Zwi?i] TRADITIONS 429 



At the end of ten days the chief said. " We shall go now on a high 

 hill and there make a trench the length of a man's body. Then we 

 will put a man into it, placing boughs across so he can not be seen, 

 and on top of all the whole carcass of a deer." 



Now, they had invited S'hadahgeah to come down, and the people 

 staid near the trench. The man under the bush heard a noise, and 

 saw a common eagle come, eat a little, and then go off; then the eagle 

 came back again, ate, and went away in another direction. It seemed 

 as if it notified other birds, for they also came. The man who was 

 lying underneath the brush scared them away, for they did not want 

 common birds to eat the meat. After a while the concealed man 

 heard a tremendous noise, which he knew was made by S'hadahgeah, 

 the bird they wanted. S'hadahgeah is a very cautious bird; it looked 

 everywhere before beginning to eat the meat. The man got his 

 hand carefully around the bii'd's tail, which he held firmly, and when 

 the bird flew away he pulled out one feather. It took two years to 

 get a full tail of feathers; hence they had to entice down a good 

 many birds in this way before they got enough for the purpose. 

 When secured, the party was ready to start for the Cherokee country. 



Man}' days were required to reach the land of the Cherokee, who 

 had built a fort around them so that an enemy could not enter. The 

 Seneca got there early in the morning, when the gate was open. Two 

 of the Seneca dancers, adorned with feathers, made a noise like a 

 whoop. Allien the Cherokee heard this they came out, whereupon 

 they saw the two men singing and dancing. " These men must have 

 come on some errand,"' said the Cherokee chief. When the two men 

 came nearer they said : " We wish to meet in council, as we come to 

 talk about something important." All turned and went toward the 

 lodge of assembly. All the Seneca had come directly there, but only 

 the two were singing and dancing. The lodge of assembly was 

 crowded. The Seneca sang and danced until tired, when they 

 stopped. The Cherokee did not dance. The Seneca chief said : " Now 

 I will tell .you for what purpose we have come to you through the 

 forest. We have thought among ourselves that it is time to stop 

 fighting. You and we are always on the lookout to kill one another. 

 We think it is time to stop this. Here is the proof, if we agree to be 

 friendly. Here is the wampum. If you and your people are willing 

 to be friendly, you will take this." With these words he held out 

 the string of wampum as their credentials. The Chei-okee chief, 

 coming up. met the Seneca chief, saying: "I will take it and hold it 

 in m}' hand, and tomorrow we will tell you what we have decided 

 to do." Then turning, he said to his people: "Go home and bring 

 food to this lodge of assembly." Thereupon all brought fr-^m their 

 homes so much food that there was a great pile lying across the lodge 



