John Arthur Gibson

Chief or Royaner John Arthur Gibson
Seneca Nation Chief John A Gibson (circa 1912), Six Nations of the Grand River
Born	(1850-03-01)March 1, 1850 Tuscarora Township, Ontario, Six Nations of the Grand River reserve
Died	November 1, 1912(1912-11-01) (aged 62) Tuscarora Township, Ontario, Six Nations of the Grand River reserve
Cause of death	stroke
Nationality	Seneca, Iroquois
Known for	renditions of the Great Law of Peace, 19-20th century Lacross
Title	Ganio'dai'io and Skanyadehehyoh
Religion	Code of Handsome Lake
Spouse(s)	Mary Skye Gibson
Children	John Hardy, Simeon, and Jemima
Parent(s)	Hanna and John Gibson

Family and reservation life

John Arthur Gibson, (March 1, 1850–Nov 1, 1912)^[1][2] was also known as Ganio'dai'io',("Promoter of the Code of Handsome Lake")^[3] and Skanyadehehyoh^[4] (or Skanyadai'iyo^[5] - one of the traditional office-chiefs of the Seneca - that of "Handsome Lake",)^[1][6] was born to his father, also named John Gibson, who was an Onondaga chief^[7] or Royaner^[8]:p.275 whose title was Atotarho, (or Thatótá•hoˀ)^[9]:p.xii and Hanna Gibson, of the Turtle clan of the Seneca nation.^[7]:p.33

Royaner is one word used for these chief-offices. Another is sachem. According to Horatio Hale's 1883 discussion with Iroquois and historians sachem is an Algonquin language word for the position and royaner is the traditional Iroquois word in Mohawk,^[10] and is used far more often sometimes.^[4] However the recent Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee used both and "sachem" much more often.^[8]

Gibson also had two brothers and two sisters.^[7]:p.33 One of the brothers, George, was also named to one of the chief-office holders.^[11]:p.163

Gibson lived on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve founded through the efforts of Mohawk Joseph Brant and Haldimand Grant just some 80 years prior, immediately following the American Revolution as a rebirth of the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy.^[7]:p.35 The incursion of white people, partly encouraged by Brant, later threatened the hegemony of the Iroquois among their individual lands and in 1847–8 the decision was taken to partition the land to Iroquois families on the basis of blood relations - with phases of requiring the land back in cases where marriages and divorces or widowhood later were linked to non-Indian family^{[4]:pp.10,130,193,302–9} and orphans were granted assistance from the council only if they were full-blood Indians.^[7]:p.43 The segmentation process showed division between the Christian-converted and acculturated Iroquois and the conservative "Longhouse religions" parts of Iroquois society even as it generated a specific reservation for the six nations.^{[7]:pp.35–6}

Iroquois society has strong matrilineal associations and families are associated by their mother's clan and nation relationships.^[8]:pp.66,85 Thus Gibson was raised among the more Code of Handsome Lake believing Seneca of his mother.^[4]:p.254 The Seneca are, approximately speaking in English, "elder brothers" in the confederacy - a position shared with the Mohawk nation who on the reserve were more Christianized.^{[4]:pp.94,254} The Seneca were "elder" specifically relative to the "junior" Cayuga nation.^{[8]:pp.58,124} At the time the Mohawks had considerable influence in council work - they succeeded in moving the seat of the council to a Mohawk village, appointing the executive, traditionally Onondagan, "firekeeper" positions to Mohawks, and introduced committee decision process populated with several Mohawks among a few of the other nations overcoming the traditional balance of power assigned by how many chiefs from each nation there were, and the official language of the council meeting became Mohawk.^[4]:p.237 Yet the council, even the Christian chiefs, felt they had to defend the council's traditional form to a degree in the face of the Canadian government seeking a more Euro-American democratic system as they envisioned it.^{[11]:pp.67–69} The six individual nations had their own councils but the central council felt that in the period of these changes these national councils were divisive, (indeed the Onondagan council had attempted to take actions when the central council couldn't decide and the Mohawk council had responded causing angst circa the 1850s.)^[12] Gibson was thus born in this new context of reduced national councils and a strong central or federated council and a committee system strongly led by Mohawks, a division between Christianized and acculturated Iroquois and the conservative part of the society.

