﻿404 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  and 
  this 
  other 
  to 
  erect 
  a 
  palisade 
  around 
  their 
  tomb, 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  

   the 
  beasts 
  and 
  birds 
  of 
  prey 
  may 
  not 
  disturb 
  their 
  repose 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  These 
  

   were 
  the 
  appropriate 
  terms 
  of 
  the 
  speech 
  of 
  this 
  grave 
  barbarian, 
  

   which 
  was 
  accompanied 
  by 
  eight 
  beautiful 
  presents 
  of 
  wampum, 
  

   which 
  he 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  public. 
  Several 
  individuals 
  used 
  

   the 
  same 
  civility 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  liberality, 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  acknow- 
  

   ledged 
  with 
  interest 
  on 
  all 
  occasions 
  that 
  we 
  could 
  find. 
  

  

  In 
  later 
  days 
  it 
  was 
  customary 
  to 
  express 
  this 
  personal 
  sorrow 
  

   at 
  some 
  convenient 
  meeting 
  of 
  a 
  general 
  nature, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  

   after 
  an 
  interval 
  of 
  months 
  or 
  years. 
  Some 
  trace 
  of 
  it 
  yet 
  remains 
  

   in 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  dead 
  feast 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  10 
  days. 
  Long 
  mourning 
  

   is 
  now 
  discountenanced, 
  being 
  a 
  cause 
  of 
  sorrow 
  to 
  the 
  dead. 
  In 
  

   1657 
  there 
  was 
  mentioned 
  " 
  the 
  custom 
  that 
  the 
  relatives 
  and 
  

   Ancients 
  have, 
  of 
  keeping 
  together 
  in 
  the 
  night 
  which 
  follows 
  the 
  

   day 
  of 
  the 
  funeral, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  relate 
  old 
  stories," 
  but 
  such 
  features 
  

   were 
  subject 
  to 
  frequent 
  change, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  were 
  of 
  a 
  local 
  

   character. 
  There 
  are 
  appropriate 
  songs 
  and 
  games 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  the 
  death 
  and 
  burial, 
  but 
  these 
  are 
  features 
  of 
  feasts 
  and 
  not 
  

   of 
  councils. 
  

  

  Adoption 
  

  

  Closely 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  condoling 
  council 
  was 
  the 
  ceremony 
  of 
  

   adoption, 
  largely 
  practised 
  by 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  and 
  other 
  nations. 
  

   Among 
  the 
  former 
  it 
  was 
  sometimes 
  a 
  wholesale 
  measure, 
  as 
  when 
  

   after 
  a 
  successful 
  war 
  they 
  increased 
  their 
  fighting 
  force. 
  Often 
  

   it 
  was 
  a 
  family 
  matter, 
  a 
  captive 
  being 
  given 
  to 
  replace 
  some 
  loss, 
  

   but 
  leaving 
  the 
  family 
  to 
  dispose 
  of 
  the 
  prisoner 
  as 
  they 
  would. 
  

   Then 
  it 
  became 
  an 
  honorary 
  distinction, 
  conferred 
  out 
  of 
  friend- 
  

   ship 
  and 
  originally 
  securing 
  privileges. 
  Retaining 
  this 
  feature 
  to 
  

   some 
  extent 
  it 
  can 
  now 
  be 
  had 
  for 
  a 
  consideration. 
  When 
  Father 
  

   Poncet 
  was 
  taken 
  by 
  the 
  Mohawks 
  in 
  1653, 
  he 
  was 
  given 
  to 
  a 
  woman 
  

   in 
  place 
  of 
  her 
  brother: 
  

  

  So 
  soon 
  as 
  I 
  entered 
  her 
  cabin 
  she 
  began 
  to 
  sing 
  the 
  song 
  of 
  the 
  

   dead, 
  in 
  which 
  she 
  was 
  joined 
  by 
  her 
  two 
  daughters. 
  I 
  was 
  stand- 
  

   ing 
  near 
  the 
  fire 
  during 
  these 
  mournful 
  dirges; 
  they 
  made 
  me 
  sit 
  

   upon 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  table 
  slightly 
  raised, 
  and 
  then 
  I 
  understood 
  I 
  was 
  in 
  

   the 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  dead, 
  for 
  whom 
  these 
  women 
  renewed 
  the 
  last 
  

   mourning, 
  to 
  bring 
  the 
  deceased 
  to 
  life 
  again 
  in 
  my 
  person, 
  accord- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  their 
  customs. 
  

  

  