^°No!°7"4f^^' IROQUOIS MASKS AT ONONDAGA — ^HENDRY 357 



The basic social unit was the matrilineal famUy headed by the 

 eldest woman or matron. These families were united into exogamous 

 clans which were not totemic although they bore animal names — 

 Bear, Wolf, Snipe, etc. Four clans constituted a phratry, and two 

 phratries, a tribe. Marriage was monogamous and arranged by the 

 matrons. Matrilocal residence, matrihneal descent and inheritance, 

 and the independent property rights of the wife gave women a status 

 equal or superior to that of men within the longhouse. Outside of 

 the home, women exercised an indirect influence in politics and 

 participated in most religious activities. 



The political organization has been extolled by many western 

 observers as one of the most advanced in aboriginal America (Morgan, 

 1851; Wallace, 1946). It consisted of a league of five originally 

 autonomous tribes (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and 

 Seneca) which were culturally distinct and spoke separate dialects. 

 At some time late in the 16th century these tribes banded together 

 in a confederacy for the preservation of peace and order. The or- 

 ganization they created reflected symbolically the structure of the 

 longhouse and the kinship system. The most powerful tribes were 

 accorded the status of "elder brothers" and were given special respon- 

 sibilities: the Mohawk guarded the "eastern door of the Longhouse," 

 the Seneca protected the western entrance, and the Onondaga living 

 in the center were the Keepers of the Council Fires and the perpetual 

 hosts for all meetings. The "younger brothers" were the Oneida, 

 the Cayuga, and later, the Tuscarora, a southern Iroquoian-speaking 

 people who joined the union in 1772. The League did not achieve 

 unanimity of purpose and action untU the Colonial Period (Hunt, 

 1940), but did succeed even in its early phase in preventing warfare 

 among its members. Kinship ties helped to insure solidarity as clan 

 affiliations crosscut tribal lines. 



The League's constitution was based on a combination of myth and 

 historical fact and was transmitted orally from one generation to the 

 next. Authority was vested in 50 peace chiefs or sachems whose 

 actions as a governing body were at all times subject to the force of 

 public opinion. Although chieftainships were hereditary within par- 

 ticular families, the office was essentially elective. The matron, in 

 consultation with the other adult women of the household, selected a 

 candidate who was then confirmed by the clan council, the tribal 

 council, and finally the federal council. Women also had the power to 

 depose unworthy chiefs and sometimes acted as regents for those too 

 young to hold office. The federal council assembled once a year at 

 Onondaga to determine foreign policy, settle internal disagreements, 

 and act as the fmal court of appeals. The chiefs voted by tribes and a 

 unanimous decision was required. Oratory, which was highly esteemed 



