children and the Mohawk people as you have been with me. Spotted Owl clasped her daughter’s hand, and they walked through the opening to the central fire of the longhouse where Morning Dove and White Stag became one.

There was much celebration that spring night of 1754. The seven dancing stars had reappeared in the sky announcing the renewal of the earth and planting season. Morning Dove’s wedding, by custom, coincided with this time so that her union with White Stag would be a fertile one. In addition to weddings, naming ceremonies were held for children that had been born in the past year. It was a time of great feasting and celebration. The warriors continued to dance under the spring sky long after Morning Dove and White Stag had gone to the apartment that had been made ready for the marriage consummation. Morning Dove could hear the sound of the deer claw anklets as the rattles kept time with the rhythm of the drums. The apartment glowed from the fire outside, as well as the passionate glow from the young lovers.

Although warm from desire, Morning Dove shivered as White Stag ran his dark, loving fingers over her shoulders. He pulled her to him and moved his face ever so gently to caress her long, beautiful neck and then kiss her shoulder. Morning Dove responded by running her hands down the edges of White Stag’s strong, muscular back. She heard a slight moan of pleasure and felt the heat rise from his loins as he grabbed her thighs and pulled her into him. The pair sank as one onto the straw mat pallet as the fire outside crackled and spewed its fiery coals into the glow of the seven dancing stars.

Soaring Eagle’s son, born just after the start of the planting season, was ready to receive a name. When Jane’s time to deliver had approached, Spotted Owl and Morning Dove prepared a nest of soft sphagnum, shredded cedar bark, and white cattail fluff to absorb the amniotic fluid, blood, and placenta. They placed the absorbent material over the straw mat in the apartment of the longhouse where Jane lived with Soaring Eagle.

Jane relaxed on this warm bed during her labor as Spotted Owl chanted, massaging her back and abdomen with sweet grass, hawthorn berries, and strawberry leaves that were submerged in the Mohawk River. Tobacco, cornmeal, and sage were burned to cleanse and purify the room.

Soaring Eagle had been present for the birth. During Jane’s labor, Spotted Owl sang, You are not dying; you are giving birth. It is powerful and good. Your mother gave birth to you, as did your grandmother to your mother, and your great grandmother to your grandmother. Your womb holding the life force is your power. Keep the passage safe for the holy creature until it comes into the light. As the baby boy fell onto the skins, Spotted Owl had cut the umbilical cord and Morning Dove washed the infant with the sacred bearberry and juniper leaves that had also been submerged in the Mohawk River.

Soaring Eagle held the infant wrapped in the skins while Spotted Owl placed a deerskin cap decorated with porcupine quills on his head and gave the traditional welcome. Thank you for coming to our village. We hope you will stay with us. Spotted Owl blessed the umbilical cord and rubbed it with club moss placing it in a leather bag to hang at the top of the cradleboard Soaring Eagle had fashioned from cedar wood. Soaring Eagle handed his son to Jane and left. Spotted Owl and Morning Dove took the afterbirth to bury to nourish and replenish the soil. Jane had spent the next few months thinking of the right name for her son.

The time of planting was complete and and this was the time of the Green Corn Moon and another naming ceremony. The boy had the dark skin of the Mohawk, but his mother’s deep red, curly hair. His eyes, a beautiful shade of hazel, reflected his mixed heritage. His name would be Red Fox, after the sly animal that roamed the village and raided the storehouses. Morning Dove was excited that she, too, might soon have such a child to love.

Soaring Eagle spoke proudly of his son and how Red Fox would carry on the great warrior tradition of the Mohawk people and sit at the council fires. Morning Dove secretly hoped this would happen. After Spotted Owl blessed the child with offerings of tobacco to the Good Twin, the talk turned to the more serious matters now at hand. Washington and his men, as promised, were moving into the Ohio Country from Virginia. Great Bear, White Stag, Soaring Eagle, and three other warriors from the village would be leaving tomorrow to travel down the Monongahela until it reached the point where it flowed into the Allegheny, forming the great Ohio River. These Mohawk warriors would guide the group north to try to push the French back across the Great Lakes and out of the Ohio Country after the Virginia militia forced the French to give up Ft. Duquesne. A great leader from across the big ocean was already on his way to join Washington with almost 2,000 more men. His name was Edward Braddock. Is there no end to the number of these people? thought Morning Dove.

