128 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY rmLL. 43 



lospect and the creat considoratioii which Ihey have for the exjierienee and 

 wisdom of th(^se venerable persons. 



If it is determined to learu the reasons tlie otliers may liave liad for entering 

 upon hostilities, some ancient warrior is named wlio has sufiicient intelligence 

 to supply the place of a speaker [jM)rtc-parol('] (or chancellor) to harangne those 

 among whom they send him to carry the calumet and make the enil)assy. A 

 suitable number of good warriors is also named in order to be in a condition 

 to repulse any insult whicli those whom they are going to see might give, so 

 that an embassy of this kind is rather a party composed of brave people firmly 

 resolved to avenge the nation if satisfaction is not given them. They part with 

 this determinntiou without carrying any present, which would have given theui 

 the air of supi)liants. They carry only the peace calumet, in order to let it be 

 seen that they come only as friends, but they do not carry any presents to let it 

 be understood that they come not at all to buy peace. 



It is unusual to see war begin through hostilities of this kind, because other 

 nations would regard as mad those who should conduct it in this manner, above 

 Jill if it was against a nation of some consideration, and in this case the latter 

 would be assured of finding m;iaiy allies who would aid it in exacting a vengeance 

 proportioned to the insult which it had received. 



The embassy of which I have just spoken, and which goes to come to an 

 understanding with another people, is always well received. The foreign band 

 is regaled in the best manner, those arriving are ke]Jt as long as possible, and 

 although they have brought no presents enough of them are given to it to recom- 

 pense them for the wrong which has been inflicted and to satisfy the band of 

 ambassadors. 



If, on the contrary, a neighboring nation has begun hostilities, it is ordinarily 

 determined in the council to put themselves on the defensive. For this puri)ose 

 the most distant are warned to leave their cabins and join the bulk of the nation 

 in order to be in a position to succor each other. In this time of fear some 

 young warriors are sent out every morning as scouts, on whose hearts they 

 count less than on their legs and voices. 



During this interval they collect stakes to form a fort and take the pre- 

 caution to send to their neighbors for assistance, and above all to their friends 

 or brothers. They give this name to a nation of the same origin." 



These invitations are ordinarily accompanied with the peace calumet, which 

 is composed of a fan of white eagle feathers,^ the extremities of which are 

 black and ornamented at the ends with a tuft, dyed a beautiful red, like the 

 little tassel which surmounts it, the whole having the shape of a quarter 

 of a circle, and it is attached to a pipestem a foot and a half long ornamented 

 with skin from the neck of a kind of duck,^' the plumage of which is very beauti- 

 ful. At the end of this stem is a pipe which we call calumet, which in this posi- 

 tion is the symbol of peace. * * * 



When these things are all done a general council of war is held, at which all 

 the war chiefs are present, having with them the old warriors and their great 

 chief at their he;id in the presence of the sovereign. The war calumet having 

 been planted and all those who have been called to the council having rep.-iired 

 thither, the great war chief mak(>s a si)eech in which he endeavors to represent 

 the reasons which they all hnve for exacting vengeance for the insults which 

 have been made them. He exhoi'ts the war chiefs who are under him to make 



« Probahly of the same mythic rather than the same actual origin. 

 ''Eagle feathers consetiuently broushl very hijih prices amoiifi; all those liuiiaiis. 

 '• The wood (luck. The skin so used was taken from its neck (of. Du I'rafz, Ilist. de La. 

 Louisiane, ii^ 115). 



