NO. 17 SMITHSONIAN KX IM.OKAIIONS, lijlf) 127, 



Mohawk, ( )non(laga, and Cayus^a, and as far as ])ractical)le interlinear 

 and free translations and expository interpretations in I^ni^lish were 

 also obtained for these texts. 'Idiis material is heinj^- prepared for 

 his projected memoir on the Leai^ue of the Iroijuois or l''ive Nations. 

 The subject-matter is complex and difficult to imderstand. It deals 

 with the laws and ordinances, the rituals, the addresses, the chants, 

 the sons^s, and the traditions of oris^in, of the Leas^ue as an institu- 

 tion, which still exists best amon^' the Six Nations of Irocpiois in 

 Canada. The very technical and hi^hh' fi^urati\e diction of the 

 native material is not in most cases understood Ijy the ordinary 

 native s])eaker, and so it is necessary to test the knowledi.»;e of an 

 informant or interpreter before accepting' his or her services; even 

 sucii information must l)e revised and compared with other sources 

 of information. This is not at all stranj^e, because the native life 

 is being" gradually dis])laced by the culture of luiroi)ean peoples. 



These texts embrace a very wide range of subjects — laws, ordi- 

 nances, decisions as to the meaning or applications of laws, rituals, 

 ceremonies, and constitutional principles — often stated in technical 

 and highly metaphorical terms derived from mythic and legendary 

 sources. The tradition of the parthen.ogenetic conception and birth 

 of Dekanawida and of his work in establishing' the League of the 

 b'ive Nations diverges into several versions which have adopted 

 striking-, though often contradictory, incidents from the legendary 

 and mythic lore of the peo])le. The most noteworthy of these incor- 

 porations is the Saga of the Wrath of Hiawatha. So, to obtain a 

 fair understanding" of the entire subject it becomes imperatively 

 needful to collect these varying" versions, no matter how fragmentary 

 they now may be, for the purpose of providing" means for disen- 

 tang"ling; the pro1)able historical nucleus of the original saga from 

 these variant stories. It must be kept constantly in mind that no 

 small proportion of these ancient laws ai"id ordinances — now largely 

 in abeyance — are recoverable only from the language of the chants 

 and songs and addresses of the Condoling and Installation Council. 



Thus the work of recordin_g these native texts dealing" with the 

 most highly develoited and complexly organized activities of these 

 tribes is most tedious and irksome, and one of some difficulty, because 

 of the highly-wrought diction of these narratives and rituals and 

 because the native annalists of these tribes, whose knowledge of the 

 history and wisdom of their ])ast was unmodified by European 

 culture, are no nioro, and also because their sons and daughters of 

 to-day have beconie interested largely in other things, and so they 

 have forgotten, if they ever had learned, the lore and the wisdom 