A biography by his wife, (a member of the Cayuga nation,)^[11]:p.50 has been viewed by historians and anthropologists.^[7] It is said to describe him as a "traditional man" with his youth as vigorous and competitive and highlights his engagement in the game of lacrosse. But the account also highlights that Gibson was not simply a "traditional man" and introduced or demonstrated several innovations. For example though their marriage was arranged in a traditional sense, in the judgement of researcher Takeshi Kimura it is "easy to see in her narrative that the (traditional) matrilocality was no longer in effect and the nuclear family was well introduced".^[11]:p.212 This change was also, however, introduced via the Handsome Lake Code and so not totally foreign to Iroquois culture. Mrs Gibson's narrative is "almost wholly occupied with lacrosse" and it reflects the role of lacrosse in the Iroquois society as it was then practiced, but it included a new capitalist aspect.^[7]:p.36 In Haudenosaunee religious thought lacrosse is one of the two most essential sacred rites, that took place before coming to this world as we know it.^[11]:p.135 Kimura notes that the role of men in the Iroquois society had changed from being a military asset and defining social prominence by combat in prior generations to having the battle of the game and clouded their political role in part because only a relative few could participate and the distinction between a player in a game and a warrior in battle. The intensity of the game was real and became a locus for the native view of masculinity.^{[7]:pp.36–37} Invitational dinners from host mothers would be tendered to clan associations and affirmed in a deep abiding sense a play of engaged life as "the way our Creator… gave us."^[7]:p.36 During the period the Gibsons had a leadership role organizing the events there was innovation in how material requirements were handled in this spiritual game. One time there was a payment for the visiting players for their cost of travel but as their team lost they had no money to travel home on. A white visitor seems to have volunteered to pay their way home and in succeeding seasons the visiting team would not play without being paid for the whole trip to the match and back.^[7]:p.37 Players were also paid and they weren't all paid the same amount. And the people who watched the event paid to support their teams. All these innovations on how teams were paid for participating in a sacred rite were managed during the Gibsons' leadership in the game. Gibson also organized the first 12-player Iroquois team and was invited to play against white teams.^[11]:p.140 Newspapers carried mention of his lacrosse team.^[13]

Beyond his involvement in lacrosse Gibson has been viewed for having a great awareness of and willingness to share Iroquois cultural heritage. William N. Fenton described him as "unquestionably the greatest mind of his generation among the Six Nations…[who] became the greatest living source on Iroquois culture at the turn of the century."^[9]:p.xii Alexander Goldenweiser also described him in his youth as "one of those wide-awake, keen-witted Indians… who spend hours and days listening to the stories of the old men and who are not satisfied until they have traced a custom or a belief back to its earliest remembered antecedents".^[2]

Learned Onondagan

Though Iroquois society didn't particularly value the lineal descent through the father, Gibson had strong ties to his father's Onondagan nation. He inherited land from his father and went on to learn Onondagan language, as a young man,^[11]:p.53 as well as a suite of narratives and practices in later years from the eldest and most senior^[14]:p.36 Onondagan chief (the records do not say which one otherwise.)^[7]:p.45 Whomever this Ononadgan chief was he was described as one of the oldest of all the Onondaga, one who personally remembered the days following the splitting up of the Iroquois nations during the American Revolution.^[1] This may have been the same Onondagan traditionalist who was personally present when the Code of Handsome Lake was established among the Seneca women to be remembered.^[7]:p.45 Gibson's engagement through Onondagan language and practices was so strong that Gibson the senior Onondagan chief asked Gibson to stand in his place for some ceremonies and from then on Gibson always spoke Onondagan in public^[14]:p.36 and was later recorded has having been Onondagan himself, in addition to Senecan.^[7]:p.53

