To: Antoninus
And it should be pointed out that enslavement was NOT something the Iroquois were known for. Instead, they practiced "mass adoptions" of captured enemies (which led to the other policy, the "Great Pursuit policy that would eliminate the threat of rebellion internally by those adopted) which meant that while other indian populations were dwindling, the Iroquois population was booming...
However, adopted indians were not enslaved. They, too, were protected by the Great Law of Peace...
57 posted on
10/12/2004 11:12:27 AM PDT by
Chad Fairbanks
(How do you ask a hamster to be the last hamster to die for a mistake?)
To: Chad Fairbanks
And it should be pointed out that enslavement was NOT something the Iroquois were known for. Instead, they practiced "mass adoptions" of captured enemies (which led to the other policy, the "Great Pursuit policy that would eliminate the threat of rebellion internally by those adopted) which meant that while other indian populations were dwindling, the Iroquois population was booming...
That's true. But the Iroquois were hardly unique in this. This practice was common to most of the eastern woodland tribes. Just as often, however, the adoptions were rejected and the unfortunate captive was sentenced to death by fire. But the Iroquois did have a form of enslavement, also. There was a common practice of chewing off the fingers of a captive which, it is thought, was done to make sure the individual in question could never again wield a weapon or draw a bow. Often, such disfigured individuals were put to death straight away, but on occasion, they were adopted by families who had lost loved ones to previous raids. Such individuals lived at the whim of their adoptive parents and could be killed with impunity for little or no reason. Sts. Rene Goupil and Isaac Jogues were in such a condition after they was captured by the Mohawks in 1641.
The practice of outright adoption of women and children without torture or disfigurement was much more common.
64 posted on
10/12/2004 11:50:31 AM PDT by
Antoninus
(Abortion; Euthanasia; Fetal Stem Cell Research; Human Cloning; Homo Marriage - NON-NEGOTIABLE ISSUES)
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