Rosenfeld Susan. Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents

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possibility in common reason, (but by the immediate hand

of God) that we could have been preserved from starving

out of hand. For at that time we had no weirs for fish, nei-

ther could our men skill of the making of them, neither

had we one grain of Corn for seed to put into the ground.

In mine absence on my voyage that I had made against

the Chaonists, and Mangoaks, they had raised a rumor

among themselves, that I and my company were part slain,

and part starved by the Chaonists, and Mangoaks. One

part of this tale was too true, that I and mine were like to

be starved, but the other false.

Nevertheless until my return it took such effect in

Pemisapans breast, and in those against us, that they grew

not only into contempt of us, but also (contrary to their for-

mer reverend opinion in show, of the Almighty God of

heaven, and Jesus Christ whom we serve and worship,

whom before they would acknowledge and confess the

only God) now they began to blaspheme, and flatly to say,

that our Lord God was not God, since he suffered us to

sustain much hunger, and also to be killed of the

Renapoaks, for so they call by that general name all the

inhabitants of the whole main, of what province soever.

Insomuch as old Ensenore, neither any of his fellows,

could for his sake have no more credit for us: and it came

so far that the king was resolved to have presently gone

away as is aforesaid.

* * *

Within certain days after my return from the said journey,

Menatonon sent a messenger to visit his son the prisoner

with me, and sent me certain pearls for a present, or

rather, as Pemisapan told me, for the ransom of his son,

and therefore I refused them: but the greatest cause of his

sending then, was to signify unto me, that he had com-

manded Okisko King of Weopomiok, to yield himself ser-

vant, and vassal to the great Weroanza of England, and

after her to Sir Walter Raleigh: to perform which com-

mandment received from Menatonon, the said Okisko

jointly with this Menatonons messenger sent four and

twenty of his principal men to Roanoak to Pemisapan, to

signify that they were ready to perform the same, and so

had sent those his men to let me know that from that t

ime forward, he, and his successors were to acknowledge

her Majesty their only Sovereign, and next unto her, as is

aforesaid

All which being done, and acknowledged by them all,

in the presence of Pemisapan his father, and all his Savages

in counsel then with him, it did for the time thoroughly (as

it seemed) change him in disposition toward us: Insomuch

as forthwith Ensenore won this resolution of him, that out

of hand he should go about, and withal, to cause his men

to set up weirs forthwith for us: both which he at that pre-

sent went in hand withall, and did so labor the expedition

of it, that in the end of April he had sowed a good quantity

of ground, so much as had been sufficient, to have fed our

whole company (God blessing the growth) and that by the

belly, for a whole year: besides that he gave us a certain

plot of ground for our selves to sow. All which put us in

marvelous comfort, if we could pass from April until the

beginning of July, (which was to have been the beginning

of their harvest,) that then a new supply out of England or

else our own store would well enough maintain us: All our

fear was of the two months betwixt, in which mean space

if the Savages should not help us with Cassavi, and China,

and that our weirs should fail us, (as often they did,) we

might very well starve, notwithstanding the growing corn,

like the starving horse in the stable, with the growing grass,

as the proverb is: which we very hardly had escaped but

only by the hand of God, as it pleased him to try us. For

within few days after, as before is said, Ensenore our friend

died, who was no sooner dead, but certain of our great

enemies about Pemisapan, as Osacan a Werowance,

Tanaquiny and Wanchese most principally, were in hand

again to put their old practices in use against us, which

were readily embraced, and all their former devices

against us renewed, and new brought in question. But that

of starving us, by their forbearing to sow, was broken by

Ensenore in his life, by having made the King all at one

instant to sow his ground, not only in the Island, but also

at Dasamonquepeio in the main, within two leagues over

against us. Nevertheless there wanted no store of mis-

chievous practices among them. . . . Pemisapan with his

troop above named should have executed me, and some of

our Weroances (as they called all our principal officers,)

the main forces of the rest should have come over into the

Island, where they meant to have dispatched the rest of

the company. . . .

* * *

Now to the end that we might be the fewer in number

together, and so be the more easily dealt withal (for in

deed ten of us with our arms prepared, were a terror to a

hundred of the best sort of them,) they agreed and did

immediately put it in practice, that they should not for any

copper sell us any victuals whatsoever: besides that in the

night they should send to have our weirs robbed, and also

to cause them to be broken, and once being broken never

to be repaired again by them. By this means the King stood

assured, that I must be enforced for lack of sustenance

there, to disband my company into sundry places to live

upon shell fish, for so the Savages themselves do . . . while

their grounds be in sowing, and their corn growing: which

failed not his expectation. For the famine grew so extreme

among us, or weirs failing us of fish, that I was enforced to

send Captain Stafford with 20. with him to Croatoan my

Lord Admirals Island to serve two turns in one, that is to

62 ERA 1: Three Worlds Meet

say, to feed himself and his company, and also to keep

watch if any shipping came upon the coast to warn us of

the same. I sent M. Pridiox with the pinnesse to Hatorask,

and ten with him, with the Provost Marshal to live there,

and also to wait for shipping: also I sent every week 16. or

20. of the rest of the company to the main over against us,

to live of Casada and oysters.

* * *

My purpose was to have relied my self with Menatonon,

and the Chaonists, who in truth as they are more valiant

people and in greater number then the rest, so are they

more faithful in their promises, and since my late being

there had given many tokens of earnest desire they had to

join in perfect league with us, and therefore were greatly

offended with Pemisapan and Weopomeiok for making

him believe such tales of us.

* * *

The day of their assembly aforesaid at Roanoke was

appointed the 10. of June: all which the premises were dis-

covered by Skyco, the King Menatonon his son my pris-

oner, who having once attempted to run away, I laid him in

the shackles, threatening to cut off his head, whom I

remitted at Pemisapans request: whereupon he being per-

suaded that he was our enemy to the death, he did not only

feed him with himself, but also made him acquainted with

all his practices. On the other side, the young man finding

himself as well used at my hand, as I had means to show,

and that all my company made much of him, he flatly dis-

covered all unto me, which also afterwards was revealed

unto me by one of Pemisapans own men, that night before

he was slain.