Morning Dove watched as her husband prepared for the journey. White Stag carefully painted his face with bright, red colors that would show the determination and strength of his people in their fight against common enemies. Morning Dove and other village women had prepared a feast of bear meat, reserved for times when the great strength of this animal was most needed. After the feast, the warriors were blessed by Spotted Owl and then danced the ceremonial dance around the six fires of the Iroquois. In the center of which stood the six arrows bound with a string to symbolize the unity of the Six Nations. Each of the five warriors wore a strand of six beads around his neck in another show of unity. The burning sage in ceremonial bowls that represented the spirit guide of each then blessed the warriors. Afterward, they slept away from their wives and other women to conserve their energy for the work ahead—all except Soaring Eagle.

Soaring Eagle had secretly indulged in the white man’s firewater and wanted to be with Jane. After the others were asleep, he slipped into his apartment and found Jane nursing Red Fox. Jane was startled to see her husband standing in front of the bearskin blanket hung to screen the entrance into their apartment. Soaring Eagle motioned for her to be quiet and put the baby down. There were both fear and desire in Jane’s eyes. Although she feared her husband, she had been very drawn to her handsome captor from the start. When he was not violent like her father had been, their lovemaking was very passionate and brought Jane to heights of pleasure she had never known about in her Puritan upbringing. Even if she hadn’t been attracted to him, however, she dared not ignore his instruction.

Jane placed Red Fox in the straw bed next to her pallet. Soaring Eagle grabbed her and pulled her down into his arms. He ran his tongue over the length of her delicious, opaque skin, so different from that of his tribe. His body tingled at her touch. Jane began to respond. Her back started to undulate in the rhythm of a gentle wave moving toward the ocean. Suddenly, the wave began to rise, catching the excited lovers in its wild ride to its peak, and then dropping them exhausted and wet onto the straw pallet.

The morning mist provided cover for the five warriors as they moved along what was known as the Mohawk Trail that began just past Seneca Falls at Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario. After meeting with their allies, the five Mingo guides, the warriors had left the trail and begun the trip through the wilderness that would lead to the Monongahela River. There, the five would travel by canoe to a place where the Monongahela joined the Allegheny to form the Ohio River to meet with George Washington and his militia. The French controlled this important waterway with a fort located high on a bluff overlooking the three rivers. They called the structure Ft. Duquesne.

The warriors walked in a half-crouch, heel-first stride. This was the way their ancestors had moved through these woods for centuries, joining their sounds with those of the forest, leaving the other animal life undisturbed and allowing for no noise that would alert any enemies. White Stag was disturbed by the eerie quiet that surrounded him. His ears, like those of the deer, told him it was almost too quiet. Like the deer, he turned his neck side to side as he walked to keep a good view of his surroundings. White Stag knew there must be Huron nearby, for they were allied with the French and served as scouts to warn the French of imminent danger of attack. He looked over at Soaring Eagle. He knew his wife’s brother had been with Jane last night. Having Soaring Eagle along made White Stag uneasy. He did not trust him. White Stag watched him closely. Since Soaring Eagle had started using the European’s firewater, his hunting instincts had declined. Soaring Eagle had been allowed on this mission only because of his important rank in the clan. He was the son of Great Bear and Spotted Owl.

White Stag looked at Great Bear. What a great hunter and leader he was! Great Bear was getting old. This would probably be his last dangerous mission. With White Stag’s marriage to Morning Dove, he would now be the leader of the hunt. Great Bear would continue to represent the clan at the council meetings until his death. Soaring Eagle would then become chief of the council. That thought concerned White Stag. Soon, Morning Dove would also become the sachem for the Bear Clan. White Stag felt uneasy again. He did not trust Soaring Eagle. Soaring Eagle had not been the same since he had been drinking the European firewater. White Stag knew his wife and mother-in-law shared his concerns.

