The Mahican sachem Etow Oh Koam, or Nicholas, who went to London with
three Mohawks in 1970. He holds a ball-headed club and the turtle at his feet indicates his clan. Painting by John Verelst, 1710 (far left).
Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow, or Brant, a Mohawk war chief with musket in hand. His belt is decorated with black, red and white dyed moose hair or porcupine quills. His moccasins are decorated with red and tan quills and tied with red ribbons. He has downy white feathers by each ear, red ribbons hanging from his right ear, and has a powder horn on a red cord. Behind him is a bear representing his clan. Painting by John Verelst, 1710 (left).
And all three Kings are presented with their weapons, which attests to their success and prowess on the field of battle. The portrait of Etow Oh Koam is significant because it is the only known portrait of an 18th-century Mahican chief. Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow, also known as Brant, was the grandfather of Joseph Brant, the prominent Mohawk war chief who later settled the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario. Today this reserve is the most populous in Canada and the largest Iroquois reservation in Canada and the United States.
IROQUOIS AND MAHICAN TATTOO
Acording to Jesuit documents, Iroquois and Mahican tattoo designs were first stenciled on the skin and then pricked into the flesh with trade needles or little bones, until the blood flowed. Then, crushed charcoal (or sometimes red cinnabar) was vigorously rubbed into the open wounds. Iroquois women, however, were rarely tattooed. But when they did, the purpose was usually medicinal, as a remedy to cure
toothache or rheumatism. According to the Jesuit priest Lafitau, these women “content themselves with having a little branch of foliage traced along the jaw. They claim that the nerve by which the humour flows over the teeth is thus pricked, so that it can no longer fall there and that thus they cure the pain by going to the ource of the ill.”
Iroquois men tattooe to signify achievement on the field of battle, including cross-hatches on the face to record successful military expeditions, or other small marks on the thighs to indicate the number of enemies killed. According to a Jesuit relation of 1663, one Iroquois war-chief bore 60 tattoo marks on one thigh alone! Many other markings, which have lost their meaning and function, were placed upon the face and body, although some were probably totemic. Nevertheless, nearly all Iroquois men’s tattoos were distinct to them. According to the account book of Dutch trader Evert Wendell dated August 13, 1706, “a young Seneca, living in Canosedaken, his name Tan NaEedsies,” visited Wendell in Albany, New York and completed his transaction by drawing a pictograph next to his order. This drawing identified Tan Na Eedsies, and the tattooed patterns on his face, neck and chest were
considered equivalent to his personal signature.
THE FATE OF THE INDIAN KINGS AND FIVE NATIONS
America’s Tattooed Indian Kings returned to Boston on July 15, 1710.
Although the sachems had witnessed