These mischiefs being all instantly upon me and my

company to be put in execution, it stood me in hand to

study how to prevent them, and also to save all others,

which were at that time as aforesaid so far from me:

whereupon I sent to Pemisapan to put suspicion out of his

head, that I meant presently to go to Croatoan, for that I

had heard of the arrival of our fleet, (though I in truth had

neither heard nor hoped for so good adventure,) and that

I meant to come by him, to borrow of his men to fish for

my company, & to hunt for me at Croatoan, as also to buy

some four days provision to serve for my voyage.

* * *

The alarm given, they took themselves to their bows, and

we to our arms: some three or four of them at the first

were slain with our shot: the rest fled into the woods. The

next morning with the light horsemen & one Canoe taking

25 with the Colonel of the Chesepians, and the Sergeant

major, I went to Dasamonquepeio: and being landed, sent

Pemisapan word by one of his own Savages that met me at

the shore, that I was going to Croatoan, and meant to take

him in the way to complain unto him of Osocon, who the

night past was conveying away my prisoner, whom I had

there present tied in an handlock. Hereupon the king did

abide my coming to him, and finding my self amidst seven

or eight of his principal Weroances and followers, (not

regarding any of the common sort) I gave the watch-word

agreed upon, (which was, Christ our victory) and immedi-

ately those his chief men and himself had by the mercy of

God for our deliverance, that which they had purposed for

us. The king himself being shot thorow by the Colonel with

a pistol, lying on the ground for dead, & I looking as watch-

fully for the saving of Manteos friends, as others were busy

that none of the rest should escape, suddenly he started

up, and ran away as though he had not been touched, inso-

much as he overran all the company, being by the way shot

through the buttocks by mine Irish boy with my petronell.

In the end an Irish man serving me, one Nugent, and the

deputy provost, undertook him; and following him in the

woods, overtook him: and I in some doubt least we had lost

both the king & my man by our own negligence to have

been intercepted by the Savages, we met him returning

out of the woods with Pemisapans head in his hand.

This fell out the first of June 1586, and the eight of the

same advertisement to me from captain Stafford, lying at

my lord Admirals Island, that he had discovered a great

fleet of three and twenty sails: but whether they were

friends or foes, he could not yet discern. He advised me to

stand upon as good guard as I could.

* * *

He brought me a letter from the General Sir Francis

Drake, with a most bountiful and honorable offer for the

supply of our necessities to the performance of the action

we were entered into; and that not only of victuals, muni-

tion, and clothing, but also of barks, pinnesses, and boats;

they also by him to be victualled, manned, and furnished

to my contentment.

* * *

Hereupon calling such Captains and gentlemen of my

company as then were at hand, who were all as privy as my

self to the Generals offer: their whole request was to me,

that considering the case that we stood in, the weakness of

our company, the small number of the same, the carrying

away of our first appointed bark, with those two especial

Masters, with our principal provisions in the same, by the

very hand of God as it seemed, stretched out to take us

from thence; considering also, that his second offer,

though most honorable of his part, yet of ours not to be

taken, insomuch as there was no possibility for her with

any safety to be brought into the harbor: seeing further-

more, our hope for supply with Sir Richard Greenvill, so

Early Settlements and Government in the English Colonies 63

undoubtedly promised us before Easter, not yet come, nei-

ther then likely to come this year, considering the doings in

England for Flanders, and also for America, that therefore

I would resolve my self with my company to go into En-

gland in that fleet, and accordingly to make request to the

General in all our names, that he would be pleased to give

us present passage with him. Which request of ours by my

self delivered unto him, he most readily assented unto: and

so he sending immediately his pinnesses unto our Island

for the fetching away of a few that there were left with our

baggage, the weather was so boisterous, & the pinnesses so

often on ground, that the most of all we had, with all our

Cards, Books and writings were by the Sailors cast over-

board, the greater number of the fleet being much

aggrieved with their long and dangerous abode in that mis-

erable road.

From whence the General in the name of the Al-

mighty, weighing his anchors (having bestowed us among

his fleet) for the relief of whom he had in that storm sus-

tained more peril of wreck then in all his former most hon-

orable actions against the Spaniards, with praises unto God

for all, set sail the nineteenth of June 1586, and arrived

in Portsmouth the seven and twentieth of July the same

year.

Source:

Richard Hakluyt. The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffiques

and Discoveries of the English Nation. Edited by Richard

Hakluyt and Edmund Goldsmid. Edinburgh: E. & G. Gold-

smid, 1885–1890.

The “Lost Colony” of Roanoke, 1587

In 1587 Sir Walter Raleigh sent a new colony to Virginia to

replace the failed colony of 1586. Unlike the first group, this

settlement included women and children and was more com-

munity-oriented than the previous military-style outpost. The

colonists had invested in the venture and were promised land

and a voice in their own government in return. John White, a

veteran of the first colony, was appointed governor, and 12

men were designated “assistants” in the new “City of Raleigh.”

Unfortunately, the second colony did not fare much better

than the first. They had planned to land further north, in the

Chesapeake Bay area, where the land would be easier to farm,

but the ship’s captain refused to take them that far, so the

colonists were forced to establish a colony on the ruins of the

first settlement. Then intermittent hostilities with the Indians

escalated when the English mistook the friendly Croatoans for

an unfriendly tribe and attacked them in retaliation for the

murder of colonist George Howe. These factors, combined

with a shortage of food and a three-year delay in receiving

new supplies, all contributed to the colony’s fate.

Before the year was out, John White left his daughter,

Eleanor, and newborn granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first

English child born in the New World, and returned to England

for supplies. The outbreak of war with Spain, however, kept

him in England for three more years, and it was not until

March of 1590 that he was able to sail to the Roanoke colony.

