428 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
and a half circle in white. This was marked Onondaga. It was 
purchased by me as such, but I now find it was a Seneca belt, and 
Gov. Blacksnake held it.” Fig. 242 is a white belt of six rows, with 
three diagonal bars of black. It is labeled a “hospitality or wel- 
‘ 
come belt—Canadian Mohawk.” Fig. 247 is entitled a “ransom 
belt.” “ Could save a life if presented by the youngest unmarried 
female in the family.” It is a purple belt of six rows, with white 
diagonal lines and open hexagons. 
Fig. 246 is of much interest. It is nine rows deep, and has six 
human figures in black, joined by a dark line. Midway is the coun- 
cil fre. Mrs Converse obtained this in 1882, of Martha Hemlock, 
an aged and prominent Cattaraugus Seneca, who had it for 60 years. 
It has been called the women’s nominating belt, they having the 
privilege of naming the chiefs. This is now done with strings or 
unceremoniously, but women’s belts for other purposes are on 
record. 
Fig. 172 is a Mohawk belt from Mr Holmes’s figure, and was ob- 
tained by Mrs E. A. Smith from the Mohawks. It is ‘26 inches 
long, with an extreme width of 3 inches, or 11 rows. The design is 
curious, and suggests one of the belts in Paris. From the center 
it diminishes in width toward one end, where it is five beads wide. 
The open white hexagons show that this was probably the original 
design. A doubt is suggested by the loose buckskin thongs. It 
may once have been symmetric, having the other end correspond 
beyond the open central space. 
Walter C. Wyman, of Chicago, furnished pictures of his seven 
interesting belts. Fig. 274a, he remarks, “is called the Sir William 
Johnson dish belt, sent by the Indians in Canada to notify the 
friendly tribes of the existence of food at four points, Forts Stanwix, 
Niagara, and two other points unknown to me now. Of course 
all these points of information are fragmentary and dreamy. but are 
as they came to me. There seems to be no authentic reading of 
belts, and their mission is imaginary so far as any present day in- 
terpreter is concerned.” This is a counterpart of the Parker belt, 
except in the number of hexagons and width, having nine rows. 
In some cases the Five Nations used but four of the national fig- 
ures, as in this case. 
_ 
