THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FIVE NATIONS 



Then he began to build his canoe out of a whitelroc^, and when 

 he had completed it, Dekanahwideh said : "I am ready now to go 

 away from home and I will tell you that there is a tree^ on top of 

 the hill and you shall have that for a sign whenever you wish to find ^ 



out whether I shall be living or dead. You will take an axe SLnd_.i.^./^.;,j' 

 chop the tree and if the tree flows blood^ from the cut, you will 

 thereby know that I am beheaded and killed, but if you find no 

 blood running from this tree after you have chopped a chip from 

 it, then you may know that my mission was successful. The reason 

 that this will happen is bec:ause I came to stop forever the wanton 

 shedding of blood among human beings." 



Then Dekanahwideh also said: " Come to the shore of the lake 

 and see me start away." 



So his mother and his grandmother went together with him and 

 helped to pull the boat to the lake and as they stood at the lake, 

 Dekanahwideh said : " Good bye, my mothers, for I am about to 

 leave you for I am to go for a long time. When I return I will 

 not come this way." 



Then the grandmother said " How are you going to travel since <2 



your canoe is made out of stone. It will not float." t 



Then Dekanahwideh said, This will be the first sign of wonder '^ 



that man will behold; a canoe made out of stone will float." '• 



Then he bade them farewell, put his canoe in the lake and got 

 in. Then he paddled away to the eastward and the grandmother 

 and his mother with wonder beheld him and saw that his canoe 

 was going swiftly. In a few moments he disappeared out of their 

 sight. 



It happened at that time a party of hunters had a camp on the 

 south side of the lake now known as Ontario and one of the party 

 went toward the lake and stood on the bank of the lake, and be- 

 held the object coming toward him at a distance, and the man could 

 not understand what it was that was approaching him ; shortly 

 afterwards he understood that it was a canoe, and saw a man in 

 it, and the moving object was coming directly toward where he 

 stood, and when the man (it was Dekanahwideh) reached the 

 shore he came out of his boat and climbed up the bank. 



Then Dekanahwideh asked the man what had caused them to be 

 where they were, and the man answered and said : " We are here 



1 Djirhonatharadado"'. 



2 That men enter into or become trees is an old Iroquois conception. The 

 sap of the tree becomes blood that flows when the tree is injured. 