White, who was primarily a passenger on this voyage, had lit-

tle control over a captain and crew that took a greater interest

in piracy than the relief expedition. White and the crew

reached Hatorask, near Roanoke Island, in August and spotted

smoke on the island but found the settlement deserted when

they arrived. Before his departure three years earlier, White

and the settlers had agreed that if it were necessary for them to

move to another location, they would carve the name of the

new place on a tree at the old site. If they were in any danger,

they were to inscribe a cross over the name. When White

arrived he found the letters

croatoan

carved on a tree outside

the main fort. There was no cross, so White assumed they had

safely removed to a nearby island where the friendly Croatoan

Indians lived. However, before he could seek the colonists

there, a storm blew in and forced the expedition to return to

England. White could not put together another voyage to

search for the colony, and Sir Walter Raleigh, whose patent of

discovery had expired in 1590, was also unable to charter a

successful relief effort, despite several attempts to do so. When

the Jamestown colonists arrived in 1607, they resumed the

search for the missing colony. Investigations into Indian

accounts of Europeans living in the area proved fruitless, and

no survivors were ever found. Today, more than 400 years

later, the fate of the “Lost Colony” remains a mystery.

The excerpt below recounts the arrival of the second

group of colonists, their interactions with the Indians, the birth

of Virginia Dare, and the colonists’ decision to send White

back to England for supplies.

________________________

_______________________

The fourth Voyage made to Virginia with three

ships, in the yere 1587. Wherein was transported

the second Colonie

In the yeere of our Lord 1587. Sir Walter Ralegh intend-

ing to persevere in the planting of his Countrey of Virginia,

prepared a newe Colonie of one hundred and fiftie men to

be sent thither, under the charge of John White, whom hee

appointed Governour, and also appointed unto him twelve

Assistants, unto whom hee gave a Charter, and incorpo-

rated them by the name of Governour and Assistants of the

Citie of Ralegh in Virginia.

July

The two and twentieth of July wee arrived safe at

Hatorask, where our ship and pinnesse ankered: the Gov-

ernour went aboord the pinnesse, accompanied with fortie

of his best men, intending to passe up to Roanoak foorth-

64 ERA 1: Three Worlds Meet

with, hoping there to finde those fifteene Englishmen,

which Sir Richard Grinvile had left there the yeere before,

with whom hee meant to have conference, concerning the

state of the Countrey, and Savages, meaning after he had

done so, to returne againe to the fleete, all passe along the

coast, to the Bay of Chesepiok, where we intended to

make our seate and forte, according to the charge given us

among other directions in writing under the hande of Sir

Walter Ralegh: but assoone as we were put with our pin-

nesse from the ship, a Gentleman by the meanes of Ferdi-

nando, who was appointed to returne for England, called

to the sailers in the pinnesse, charging them not to bring

any of the planters backe againe, but to leave them in the

Island, except the Governour, & two or three such as he

approved, saying that the Summer was farre spent, where-

fore hee would land all the planters in no other place. Unto

this were all the saylers, both in the pinnesse, and shippe,

perswaded by the Master, wherefore it booted not the

Governour to contend with them, but passed to Roanoak,

and the same night at sunne-set went aland on the Island,

in the place where our fifteene men were left, but we

found none of them, nor any signe that they had bene

there, saving onely wee found the bones of one of those fif-

teene, which the Savages had slaine long before.

The three and twentieth of July the Governour with

divers of his company, walked to the North ende of the

Island, where Master Ralfe Lane had his forte, with sundry

necessary and decent dwelling houses, made by his men

about it the yeere before, where wee hoped to find some

signes, or certaine knowledge of our fifteene men. When

we came thither, we found the fort rased downe, but all the

houses standing unhurt, saving that the neather roomes of

them, and also of the forte, were overgrowen with Melons

of divers sortes, and Deer within them, feeding on those

Melons: so wee returned to our company, without hope of

ever seeing any of the fifteene men living.

The eight and twentieth, George Howe, one of our

twelve Assistants was slaine by divers Savages, which were

come over to Roanoak, either of purpose to espie our com-

pany, and what number we were, or else to hunt Deere,

whereof were many in the Island. These Savages being

secretly hidden among high reedes, where oftentimes they

find the Deere asleep, and so kill them, espied our man

wading in the water alone, almost naked, without any

weapon, save only a smal forked sticke, catching Crabs

therewithal, and also being strayed two miles from his

company, and shot at him in the water, where they gave

him sixteen wounds with their arrowes: and after they had

slaine him with their wooden swords, they beat his head in

pieces, and fled over the water to the maine.

On the thirtieth of July Master Stafford and twenty of

our men passed by water to the Island of Croatoan, with

Manteo, who had his mother, and many of his kinred

dwelling in that island, of whom wee hoped to understand

some newes of our fifteene men, but especially to learne

the disposition of the people of the countrey towards us,

and to renew our old friendship with them. At our first

landing they seemed as though they would fight with us:

but perceiving us begin to march with our shot towardes

them, they turned their backes, and fled. Then Manteo

their countrey man called to them in their owne language,

whom, assoone as they heard, they returned, and threwe

away their bowes and arrows, and some of them came unto

us, embracing us and entertaining us friendly, desiring us

not to gather or spill any of their corne, for that they had

but little. We answered them, that neither their corne, nor

any other nor any other thing of theirs should be dimin-

ished by any of us, and that our comming was onely to

renew the old love, that was betweene us and them at the

first, and to live with them as brethren and friends: which

answere seemed to please them well, wherefore they

requested us to walke up to their Towne, who there

feasted us after their maner, and desired us earnestly, that

there might bee some token or badge given them of us,

whereby we might know them to be our friends, when we

met them any where out of the Towne or Island. They told

us further, that for want of some such badge, divers of

them were hurt the yeere before, being found out of the

Island by Master Lane his company, where of they shewed

us one, which at that very instant lay lame, and had lien of

that hurt ever since: but they sayd, they knew our men

mistooke them, and hurt them in stead of Winginos men,

wherefore they held us excused.

