council of the tribe. Formerly the sachemship inhered in the Bear
gens, but at present he is chosen from the Deer gens, from the fact,
as the Wyandots say, that death has carried away all the wise men of
the Bear gens.

The chief of the Wolf gens is the herald and the sheriff of the tribe.
He superintends the erection of the council-house and has the care of
it. He calls the council together in a formal manner when directed by
the sachem. He announces to the tribe all the decisions of the
council, and executes the directions of the council and of the sachem.

Gentile councils are held frequently from day to day and from week to
week, and are called by the chief whenever deemed necessary. When
matters before the council are considered of great importance, a grand
council of the gens may be called.

The tribal council is held regularly on the night of the full moon of
each lunation and at such other times as the sachem may determine; but
extra councils are usually called by the sachem at the request of a
number of councilors.

Meetings of the gentile councils are very informal, but the meetings
of the tribal councils are conducted with due ceremony. When all the
persons are assembled, the chief of the Wolf gens calls them to order,
fills and lights a pipe, sends one puff of smoke to the heavens and
another to the earth. The pipe is then handed to the sachem, who fills
his mouth with smoke, and, turning from left to right with the sun,
slowly puffs it out over the heads of the councilors, who are sitting
in a circle. He then hands the pipe to the man on his left, and it is
smoked in turn by each person until it has been passed around the