Tooker] ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON 55 



fourth was to soothe the feelings of an irritated heart. Most of tiiese 

 gifts were wampum beads, shells, and other valuable gifts. Next 

 were the 9 gifts to build a tomb for the deceased : 4 for the 4 posts that 

 support it, 4 for the crosspieces of the deceased's bed and 1 to serve the 

 deceased as a bolster. Then the 8 chiefs of the 8 nations ^^ each gave 

 a present for the 8 principal bones of the body : those of the feet, thighs, 

 and arms. Then the Jesuits gave a gift of about 3,000 wampum beads 

 saying it was to make the "land level, so that it would receive them 

 more gently when they should be overthrown by the violence of the 

 reproaches that I was to address to them for having committed the 

 murder." The next day the 60 presents were hung on a type of stage 

 (JR 33: 241-243). In addition to these presents, others were given 

 to the French. Three were required to dress the body. The next 

 was a present to draw the hatchet out of the wound. Then 3 presents 

 were given : the first, to close the earth ; the second, to trample it down 

 (at this point the men began to dance to indicate their joy that the 

 earth no longer wished to swallow them) ; the third, to put a stone on 

 it that it might stay closed. Next came 7 presents : the first, to restore 

 the voice of the missionaries; the second, to ask the French servants 

 not to turn their arms agamst the murderer, but against the Iroquois ; 

 the third, to appease tlie Governor [of Nev/ France] when he heard of 

 the murder; the fourth, to rekindle the fire; the fifth, to reopen the 

 door ; the sixth, to put the boat in the water ; the seventh, to put the 

 paddle in the hands of the young boy who had charge of that boat. 

 The Jesuits could have asked for 2 other presents to rebuild their 

 house and church and to set up again 4 large crosses, but they did 

 not. The final presents were 3 given by the 3 prmcipal chiefs, to calm 

 the Jesuits' minds and to beg them to love the Huron always. All 

 told, about 100 presents were given. The Jesuits also gave some pres- 

 ents (JR 33 : 245-247) . 



The Jesuits maintained that the Indians killed each other quite fre- 

 quently, but that they imputed these murders to their enemies, who m 

 the summer and autumn were to be found in ambushes along the roads 

 (JR 20: 75). And, apparently, some murders were planned so that 

 the blame fell on other Hurons. In one case, a young Huron robbed 

 his father-in-law and carried his booty to his mother's house in an- 

 other village. In accordance with the custom of the country, the 

 father-in-law then went to this house and took all he found, "hardly 

 leaving the inmates enough with which to cover themselves." The 

 boy then plotted to kill his brother so that the father-in-law, or at 



^ These "eight nations" may be a reference to clans and indicate that tlie Huron had 

 eight clans: Lloj'd (in Morgan 1901(2) : 225) citing Bressani's description of the same 

 event (JR 38 : 273-2S7) says that the Huron had eight clans at this time. Various later 

 lists of Wyandot and Huron clans give various total numbers (Barbeau 1912 ; 1917 ; Con- 

 nelley 1899 b: 26-28; 1899 c: 106; Hewitt 1907 c: 590; Morgan 1901(2) : 225; 1959: 

 59 ; Powell 1881 : 59 ff. ; WUson 1885 : 75). 