August

The next day we had conference further with them, con-

cerning the people of Secotan, Aquascogoc, & Pomeiok,

willing them of Croatoan to certifie the people of those

townes, that if they would accept our friendship, we would

willingly receive them againe, and that all unfriendly deal-

ings past on both parts, should be utterly forgiven and for-

gotten. To this the chiefe men of Croatoan answered, that

they would gladly doe the best they could, and within

seven dayes, bring the Wiroances and chiefe Governours

of those townes with them, to our Governour at Roanoak,

or their answere. We also understood of the men of Croa-

toan, that our man Master Howe was slaine by the rem-

nant of Winginos men dwelling then at Dasamonguepeuk,

with whom Wanchese kept companie: and also we under-

stood by them of Croatoan, how that the 15 Englishmen

left at Roanoak the yeere before, by Sir Richard Grinvile,

were suddenly set upon, by 30 of the men of Secota,

Aquascogoc, and Dasamonguepek, in manner following.

They conveyed themselves secretly behind the trees, neere

the houses where our men carelesly lived: and having per-

ceived that of those fifteene they could see but eleven only,

Early Settlements and Government in the English Colonies 65

two of those Savages appeared to the 11 Englishmen, call-

ing to them by friendly signes, that but two of their chiefest

men should come unarmed to speake with those two Sav-

ages, who seemed also to bee unarmed. Wherefore two of

the chiefest of our Englishmen went gladly to them: but

whilest one of those Savages traiterously imbraced one of

our men, the other with his sworde of wood, which he had

secretly hidden under his mantell, strooke him on the head

and slew him, and presently the other eight and twenty

Savages shewed them selves: the other Englishman per-

ceiving this, fled to his company, whom the Savages pur-

sued with their bowes, and arrowes, so fast, that the

Englishmen were forced to take the house, wherein all

their victuall, and weapons were: but the Savages, foorth-

with set the same on fire: by meanes wherof our men were

forced to take up such weapons as came first to hand, and

without order to runne foorth among the Savages, with

whom they skirmished above an howre. In this skirmish

another of our men was shotte into the mouth with an

arrow, where hee died: and also one of the Savages was

shot into the side by one of our men, with a wild fire arrow,

whereof he died presently. The place where they fought

was of great advantage to the Savages, by meanes of the

thicke trees, behinde which the Savages through their

nimblenes, defended themselves, and so offended our

men with their arrowes, that our men being some of them

hurt, retyred fighting to the water side, where their boat

lay, with which they fled towards Hatorask. By that time

they had rowed but a quarter of a mile, they espied their

foure fellows coming from a creeke thereby, where they

had bene to fetch Oysters: these foure they received into

their boate, leaving Roanoak, and landed on a little Island

on the right hand of our entrance into the harbour of

Hatorask, where they remayned a while, but afterward

departed, whither as yet we know not.

Having nowe sufficiently dispatched our businesse at

Croatoan, the same day we departed friendly, taking our

leave, and came aboord the fleete at Hatorask.

The eight of August, the Governour having long

expected the comming of the Wiroanses of Pomeiok,

Aquascogoc, Secota, and Dasamonguepeuk, seeing that

the seven dayes were past, within which they promised to

come in, or to send their answeres by the men of Croatoan,

and no tidings of them heard, being certainly also

informed by those men of Croatoan, that the remnant of

Wingina his men, which were left alive, who dwelt at Dasa-

monquepeuk, were they which had slaine George Howe,

and were also at the driving of our eleven Englishmen

from Roanoak, hee thought to deferre revenge thereof no

longer. Wherefore the same night about midnight, he

passed over the water, accompanied with Captaine

Stafford, and 24 men, wherof Manteo was one, whom we

tooke with us to be our guide to the place where those Sav-

ages dwelt, where he behaved himselfe toward us as a most

faithfull Englishman.

The next day, being the 9 of August, in the morning so

early that it was yet darke, we landed neere the dwelling

place of our enemies, & very secretly conveyed our selves

through the woods, to that side, where we had their houses

betweene us and the water: and having espied their fire,

and some sitting about it, we presently set on them: the

miserable soules herewith amazed, fled into a place of

thicke reedes, growing fast by, where our men perceiving

them, shot one of them through the bodie with a bullet,

and therewith we entred the reedes, among which we

hoped to acquite their evill doing towards us, but we were

deceived, for those Savages were our friends, and were

come from Croatoan to gather the corne & fruit of that

place, because they understood our enemies were fled

immediately after they had slaine George Howe, and for

haste had left all their corne, Tobacco, and Pompions

standing in such sort, that al had bene devoured by the

birds, and Deere, if it had not bene gathered in time: but

they had like to have payd deerely for it: for it was so darke,

that they being naked, and their men and women appar-

eled all so like others, wee knew not but that they were al

men: and if that one of them which was a Wiroances wife

had not had a child at her backe, shee had bene slaine in

stead of a man, and as hap was, another Savage knew mas-

ter Stafford, and ran to him, calling him by his name,

whereby hee was saved. Finding our selves thus disap-

pointed of our purpose, we gathered al the corne, Pease,

Pompions, and Tabacco that we found ripe, leaving the

rest unspoiled, and tooke Menatoan, his wife, with the

yong child and the other Savages with us over the water to

Roanoake. Although the mistaking of these Savages some-

what grieved Manteo, yet he imputed their harme to their

owne folly, saying to them, that if their Wiroances had kept

their promise in comming to the Governour at the day

appointed, they had not knowen that mischance.

The 13 of August our Savage Manteo, by the com-

mandement of Sir Walter Ralegh, was christened in Roa-

noak, and called Lord thereof, and as Dasamonguepek, in

reward of his faithfull service.

The 18 Elenor, daughter of the Governour, and wife to

Ananias Dare one of the Assistants, was delivered of a

daughter in Roanoak, and the same was christened there

the Sonday following, and because this child was the first

Christian borne in Virginia, shee was named Virginia. By

this time our ships had unladen the goods and victuals of

the planters, and began to take in wood, and fresh water,

and to new calke and trimme them for England: the

planters also prepared their letters and tokens to send

backe into England.

