

424 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



nor any temper shown. If the women have a proposal to make, 

 they choose a chief to speak for them. Sometimes the wampum 

 received was evenly divided at the council ; at other times signifi- 

 cant belts were kept as records. 



One mode of memorizing has been sometimes mentioned and 

 appears in Prof. Timothy Dwight's account of Indian councils : 



When in council they spoke optionally ; and listened to each 

 speaker with a profound and very respectful silence ; observing a 

 decorum which might with great advantage be copied by our Con- 

 gress, and your Parliament. When proposals for war or peace 

 were made, or treaty proposed to them by the colonial governours, 

 they met the ambassadours in council, and, at the end of each part 

 or proposition, the principal Indian delivered a short stick to one of 

 his council, as a token that it was his peculiar duty to remember 

 that part. This was repeated till every proposal was finished. They 

 then retired to deliberate among themselves ; and after deliberations 

 were ended, the sachem, or some other councilor to whom he had 

 delegated this office, replied to every part in its turn, with an exact- 

 ness scarcely exceeded in the written correspondence of civilized 

 powers. Each man actually remembered what was communicated 

 particularly to him; and with this assistance the person who replied 

 remembered the whole. Dwight } 1:120 



One feature of the above account still continues : the uniform 

 courtesy of Iroquois debates. There are no interruptions or offen- 

 sive personalities, but dignity is preserved even when patience is 

 sorely tried. The interest will vary with the importance of the 

 subject or the power of the speaker, but the rules of good breeding 

 are never forgotten. 



In voting by nations there was another feature. The sachems 

 assigned to each nation were divided into classes, and in the na- 

 tional vote each class counted but one. The Mohawks, Oneidas 

 and Cayugas each had three classes of principal chiefs, the Senecas 

 four and the Onondagas five. Thus, with the latter, it was not a 

 majority of chiefs but three classes at least that said what the 

 Onondaga vote should be. It was much like our national electoral 

 system. Their own clans could depose sachems for misconduct, 

 but action on this was referred to the general council. 



The time at which councils were held was often a matter of im- 

 portance. Van der Donck said that Algonquin councils were held 

 in the morning, and if the business was not finished by noon they 