Appointed a Chief of the Seneca

Traditional Iroquois society has 50 chiefs that participate in the governing Council.^[8]:p.55 Each chief or royaner as assigned by a woman or women whose authority it is to appoint based on a consensus they were charged with finding.^[8]:p.135 The chief's station are not hereditary positions in the European sense of father-to-son but are a right of the eldest woman of the clan holding the authority to appoint a particular chief-title.^[11]:p.222 Indeed individual distinction can rise to the point it is another form of chief - a Pine Tree Chief^{[8]:pp.127,135–137} such as John Smoke Johnson, or John Norton and others. For all his achievements Gibson was not appointed as a Pine Tree Chief, but he was valued on grounds of ancestry and his personal achievement in Iroquois society such that he was appointed to the Seneca Chief position as Skanyadehehyoh^[4] ("Handsome Lake").^[6] In the available biographies it is not stated which woman leader with authority to appoint the specific Seneca chieftainship office did so. Regardless, it is universally accepted he was appointed a chief of the Seneca nation in 1872.^[7] In 1876 Gibson was appointed to the memorial committee on the centenary of the death of Joseph Brant.^[7] Around 1880-1882, at the age of 31,^[7] he was blinded in a game of lacrosse as it is known in English. Hale had observed him giving part of the epic about Peacemaker in 1883.^[9]:p.xii Gibson assisted the Canadian Department of Indian affairs on Iroquois issues as well as on non-Iroquois native matters. One significant effort Gibson participated in related to a land dispute between the Six Nations Reserve and the people the land was original acquired from - the Mississaugas.^{[11]:pp.153–4} He also was a representative from the council to governmental and historical society meetings.^{[11]:pp.154–5} In 1893 Gibson is noted in the New York Tribune as part of a condolence ceremony leading the host or receiving party.^[15] It noted he made a living making lacrosse sticks. In 1895 Gibson was one of two given the task by the Council to revising a list of chiefs kept by the Council, a task he was again noted for in 1904.^[7] In 1908 Gibson led the condolence ceremony for naming a new chief.^[7] During this period a wide variety of Iroquois stories had been and were being gathered.^[16] Gibson was also known as to have traveled to Cattaraugus Reservation or Allegany Indian Reservation Iroquois communities to present the Code of Handsome Lake.^[3] He was also quoted saying "Another generation and there will be no custom; still another generation and there will be no memory."^[2] Gibson is buried in the Onondaga Township Indian Cemetery.^[17]

Three renditions

Iroquois society features the Great Law of Peace centrally developed by Great Peacemaker as its central organizing system that combines law, ritual, history, and religion. Presentations of the epic story are made on various special occasions, not different from ritual readings from the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution, by socially recognized individuals who have the office of "Keeper".^[18] Among the best known Keepers of Gibson's era were himself and Seth Newhouse, also known as Da-yo-de-ka-ne, (1842-1921).^[12] Originally self appointed in learning the history and stories of the Iroquois, Newhouse took part in politics on the Reserve through the Onondagan national council as an apparently declared Pine Tree Chief in 1875 during the action that caused Mohawk condemnation of the Onondagan national council's action and then also didn't recognize Newhouse's status as a chief.^[12] Regardless of the opposition and division, as a followup to that action, Newhouse presented versions of the epic in the 1880s when he was again recognized as a chief hoping first that it would be written into Canadian law, and then sought recognition by the confederacy central council. Newhouse also participated in a process of reforming exactly who was and who wasn't a council chief but instead found himself deposed in January 1884. Fenton describes Newhouse as a conservative Mohawk, (he was a Mohawk from his father and an Onondagan through his mother,)^[12] responding to the realities of political life in the reserve.^{[7]:pp.47–8} This view was later confirmed by Sally M. Weaver^[12] - that the Mohawks were prominent in the Six Nations reserve, with a mixture of wanting to defend the traditional priority of the council as well as seek reform towards assigning chief positions not based on appointment by women leaders of clans but by popular vote, and a way to change the power structure of the council that was having difficulties making decisions.