The next day the 22 of August, the whole company

both of the Assistants and planters came to the Governour,

66 ERA 1: Three Worlds Meet

and with one voice requested him to returne himselfe into

England, for the better and sooner obtaining of supplies,

and other necessaries for them: but he refused it, and

alleaged many sufficient causes, why he would not: the one

was, that he could not so suddenly returne backe againe

without his great discredite, leaving the action, and so

many whome hee partly had procured through his perswa-

sions, to leave their native countrey, and undertake that

voyage, and that some enemies to him and the action at his

returne into England would not spare to slander falsly both

him and the action, by saying, hee went to Virginia, but

politikely, and to no other end but to leade so many into a

countrey, in which hee never meant to stay himselfe, and

there to leave them behind him. Also he alleaged, that see-

ing they intended to remove 50 miles further up into the

maine presently, he being then absent, his stuffe and goods

might be both spoiled, & most of them pilfered away in the

cariage, so that at his returne he should be either forced to

provide himselfe of all such things againe, or else at his

comming againe to Virginia find himselfe utterly unfur-

nished, whereof already he had found some proofe, being

but once from them three dayes. Wherefore he concluded

that he would not goe himselfe.

The next day, not onely the Assistants but divers oth-

ers, as well women as men, began to renew their requests

to the Governour againe, to take upon him to returne into

England for the supply, and dispatch of all such things as

there were to be done, promising to make him their bond

under all their handes and seales for the safe preserving of

all his goods for him at his returne to Virginia, so that if any

part thereof were spoyled or lost, they would see it

restored to him, or his Assignes, whensoever the same

should be missed and demanded: which bond, with a tes-

timony under their hands and seales, they forthwith made,

and delivered into his hands. The copie of the testimony I

thought good to set downe.

May it please you, her Majesties subjects of England,

we your friends and countrey-men, the planters in Vir-

ginia, doe by these presents let you and every of you to

understand, that for the present and speedy supply of cer-

taine our knowen and apparent lackes and needes, most

requisite and necessary for the good and happy planting of

us, or any other in this land of Virginia, wee all of one

minde & consent, have most earnestly intreated, and

uncessantly requested John White, Governour of the

planters in Virginia, to passe into England, for the better

and more assured help, and setting forward of the foresayd

supplies: and knowing assuredly that he both can best, and

wil labour and take paines in that behalfe for us all, and he

not once, but often refusing it, for our sakes, and for the

honour and maintenance of the action, hath at last, though

much against his will, through our importunacie, yielded

to leave his governement, and all his goods among us, and

himselfe in all our behalfes to passe into England, of whose

knowledge and fidelitie in handling this matter, as all oth-

ers, we doe assure ourselves by these presents, and will you

to give all credite thereunto, the 25 of August 1587.

The Governour being at the last through their

extreame intreating constrayned to returne into England,

having then but halfe a dayes respite to prepare himselfe

for the same, departed from Roanoak the seven and twen-

tieth of August in the morning, and the same day about

midnight, came aboord the Flieboat, who already had

weyed anker, and rode without the barre, the Admirall rid-

ing by them, who but the same morning was newly come

thither againe. The same day both the ships weyed anker,

and set saile for England.

Source:

Richard Hakluyt. The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffiques

and Discoveries of the English Nation. Edited by Richard

Hakluyt and Edmund Goldsmid. Edinburgh: E. & G. Gold-

smid, 1885–1890.

Constitution of the Iroquois,

Late 16th Century

During the latter half of the 16th century, the Iroquois, led by

Dekanawidah, a Huron prophet from the north, and Hiawa-

tha, a Mohawk medicine man, formed a confederacy known

as the League of Five Nations. This union joined the Mohawk,

Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, and Cayuga tribes into one

nation. Later, in 1715, the Tuscarora, who had moved north to

avoid warfare with white settlers, were adopted into the con-

federacy. The name

Iroquois

is derived from the French pro-

nunciation of the Algonquian word

ireohkwa

, which means

“real adders” or “snakes.” The Iroquois people refer to them-

selves collectively as the Haudenosaunee, meaning “people of

the longhouse.” The Haudenosaunee originally lived commu-

nally in long, rectangular wooden houses. They thought of

their confederacy as one big longhouse that stretched across

the territory of the combined nations. The Constitution of the

Iroquois Nations, or Gayanashagowa, the Great Binding Law,

was most likely solidified in the culture’s oral tradition

between 1450 and 1500, but a written form did not appear

until the early 20th century. The league is the earliest example

of a structured democracy in North America and predates

democratic governments in many European nations. It has

been suggested that the U.S. Constitution is somewhat in-

debted to the Iroquois Constitution. There are certain resem-

blances, including the division of both governments into three

parties (or branches) in order to maintain a system of checks

and balances. However, unlike the U.S. Constitution, the Iro-

quois Constitution dictates a much broader range of social and

Early Settlements and Government in the English Colonies 67

cultural laws, including the society’s matrilineal nature and

instructions for adoption and funeral ceremonies.

________________________

_______________________

The Constitution of the Iroquois Nations: The

Great Binding Law, Gayanashagowa

1. I am Dekanawidah and with the Five Nations’ Confed-

erate Lords I plant the Tree of Great Peace. I plant it in

your territory, Adodarhoh, and the Onondaga Nation, in

the territory of you who are Firekeepers.

I name the tree the Tree of the Great Long Leaves.

Under the shade of this Tree of the Great Peace we spread

the soft white feathery down of the globe thistle as seats

for you, Adodarhoh, and your cousin Lords.

We place you upon those seats, spread soft with the

feathery down of the globe thistle, there beneath the shade

of the spreading branches of the Tree of Peace. There shall

you sit and watch the Council Fire of the Confederacy of the

Five Nations, and all the affairs of the Five Nations shall be

transacted at this place before you, Adodarhoh, and your

cousin Lords, by the Confederate Lords of the Five Nations.

