426 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



pie of the council, who were waiting" for me, to say Adieu, in the 

 hope of my return, which they testified they wished for, with much 

 eagerness." 



Councils among the Iroquois were often held in chiefs' houses 

 at the first, these usually being more spacious than others. As Van 

 Curler passed through the Mohawk towns in 1634, he said nothing 

 of council houses, and at Oneida a council was held in a chief's 

 house. In another he met a deputation of Onondagas. The indoor 

 councils with Le Moyne at Onondaga in 1654 were mostly in Gara- 

 kontie's house. Father IJruyas, in his Mohawk vocabulary of 1675, 

 recorded many words about councils, but none regarding a council 

 house. As late as 1666 at least these primitive conditions con- 

 tinued, meetings being held either with a chief or in the village 

 square. A writer describing the Iroquois in that year, said : " They 

 assemble in the hut of a war-chief when the question is of war, 

 and in the hut of a council chief when it is for ordinary matters of 

 state." 



Among the kindred, the Hurons, civil councils were usually held 

 in the house of the head chief, but in the midst of the town or 

 even in the woods in the summer. As with the Iroquois there were 

 two kinds of chiefs, civil and war, the former having precedence, 

 and councils of war and peace were held in their houses respec- 

 tively. Among the Hurons the war chief's house was also the 

 place of torture, and the Relation of 1637 describes an event of this 

 kind: 



It was in the cabin of one named Atsan, who is the great war 

 captain ; so it is called Otinontsiskiaj ondaon, that is to say the 

 house of the heads cut off. It is there where all the councils of war 

 are held ; for the cabin where the affairs of the country are dis- 

 cussed, and which regards only the polity, is called Endionrra ondaon, 

 the council house. 



As will be seen this was but a private house used for public 

 affairs. With its simple furniture any house was quickly prepared 

 for these, and most were large enough. Apparently a house solely 

 for councils was an afterthought of the first half of the 18th cen- 

 tury, and even then it became a lodging place for honored guests. 

 As Iroquois influence increased and reached all parts of the land, 

 councils multiplied and the need of special accommodations was 

 felt. La Salle had a hospitable reception by the Senecas in 1669, 



