Tooker] ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON 76 



The Huron had four types of feasts : the athataion ( JR 10 : 61, 177) 

 [atsataion (JE 15: 67), astataion (JR 13: 55)], or farewell feast; the 

 atouront aochien (or atouronta ochien), or singing feast; the 

 e7iditcuhiva, or thanksgiving feast, and the awataerohi, a type of cur- 

 ing ceremony (JR 10: 177-179 ).28 [The farewell feast is discussed 

 under the section dealing with death customs and the aioataerohi, 

 under "Curing Ceremonies."] 



It is not clear from the Relations what the enditeuhioa feasts were. 

 The word may refer to the custom of giving a feast to rejoice for 

 good fortune — as in the case of a Christian Huron who gave a feast 

 after he had been cured (JR 15: 85). The products obtained from 

 the summer's activity, from fishing, hunting, and trading, were 

 exchanged as gifts when the Huron returned to their villages, and if 

 what they had obtained was unusually good, a feast for the whole 

 village or for their friends was given (JR 8: 127; 10: 213; 15: 113; 

 33: 209; cf. JR 23: 63). The word may also refer to this type of 

 feast. 



The atouronta ochien, singing feast, was held on three occasions: 

 when a man wished to become renowned ; when taking a new name, 

 particularly that of a deceased chief [see above under "Chiefs"] ; 

 and before going to war (JR 10: 181). At the feast, the invited 

 warriors might incite eacli other by their songs to perform some deed 

 of valor ( JR 23 : 63 ; cf . JR 23 : 159) .^^ 



When the people arrived for the ceremony, they sometimes began 

 the singing before eating and sometimes after. If the ceremony 

 lasted an entire day, as it often did, food was served both in the morn- 



's This classification of the Huron ceremonials is not entirely clear. The farewell feast 

 was given when a man felt that he was about to die and was a farewell to the friends of 

 this world (see note 46, p. 39, and also "Death" below). The singing feasts include what 

 is now called the Condolence Ceremony (see note 58, p. 45) and the war ceremony. The 

 aipataeroM was one type of curing ceremony, but one wonders why the Jesuits did not 

 include all curing ceremonies under this category and mention only that ceremony which 

 perhaps most impressed them. The real problem concerns the enditeuhwa. Thanksgiving 

 feast. On the basis of the Relations, it would seem that this feast was given to announce 

 and rejoice in good fortune. As the calendric ceremonials among the Iroquois today have 

 as their stated function the giving of thanks, it is tempting to interpret this reference as 

 one to the communal calendric rituals that the Jesuits ignore. However, much Iroquois 

 ritual centers on the giving of thanks. The Thanksgiving Speech, for example, "is the most 

 ubiquitous of all Seneca rituals, for it opens and closes nearly every ceremony" (Chafe 

 1961 b: 2). 



2» The comparable Iroquois ceremony Is perhaps the War Dance (Wasdse'), which Morgan 

 (1901(1) : 257-258) says was performed before going to war and on the return of the 

 war party, as well as at the ceremony for raising up chiefs and for the entertainment of 

 a guest (see Morgan 1901(1) : 258-268 for a description of this dance). Although accord- 

 ing to informants this dance is of Sioux origin (Morgan 1901(1) : 258), its general pattern 

 is similar to that of other rituals associated with war, including the Adonwe' rite, the 

 Thanksgiving Dance, and Eagle (medicine society) Dance (Fenton 1953 : 102-109 and 

 passim). The War Dance (Wasdse') is now given in the late spring or summer to honor the 

 Thunder and to bring rain (Converse 1908 : 40 n. ; Fenton 1936 : 8-9 ; 1941 c : 160 ; Parker 

 1913: 104; Shimony 1961 a: 162-165; Speck 1949: 117-118; cf. Morgan 1901(1): 

 188-189). 



