1 INTRODUCTION. 



Among the Iroquois and Hurons — and doubtless among 

 the kindred tribes — there were marked distinctions of 

 noble and base, prosperous and poor ; yet, while there 

 was food in the village, the meanest and the poorest need 

 not suffer want. He had but to enter the nearest house, 

 and seat himself by the fire, when, without a word on 

 either side, food was placed before him by the women.^ 



Contrary to the received opinion, these Indians, like 

 others of their race, when living in communities, were of 

 a very social disposition. Besides their incessant dances 

 and feasts, great and small, they were continually visit- 

 ing, spending most of their time in their neighbors' 

 houses, chatting, joking, bantering one another with wit- 

 ticisms, sharp, broad, and in no sense delicate, yet 

 always taken in good part. Every village had its adepts 

 in these wordy tournaments, while the shrill laugh of 

 young squaws, untaught to blush, echoed each hardy jest 

 or rough sarcasm. 



In the organization of the savage communities of the 

 continent, one feature, more or less conspicuous, con- 

 tinually appears. Each nation or tribe — to adopt the 

 names by which these communities are usually known — 

 IS subdivided into several clans. These clans are not 



charitable hosts, who gladly gave them aid, and even distributed among 

 them a part of the lands already planted, that they might have the means 

 of living." — Relation, 1650, 28. 



1 The Jesuit Brebeuf, than whom no one knew the Hurons better, is 

 very emphatic in praise of their harmony and social spirit. Speaking of 

 )ne of the four nations of which the Hurons were composed, he says : 

 " lis ont vne douceur et vne afabilite quasi incroyable pour des Sau- 

 uages; ils ne se picquent pas aisement. ... lis se maintiennent dans 

 cette si parfaite intelligence par les frequentes visites, les secours qu'ils 

 se donnent mutuellement dans leurs maladies, par les festins et les 

 alliances. ... lis sont moins en leurs Cabanes que chez leurs amis 

 . . . S'ils ont vn bon morceau, ils en font festin a leurs amis, et ne le man 

 gent quasi iamais en leur particulier/' etc. — Relotior des Hurons, 1636, 

 118. 