2. Roots have spread out from the Tree of the Great

Peace, one to the north, one to the east, one to the south

and one to the west. The name of these roots is the Great

White Roots and their nature is Peace and Strength.

If any man or any nation outside the Five Nations shall

obey the laws of the Great Peace and make known their

disposition to the Lords of the Confederacy, they may

trace the Roots to the Tree and if their minds are clean and

they are obedient and promise to obey the wishes of the

Confederate Council, they shall be welcomed to take shel-

ter beneath the Tree of the Long Leaves.

We place at the top of the Tree of the Long Leaves an

Eagle who is able to see afar. If he sees in the distance any

evil approaching or any danger threatening he will at once

warn the people of the Confederacy.

3. To you Adodarhoh, the Onondaga cousin Lords, I

and the other Confederate Lords have entrusted the care-

taking and the watching of the Five Nations Council Fire.

When there is any business to be transacted and the

Confederate Council is not in session, a messenger shall be

dispatched either to Adodarhoh, Hononwirehtonh or

Skanawatih, Fire Keepers, or to their War Chiefs with a

full statement of the case desired to be considered. Then

shall Adodarhoh call his cousin (associate) Lords together

and consider whether or not the case is of sufficient impor-

tance to demand the attention of the Confederate Council.

If so, Adodarhoh shall dispatch messengers to summon all

the Confederate Lords to assemble beneath the Tree of

the Long Leaves.

When the Lords are assembled the Council Fire shall

be kindled, but not with chestnut wood, and Adodarhoh

shall formally open the Council.

Then shall Adodarhoh and his cousin Lords, the Fire

Keepers, announce the subject for discussion.

The Smoke of the Confederate Council Fire shall ever

ascend and pierce the sky so that other nations who may be

allies may see the Council Fire of the Great Peace.

Adodarhoh and his cousin Lords are entrusted with

the Keeping of the Council Fire.

4. You, Adodarhoh, and your thirteen cousin Lords,

shall faithfully keep the space about the Council Fire clean

and you shall allow neither dust nor dirt to accumulate. I

lay a Long Wing before you as a broom. As a weapon

against a crawling creature I lay a staff with you so that you

may thrust it away from the Council Fire. If you fail to cast

it out then call the rest of the United Lords to your aid.

5. The Council of the Mohawk shall be divided into

three parties as follows: Tekarihoken, Ayonhwhathah and

Shadekariwade are the first party; Sharenhowaneh, Dey-

oenhegwenh and Oghrenghrehgowah are the second

party, and Dehennakrineh, Aghstawenserenthah and

Shoskoharowaneh are the third party.

The third party is to listen only to the discussion of the

first and second parties and if an error is made or the pro-

ceeding is irregular they are to call attention to it, and

when the case is right and properly decided by the two

parties they shall confirm the decision of the two parties

and refer the case to the Seneca Lords for their decision.

When the Seneca Lords have decided in accord with the

Mohawk Lords, the case or question shall be referred to

the Cayuga and Oneida Lords on the opposite side of the

house.

6. I, Dekanawidah, appoint the Mohawk Lords the

heads and the leaders of the Five Nations Confederacy.

The Mohawk Lords are the foundation of the Great Peace

and it shall, therefore, be against the Great Binding Law to

pass measures in the Confederate Council after the

Mohawk Lords have protested against them.

No council of the Confederate Lords shall be legal

unless all the Mohawk Lords are present.

7. Whenever the Confederate Lords shall assemble

for the purpose of holding a council, the Onondaga Lords

shall open it by expressing their gratitude to their cousin

Lords and greeting them, and they shall make an address

and offer thanks to the earth where men dwell, to the

streams of water, the pools, the springs and the lakes, to

the maize and the fruits, to the medicinal herbs and trees,

to the forest trees for their usefulness, to the animals that

serve as food and give their pelts for clothing, to the great

winds and the lesser winds, to the Thunderers, to the Sun,

the mighty warrior, to the moon, to the messengers of the

Creator who reveal his wishes and to the Great Creator

who dwells in the heavens above, who gives all the things

useful to men, and who is the source and the ruler of

health and life.

68 ERA 1: Three Worlds Meet

Then shall the Onondaga Lords declare the council

open.

The council shall not sit after darkness has set in.

8. The Firekeepers shall formally open and close all

councils of the Confederate Lords, and they shall pass

upon all matters deliberated upon by the two sides and

render their decision.

Every Onondaga Lord (or his deputy) must be present

at every Confederate Council and must agree with the

majority without unwarrantable dissent, so that a unani-

mous decision may be rendered. If Adodarhoh or any of

his cousin Lords are absent from a Confederate Council,

any other Firekeeper may open and close the Council, but

the Firekeepers present may not give any decisions, unless

the matter is of small importance.

9. All the business of the Five Nations Confederate

Council shall be conducted by the two combined bodies of

Confederate Lords. First the question shall be passed

upon by the Mohawk and Seneca Lords, then it shall be

discussed and passed by the Oneida and Cayuga Lords.

Their decisions shall then be referred to the Onondaga

Lords (Firekeepers) for final judgement.

The same process shall obtain when a question is

brought before the council by an individual or a War Chief.

10. In all cases the procedure must be as follows: when

the Mohawk and Seneca Lords have unanimously agreed

upon a question, they shall report their decision to the

Cayuga and Oneida Lords who shall deliberate upon the

question and report a unanimous decision to the Mohawk

Lords. The Mohawk Lords will then report the standing of

the case to the Firekeepers, who shall render a decision as

they see fit in case of a disagreement by the two bodies, or

confirm the decisions of the two bodies if they are identical.

The Firekeepers shall then report their decision to the

Mohawk Lords who shall announce it to the open council.

11. If through any misunderstanding or obstinacy on

the part of the Firekeepers, they render a decision at vari-

ance with that of the Two Sides, the Two Sides shall recon-

sider the matter and if their decisions are jointly the same

as before they shall report to the Firekeepers who are then

compelled to confirm their joint decision.

