NO. 1/ SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I916 I25 



of their ancestors. These things do not interest the great majority 

 of persons as they did their ancestors ; and as it is absolutely essential 

 that correct lexical and grammatic forms be recorded and exi)ounded 

 it is found a very difficult matter to secure trustworthy informants 

 and interpreters. Inability to translate the meaning of the native 

 vocables into equivalent English words is the greatest bar to the 

 student in the acquirement of a consistent knowledge of the structure 

 of the League and of its constituent institutions. Too pronounced 

 personal views and fanciful preconceptions often render an infor- 

 mant's work useless. 



A most important result of Mr. Hewitt's work in the field is the 

 finding of conclusive evidence that the number of federal chiefs of 

 the League of the Iroquois was originally forty-seven, which later 

 by the addition of two recalcitrant Seneca chiefs was raised to 

 forty-nine. The number fifty has appeared in all available written 

 records and printed accounts of the League chiefs. This number 

 has never been questioned hitherto but has been accepted as historical. 

 The supernumerary chiefship, it is learned, was unwittingly added 

 by Thomas Webster, a chief of the New York Onondaga, more than 

 fifty years ago, through a misunderstanding of the meaning of the 

 " Bear-Foot " episode of the ancient time and the significant action 

 of the Federal Council of the League of the Iroquois, with reference 

 to it. This false Websterian interpretation gained credence only 

 after the dissolution of the integrity of the League of the Iroquois 

 following the treaty of 1838 with the United States, which had the 

 effect of permanently dividing the several tribes. 



The famous " Six Songs " of the Condoling and Installation Coun- 

 cil of the League of the Iroquois were first translated, so far as 

 known, into English for Mr. Horatio Hale ( " The Iroquois Book 

 of Rites," 1883) by Chief John " Smoke " Johnson, who is there 

 described as " the only man now living- who can tell the meaning 

 of every word of the ' Book of Rites.' " Yet, they were erroneously 

 translated as " Songs of Greeting and Welcome." But on gram- 

 matic grounds and from their position in the ritual Mr. Hewitt has 

 decided, tentatively at least, to translate them as " Songs of Parting " 

 or " Songs of Farewell," which are so dramatically sung, therefore, 

 in behalf of the dead chieftain. 



The Dekanawida legend rehearsing the story of tlie founding 

 of the League of the Five Nations, as told by the Mohawk and 

 Onondaga annalists, is largely repudiated by the Cayuga wisemen 

 now living. And there appear to be some grounds for their doc- 

 trine. So Mr. Hewitt recorded a Cayuga version of the so-called 



