NO. 15 ROLL CALL OF IROQUOIS CHIEFS — FENTON 49 



the beginning of the chant. At this point usually his place is taken 

 by another who has been appointed to sing inside the house. 



Inside the longhouse. — "The singer picks up the cane used on the 

 road" to repeat the Eulogy to the Founders from its very beginning 

 to its end, walking up and down inside the longhouse. When he com- 

 pletes the roster, the singer who has carried the ceremony to the other 

 nation's house picks up his cane, which ends his role and the use of the 

 cane in the ceremony. It was the latter use of the cane (already noted, 

 p. 22) in the ceremony of July 17, 1883, at Onondaga Longhouse 

 which Hale (1895, pp. 53-54) observed. Since Hale does not mention 

 that the staff carried was enhanced with pegs and pictographs we shall 

 never know whether it was the present specimen. 



SPECIFIC INTERPRETATION 



The Eulogy to the Founders of the League, which is the proces- 

 sional hymn of the Condolence Council, holds the key to interpreting 

 the symbols on the cane. Like the two sides of the cane, it is divided 

 into an introductory Eulogy to the dead founders and a long roll 

 call. Having now described and identified the stick, and showed the 

 functional relationship of the pictographs and the mnemonic com- 

 prised of pegs to the performance of the Eulogy chant, it remains to 

 analyze the text of the chant itself in order that we may interpret the 

 specific symbolism involved. Although Hewitt had abundant evidence 

 for making such an identification, it was not until I had discussed the 

 specimen at great length with Cayuga Chief Alex General that I was 

 able to make headway with the problem and utilize Hewitt's materials 

 and the manuscripts of Seth Newhouse. Likewise the program of the 

 ritual of which the Eulogy is a part became clear only on observing 

 a Condolence Council in 1945. 



BACK : INTRODUCTION TO THE EULOGY 



Notes for the Introduction to the Eulogy follow the name 

 A. SPRAG on the back of the stick. By holding a blueprint of the 

 stick before him as he chanted the Eulogy, Deskaheh (Chief General) 

 was able to adjust his Mohawk version to the drawings. Mohawk 

 is the original language of the chant ; Onondaga, which is now much 

 used and was frequently dictated by Hewitt's informants, sounds 

 different. We have checked Chief General's version against texts of 

 the late Cayuga Chief Abram Charles (B.A.E. Ms. No. 1281-a) and 

 Hale (1883) and find that, although he may not be letter perfect, his 

 version is in character and fits. Other manuscripts of the version in 



