CHAPTER II. THE LEAGUE AND ITS FOUNDERS CHAPTER III. THE BOOK OF RITES CHAPTER IV. THE CONDOLING COUNCIL.--CLANS AND CLASSES CHAPTER V. THE CONDOLENCE AND THE INSTALLATION CHAPTER VI. THE LAWS OF THE LEAGUE CHAPTER VII. HISTORICAL TRADITIONS CHAPTER VIII. THE IROQUOIS CHARACTER CHAPTER IX. THE IROQUOIS POLICY CHAPTER X. THE IROQUOIS LANGUAGE THE BOOK OF RITES THE CANIENGA BOOK THE ONONDAGA BOOK NOTES ON THE CANIENGA BOOK NOTES ON THE ONONDAGA BOOK APPENDIX NOTE A.--Names of the Huron-Iroquois Nations NOTE B.--Meaning of _Ohio, Ontario, Onontio, Rawennito_ NOTE C.--The Era of the Confederacy NOTE D.--The Hiawatha Myths NOTE E.--The Iroquois Towns NOTE F.--The Pre-Aryan Race in Europe and America GLOSSARY INDEX [Illustration: THE HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS AND THE SURROUNDING TRIBES. A.D. 1535 TO 1780.] INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. THE HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS. At the outset of the sixteenth century, when the five tribes or "nations" of the Iroquois confederacy first became known to European explorers, they were found occupying the valleys and uplands of northern New York, in that picturesque and fruitful region which stretches westward from the head-waters of the Hudson to the Genesee. The Mohawks, or Caniengas--as they should properly be called--possessed the Mohawk River, and covered Lake George and Lake Champlain with their flotillas of large canoes, managed with the boldness and skill which, hereditary in their descendants, make them still the best boatmen of the North American rivers. West of the Caniengas the Oneidas held the small river and lake which bear their name, the first in that series of beautiful lakes, united by interlacing streams, which seemed to prefigure in the features of nature the political constitution of the tribes who possessed them. West of the Oneidas, the imperious Onondagas, the central and, in some respects, the ruling nation of the League, possessed the two lakes of Onondaga and Skeneateles, together with the common outlet of this inland lake system, the Oswego River, to its issue into Lake Ontario. Still proceeding westward, the lines of trail and river led to the long and winding stretch of Lake Cayuga, about which were clustered the towns of the people who gave their name to the lake; and beyond them, over the wide expanse of hills and dales surrounding Lakes Seneca and Canandaigua, were scattered the populous villages of the Senecas, more correctly styled Sonontowanas or Mountaineers. Such were the names and abodes of the allied nations, members of the far-famed Kanonsionni, or League of United Households, who were destined to become for a time the most notable and powerful community among the native tribes of North America. [Footnote: See Appendix, note A, for the origin and meaning of the names commonly given to the Iroquois nations.]