Iriquois Handbook

From the publisher's website:

Originally published in 1818 as HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS of The Indian Nations WHO ONCE INHABITED PENNSYLVANIA AND THE NEIGHBOURING STATES by the REV. JOHN HECKEWELDER OF BETHLEHEM, PA. Reverend Heckewelder lived with the Iroquois for thirty years, beginning in 1771, as a missionary. He loved them and learned all of their customs, and was finally commissioned by the U.S. Government to write down everything he knew about them. This book was the result.

Firsthand accounts, such as this one, are among the most valuable history books a nation can have. When it comes to the Indian tribes of North America, these printed firsthand accounts are very few, thus, all the more valuable. (See how to use it in a homeschool study HERE.)

In the case of Reverend Heckewelder’s work, we are given a priceless gift: a book laying out every aspect of the lives and customs of the Iroquois nation, divided into short sections for ease of reading and research. This volume is packed with history, anecdotes, and wonderful descriptions of everyday life. It is, in my opinion, the perfect history book!

If lions had painters! This proverbial saying applies with equal force to the American Indians. They have no historians among them, no books, no newspapers, no convenient means of making their grievances known to a sympathising world. Why, then, should not a white man, a Christian, who has spent among them the greatest part of his life, and was treated by them at all times with hospitality and kindness, plead their honest cause, and defend them as they would defend themselves, if they had but the means of bringing their facts and their arguments before an impartial public? – Rev. Heckewelder

Many people ask, “How can we trust just the American’s version of history, when they were the only people to write it down?” That’s a very good question. And works such as this one answer it beautifully. Rev. Heckewelder loved the Indian people he went to live with. He resided among them for many years (as you will read). It was his earnest desire to portray them as honestly as possible.