8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Unless otherwise specified the Iroquois names and words used in 

 the body of this paper are all Seneca. The writer is more familiar 

 with this dialect of the Iroquois than the others, and this coupled 

 with the fact that the Seneca are the most conservative of the Iro- 

 quois and remember more concerning their ancient usages, it is hoped 

 will justify the employment of that tongue to the exclusion of the 

 others. 



In a work of this character one is always tempted to add in full 

 the myths which hover about the subject and to describe the various 

 rites and ceremonies that attend it. These things, interesting as they 

 are, are reserved however for notice in other works where they will 

 be more properly correlated. 



Arthur C. Parker 