Gibson was also well known for his rendition of the epic story and law-telling. William N. Fenton presents Gibson as concerned with preserving the narrative tradition^[14]:p.36 and had become a "great advocate" for the traditional council system of a fixed set of chief-offices to be appointed by women leaders of clans in each nation.^[11]:p.34 Dean R. Snow agreed that Gibson had achieved a station as a major traditional chief^[11]:p.34 - though Kimura sees Gibson less traditional and more innovative in systematizing traditions among the versions among the nations and "invented" a singular tradition^[11]:p.34 over time centered around Gibson's attachment to his teacher of the Onondagan version of the epic story.^[14]:p.36

However the Canadian government did impose a system based on voting of the male Iroquois of the reserve in 1924 upsetting several Iroquois standards in the process - all of which began as early as 1850^[12] but was staved off a number of times including circa 1900.^[11]:p.60

1899

Newhouse tried multiple times to have his rendition approved by the Grand River Council but failed in his last attempt in 1899.^{[8]:p.215[12]} It was rejected, in the views of Fenton and Weaver, because Newhouse had over-emphasized the Mohawk prominence within the Iroquois confederacy by assigning the Mohawks priority in several ways - the first tribe to accept the message of Peacemaker and his version of the narrative gave them veto authority in the council, as well as an overall priority to the work of Hiawatha over that of Peacemaker.^[12] Others claimed that Newhouse had failed to understand the reality of the council to begin with. Gibson's first published attempt at rendering in the Onondagan language^[14]:p.xiv was noted in 1899 by J. N. B. Hewitt which he published only later in 1928,^{[11]:p.58[19]} (though segments were also published in 1916 and 1944.)^[20] Kimura believes that Gibson's goal in delivering a rendition to Hewitt was to have it circulate in the United States and impress upon the US Government which could then oppose the Canadian government's approach.^[11]:p.80 Hewitt's notes were re-translated then by William N. Fenton and Gibson's son Simeon in 1941, though it is only available through the Smithsonian archives,^[21] as well as those of the American Philosophical Society Library.^[14]:p.750 The transliteration Hewitt worked on of the original language ran 189 pages.^[14]:p.83 Fenton^[14]:p.83 and Vecsey both say, before the publication of the 1912 version in 1992, that this 1899 version is the most satisfactory.^[21]

While the text is not available for inspection on the internet there are comments about it by Fenton - one change is that in the 1899 version the Great Peacemaker's canoe is white birch instead of white stone^[14]:p.86 and his mother was Jigonsaseh(or Jigonhsasee), the "Peace Queen" and "Mother of Nations"^[14]:p.87 generally accepted as a co-founder of the Confederacy with Peacemaker and Hiawatha, though her presence in the story is affected by attitudes against women.^[22] Barbara Alice Mann examines the encounter with Jigonsaseh and Peacemaker's mission as part of a vegetarian vs carnivore diet approach to life and culture.^[22] And this version's encounter with Jigonsaseh happens before meeting the cannibal and credits this episode of Jigonsaseh's first acceptance of Peacemaker's revelation as the basis of why women get to appoint chiefs in traditional culture - she accepted it first.^[14]:p.88 Later Jigonsaseh joins Peacemaker in crowning the first official chiefs of the Iroquois with antlers.^[22] In this version the cannibal is Hiawatha - in the 1900 version that changes to match Newhouse and then in the 1912 version he is unnamed and Hiawatha is among the Mohawks demanding Peacemaker go through an ordeal to prove he is sent by the Creator.^[14]:p.92 The fact of a cannibal in the story is controversial or even rejected by some, but most accept it.^[22] In this version after setting aside his cannibal ways Hiawatha rescues Peacemaker from the river ordeal.^[14]:p.92 All three versions include Hiawatha losing his daughters and also Hiawatha's episode with the lake and wampum come later and at Peacemaker's instruction.^{[14]:p.92–3} Overall it has fewer story elements than Gibson's other versions and less than Newhouse' version however it is generally considered the finest extant version until the 1912 version was translated.^[14]:p.98

