THE IROQUOIS. — THEIR ORIGIN Im 



great, was wholly of a persuasive or advisor} character ; 

 — there were two principal chiefs, one for peace, the 

 other for war ; — there were chiefs assigned to special 

 national functions, as the charge of the great Feast of 

 the Dead, the direction of trading voyages to other na- 

 tions, etc. ; — there were numerous other chiefs, equal 

 in rank, but very unequal in influence, since the meas- 

 ure of their influence depended on the measure of their 

 personal ability ; — each nation of the confederacy had 

 a separate organization, but at certain periods grand 

 councils of the united nations were held, at which were 

 present, not chiefs only, but also a great concourse of 

 the people ; and at these and other councils the chiefs 

 and principal men voted on proposed measures by means 

 of small sticks or reeds, the opinion of the plurality 

 ruling.^ 



THE IROQUOIS. 



The Iroquois were a people far more conspicuous m 

 history, and their institutions are not yet extinct. In 

 early and recent times, they have been closely studied, 

 and no little light has been cast upon a subject as diffi- 

 cult and obscure as it is curious. By comparing the 



1 These facts are gathered here and there from Champlair , Sagard, 

 Bressani, and the Jesuit Relations prior to 1650. Of the Jesuits, Bre^beuf 

 is the most full and satisfactory. Lafitau and Charlevoix knew the Huron 

 institutions only through others. 



The names of the four confederate Huron nations were the Ata- 

 ronchronons, Attignenonghac, Attignaouentans, and Ahrendarrhonons. 

 There was also a subordinate *' nation" called Tohotaenrat, which had 

 but one town. (See the map of the Huron Country.) They all bore the 

 name of some animal or other object : thus the Attignaouentans were the 

 Nation of the Bear. As the clans are usually named after animals, this 

 makes confusion, and may easily lead to error. The Bear Natiim was the 

 principal member of the league. 



e* 



