IROQUOIS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 



25 



The plan was inaugurated at the Condolence Council held at 

 the Tonawanda Reservation in September 1891. There Mrs Con- 

 verse had joined in the national condolence for the lost chief of 

 the nation. After the ceremony of official mourning, the Onondaga 

 chiefs nominated and elected Mrs Converse for the office formerly 

 held by the dead chief of the Tonawanda Senecas, but as the cere- 

 monies were conducted entirely in Indian languages, Mrs Converse 

 did not learn of the action until the following spring when she 

 was summoned to the Six Nations Council at Onondaga Castle. 



Daniel La Forte, President of the Six Nations in 1892 



A personal invitation was sent by Chief Daniel La Forte. At the 

 council she was unanimously confirmed a chief of the Six Nations, 

 an honor never before conferred upon a white woman. The 

 certificate which was afterward handed the newly elected chief 

 read as follows: 



Onondaga Castle, Mar. 25, 1892 

 This is to certify that Harriet Maxwell Converse has been duely 

 elected & Installed to the Chieftain Ship of the Six Nations of the 