1900

Gibson is the primary author of the "Chiefs version"^[20] endorsed by the Council of Chiefs of Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in counterpoint to Seth Newhouse's earlier version. It was rendered in English by the committee of the Council itself. It was later published - first by Duncan Campbell Scott in 1911,^[23] and then by Arthur C. Parker in 1916.^[24] The only significant difference between these two is that Parker's version introduced punctuation marks. Both include the original introduction included with the version the council endorsed; however Kimura argues that the commentary about borrowing miraculous qualities from Christianity was introduced at a second meeting of the committee at which Gibson was not present and some Christian Chiefs were.^[7]:p.48 Add that Gibson was viewed as a traditionalist and a Handsome Lake Code leader, viewed as a reaction against Christianity, and it is entirely possible to conclude that the claim of borrowing from Christianity was used by Christians chiefs to give priority to their religion. Regardless of the introduction, Gibson's "Chiefs version" was considered authoritative and Parker's publication has been echoed many times on the internet.

A question arises that if the dispute between Christians and "Longhouse" (traditionalists whether Handsome Lake Code followers or not) Iroquois was essentially an internal matter why did the Chiefs present it in English?^[7]:p.49 The Superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs was already aware of the tensions and advising against imposing election mechanics on the Iroquois - but he was prevented from taking a stand by his supervisor.^[7]:p.50 It seems the inability of the Superintendent to act overlapped with period of serious confrontation among some Iroquois over come property. Confrontations also took place during protests over the possible imposition of the voting approach with the shooting of Jake Fire May 1.^{[8]:pp.82–3} During this period a large part of Iroquois society wanted the matters settled not by the Superintendent but by the Council and this probably included Gibson.^{[7]:pp.51–2} Kimura believes the Chiefs version was presented in English to communicate outwardly and inwardly the vitality, the authenticity, of the system of the traditional process. However Kimura notes a theological difference between Gibson's 1899 rendition and the Chiefs that also speaks to the affect of Christian chiefs on the committee - namely that in the 1899 version both Peacemaker and his message are portrayed as coming from the sky world while the Chiefs 1900 version has only the message coming from the sky world.^{[11]:p.204–5}

1912

The 1912 version Gibson gave in Onondagan was transcribed to 525 pages by Alexander Goldenweiser.^[14]:p.84 The version ultimately published isn't actually complete - some 14 pages of the original record are missing.^[9]:p.xi Gibson died suddenly four months after offering the version to Goldenweiser.^[9]:p.xii Goldenweiser himself never published a translation and in 1934 turned his notes over to Fenton. Fenton worked on a translation consulting with Gibson's sons and others and Fenton referred to the results but never published his work on the translation itself though Hanna Woodbury consulted his unpublished notes. Floyd Lounsbury also worked on a translation but only managed some 21 pages.^[9]:p.xiii Some unclarity in the notes required Woodbury to elicit the story from speakers between 1978 and 1990.^[9]:p.xiv Woodbury also had to deal with differences in the Onondaga language between New York and Six Nations speakers - she observed that the Six Nations Onondagan had more borrowed words from other Iroquois nations and that Gibson's original was closer to the New York dialect by her time.^[9]:p.xiv In addition, Woodbury believed that the exact context of the kinship relationships among the Iroquois nations has been lost since Gibson's use of the words though the root meaning still implies relationships among speakers of Iroquois languages.^[9]:p.xvi Woodbury calls the 1912 version Gibson's "most mature understanding."^[9]:p.xix

Further reading

• Takeshi Kimura (August 1998). The Native Chief's Resistance Through Myth: A Historical and Religious Study of a Myth (Vol 1 - History and Transition) (Thesis). University of Chicago Divinity School, PhD. 
• Takeshi Kimura (August 1998). The Native Chief's Resistance Through Myth: A Historical and Religious Study of a Myth (Vol 2 - Interpretation, Conclusion and Appendices) (Thesis). University of Chicago Divinity School, PhD. 
• John Mohawk (1 January 2005). Iroquois creation story: John Arthur Gibson and J.N.B. Hewitt's Myth of the Earth Grasper. Mohawk Publications. ISBN 978-0-9761279-0-1. 
• Christopher Buck (2015). Jay Parini, ed. "Deganawida, the Peacemaker". American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Farmington Hills, MI: Scribner’s Reference/The Gale Group. 27: 81–100. 

References