Note 62 — Chapter II · GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.

The Iroquois had no slaves. This is stated by Morgan, who was intimately acquainted with them. “Slavery”, says Morgan, “which in the Upper Status of barbarism became the fate of the captive, was unknown among tribes in the Lower Status in the aboriginal period.” And the Iroquois are his typical instance of this “Lower Status”: “When discovered the Iroquois were in the Lower Status of barbarism.” Captives were either put to death or adopted62. Charlevoix states, that “most of their captives are condemned to death, or to a state of abject slavery in which they were never certain of their lives”63. But he gives no more particulars about this slave state, nor do our other informants64. On the contrary, Lafitau informs us, that the condition of prisoners, whose life is rather hard amongst the Algonquin tribes, amongst the Iroquois and Hurons is very easy65. The descriptions given by the authors of the fate of captives justify Morgan’s statement: they were either killed or adopted66; and though Lafitau calls the prisoners “esclaves”, their state, as he describes it, is not at all like that of slaves. So we may safely infer, that slavery did not exist among them, and that Charlevoix’s above quoted statement is erroneous.