vi^^^^ f^ 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FIVE NATIONS I37i 



Soon after the other side led by Blacksnake and young Jones \ 

 repaired to the Council House and were received there by others 

 who were seated there. Then came waiting & for many minutes 

 one of the Oneidas second in the march walked the floor carrying, 

 the bag of old things & sang a wailing song, being frequently 

 answered by the other side with a long wail & once by Elijah 

 Williams. (What must be the feeling of these men.) Again 

 Williams wails in a high tone & then others in a suppressed note. .^""^^ 

 an octave below. . Wms. wails again & the low note is repeated >*'"^^' 

 & the bag bearer goes on singing. Now the wail and low tone are 

 responded from the other side of" the house. (I believe in his '. [J" 

 song he is repeating the names of the hadiyanne & then offices) of ' ' ' ' 

 all the Six Nations. Now he is upon the Onondagas, and now 

 they wail again as before. Now again. Now again. Is it re- 

 peated when he is coming to the names of the dead? Or. is it at 

 the finishing of those who belong to the same tribe? The latter 

 I think or both. 



Hai ! Hai gayahaagweniohgwe ! ■ 



Now he is upon the Cayugas. The exclamation hai! hai! seems a 

 rnourning interjection at the beginning of every sentence, between 

 all the simple sentences & at the close of every paragraph. (Once 

 Wms. made a little mistake & began to wail a word or two too 

 sooii & I noticed a little smiling) Now he is upon the Senecas. 

 And^ now done & he has sat down by the side of Elijah Williams 

 & now he has risen &■ "^■^gan to speak instead of singing & desired 

 them all to hear & said i' have spoken the old way, continue it for 

 one benefit, let it be followed forever. 



Then silence and something which seemed like a consultation 

 for several minutes followed. At length blankets were brought 

 and a cord stretched across the Council House so as to separate 

 the two parties from each other and cut off communication. Then 

 another long interval of waiting. Then a bench was brought in 

 to the Cayuga side and the wampum laid out before the masters 

 of ceremonies, preparatory to the songs etc. These songs are the 

 several articles of the ancient confedei-acy. Art i Hai hai! Hai 

 hi hi haih ne etc. closing with a semitone downward slide of the 

 voice etc. 



It was so made everything was right when altogether they did it. 

 There a relationship was made between them. (Song and response 

 regular always interspersed with hai etc.) A chief warrior i. e. 

 This wampum is so called, I suppose a chief or great woman. It 

 was by their transaction that this operation goes forward. 



