Iroquois, large nation in North America, residing around Lake Ontario (also called Lake Frontenac) and along the river which carries the waters from this lake into the Saint Lawrence River, which the French consequently call the Iroquois River . To the north of them are the Algonquins; to the East, New England; to the South, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; to the West, Lake Erie.

These barbarians comprise five nations. The closest to the English are the Aniez ; twenty leagues from there are the Annegouts ; two days farther are the Onontagues , whose neighbors are the Goyagonins ; and finally, the last are the Tsonnomonans , one hundred leagues from the English. All of these groups are savage warriors, relatively united amongst themselves; sometimes they are aligned with the English, and at other times with the French, depending on where they believe their interests lie.

The region they inhabit is just as cold as Quebec. They live off smoked meat, Indian wheat, [1] and fruits which they find in the forests and mountains. They do not recognize any king or chief; all of their general affairs are handled by assemblies of elders and of young people. They are divided by tribes, the three principle ones being the Bear, Tortoise and Wolf Tribes. Each village includes inhabitants from these three tribes, and each tribe has its own chief. Their principal trade is in beavers, which they barter for brandy, something they love passionately.

Their money and their coins consist of porcelain beads, [2] which come from the coast of Manathe. [3] These are made from burgaus, a kind of sea snail, white or purple verging on black. They make their principal ornaments out of this too; they mattach their faces with white, black, yellow, blue, and especially red. Mattaching oneself means painting oneself; their religion is only a composite of puerile superstitions, and their barbarous customs correspond to them.

I will not go into detail on them : anyone interested in more information can consult the account that M. de la Potherie gave of the Iroquois at the beginning of the century in his description of North America, but it is also essential to read the recent work of M. Colden, titled History of the Five Nations , [4] London, 1753, in-8 °. This history is both strange and judicious.

Notes

1. [Corn.]

2. [Wampum; see The Encyclopedia of North American Indians , ed. Fred Hoxie, 662-4, for further explanation.]

3. [Manhattan.]

4. [Title given in English in original.]