56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 190 



least his village, would be blamed for the murder and would have to 

 give presents both to liim and the other relatives of the dead man. 

 After the planned crime had been committed, the youth appeared 

 and asserted that his father-in-law was the murderer, that the ill-will 

 he had for his in-laws was well known, and that he had not been satis- 

 fied with robbing them, but had done greater harm by taking the life 

 of one of them. As a result of this argument, the village of the 

 accused had to give satisfaction, a moderate fine, in this case, as the 

 dead man and his relatives were obscure people and had little status. 

 Later a girl of the village appeared and said that she had witnessed 

 the murder. The fijial outcome was that the father-in-law was not 

 accused of the crime ( JE, 13 : 11-17) . 



Gambling was almost the sole cause for assaults and murders ( JR 

 10:81). 



Some crimes in addition to murder were probably avenged by indi- 

 viduals. For example, one man killed his sister who stole ( JR 8 : 123) . 



Thieves were [usually] punished in the followmg manner: If an 

 Indian found an object that belonged to him in the possession of 

 another, he could take it back and all the thief's possessions. If the 

 thief was fishing, for example, he could take his canoe, nets, fish, robe, 

 and everything else he had ( JR 10 : 223) .^^ 



Traitors who plotted to ruin the country were killed as quickly as 

 possible (JR 8: 123). 8* 



SUICIDE 



Occasionally, an individual committed suicide either by eating a 

 poisonous root [andachienrra (JR 14: 37), ondachienroa (JR 13: 27), 

 ondachiera (S 195) (in JR 19: 173 called an aconite)] ^^ that acted 

 very quickly or by hanging himself. Apparently an antidote for the 

 root was known: one Frenchman who ate it was cured by emetics 

 which the Indians made him swallow (S 195). There were at least 

 two reasons for taking one's own life: excessive grief or vengeance 

 on parents (and relatives) for some wrong ( JR 13 : 27 ; 14 : 37 ; 18 : 27- 

 29; 19 : 171-175). One of the principal reasons the Huron indulged 



83Finley (1840 : 62) says that among the Wyandot, if one Indian stole from another, the 

 person robbed could take as much property of the thief as would remunerate him for his loss 

 and trouble. Powell (1881 : 66) says that if the matter was not settled in a council of 

 the clans of the two men involved, any property of the clan that was found could be seized. 



Among the Iroquois the punishment for theft was public Indignation (Morgan 1901(1) : 

 324-325). Jacljson (1830 b; 31) says that a person suspected of theft was called by the 

 chiefs to appear in council. If he was guilty, he confessed and restored the property. 

 Then every chief or warrior in the council could say what he thought and the thief had to 

 listen. No other punishment was inflicted. 



«* Wyandot traitors were killed (Powell 1881 : 67). 



ssFeuton (1941 b: 111-113) identifies this root as water hemlock {Gicuta maciilata L.). 

 It was not aconite (Fenton 1941 b : 109). 



