established more than four centuries ago. The amount of difference
in their composition, as to the gentes they contain, represents the
vicissitudes through which each tribe has passed in the interval. In
any view of the matter it is small, tending to illustrate the
permanence of the phratry as well as the gens.

The Iroquois tribes had a total of thirty-eight gentes, and in four
of the tribes a total of eight phratries.

The phratry among the Iroquois was partly for social and partly for
religious objects. Its functions and uses can be best shown by
practical illustrations. We begin with the lowest, with games, which
were of common occurrence at tribal and confederate councils. In the
ball game, for example, among the Senecas, they play by phratries,
one against the other, and they bet against each other upon the
result of the game. Each phratry puts forward its best players,
usually from six to ten on a side, and the members of each phratry
assemble together, but upon opposite sides of the field in which the
game is played. Before it commences, articles of personal property
are hazarded upon the result by members of the opposite phratries.
These are deposited with keepers to abide the event. The game is
played with spirit and enthusiasm, and is an exciting spectacle. The
members of each phratry, from their opposite stations, watch the
game with eagerness, and cheer their respective players at every
successful turn of the game. [Footnote: League of the Iroquois, p.
294.]

Again, when a murder had been committed it was usual for the gens of
the murdered person to meet in council, and, after ascertaining the
facts, to take measures for avenging the deed. The gens of the