These thoughts were racing through White Stag’s mind as the group came to the edge of the river. There were five birch bark canoes that had been left there for the trip down the Monongahela. As White Stag moved toward the canoe, he heard a noise. He looked up to see a Huron with a tomahawk poised above his head. White Stag swerved as the blow came down. He then pulled his tomahawk from his belt and brought the Huron down with a blow to his chest. White Stag saw Soaring Eagle escape into one of the five canoes. Great Bear was trying to hold off the attack of two Huron warriors with only his war club. White Stag picked up a Flintlock from one of the dead Huron warriors and shot one of the attackers. He threw a tomahawk at the other. The weapon landed in the center of the attacker’s back, but it was too late to save Great Bear. The great warrior lay underneath his attacker. White Stag scrambled to one of the canoes and managed to get away with another Mingo warrior. He saw two Mohawk warriors of the Wolf Clan escape with two other canoes after bludgeoning their attackers. Two Huron were in pursuit in the last canoe while shots were being fired from the shore as the warriors paddled away. The two Mohawk warriors managed to hit the Huron following in the canoe, and the five survivors managed to escape the shots of the Huron onshore.

Although their numbers had been reduced to five, the warriors were still intent on meeting with Washington as planned. White Stag couldn’t help but wonder how the Huron knew where the canoes had been hidden in order to plan the ambush. How did they know that particular place at that particular time? White Stag remembered how easily Soaring Eagle had escaped. He hadn’t even tried to help his father. Losing Great Bear was tragic. There would be much mourning in the village when the remaining warriors returned—if they returned! How could Great Bear’s spirit be happy without a traditional burial and gifts? White Stag’s chest was heavy with the burden of these constant losses for his people. Even if he survived this encounter, he felt a sense of doom and impending darkness for his people. Under the cover of the darkening night, the warriors pulled their canoes into the shore about 10 miles north of Ft. Duquesne. There, they planned to join Washington and his militia to serve as guides for General Braddock and his forces after the takeover of the French fort.

White Stag heard the noise and firing of guns, along with the pounding of boards as he and his men approached the edge of the forest. Here, a plain separated the woods from Ft. Duquesne, a mighty fortress at the edge of the mountains guarding the entrance to the mighty Ohio River. From the protection of the foliage, White Stag could see the source of all the noise. George Washington and his men were hastily erecting what appeared to be a stockade where they were digging in to protect themselves from the attack of the French and Huron. Under cover of fire from Washington’s ragged militia, White Stag and the others managed to get to the shelter of Ft. Necessity.

Washington, himself, ran to White Stag and yelled over the roar of the volleys, One of your warriors must get word to General Braddock! The French and Huron plan an ambush. They know about his march through the wilderness. Indian scouts have seen his army advancing through the Allegheny Wilderness toward the Monongahela. Forces of Ottawa, Huron, and Chippewa under the leadership of Charles de Langlade have joined the French for this attack. These forces have allied with Captain Beaujeu and a regiment of men from Ft. Duquesne. They plan to march to the Monongahela and wait, concealed in dense ravines along the river for the arrival of General Braddock. Trapped behind huge cannons in their bright red uniforms, the men will be sitting ducks easily overwhelmed by the mobile forces using the element of surprise. Captain Beaujeu has left just enough men to keep us trapped here and unable to reach General Braddock.

Let me go! yelled Soaring Eagle. I am eager to avenge the death of my father!

White Stag still did not trust the Mohawk warrior, but he felt he needed to stay with the young Washington who had little knowledge of fighting in these woods in the manner of the Indians. Soaring Eagle will go, said White Stag. Under a round of heavy fire for protection, Soaring Eagle ran from the primitive barricade called Ft. Necessity toward the thick wilderness that would take him to the Monongahela and General Braddock’s army.

As soon as Soaring Eagle reached the protection of the forest brush, he stopped and pulled a flask from his quiver. How he loved the feel of the warm liquid as it ran down his throat! What a price he had paid for it! His own father had died because of the information he had given to the French traders who had supplied him with this liquid fire. Well, Great Bear had deserved it! His father and White Stag had been too weak to protect the Mohawk people from these Europeans. They must all be destroyed! Soaring Eagle knew he was the one sly enough to play them against each other until they were all killed and the wilderness would once more be free of them! Only then could the great Confederacy be restored.

