THE CODE OF HANDSOME LAKE 115 



express themselves too strongly in the matter of proclaiming their 

 sacred orders still very much alive. The rites of the societies were 

 performed in secret places for a number of years after the advent of 

 the prophet, but as the adherents of the New Religion became more 

 conservative, the societies again gradually entered into public cere- 

 monies held in the council houses on thanksgiving occasions. At 

 such times some of them gave public exhibitions of their rites ; others 

 had no public ceremonies whatsoever. With the gradual acceptance 

 of the New Religion by the great majority of the people, the older 

 religious belief was blended into the new. The Iroquois regard it 

 as their Old Testament. The tabooed societies became bolder in 

 their operations, and the new religionists entered their folds with 

 few if any qualms. 



It was about this time that their policy seems to have changed, 

 for after some inquiry the writer can find no restriction placed on 

 membership by reason of phratry or clanship. Candidates might 

 join any society regardless of clan except the society of Men-who- 

 assist-the-women's-ceremonies, which is not a secret organization. 

 This society consists of two divisions, the membership of a division 

 being determined by phratry. It is purely a benevolent society, 

 however, and has nothing to do with " medicine." The various 

 societies of all kinds had, and still have, individual lodges, each of 

 which is nominally independent of any jurisdiction save that of its 

 own officers. The leaders, however, confer and keep their rites 

 uniform. At present, especially in the Little Water Company, it is 

 not even necessary for the song-holder, the chief officer, to be a 

 pagan. This company is the only one which can boast of any great 

 Christian membership or of a lodge comoosed entirely of nominal 

 Christians. This lodge is the Pleasant Valley Lodge of the Little 

 Water Company on the Cattaraugus reservation. Mrs Harriet 

 Maxwell Converse joined this lodge in 1892, afterward joining the 

 pagan lodge at Newtown. 



A careful study of the Iroquois societies will lead to the conclu- 

 sion that most of the societies are of ancient origin and that their 

 rituals have been transmitted with little change foi many years. 

 Indeed, that under the circumstances any changes should have been 

 made would be stranger than that none had occurred at all. Most 

 of the rituals are chanted in unison by the entire comoany of mem- 

 bers, and any change in note, syllable, or word would immediately 

 be detected. Rites transmitted by song are more difficult to change 

 than simple recitals where musical rhythm is not correlated with the 



