440 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



of the dead were " inclosed in cases of bark, covered with new 

 beaver robes, enriched with collars and scarfs of porcelain." While 

 wampum was among the funeral presents, the prizes on the greased 

 pole were a kettle and a deerskin. 



A picture of an early New York council is taken from the second 

 English edition of Baron La Hontan's travels, and the wampum 

 belt in this does not differ from later examples. M. De la Barre 

 came to the mouth of the Famine, now Salmon river, in 1684, and 

 held a council with the Onondagas. Hotreouati, called Garangula 

 by Golden, was the Iroquois speaker, and his sarcastic address is 

 famous in the annals of Indian oratory. It has been questioned 

 whether La Hontan was really there, as his name does not appear 

 in the list of officers. Few of these were mentioned, and he was 

 then not 17 years old, and had been less than a year in Canada^ 

 In later days he was given to romancing, and this has thrown dis- 

 credit on other things. The question is whether this is a true pic- 

 ture of the only council held by a French governor on New York 

 soil. Fig. 282 shows this. 



La Hontan used the name which the French had given the Onon- 

 daga orator. He mentioned the positions of the two principal 

 actors. '' The Grangula sat on the east side, being placed at the 

 head of his men;" that is, in front of them to the east. De la Barre 

 ** sat in his chair of state," on the opposite side, and in front of his 

 tent. This required a camp on the north side of the river, which 

 ilows into the lake from the east. On that side the writer found 

 high sand dunes where the camp is placed in the plan, and a level 

 space where the council is represented near the lake. The picture 

 may be accepted in its main points, and in the council belts were 

 freely used. The plan is given for its local interest. The orator 

 holds the calumet. Lafitau represents another council where belts 

 are held. 



In councils and elsewhere significant acts often accompanied the 

 use of wampum. When visiting Canada in 1645, the Mohawk chief 

 Kiotsaeton attached a belt to the prisoner Gouture's arm, with an 

 expressive pantomime, and then gave him his freedom. To show 

 his friendly feelings, he afterward bound himself to a Frenchman 



