STATUS OF IROQUOIS WOMAN HEWITT 479 



the ohwachira. The woman trustee chief, the highest official laiown 

 to Iroquois polity, was also nominated and confirmed in this manner. 

 She was the executive officer of the ohwachira and was chosen be- 

 cause of exceptional ability and puritj^ of character; she had a seat 

 in the federal council in addition to her position as a trustee of her 

 ohwachira, and so had a somewhat higher standing and authority 

 than had the male federal chief. 



Whatever power and authority were exercised by the woman 

 trustee chieftain were delegated to her by the mothers — the woman- 

 hood of the ohwachira to which she belonged — with her nomination 

 and formal installation into office. Did she act collectively or 

 jointly with the woman trustee chieftains of sister ohwachira of the 

 clan, she did so only with the advice and consent of the mothers of 

 her own ohwachirt, she did not possess, and so did not exercise, 

 arbitrary or absolute power. 



Jointly in conference the woman trustee chieftains of the sister 

 ohwachira of a clan exercised upon occasion the exclusive right to 

 adopt other ohwachira of alien blood into the clan. 



And the council of the woman trustee chieftains of a sisterhood of 

 clans exercised, when such action was properl}^ proposed to it, the 

 exclusive right of adopting an entire clan as a member of such clan 

 sisterhood. 



The woman trustee chieftains of the two complementary sister- 

 hoods of clans of a tribe, in session assembled, on proper motion and 

 recommendation, could exercise the exclusive right of adopting an- 

 other tribe as a sister people. Naturally, in such adoptions the 

 warriors and the council of male federal chieftains were consulted 

 upon the advisability of such action, because verj^ often the requests 

 for such action came from the warriors and the male federal council. 



Among the Iroquois, woman was thus supreme in many of the 

 fundamental activities of the community to which she belonged: 

 (a) Descent of blood, which gave citizenship in her ohwachira, and 

 through it to the clan and to the tribe, was traced through her; 

 (5) the official titles, distinguished by unchanging proper names, 

 of the several chieftainships of her own ohwachira and so of the 

 tribe belonged exclusively to her; [c) the lodge or rather her apart- 

 ment in the ancient long-lodge and all its furnishings and equip- 

 ment belonged to her; (d) her offspring belonged to her; (e) the 

 right of the use and occupancy of the lands shared by her ohwachira 

 with the clan, as the source of food, life, and shelter, belonged to 

 her; arising from these several vested rights, the woman exercised 

 the sovereign prerogative of selecting from her brothers and sons the 

 candidates for the chieftainships of her ohwachira and clan; and 

 she also exercised the concurrent prerogative of initiating the pro- 



