The Iroquois confederacy was planned by Hiawatha through Däganowédä as an interpreter of his ideas and wishes. Some, Horatio Hale for one, think that Hiawatha was a real person, and others that it was Däganowédä who did the work under the guise of representing Hiawatha.[379] However this may be, the organisation of the several tribes into the confederacy was a work of genius, and this was one of the highest governments that was discovered on this continent. We cannot say, however, that it was _the_ highest that ever existed, next to that of the Aztecs or the other Central Amerinds, for we really do not know what there may have been before, not only in Mexico and Central America, but in the Mississippi valley or even in the State of New York. As noted in a previous chapter, if the Iroquois had disappeared before our arrival, we could have gained no conception of their remarkable government from any remains that we would have found. The Mississippi valley and the South-west, as well as Mexico and Central America, exhibit traces of tribes who may easily have arrived at a governmental development equal to, if, indeed, not superior to, that of the Aztecs or the Iroquois. These tribes were undoubtedly Amerind, but there is nothing to prove that earlier Amerind tribes were inferior in their political development to later ones. The misconceptions of the Spaniards due to ignorance of Amerind organisation gave false colouring to the Aztec confederacy; and the flowing diction of Prescott, gemmed with terms and titles applicable to Old-World society, but having no place in that of the New, added to the confusion. Pages relating to “nobles,” “princes,” “royal allies,” “sovereigns,” “lords,” etc., do not help in fathoming the intricacies of Amerind government. Had the Spaniards met with the Iroquois we should have had something similar in their case; and the fact that they had no head chief would not have been discovered by the conquistadores, so eager for other prey. One of the war-chiefs would again have been taken for a royal personage, and the sachems and councillors would have been nobles and princes, while the outlying tribes of the Five Nations would have filled the bill for royal allies. It is likely that the Aztec government was in advance of that of the Iroquois, but that there was any royalty about it must be doubted till better evidence is available. On the other hand, Morgan’s attempt to prove that the Aztec organisation was not beyond that of the Pueblos or the Iroquois is to be taken with caution. Brinton says: “The government of these states did not differ in principle from that of the northern tribes, though its development had reached a later stage. Descent was generally reckoned in the male line, and the male children of the deceased were regarded as the natural heirs both to his property and his dignities. Where the latter, however, belonged rather to the gens than the individual, a form of election was held, the children of the