Name
Gehring and Starna suggested the name Sqorhea[1] is similar to the Mohawk word for “skeleton” (oskóharaʔ).[2]
Sqorhea appears in only one known historical record, the journal of Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert, who mentioned Toniwerot in 1634.[3] The West India Company had sent three Dutch men to the area west of Fort Orange to investigate a decline in trade with the Iroquois nations and negotiate more favorable terms.[4]
Origin
Sqorhea was a Native American man who belonged to the Mohawk tribe.[5]
Settlement
Sqorhea perhaps lived at Canagere, a Native American settlement a few days west of Fort Orange, where he was hired by the Dutchmen to be their guide.[6]
Biographical Details
Described as an old man in 1634, but fit enough to act as a guide in winter, Sqorhea was probably born between say 1564 and 1594. He died at an unknown time after 1634.
Occupation
In 1634, Sqorhea acted as a guide for the three Dutchmen who were on their way to the “Sinnekens” (Seneca tribe).
On 19 December 1634, Sqorhea met the three Dutch settlers at the Canagere castle. The men hired Sqorhea to be their guide to the Seneca tribe in return for half a piece of duffel, two axes, two knives, and two awls. Few were willing to take on this task in winter. When it started to rain, the Dutch gave Sqorhea a pair of shoes.[7]
The group left Canagere on 20 December 1634 and started traveling west. After about a mile, they crossed an icy stream, which soaked them up to the waist. They stayed the night at Schanidisse castle. On 21 December 1634, they came to a stream near the village of Osquage. Heavy rain had caused the stream to swell to dangerous heights. When Sqorhea refused to cross, they delayed until the next day. About half a mile from the stream, they arrived at a village called Cawaoge. Sqorhea, who was an old man, was so tired they had to rest there.
No further reference is made to Sqorhea. The Dutch men arrived at the Seneca on 30 December 1634 and used a different guide for the return journey.[8]
Associations
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Sqorhea met Harmen Meynderts van den Bogaert, Jeronimus dela Croix, and Willem Thomassen, for whom he acted as a guide.[9] He would also have met Sickaris, a Native American man in whose house the Dutch men were staying when they hired Sqorhea.[10]
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: Syracuse University Press, 2013), 7–10 [English translation], 77–79 [Dutch transcription]. This journal is the only known contemporary source to mention Sqorhea. 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), 7.
[2] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 40.
[3] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 7.
[4] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, xxvii.
[5] 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.
[6] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 7.
[7] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 7.
[8] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 7–24.
[9] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, xxvii.
[10] Gehring and Starna, A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 6–7.
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