46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



tomb that great man who was dead and restored him to life in the 

 person of the other, who then rose to his feet. After great applause, 

 he received the presents offered him (S 209-210). Each nation gave 

 its distinct kind of presents. Some, as they presented their gifts, 

 said, "MajT^ these grasp the arm of the deceased, to draw him from 

 the grave." Others said, "May these support his head, lest he fall 

 back again." Another gave him weapons to repel the enemies. Still 

 another said, "And I make the earth solid under his feet, so that 

 it may remain immovable during his reign" (JE. 23: 167-169).®° 

 There followed feasts (S 210).^^ If at the feast two women did not 

 come to pitch the tone, "they expected to see only broken heads under 

 the new chief" (JR 17: 161). ^^ During the feast, the men told 

 stories of their ancestors so that the young could learn them. ®^ Wlien 

 these men were requested to tell a story, they were given a little 

 bundle of foot-long straws. These straws served as comiters to aid 

 the memory of those present: the storytellers distributed them in 

 various lots according to the number of tales they told (JR 30: 

 (52). 64 rpj^g ceremony to resurrect a chief took place in the spring 

 if events did not hasten or delay the affair ( JR 10 : 235) . ®^ 



Chieftainships, then, were partly elected and partly inherited : a 

 chief was elected from among: the relatives of the deceased chief.®® 



^'Thls Huron practice seems comparable to the Iroquois one of sending a string of 

 wampum to the mourning moiety with the recitation of each burden in the Requickening 

 portion of the Condolence Ceremony. The first three strings are, however, customarily 

 omitted (Hewitt 1944 : 69). 



<^ A feast also follows the Iroquois ceremony, 



02 This may refer to the importance of the women of the clan in the selection of a chief. 

 In Iroquois procedure, the clan mother of the clan which holds the federal chieftainship 

 title "appoints" the successor, and the women of the cl.nn have much to say regarding 

 the choice of the successor. The election is also confirmed by the men of the clan and 

 the League council (Beauchamp 1907: 346; Hewitt 1918: 531; 1932: 478-479; Parker 

 1916: 11, 41, 107). Wyandot procedure is similar (Powell 1881: 61-62). 



«3 Similarly, among the Iroquois, after the new chief's name had been proclaimed, the 

 wampum belts, the historical records of the League, were explained, one by one (Hale 

 1S83 : 61) and before opening the meeting of the League council for business, the Iroquois 

 recounted the founding of the League and rehearsed the laws of the Condolence (Fenton 

 1949 a: 237). Apparently, if necessary, a Condolence Ceremony preceded the discussion 

 of business at a meeting of the federal chiefs and if no such ceremony was necessary (no 

 federal chief had died since the last meeting), it was given in abbreviated form. 



** Sticks often served the Iroquois as mnemonic devices (see, for example, Beauchamp 

 1905: 169-171; Hewitt 1918: 539; Hewitt and Fenton 1945: 304). In the Condolence 

 Ceremony, a cane with pegs is used as a mnemonic device in the roll call of the chiefs 

 (Hewitt and Fenton 1945: 304). In the Condolence Ceremony and at other times, 

 wampum strings and belts also serve as mnemonic devices. 



•f" This reference to the performance of the Condolence Ceremony in the spring and a 

 similar reference to a Wyandot ceremonial held in the spring in which the customs of 

 the people were recited (Finley 1840 : 57) would be consistent with Iroquois practice 

 if these rites were held before the last killing frost in the spring. The Iroquois Con- 

 dolence Is held In the autumn or winter as the rites are thought to be destructive to 

 growing things (Hewitt 1917 : 323 ; 1918 : 542 ; 1944 : 66). 



«« This Jesuit statement parallels that of Morgan (1901(1) : 83) : "it appears, so far as 

 positive enactments were concerned, that the office of sachem was hereditary in the 

 particular tribe [I.e., clan] In which it ran ; while it was elective, as between the male 

 members of the tribe Itself." 



