It would be imcompatible with the, present purpose, to describe
all the Interesting men who-there assembled, among
whom were Captain l?rost,.Messrg.Le Fort,Ifill,Jqhn Jacket,
muchof the time during
the week in jconversatlon with the chiefs and most .mtellieent ' " t a ' ■'/ Ifi g W W T O • f J ' ;• - ' - K j j j . _ -
Indians of. the dife'ent nations, and gleaned from them much
information-of-.the highest interest, in relation to.the organization#
.government* and law , religion, .easterns of the peo**
pie, and characteristics^! the great men, of the old' and once
powerful confederacy. It is a singular fact, that the peculiar
government andbafmnal characteristics Of the Iroquois, is a
most interesting field for research ,and inquiry, which ,has
never been very thoroughly, if r at .all, investigated,, although
the historic events,which marked the proOd career,of the
confederacy, have beenperseveringly sought,and treasured up
iu the writings of Storm, Schoolcraft, Hosrner, Yata&_and
otherh '
Many of the Indians speak English readily,^laut with the
aid and interpretations- pf Mr. Ely S. Parser, a young Seneeja
of no ordinary degree.j$ attainment, in both, scholarship and
general intelligence,, and Who, with Le Fort,, the Onondaga,
is well versed in old Iroquois matters, we had no difficulty in
conversing with any and all we chose to.
; About mid-day on Wedneshay^Qpf., l^'^e ~epiimcil:eom-
menced. The.eeremonies with which Jit was.ppened-and conducted,
were certainly unique—^almp^hindeSGribablep and as
its proceedings were-iij the Seneca tongue, they were, in a
great measure unintelligible, and in fact profoundly mysterious
to the pale faces, -Ope of tine chief objects for whjch the
council had been convoked^w^s to fill two vacancies in the
sachemships of the. Sepeeas, which had been,-.made'by the
death of the. former incumbents; and preceding ,tke^ installation
of the candidates for the .succession, there was. a
general and .dolorous lament fop the deceased sachems, the
utterance of which, together with the repetition of the laws
of the confederacy— the installation of the new sachems—-
the impeachment: and deposition of three unfaithful sachems
the elevation of others in their stead, and the performance of
the -various cerémonjes attendant upon these proceedings,
cppsumedithe principal part pf The afternoon. ,
- At the setting pf the sun, a bountiful repast, consisting of
an innumerable nunjber.of rather formidable looking chunks of
"boiled jfreshbeèf^and an abundance o f bread and succotash,
was brought into the council house. The manner of saying
grace, oh^his- occasion Was indeed peculiar. A kettle being
brougbt,-hot „and. smoking from the fire, and placed in the
.Centre' bquse, /there proceeded from a single
person, in a high-, shrill key, ,a prolonged and monotonous,
sound, resembling that of the syllable wah or yah. This was
immediately followed by a response from the whole multitude,
utteribg in blow ’and profauncl.ly--guttural but protracted tone,
the syllable tehem^we, .and this concluded graoe. It was
impossible,,not to-bp somewhat mirthfully affected at the'first
hparing pfAgrace, said in this novel manner. It is, however^
pleasurable tp reflect that the Indian recognizes thé duty of
rendering thanks to the' Divine Being, in some -formal way,
for the bounties, and enjoyments which he bestows; and were
Up Indian te attend a public feagt among his pale faced brethren,
he would be afectêd, perhaps to a greater degree of marvel,
at witnessingh tDh&l .neglect of this ceremony,, than we
were at hissjngular way of,performing it.
After supper? commenced the dances., All day Tuesday,
and op Wednesday, up to the time that the places of the
deceased sachems had beem filled, every thing like undue joy-
fulness had beep restrained. This was required by the: respect
customarily cluedp the distinguished dead. But now,
t |e W ^ a l l were to give
Utterancet to- gladness -end joy. A short speech from Capt
Érost, introdüctoiy to jp^ enjoy merits o f the evening, wasre-
ceived with aoclamatory appr-obatioh; and soon eighty or
ninety of thè^.soi^'iEBid daughters, of thé forest— the old men