48 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill 



to their heads; and the procession of condoling chiefs symbolically 

 carries the bones of the dead chief whose place they are about to fill by 

 raising up another. Hai Hai was a peace chant too. It is said that in 

 the year 1661 "Atreouati . . . entered Montreal, crying 'Hay Hay,' 

 which is a sign of peace. He was immediately received. They made 

 him presents and good cheer, but as he went out he killed two men 

 who were roofing a house" (Shea, 1880, p. 310). The French knew 

 full well that the Iroquois were not above treachery on occasion. 



None of my informants claims to have followed Spragg on the 

 road, so I have no first-hand account of his behavior in this role. 

 Simeon Gibson, who was always on the Three Brothers side with his 

 father, remembered meeting the column of Cayuga condolers at the 

 small fire beside the woods, or Onondaga common, where they greet 

 one another with a speech of welcome, called At the Woodside, or 

 at the edge of the brush. This is the place where the mourners shall 

 take the condolers by the arm and lead them to the longhouse where 

 the main part of the ceremony is completed. Simeon remembered that 

 Andrew Spragg was always carrying the cane as leading singer com- 

 ing over the road. The singer calls out the names of the chiefs on 

 the road, and if he comes to the end of the roll call before arriving at 

 the fire, which is always kindled within sight of the longhouse, he must 

 repeat from the beginning until he gets there. He stops singing at 

 once on arriving at the fire, and the procession following him draws 

 near to the fire and forms a line, opposite the Three Brothers across 

 the fire. 



During the ceremonies which ensue at the woods' edge, the leader 

 on the road stands by, others making the speeches, until the march 

 is resumed to the council house (cf. Fenton, 1946, p. 112). In the 

 protocol that is observed beside the little fire, which is kindled at the 

 side of the road at the border between the village common and the 

 line of thorny brush which once marked the wilderness, we have a 

 vestige of an ancient custom that was invariably observed by friend 

 or foe in approaching another town. The messenger going ahead of 

 the party, the cries that were shouted over the forest, and message 

 sticks all notified the receiving chiefs that the visitors would put down 

 their packs at the edge of the clearing and wait until they were 

 received. 



After the reception, the condoling singer resumes his song, follow- 

 ing two warriors who have been appointed to take the leaders by the 

 arm and lead the party to the principal bench inside the longhouse. On 

 reaching the longhouse he stops singing at the door and goes back to 



