Oldal 18 [18]
of bark of the oak, elm, spruce, or white cedar,
overlapping like the shingles of a roof, upon which,
for their better security, split poles were made fast
with cords of linden bark, At the crown of the
arch, along the entire length of the house, an open¬
ing a foot wide was left for the admission of light
and the escape of smoke. Within, on both sides,
were wide scaffolds, four feet from the floor, and
extending the entire length of the house. These
were formed of thick sheets of bark, Supported by
posts, and covered with mats and skins. The fires
were on the ground, in a line down the middle of
the house. The house was one chamber, sometimes
lodging more than He who
entered on a winter night beheld a Strange spec¬
tacle: the vista of fire lighting the smoky concave,
the bronzed group encircling each, cooking, eating,
gambling, or amusing themselves with idle badin¬
age; shrivelled squaws, hideous with threescore
years of hardship; grisly old warriors, scarred with
Iroquois war-clubs ; young aspirants, whose honors
were yet to be won; damsels gay with ochre and
wampum ; restless children and restless dogs. Now
a tongue of resinous flame painted each wild
feature in vivid light ; now the fitful gleam expired,
and the group vanished from sight, as their nation
vanished from history. The situation of their forts
was chosen favorable for defence—the bank of a
lake, the crown of a difficult hill, or a high point of
land in the fork of confluent rivers. A ditch several
feet deep was dug around the village, and the earth
thrown up on the inside. Trees were then felled by
an alternate process of burning and hacking, and
by similar means cut into lengths to form palisades.
These were planted on the embankment, in one,
two, or three—those of each row inclining to those
of the other row until they intersected. The
whole was lined within, to the height of a man,
with heavy sheets of bark; and at the top, where
the palisades crossed, was a gallery of timber for
the defenders, together with wooden gutters, by
which streams of water could be poured down on
fires kindled by the enemy,
and rude ladders for mounting the ramparts, com¬
pleted the provision for defence.”
twenty families.
Magazines of stones,
It has been said that the Iroquois was ¢he Indian
of Indians. Undoubtedly he was a finished and
developed savage, and from the geographical posi¬
tion of the country he occupied—commanding the
great lakes and the sources of streams flowing into
the Mississippi and the Atlantic— possessed a
decided advantage over rival tribes, which he
perfectly understood and profited by. Parkman
Says, in speaking of these people: “The number
of sachems, or principal chiefs, varied in the several
———_ LL tesiensesssinsnetesntines
The sachems of
the Five Nations, fifty in all, assembled in council,
formed the government of the confederacy. All
met as equals, but a peculiar dignity was always
attached to the Atotarho of the Onondagas. There
was a class of subordinate chiefs, in no sense heredi¬
tary, but rising to office by address, ability, or valor.
Yet the rank was clearly defined, and the new chief
installed at a formal council. This class embodied,
as might be supposed, the best talent of the nation,
and the most prominent of the warriors and orators
of the Iroquois have belonged to it. In its char¬
Like the sachems, these chiefs held their councils,
and exercised an influence proportionate to their
numbers and abilities.”
There was another council, between which and
that of the subordinate chiefs the line of demarcation
seems not to have been very definite. The Jesuit,
Lafitan, calls it " The Senate.” He describes it as
the central or controlling power, so far, at least, as
the separate nations were concerned. In its char¬
acter it was essentially popular, but popular in the
best sense, and one which can find its application
only in a small community. Any man took part in
it whose age and experience qualified him to do so.
It was merely the gathered wisdom of the nation.
Lafitan compared it to the Roman Senate, in the
early and rude age of the Republic, and affirms that
it loses nothing by the comparison. He thus de¬
scribes it: “It is a greasy assemblage, sitting sur
leur derriere, crouched like apes—their knees as high
as their ears,—or lying, some on their bellies, some
on their backs, each with a pipe in his mouth, dis¬
cussing affairs of state with as much coolness and
gravity as the Spanish Junta or the Grand Council
of Venice.” The young warriors had also their
councils; so, too, had the women; and opinions
and wishes of each were represented by means of
deputies before “the Senate,” or council of old men,
as well as before the Grand Confederate Council of
the Sachems.
‘The government of this unique republic resided
wholly in councils. By councils all questions were
settled, all regulations established—social, political,
military, and religious. The war-path, the chase,
the council-fire—in these was the life of the
Iroquois; and it is hard to say to which of the
three he was most devoted. The Great Council
of Fifty Sachems formed, as we have seen, the
government of the league. Whenever a subject
arose before any of the nations, of importance
enough to demand its assembling, the sachems of
that nation might summon their colleagues by
means of runners, bearing messages and belts of