COUNCILS AND CEREMONIES OF ADOPTION OF NEW YORK INDIANS 423 



Cammerhoff was in the council at Onondaga, June 19, 1750, he 

 said: "To our astonishment an old Oneida began to sing the 

 message which he had for the council, in a very high tenor voice. 

 He continued for more than half an hour." This was from the Nan- 

 ticokes. Two days later Canassatego acted for the Moravians, and 

 took " the fathom of wampum and belt, and intoned in the usual 

 Indian fashion the signification of each." When he explained the 

 wampum to some chiefs in private he intoned his words. Allusions 

 to this practice are frequent. 



The speaker usually walked to and fro, and the way in which 

 he held the wampum was significant. Sometimes this was passed 

 around the council for inspection. If held in the open air the 

 chiefs of each nation would gather by themselves and determine 

 what their vote should be. In the Relation of 1654, after describ- 

 ing his way of speaking at Onondaga, Le Moyne said : "After this 

 they grouped themselves by nations and bands . . . They con- 

 sulted among themselves by the space of more than two good hours 

 more. At last they recalled me among them, and gave me a seat 

 in an honorable place." The four nations of the Hurons had the 

 same custom, those of the same nation or village sitting near each 

 other in a general council. Each village then quietly considered 

 what its vote should be, thus facilitating business. The Hurons 

 named this council " Endionraondaone, as if one said, A council 

 equal and easy as the plains and shaven fields." 



Miss Powell described an open-air Iroquois council at Buffalo 

 creek in 1785, which was largely attended. 



Each tribe formed a circle under the shade of a tree, their faces 

 toward each other. They never changed their place, but sat or lay 

 upon the ground, as they liked. The speaker of each tribe stood 

 with his back against the tree. The women walked, one by one, 

 with great solemnity, and seated themselves behind the men. 

 Ketchum 



Usually after proposals were made there was an adjournment of 

 the council to give time for this conference and agreement on a 

 vote. If the matter was of little importance it might be decided at 

 once. In a Six Nations' council attended by the writer in Canada, 

 the chiefs of the elder nations quietly conferred and voted in a body 

 by themselves, and the younger did the same, the Onondagas hav- 

 ing the casting vote as fire keepers. No speaker is ever interrupted, 



