The death and rebirth of the Seneca / [electronic resource] Anthony F.C. Wallace ; with the assistance of Sheila C. Steen.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 369-384) and index.

1. The religion of Handsome Lake today -- pt. I. The heyday of the Iroquois -- 2. The Seneca nation of Indians -- Villagers, warriors, and statesmen -- The Iroquois "matriarchate" -- The ideal of autonomous responsibility -- Iroquois polity : the philosophy of peace -- Iroquois warfare : the strategy of threat and retaliation -- 3. The rituals of hope and Thanksgiving -- The calendar of Thanksgiving -- Dreams and the wishes of the soul -- 4. The rituals of fear and mourning -- The importance of love and friendship -- The faces of the gods -- The cult of death -- pt. II. The decline of the Iroquois -- 5. The last wares in the forest -- The play-off system -- Pontiac's conspiracy -- A dark and bloody ground -- The Iroquois and the revolution : the neutrality policy -- The Oswego council -- The first battles -- Sullivan's raid -- The final campaigns -- 6. The collapse of the confederacy -- Federal and state Indian policies and the "conquest theory" treaties -- The rise of the western confederacy -- The Treaty of Fort Harmar -- The war for the Northwest Territory -- The splitting of the Iroquois confederacy -- The establishment of the Cornplanter Seneca -- American concessions to the New York Iroquois -- The Treaty of Big Tree -- 7. Slums in the wilderness -- Cornplanter's town -- Depopulation -- Loss of confidence -- Social pathology : alcohol, violence, witch fear, disunity -- Paths to salvation -- The ragged conquerors -- The friendly people -- The cruel spring -- pt. III. The renaissance of the Iroquois -- 8. Preaching to repentance : the first, or apocalyptic, gospel -- The first vision of Handsome Lake -- The sky journey -- The third vision -- The apocalyptic gospel -- The great witch hunt -- 9. The politics of evangelism : the second, or social, gospel -- Concessions to the progressive faction -- The visit to Washington -- The Quaker model -- The social gospel -- Political defeat -- 10. Renaissance -- Temperance -- Technology -- Religious observance -- The death of Handsome Lake -- The years of trouble -- The formation of the Handsome Lake Church.

Also issued online.