' WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 447 



When Le Moyne spoke at Onondaga in 1654, two parts of his 

 first word were " 100 little tubes or cylinders of red glass, which 

 are the diamonds of the country," and a great collar of porcelain. 

 The 15th present was of these glass tubes. In this he makes these 

 beads equal in value to wampum, but they were rarely used on 

 public occasions. Frontenac, however, gave the Iroquois some 

 packages of glass beads in 1682. They were his fifth word for some 

 Onondaga women. The English also presented the Onondagas 

 with 30 strings of white glass beads in 1687, and 75 similar strings 

 were used in a preceding conference. One Canadian belt, fig. 178, 

 is of glass beads, but this is exceptional, though others might be 

 named. Wampum had an official character belonging to nothing 

 else. 



Condolence 



The ceremony of condolence, now including the raising of a new 

 chief, is one of the most interesting of surviving Iroquois customs. 

 A similar ceremony was found among most Canadian tribes, involv- 

 ing the idea of a resurrection of the dead chief in the person of the 

 new. In some nations the change was complete. Tlie new chief 

 abandoned his old name and took that of the deceased, assuming 

 his family relations and duties. His old clothes were removed and 

 new garments were given him. Among the Iroquois the change 

 was less complete. The principal chiefs had official names, and the 

 new chief took that of the dead without necessarily losing his per- 

 sonal name, a practice much like our own. At an early day the 

 condolence for a dead Iroquois chief did not usually include the 

 raising of the new one, which made a separate affair. Almost all 

 councils were opened with a general condolence, but there were 

 special ones for this purpose alone. The earliest one of which we 

 have any particular account among the New York Iroquois is that 

 given by Pierron^ after the battle between the Mohawks and Mahi- 

 kans in 1669. It has been mistaken for something like the Huron 

 feast of the dead, of which we have no historic trace in New York. 

 Unfortunately the missionary made needless trouble about what he 

 saw, and withdrew without seeing all. The story will be found in 

 the Relation of 1670. Enough will be quoted to show its connec- 



