Xlii INTRODUCTION. 



piled before him by a host of charitable con tributors ; 

 and if, as often happened, a dream, the Indian oracle, 

 had revealed to the sick man the secret of his cure, his 

 demands were never refused, however extravagant, idle, 

 nauseous, or abominable. ^ Hence it is no matter of 

 wonder that sudden illness and sudden cures were fre- 

 quent among the Hurons. The patient reaped profit, and 

 the doctor both profit and honor. 



THE HURON-IROQUOIS FAMILY. 



And now, before entering upon the very curious sub- 

 ject of Indian social and tribal organization, it may be 

 well briefly to observe the position and prominent distinc- 

 tive features of the various communities speaking dialects 

 of the generic tongue of the Iroquois. In this remarka- 



i " Dans le pays de nos Hurons, il se faict aussi des assemblees de 

 toutes les filles d'vn bourg aupres d'vne malade, tant k sa priere, suyuant 

 la resuerie ou le songe qii'elle en aura eue, que par I'ordonnance de Loki 

 {the doctor), pour sa sante' et guerison, Les lilies, ainsi assemblees, on leur 

 deraande a toutes, les vnes apres les autres, celuy qu'elles veulent des 

 ieunes hommes du bourg pour dormir auec elles la nuict prochaine : elles 

 en nomment chacune vn, qui sont aussi-tost aduertis par les Maistres de la 

 ceremonie, lesquels viennent tons au soir en la presence de la malade 

 dormir chacun auec celle qui I'a choysi, d'vn bout a I'autre de la Cabane, 

 et passent ainsi toute la nuict, pendant que deux Capitaines aux deux 

 bouts du logis chantent et sonnent de leur Tortue du soir au lendemain 

 matin, que la ceremonie cesse. Dieu vueille abolir vne si damnable et 

 malheureuse ceremonie." — Sagard, Voyage des Hurons, 158. — This unique 

 mode of cure, which was called Andacwandet, is also described by Lale- 

 mant, who saw it. [Relation des Hurons, 1639, 84.) It was one of the 

 recognized remedies. 



For the medical practices of the Hurons, see also Champlain, Bre'beuf, 

 Lafitau, Charlevoix, and other early writers. Those of the Algonquins 

 were in some points different. The doctor often consulted the spirits, to 

 learn the cause and cure of the disease, by a method peculiar to that 

 family of tribes. He shut himself in a small conical lodge, and the spirits 

 here visited him, manifesting their presence by a violent shaking of the 

 whole structure. This superstition will be described in another connec- 

 tion 



