COUNCILS AND CEREMONIES OF ADOPTION OF NEW YORK INDIANS 35 1 



short strings of purple wampum tied to the stick, one end of each 

 being left free. This calls a condolence for a principal chief. 

 Figure 5 shows the seven bunches used in the condolence, to be men- 

 tioned later. There are other appropriate strings used in this, but 

 less conspicuously. In the present scarcity of that article a little 

 wampum has to go a great way, and it is long since belts have ap- 

 peared at councils of any kind. 



The condoling council 



The ceremony of lamenting deceased chiefs and installing others 

 is termed a condolence by the Six Nations ; in Onondaga Ho-te-ne- 

 ko-kah-na'-wax, in the Seneca dialect Hen-nun-do-nuh'-seh. 

 Changed as it is, it preserves interesting and antique features. 

 Wampum calls the council and is used in the ceremonies. The 

 old songs are sung and addresses made, while the recital of the 

 original chiefs' names and virtues is a prominent feature. The 

 elder brothers, the Mohawks, Onondagas and Senecas still condole 

 the other three, or are comforted by them. No festal music is 

 heard, no drums or rattles, for there is no rejoicing till the places 

 of the dead are filled, the horns again put on. 



The writer has attended several of these condolences, publishing 

 accounts of some, and Mr Horatio Hale has given a good account 

 of one in Canada, while the usual songs appear in his Iroquois Book 

 of Rites, the original and translation side by side. A fine Canadian 

 copy of most of the songs is in the writer's hands and will be used 

 here, partly because it varies somewhat from Hale's version, and 

 partly because the words are divided into syllables. It is from the 

 same original. There are several versions known, differing but 

 little. All copies of the longer song are in the Mohawk as most 

 suited for singing. The numbers used are a mere convenience. 



As the Oneidas and Cayugas have no reservations or council 

 house in New York, these are bound to them for condolences, the 

 owners becoming visitors for the time being. In any case the 

 condoling brothers meet at some distance and send notice of their 

 approach. When ready they march on, with a low chant, that of 

 the roll call, find their afflicted friends by the wayside fire, return 

 the invitation wampum and sing a sympathetic hymn. 



