concourse of members of both phratries The customary address to the
dead body, and the other addresses before the removal of the body,
were made by members of the opposite phratry After the addresses
were concluded the body was borne to the grave by persons selected
from the last named phratry, followed, first, by the sachems and
chiefs, then by the family and gens of the decedent, next by his
remaining phrators, and last by the members of the opposite phratry
After the body had been deposited in the grave the sachems and
chiefs formed in a circle around it for the purpose of filling it
with earth. Each in turn, commencing with the senior in years, cast
in three shovelfuls, a typical number in their religious system, of
which the first had relation to the Great Spirit, the second to the
Sun, and the third to Mother Earth When the grave was filled the
senior sachem, by a figure of speech, deposited "the horns" of the
departed sachem, emblematic of his office, upon the top of the grave
over his head, there to remain until his successor was installed In
that subsequent ceremony "the horns" were said to be taken from the
grave of the deceased ruler and placed upon the head of his
successor The social and religious functions of the phratry, and its
naturalness in the organic system of ancient society, are rendered
apparent by this single usage.

The phratry was also directly concerned in the election of sachems
and chiefs of the several gentes, upon which they had a negative as
well as a confirmative vote After the gens of a deceased sachem had
elected his successor, or had elected a chief of the second grade,
it was necessary, as elsewhere stated, that their choice should be
accepted and confirmed by each phratry It was expected that the
gentes of the same phratry would confirm the choice almost as a
matter of course, but the opposite phratry also must acquiesce, and