Soaring Eagle thought the French would allow him to sneak past their forces thinking he would not warn the British of the ambush, but it was his intent to do exactly that. Soaring Eagle planned to warn Braddock so that the Indian allies of the French, especially the Huron, would be weakened enough by the attack to curtail their threat to the Mohawk and other members of the Confederacy. Braddock’s forces would also be weakened enough by the ambush to make them of little service to Washington and the men trapped at Ft. Necessity.

Soaring Eagle feared these English colonists more than the French traders and blackrobes. These colonists kept moving farther and farther into Indian lands, settling it and claiming it as their own. His mother and father had thought the attack on the English settlement to be a mistake. It had not been a mistake. Soaring Eagle wanted to destroy these land-ravaging men who hid behind a God that said that the land and all the life on the land was theirs to take and keep taking—to use up to try and fill their bottomless stomachs until all life was destroyed!

Soaring Eagle stumbled as he emptied his flask. His sharp senses had been dulled and he stared ahead into the thick, wooded darkness, confused about which way to go. He needed to go south, but which way was south? He needed to find a tree and go away from the side on which the moss grew. That would be south. There were trees all around but the brush was thick, making it difficult in his current state to get close enough to examine one. Soaring Eagle pulled his knife to start cutting a path not aware of a shadowy figure in front of him. As Soaring Eagle raised his knife to cut the brush, he felt a sharp pang in his chest. As he turned around, he felt a blow to his head. Dizzy from the blow, Soaring Eagle tried to avoid the tomahawk that was plunged deep into his chest. As he fell, he felt the sharp pain of a knife being pulled from his chest. Soaring Eagle felt no more. The Huron took the bloody knife and cut deeply into Soaring Eagle’s scalp as he retrieved his battle trophy and left to join his French allies.

General Braddock and his men were about 10 miles from Ft. Duquesne. He had drilled his men in battle techniques at Ft. Cumberland and then marched his men into the wilderness, hacking a road 13 feet wide through the virgin forest as he went. Even if the French had not been warned, they could not help but hear the sounds of cutting and tearing away at the precious forest life. Braddock needed a road for the supply wagons, cannons, and horses that he had brought with him in order to do battle. Braddock had ignored all the warnings about this project. His troops’ progress had been very slow, often no more than five miles a day. Although they had started the journey in early June of 1755, it was now July 7th. The French and their two hundred allies had started in far off Michilimackackinac about the same time. The French, however, traveled in a fleet of canoes, using the extended light of June to paddle late into the evening, arriving at Fort Duquense in early June, prepared to intercept Braddock and his men in a surprise attack.

The Indian scout returned to the ravine where Langlade and the other Indians were waiting for General Braddock. As Soaring Eagle had predicted, the French were aware of General Braddock’s movements and had had no trouble locating him. The sound of heavy equipment being moved had thundered through the forest. Soaring Eagle had known about the arrogance of these Englishmen. He knew they would cut away at the virgin forest with no regard for any life therein. The English had no respect for the land or any living thing unless it could be torn apart, melted down, or made into something consumable, leaving only the waste to further destroy the land instead of reclaiming it. Without all their supplies, they would be helpless in a forest full of abundant life that could sustain them if only they would develop the symbiotic relationship nature required for ongoing sustenance.

Is that the scalp of the Mohawk Soaring Eagle? asked Commander de Beaujeu.

Most certainly, answered the scout. The fool was already drunk from the firewater, so he was no problem for me. I also have to report that General Braddock’s forces are marching in three columns along the river. I could not have missed them. Their bright red coats shone like fire through the trees.

The British are not only stupid but very predictable, said Beaujeu. They will be stopping to take their noon rations very soon."

That will be a good time to attack them, said Langlade.

Maybe we should wait until they are separated when they need to ford the river. They outnumber us two to one, said Beaujeu. Although Langlade’s men were painted and ready for action, he had to agree that patience was advisable.

