New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-09-25

truth. Briefly stated the evidence a. 10 tho
truth Of Iroquos tradition IL. first the existence
Of an hereditary nobility; just as the existence
now II n Duke Of DevOnshirc proves that there
must have been a first duke OF that name, 80
The existence Of Iliawatha, Atotarho, SlSanawati
and the rest proves that these titles must have
had beginning For these names not given
TO child at birth. There can bo hut one Duke
u Bedford at time so there can be but one
Skanawau nj a time. or course the suspicion
might arise that tho Six Nations were taught by
Englishmcn Ike Sir william Johnson. how 70
create perpetual arIstocracy. But there ia
consideration which renders this suspicion need
Ices. II Indian history began with the whites,
aud E1glishmcn had invented the system Of no.
hlty for M" Iro Inos. un1ucstionaby the law Of
rrimogeniup would have been adopted as tho
simplest rule for tho transfer OF titles and diyni
ties. The eldest son would have como naturally
into tho rights Of his father That not the
plan which occurred 10 the Indians. Somehow
they had realized the fact pointed ont by Aristotle
that the direct line in families l. fatcd 10 run
,ut sooner or later into imhecili'y and 10 vanish
altogether. They chose method which, among
Ill Others, would seem most likely, not merely 10
continue the power Of tho family but IN keep
its representation up TO high standard Of mental
and physical efficiency. When Skauawati dics,
his oldest married sister will choose his success.
sor. who is thus far more likely to he one Of his
nephcws than his son Her choice must 10 rati-
fled first by the family then by the tribe ana
finally by the council OF all the Nations. IIcrcdity
and election balance each other more adequately
in this arrangement than in any Of those adopted
by so-caei cyEz"d races.
While Skanawati's influence among his people
is thus due in part TO great name haowcd by
tradition it Is strengthened by the method of
choice which presuppQses merit. An EnQlsh peer
may have been from his youth mp disgrace %
himself, TO his family, tc h' country; but Skana-
watt or IIiawatha cannot fall below the average
virtue OF his people
Again, the existence of any political consti-
tuition argues q definite effort Oh the part OF real
men, not mere mythical heroes. to set it going
1t is not certain that modern research has
discovered the name Of Egypts first King but
tina: the series Of royalties on the Nile began
somewhere and some time in the person of man
like other men is certain. The existence for
period OF centuries Of the lroquois League so
different in every respect from the ordinary In
dian alliances, 30 permanent. In it's component
parts in its policy OF administration. in its rla-
tons with things external to its own organization,
argues strongly for tho reality Of the men who
are said 20 have created IL, and for tho truth, in
It's general features at least of the tradition which
has been handed down concerning them. II must
be observed that this tradition is not FOLKLORE.
The method Of It's transmission Is IN authorita-
tive one familiar to the student OF antiquities.
Each generation of chicftains has deliberately
taught ii 10 the next Its repetition in public
at fixed intervals has been legally required II
the stream Of oral history is beginning now to
flow more muddy and in scanier volume. that
IL because the simple culture Of the forest has
partly cvapomted In the complicated channels of
civilization where Indian thought runs slowly
II is u great pity that some enthusiast has not
persuaded Skanawati TO spread out the belts and
strings OF wampum in his possession, tho mnemonic
skeleton OF tradition, and taken from his lips word
by word in broad On0ndaga, the Dorc OF the
League. his Iccocctions OF what his ancestors
told him. Perhaps it would not correct history
as we have it. but The result would in itself be
n worthy addition to real American literature.
Other arguments for the commences of the
nntivc history Of tho Six Nations might be drawn
from the elaborate ritual with which they honor
the memory Of the founders OF their League. Bus
these have been worked out directly by i'm
plicaIon in Ilalcs lcarnc study Of THE Iroquois
Book OF Rites" The main question in regard 10
that extraordinary poem is the relative date OF
its origin. It's form and contents show that IL
could not have been composed a. the epoch when
the League was created. 1t il natural to think
because of the strain Of hopeless Dessimism run
ming through the songs Of coincidence that it was
shaped in n time when tho very existence OF the
Constitution was threatened and natural for a
white man TO infer. since he knows nothing OF
previous political commissions, that the advent Of
his own race the first great shock received by
the League. Bnt the thought indicated in tho
Book OF Rites IL one OF internal rather than ex-
icrnal peril The fear is OF disinicgration rather
than Of conflict The history Of the United
States furnishes n parallel in the lamcntable dis
put's which threatened te existence of the
Republic under the Article Of Confedera ton, when