LEAGUE OF IROQUOIS HEWITT. 535 



The number of clans in the different Iroquois tribes varies; the 

 smallest number is three representative clans, found in the Mohawk 

 and the Oneida, while the Seneca have nine and the Onondaga eight. 

 There are also some clans which, having no chief titles, are seldom 

 named in public. 



In historical times, and in the past as far as tradition informs us, 

 every clan belonged to a sisterhood or phratry of clans, and so was 

 not directly a member of a tribe. In all Iroquois tribes two sister- 

 hoods or phratries of clans are found, each forming one side of the 

 dual tribal organization. One of the tribal sides represents the 

 fatherhood or male principle and the other the motherhood or female 

 principle among living things. 



There are three native terms in the speech of the Iroquois which 

 may be translated into English by the word chief or chieftain. 

 These are in the third person and in the Mohawk dialect, as follows : 

 rakowa ne n ', ra'sennowa'ne 11 ', and roya'ne'r, each signifying "he (is) 

 a chief." The first two are generic and so may be applied to civil 

 or military chiefs, while the last is at present restricted to chieftains 

 of the League, who represent their tribal constituencies both in the 

 tribal council and in the federal council of the League, and also is 

 applied to the women chieftainesses. The chief bearing the last 

 name has a subchief or messenger, who is usually mentioned by the 

 agnomen, " The Cane " or " The Ear," and who is sjonbolically 

 represented as sitting on the roots of the Tree (the Chieftain) whose 

 subchief he is. It is the duty of this subchief to see personally that 

 the chief's orders in his official capacity are carried out — either in 

 person or b} T the aid of the warriors or other members of the clan. 



The first of these official names signifies "he great, noble, (is)," 

 being derived from the stem meaning, " great, large, or noble." 

 The second, meaning "his name great, noble, (is)," is derived from 

 a compound stem composed of the noun " name " and the attributive 

 qualifying stem just mentioned. The third term is notionally not 

 connected with the two terms just mentioned. Its stem, -}*a'ne'r, 

 means " beneficent, bountiful, good, promotive of good or of welfare, 

 {to &e)." This stem is also the basis of the words for Law, the 

 Commonwealth or the Institution of the League. Thus, in Iroquo- 

 ian thinking a law, or the body of laws, is what brings to pass what 

 is highestly or greatestly good. And so a federal chief could not 

 engage in warfare while holding such a title. 



Some biographic notice of at least four of the chief actors in the 

 events leading up to the institution of the league may be of interest 

 and be instructive. These four are Deganawida, Hiawatha, Djigon- 

 sasen. and Atotarho (Wathatotarho). 



To begin with the first named. Deganawida was one of the 

 world's wonder children. His conception, birth, and career are 



