28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



the fur trade with the Europeans and that furs were ah-eady scarce 

 in Iroquois country : in some peace negotiations between the Huron 

 and the Onondaga, the Onondaga gave presents of wampum collars, 

 while the Huron gave furs, which were of gTeat value to their enemies 

 (JR 33: 121).] 



Wars between the various tribes were not undertaken without 

 cause. The most common reason was the refusal of a group, after 

 they had killed a member of another nation, to give the necessary 

 presents, the restitution required by their agreements. This failure 

 was interpreted as a hostile act, and the entire country, particularly 

 the relatives of the deceased, felt obligated to raise a war party to 

 avenge the death (JR 10: 225; 17: 111).^^ A band of young men 

 also might avenge some private quarrel or the death of a friend (JR. 

 10:227). 



Relations between the various Indian groups were not always 

 simple. For example, about 1636, the Island Savages [Kichespirini], 

 wishing to avenge the death of 23 people the Iroquois had massacred, 

 collected 23 collars of wampum. They went to the Huron and Algon- 

 quin, but neither listened to them and both refused the presents. The 

 Bissirinien also refused to listen because they demanded tribute when 

 the Bissirinien went down the river to trade. The Huron also were 

 amioyed at the Island Savages because they did not invite the Na- 

 tion of the Bear, did not offer them presents, and even forbade oth- 

 ers to tell them of the matter ( JR 10 : 75-77) . 



The Huron maintained pensioners among the people with whom 

 they were neutral and among their enemies so that they might be 

 secretly warned of all plots ( JR 10 : 229 ; 22 : 309) . The person who 

 gave the information had to send a gift of some value to vouch for 

 the truth of what he said (JR 22: 311).^^ As the Huron were cir- 

 cumspect about their own war plans, they allowed people with whom 

 they had not broken entirely to come and go in the country, but 

 assigned them to special houses to which they had to retire; if they 



35 Although the Huron and the Iroquois gave as their reason for going to war the obli- 

 gation to avenge a death, some of these wars probably also involved economic motives. 

 Goods probably were offered as restitution if the people wished for other reasons to main- 

 tain friendly relations with the tribe of the murdered person ; they pi'obably were not 

 offered if for other reasons they wished for war with the tribe. So important was the idea 

 that recompense be given if tribes were to remain friendly that when the Iroquois League 

 was established to secure peace among the five tribes, the amount to be given to the family 

 of the murdered person also was established (see note 79, p. 53). 



Not only were single murders by enemies avenged by warfare, but also, in general, those 

 captives taken in war were given to families who had lost a member in war. These cap- 

 tives were either adopted Into the family or were tortured to death (Connelley 1899 b : 

 34-35 ; Powell 1881 : 68 ; Hewitt 1918 : 533-534 ; 1932: 479-480, 486 ; Morgan 1901(1) : 

 331-335 ; see also "Torture of Prisoners," p. 31). 



** Similarly, among the Iroquois all important messages are accompanied by wampum 

 (see Beauchamp 1901 b: 344-347 for a summary of such uses of wampum). 



