Handsome Lake (1735 – 10 August 1815), was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. Before his emergence as a prophet, Handsome Lake fought in Pontiac's Rebellion (against the British) and the American Revolutionary War (against the Americans). After struggling with alcoholism and an apparently near-fatal illness in 1799, Handsome Lake began professing instructions he had been given in a series of three visions.

Handsome Lake's teachings were both a revival of traditional religious practices as well as a program of cultural adaptation to the realities of reservation life in the United States. While he encouraged the adoption of certain customs of white Americans, such as European-style farming and housing, Handsome Lake also urged his followers to continue to practice traditional Indian ceremonies. He encouraged Christian-style confessions of sin and urged Native Americans to stay away from alcohol. In addition to his moral instructions, Handsome Lake delivered a series of prophecies about the end of the world and the signs that would signal it. In 1802 Handsome Lake traveled to Washington D.C. with a delegation of Iroquois representatives to speak with President Thomas Jefferson about land issues and other matters. President Jefferson's approval of Handsome Lake's teachings was an important early endorsement of the prophet's religious movement.

Handsome Lake had a good relationship with the Quakers who lived among the Seneca and encouraged them to become farmers, since the Quakers were religious pluralists who agreed with a number of Handsome Lake's teachings, especially his stance against alcohol. Similarly, Handsome Lake did not disprove of Indians who chose to embrace Christianity. Christian missionaries among the Seneca after Handsome Lake's lifetime, who (unlike the Quakers) actively sought to convert the Indians to Christianity, were less tolerant of the religion of Handsome Lake's followers.

Handsome Lake gained a wide following, aided by the prominence of his half-brother Cornplanter, an influential Seneca leader. However, Handsome Lake was disliked and dismissed by Red Jacket, who led a rival faction of Senecas. Handsome Lake encountered controvery when he accused a number of American Indian women of witchcraft; several of these women were executed by Handsome Lake's followers. When an accused witch was killed in 1809, Handsome Lake fell out of favor with Cornplanter and the Quakers, although he still retained a circle of loyal followers.

In the last years of his life, Handsome Lake advised against Iroquois involvement in the War of 1812. However, by this time many Senecas including Cornplanter considered the United States to be their country, and so they enlisted in the war.

Handsome Lake's teachings, known as The Code of Handsome Lake, eventually became the foundation of the Longhouse religion , which is still followed today.

References

• Montour, Ted. "Handsome Lake", online article in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians
• Wallace, Anthony F. C. The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. New York: Knopf, 1969.

External link

• Text of letter from Thomas Jefferson to Handsome Lake