On the morning of July 9th, Lt. Colonel Thomas Gage, General Braddock’s second in command, led a small advance party across the river and was engaged in a skirmish with about thirty Indians who fled when Braddock and his two columns appeared in open country with bands playing to announce their arrival. Close behind was the militia from Virginia led by George Washington. The group had broken free from Ft. Necessity on July 4th after heavy rain flooded the fort and soaked the gunpowder, leaving him and his men defenseless. The militia had managed to join Braddock and his troops just before the British had reached the river.

White Stag had discovered the body of Soaring Eagle in the forest and stayed behind to perform a ceremony so that his spirit might rest far from his people. White Stag’s fears about Soaring Eagle had been confirmed when he saw the empty flask beside the body. He and the Virginia militia had had no trouble reaching the advancing regulars since Washington’s group was not encumbered with heavy equipment or packhorses. Washington had already tried to convince Braddock of the ambush and had told him that he needed to get rid of the heavy equipment and bright clothing. The techniques used in traditional, European military engagements will not work here in the wilderness, he had said. This young, inexperienced farmer had not convinced Braddock. How could a small group of ragged savages defeat his well-trained army with its large numbers and big cannon? Braddock was to pay dearly for this mistake.

As soon as the British reached the open country, there was a barrage of bullets from the trees. The British advance party was driven back into the main body of the army. There was an attempt at a retreat, but the troops could not form ranks. They were confused and panicked. They couldn’t see the enemy and began firing blindly across the river. The Virginians wisely took cover since they had engaged the Indians before in this type of battle. The confused Redcoats started firing at Washington and his men by mistake. When some of the smarter British attempted to take cover with the Virginians, General Braddock threatened them with court-martial for cowardice. Braddock had had four horses shot from under him, yet he still stayed his course and tried to regroup his troops for battle. Each time, he would mount a new horse. As he was mounting the fifth horse, his troops scattered. The Indians who came at them with tomahawks and scalping knives chased them. The Indians managed to shoot Braddock in the lungs. When Washington saw this, he ran from the cover of the trees and dragged the dying general to safety. With the general mortally wounded, the troops began their retreat. When the fighting ceased, 977 of the 1,459 British and Provincial troops had been killed. General Braddock, himself, died four days later. His body was buried in the middle of the military road. The troops marched over the site so that the Indians would not mutilate his body. The Indians were too busy ransacking the stores of ammunition to pay attention to the retreating troops. Braddock’s military plans were also taken in the booty and sold to the French.

White Stag and the two surviving warriors accompanied George Washington and the fleeing troops. When the group reassembled, they destroyed the remaining cannons, powder, and ammunition in a panic. The twenty-one-year-old Washington now became the leader of the remaining troops. Another attack seemed imminent, so he led the Provincials and the remaining British army south to get fresh supplies and to protect the Virginia Colony. The Mohawk returned to their village to get more warriors. They would then return to unite with the Provincials and move north through New York, break the French barricade of forts, and penetrate French Canadian territory. The conflict known as The French and Indian War had begun.

CHAPTER 3

There was much mourning and ceremony when White Stag returned to the Bear Clan village with the news of the deaths of two of its leaders. The ceremonial fires burned inside the apartments of Great Bear and Soaring Eagle for three days. Dried herbs were burned and the ashes spread around the entrances to the apartments in an effort to make sure the spirits of Great Bear and Soaring Eagle would join in peace and harmony in the Great Circle of Life. The leaders of the clan made a condolence string of wampum commemorating the life of Great Bear and gave it to Spotted Owl. Because of the death of Great Bear and Soaring Eagle, Morning Dove and White Stag now moved into the former leader’s apartment in the center of the longhouse. Spotted Owl now resided in the smaller apartment that had been theirs. Morning Dove was pregnant. After her first child was born, Morning Dove would take over the role as sachem for the clan, and her mother would teach the children the spiritual ways of the clan the way Morning Dove and Soaring Eagle had been taught by Spotted Owl.

Morning Dove was afraid. There had been so much death! How could her people continue with their ways when they were dying in such great numbers? What had happened to the Great Peace? Her husband was going off to war, and her father and brother were now dead. The Mohawk