Two Poems About the Iroquois

Ruler of the Cataracts-Maiden of the Mist The thundering waters of the Niagara. Voice of the mighty spirits of the water. The natives believed and yearly sacrificed a white canoe with fruit and flowers and a chosen daughter, until the Christians came and told them Jesus paid. Not until Lela-Wala, an only child and motherless, was chosen did the practice subside. After she dived, her father Chief Eagle ran out of the woods and followed her. 1/11/2022 HANDSOME LAKE He was born as Hadawa'ko “Shaking Snow.” Handsome’s half-brother was Cornplanter. My heritage from People of the Longhouse — John married Margaret, a French woman. She birthed Helen, my great-great-great grandma. Together they lived on a reservation. Handsome was born in 1735 in a Seneca village on the Genesee River into the Turtle Clan — later he was adopted into the Wolf Clan. Doubtless my relatives knew of Handsome Lake. He signed the U.S. treaty with the Six Nations. 1/11/2022 Referenced Wikipedia.com and webwinds.com