12. When a case comes before the Onondaga Lords

(Firekeepers) for discussion and decision, Adodarho shall

introduce the matter to his comrade Lords who shall then

discuss it in their two bodies. Every Onondaga Lord except

Hononwiretonh shall deliberate and he shall listen only.

When a unanimous decision shall have been reached by

the two bodies of Firekeepers, Adodarho shall notify Hon-

onwiretonh of the fact when he shall confirm it. He shall

refuse to confirm a decision if it is not unanimously agreed

upon by both sides of the Firekeepers.

13. No Lord shall ask a question of the body of Con-

federate Lords when they are discussing a case, question

or proposition. He may only deliberate in a low tone with

the separate body of which he is a member.

14. When the Council of the Five Nation Lords shall

convene they shall appoint a speaker for the day. He shall

be a Lord of either the Mohawk, Onondaga or Seneca

Nation.

The next day the Council shall appoint another

speaker, but the first speaker may be reappointed if there

is no objection, but a speaker’s term shall not be regarded

more than for the day.

15. No individual or foreign nation interested in a

case, question or proposition shall have any voice in the

Confederate Council except to answer a question put to

him or them by the speaker for the Lords.

16. If the conditions which shall arise at any future

time call for an addition to or change of this law, the case

shall be carefully considered and if a new beam seems nec-

essary or beneficial, the proposed change shall be voted

upon and if adopted it shall be called, “Added to the

Rafters.”

Rights, Duties and Qualifications of Lords

17. A bunch of a certain number of shell (wampum) strings

each two spans in length shall be given to each of the

female families in which the Lordship titles are vested.

The right of bestowing the title shall be hereditary in the

family of the females legally possessing the bunch of shell

strings and the strings shall be the token that the females

of the family have the proprietary right to the Lordship

title for all time to come, subject to certain restrictions

hereinafter mentioned.

18. If any Confederate Lord neglects or refuses to

attend the Confederate Council, the other Lords of the

Nation of which he is a member shall require their War

Chief to request the female sponsors of the Lord so guilty

of defection to demand his attendance of the Council. If

he refuses, the women holding the title shall immediately

select another candidate for the title.

No Lord shall be asked more than once to attend the

Confederate Council.

19. If at any time it shall be manifest that a Confeder-

ate Lord has not in mind the welfare of the people or dis-

obeys the rules of this Great Law, the men or women of

the Confederacy, or both jointly, shall come to the Council

and upbraid the erring Lord through his War Chief. If the

complaint of the people through the War Chief is not

heeded the first time it shall be uttered again and then if

no attention is given a third complaint and warning shall be

given. If the Lord is contumacious the matter shall go to

the council of War Chiefs.

The War Chiefs shall then divest the erring Lord of his

title by order of the women in whom the titleship is vested.

When the Lord is deposed the women shall notify the

Early Settlements and Government in the English Colonies 69

Confederate Lords through their War Chief, and the Con-

federate Lords shall sanction the act. The women will then

select another of their sons as a candidate and the Lords

shall elect him. Then shall the chosen one be installed by

the Installation Ceremony.

When a Lord is to be deposed, his War Chief shall

address him as follows:

“So you, ———, disregard and set at naught the warn-

ings of your women relatives. So you fling the warnings

over your shoulder to cast them behind you.

“Behold the brightness of the Sun and in the bright-

ness of the Sun’s light I depose you of your title and

remove the sacred emblem of your Lordship title. I

remove from your brow the deer’s antlers, which was the

emblem of your position and token of your nobility. I now

depose you and return the antlers to the women whose

heritage they are.”

The War Chief shall now address the women of the

deposed Lord and say:

“Mothers, as I have now deposed your Lord, I now

return to you the emblem and the title of Lordship, there-

fore repossess them.”

Again addressing himself to the deposed Lord he shall

say:

“As I have now deposed and discharged you so you are

now no longer Lord. You shall now go your way alone, the

rest of the people of the Confederacy will not go with you,

for we know not the kind of mind that possesses you. As

the Creator has nothing to do with wrong so he will not

come to rescue you from the precipice of destruction in

which you have cast yourself. You shall never be restored

to the position which you once occupied.”

Then shall the War Chief address himself to the Lords

of the Nation to which the deposed Lord belongs and say:

“Know you, my Lords, that I have taken the deer’s

antlers from the brow of ———, the emblem of his posi-

tion and token of his greatness.”

The Lords of the Confederacy shall then have no

other alternative than to sanction the discharge of the

offending Lord.

20. If a Lord of the Confederacy of the Five Nations

should commit murder the other Lords of the Nation shall

assemble at the place where the corpse lies and prepare to

depose the criminal Lord. If it is impossible to meet at the

scene of the crime the Lords shall discuss the matter at

the next Council of their Nation and request their War

Chief to depose the Lord guilty of crime, to “bury” his

women relatives and to transfer the Lordship title to a sis-

ter family.

The War Chief shall address the Lord guilty of murder

and say:

“So you, ——— (giving his name) did kill ———

(naming the slain man), with your own hands! You have

comitted a grave sin in the eyes of the Creator. Behold the

bright light of the Sun, and in the brightness of the Sun’s

light I depose you of your title and remove the horns, the

sacred emblems of your Lordship title. I remove from

your brow the deer’s antlers, which was the emblem of

your position and token of your nobility. I now depose you

and expel you and you shall depart at once from the terri-

tory of the Five Nations Confederacy and nevermore

return again. We, the Five Nations Confederacy, more-

over, bury your women relatives because the ancient

Lordship title was never intended to have any union with

bloodshed. Henceforth it shall not be their heritage. By

the evil deed that you have done they have forfeited it

forever.”

The War Chief shall then hand the title to a sister fam-

ily and he shall address it and say:

“Our mothers, ———, listen attentively while I

address you on a solemn and important subject. I hereby

transfer to you an ancient Lordship title for a great calamity

has befallen it in the hands of the family of a former Lord.

We trust that you, our mothers, will always guard it, and

that you will warn your Lord always to be dutiful and to

advise his people to ever live in love, peace and harmony

that a great calamity may never happen again.”

