Sickaris

Name

The name Sickaris[1] is “shikká:rus” in modern Mohawk, and means “while I am peeling the bark off.”[2] Sickaris was mentioned in only one known historical record, the journal of Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert, who encountered Sickaris in 1634.[3]   

Origin

Sickaris was a Native American hunter who belonged to the Mohawk tribe.[4] 

Settlement

Sickaris lived in a large village called Canagere, five days west of Fort Orange. The village included sixteen houses of 50, 60, 70, or 80 steps long, one of 16 steps, and one of 5 steps.[5] It was located near modern-day Sprakers, Montgomery County, New York.[6]

Biographical Details

A hunter in 1634, Sickaris was probably born between say 1574 and 1616. He died at an unknown time after 1634.

Occupation

Sickaris was a hunter. In 1634, Sickaris’s house contained 120 beavers that he had caught with dogs.[7] 

Associations

On 16 December 1634, Sickaris met with three Dutch settlers: Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert, Jeronimus dela Croix, and Willem Thomassen. The West India Company had sent them to the area west of Fort Orange to investigate a decline in trade with the Iroquois nations and negotiate more favorable terms.[8] Sickaris would have known Tonnosatton and Toniwerot, the chiefs of Canagere.[9] Sickaris would also have met Sqorhea, a Native American man who came to be the guide for the three Dutch men on the 19th and left with them on the 20th of December 1634.[10]

Additional Details

Sickaris invited the three Dutch men to stay at his house and served them beaver meat. In return for his hospitality and generosity, Sickaris received a knife and two awls. The next day, Jeronimus de la Croix threw some sulphur into the fire, producing a blue flame and smoke. Sickaris said his people were familiar with the substance and its medicinal uses, and mainly used it to treat sore legs after too much walking. They acquired sulphur from another tribe.[11] The Dutch men stayed with Sickaris until 20 December 1634, when they left with a guide.[12] 

Literature

Gehring, Charles T. and William A. Starna, eds. A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert. Revised. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2013. Pages 6–7 English translation], 75–76 [Dutch transcription]. This journal is the only known contemporary source to mention Sickaris. Gehring and Starna transcribed, translated, and annotated the journal.

Citations

[1] Charles T. Gehring and William A. Starna, eds., A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert, Revised (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2013), 75–76.

[2] In their edition of the journal of Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert, Gehring and Starna analyzed the meaning of the name “Sickaris.” Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 37 (note 27).

[3] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 75–76.

[4] The term in the journal is “Maquasen,” a Dutch reference to the Mohawks. Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 26–27.

[5] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 75–76.

[6] For maps showing the locations in the journal and their modern locations see Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 3.

[7] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 76.

[8] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, xxvii.

[9] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, xxvii.

[10] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 77.

[11] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 76.

[12] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 77.

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