24 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
there anything indicating the great Huron feast of the dead. Burial 
customs varied greatly, nor were the changes far apart in time. 
Graves of the early Iroquois period often contain no relics, and 
are generally marked by depressions rather than elevations. Open 
grain caches have been mistaken for these. 
In historic times defensive works were generally of palisades, 
peculiarly arranged with upright and cross timbers. The quadruple 
Oneida palisades attacked by Champlain in 1615 may have required 
no holes, and extended into the shallow pond. Some Mohawk 
palisades were double and have left no traces. The single or triple 
palisade required holes for the upright posts. In some, these holes 
were from 18 inches to 2 feet deep. Galleries ran along the inter- 
secting tops of the pickets. These were reached by ladders from 
within and were useful in defense. The gates were sometimes sur- 
mounted by human figures or other fantastic designs carved in 
wood. Carvings or paintings often adorned the gables of the long 
houses, which were furnished with many fires. The outlines of 
many of these houses may still be traced, but the length was hardly 
a national Iroquois distinction as some have supposed. Circular 
lodges were often used. Blackened or burned earth always appears 
in an aboriginal camp or town of long occupation. The fireplaces 
of these may be several feet deep, a hole being made at the outset 
for the fire. 
When New York was first known, all the aborigines living near 
the Hudson river and the ocean were of the Algonquin family, 
using labials in their words, by which they were mainly distin- 
guished from the Iroquois. West of this territory all belonged to 
the Huron-Iroquois family, which extended into Canada, Ohio and 
Pennsylvania, without speaking of remote southern branches. 
These used no labials, all words being uttered with the open mouth. 
Part of these were the Five Nations, before whom the rest 
soon disappeared. These nations still survive and are the historic 
Iroquois, comprising the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas 
and Senecas. The Tuscaroras were added in 1714. Their terri- 
tory shows the most abundant signs of occupancy, but their towns 
were not of great age. It: must be remembered that they built 