21. Certain physical defects in a Confederate Lord

make him ineligible to sit in the Confederate Council.

Such defects are infancy, idiocy, blindness, deafness,

dumbness and impotency. When a Confederate Lord is

restricted by any of these condition, a deputy shall be

appointed by his sponsors to act for him, but in case of

extreme necessity the restricted Lord may exercise his

rights.

22. If a Confederate Lord desires to resign his title he

shall notify the Lords of the Nation of which he is a mem-

ber of his intention. If his coactive Lords refuse to accept

his resignation he may not resign his title.

A Lord in proposing to resign may recommend any

proper candidate which recommendation shall be received

by the Lords, but unless confirmed and nominated by the

women who hold the title the candidate so named shall not

be considered.

23. Any Lord of the Five Nations Confederacy may

construct shell strings (or wampum belts) of any size or

length as pledges or records of matters of national or inter-

national importance.

When it is necessary to dispatch a shell string by a War

Chief or other messenger as the token of a summons, the

messenger shall recite the contents of the string to the

party to whom it is sent. That party shall repeat the mes-

sage and return the shell string and if there has been a

sumons he shall make ready for the journey.

Any of the people of the Five Nations may use shells

(or wampum) as the record of a pledge, contract or an

70 ERA 1: Three Worlds Meet

agreement entered into and the same shall be binding as

soon as shell strings shall have been exchanged by both

parties.

24. The Lords of the Confederacy of the Five Nations

shall be mentors of the people for all time. The thickness

of their skin shall be seven spans—which is to say that they

shall be proof against anger, offensive actions and criti-

cism. Their hearts shall be full of peace and good will and

their minds filled with a yearning for the welfare of the

people of the Confederacy. With endless patience they

shall carry out their duty and their firmness shall be tem-

pered with a tenderness for their people. Neither anger

nor fury shall find lodgement in their minds and all their

words and actions shall be marked by calm deliberation.

25. If a Lord of the Confederacy should seek to estab-

lish any authority independent of the jurisdiction of the

Confederacy of the Great Peace, which is the Five

Nations, he shall be warned three times in open council,

first by the women relatives, second by the men relatives

and finally by the Lords of the Confederacy of the Nation

to which he belongs. If the offending Lord is still obdurate

he shall be dismissed by the War Chief of his nation for

refusing to conform to the laws of the Great Peace. His

nation shall then install the candidate nominated by the

female name holders of his family.

26. It shall be the duty of all of the Five Nations Con-

federate Lords, from time to time as occasion demands, to

act as mentors and spiritual guides of their people and

remind them of their Creator’s will and words. They shall

say:

“Hearken, that peace may continue unto future days!

“Always listen to the words of the Great Creator, for

he has spoken.

“United people, let not evil find lodging in your minds.

“For the Great Creator has spoken and the cause of

Peace shall not become old.

“The cause of peace shall not die if you remember the

Great Creator.”

Every Confederate Lord shall speak words such as

these to promote peace.

27. All Lords of the Five Nations Confederacy must

be honest in all things. They must not idle or gossip, but be

men possessing those honorable qualities that make true

royaneh. It shall be a serious wrong for anyone to lead a

Lord into trivial affairs, for the people must ever hold their

Lords high in estimation out of respect to their honorable

positions.

28. When a candidate Lord is to be installed he shall

furnish four strings of shells (or wampum) one span in

length bound together at one end. Such will constitute the

evidence of his pledge to the Confederate Lords that he

will live according to the constitution of the Great Peace

and exercise justice in all affairs.

When the pledge is furnished the Speaker of the

Council must hold the shell strings in his hand and address

the opposite side of the Council Fire and he shall com-

mence his address saying: “Now behold him. He has now

become a Confederate Lord. See how splendid he looks.”

An address may then follow. At the end of it he shall send

the bunch of shell strings to the oposite side and they shall

be received as evidence of the pledge. Then shall the

opposite side say:

“We now do crown you with the sacred emblem of the

deer’s antlers, the emblem of your Lordship. You shall now

become a mentor of the people of the Five Nations. The

thickness of your skin shall be seven spanss—which is to

say that you shall be proof against anger, offensive actions

and criticism. Your heart shall be filled with peace and

good will and your mind filled with a yearning for the wel-

fare of the people of the Confederacy. With endless

patience you shall carry out your duty and your firmness

shall be tempered with tenderness for your people. Nei-

ther anger nor fury shall find lodgement in your mind and

all your words and actions shall be marked with calm delib-

eration. In all of your deliberations in the Confederate

Council, in your efforts at law making, in all your official

acts, self interest shall be cast into oblivion. Cast not over

your shoulder behind you the warnings of the nephews

and nieces should they chide you for any error or wrong

you may do, but return to the way of the Great Law which

is just and right. Look and listen for the welfare of the

whole people and have always in view not only the present

but also the coming generations, even those whose faces

are yet beneath the surface of the ground—the unborn of

the future Nation.”

29. When a Lordship title is to be conferred, the can-

didate Lord shall furnish the cooked venison, the corn

bread and the corn soup, together with other necessary

things and the labor for the Conferring of Titles Festival.

30. The Lords of the Confederacy may confer the

Lordship title upon a candidate whenever the Great Law

is recited, if there be a candidate, for the Great Law speaks

all the rules.

31. If a Lord of the Confederacy should become seri-

ously ill and be thought near death, the women who are

heirs of his title shall go to his house and lift his crown of

deer antlers, the emblem of his Lordship, and place them

at one side. If the Creator spares him and he rises from his

bed of sickness he may rise with the antlers on his brow.

The following words shall be used to temporarily remove

the antlers: “Now our comrade Lord (or our relative Lord)

the time has come when we must approach you in your ill-

ness. We remove for a time the deer’s antlers from your

brow, we remove the emblem of your Lordship title. The

Great Law has decreed that no Lord should end his life

with the antlers on his brow. We therefore lay them aside

Early Settlements and Government in the English Colonies 71