They Call Me "Many Irons"

 

The Iroquois Tribes

They Call Me, "Many Irons."

I've always been busy and multitasking, and I'm nearly 1/2 Iroquois Native American. When I was first invited to a circle meeting with tribal elders, the Chief looked at me and asked the Native woman who bought me, "who is the blue eyes?" She told him how she'd found me and how I'm connected with them. He looked at me again, carefully up and down, then said to me "welcome my son, you shall be called, "Many Irons." I was amazed, he made me like family and so appropriately named.  

They're remarkably intuitive, and wonderful people, being with them is unforgettable. Ever since that circle, and a Peace Pipe puff, I've been learning more about my heritage. It's rather strange because my other side is nearly all British. There was a huge war where my family settled in New Hampshire that ended similarly in many ways to Custer's Last Stand, 200 years earlier. The Natives killed the British Ranger Captain that was slaughtering them off while clearing a path up from Boston. Many Tribes united and a major war began, outnumbering the Rangers nearly 30 to I, they eventually prevailed and destroyed their Fort. Knowing the White Men would be coming in droves with far superior weapons, they then fled west. It's possible that one of my ancestors may have killed another one. Now that I'm out west, I hope to meet with the Tribe, which is actually many, such as; Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora.

There's a town, river, and lake named after the murderous British Captain and a monument where he and 14 of his Rangers were killed and buried. Sadly there's nothing commemorating the 200 Native Warriors and their Chief the 14 Rangers killed with rifles against arrows. Both the Native Chief and British Captain were killed in this first encounter that started the war. Whenever I visit that lake, in all honesty I can feel violence and become emotional.

Ironically, when I was a young boy, my father began building a golf course where the largest and last battle was fought. Remains of the Fort were found while the 2nd green was built, and a Tee was built on the edge of the now famous "Indian Mound," where the Native warriors were buried. Both the course and a shopping center later built by my father are named after it.  Sadly, the many historic remains found while the course was being built, which my Dad planned to give to the NH Historical Society, were stolen by one of the workers, never to be seen again.  I saw the three boxes and the fascinating artifacts they contained, I even dropped some that I'd found in one.

Over the years many visitors have said no Indians are buried in the Mound because New England Tribes didn't do that. It's true that most Mounds throughout the northeast were filled with fresh water claim shells, fish bones and cooking materials. Artists from Tribes would pile these together following festival feasts. However, I may be the lone living person that knows for a fact this "Indian Mound," holds Native American remains.  

One of the men my father had working on the course who later became the first Greens Keeper was my good friend in his later years. We'd play the course together every summer for fifteen years, each time he'd share his memories of the course. Every time we stood on the Tee attached to the Mound he'd tell me if a moment he could never forget. He was leveling with a bulldozer, and saw something white role off the blade. He got off the machine and picked up a human forearm. It gave him quite a start and he quickly buried it and finished the Tee. Every time we'd Tee off on the Par 3, he walked off the front of the box, stop, point down and say "right there, that's where I put it back."

I've always been a history buff, probably because of the time I spent with this wonderful, kind man from South Carolina. The Civil War has especially fascinated me, it began with Canon fire near his old family home. The next day nearly every newspaper in a then divided America had the same now famous front page headline, which was also my friend's full name, "Fort Sumter Falls."

To be continued.....

(C) Jeff Hayford