them. It was a tie apparently artificial in its origin, as much so as
the tie which binds a freemason of Berlin to a freemason of New
Orleans. But it came to have all the strength of a tie of
kindred. Mr. Morgan has well pointed out the wisdom shown by the
Iroquois founders, in availing themselves of this powerful element of
strength in the formation of their federal constitution. [Footnote:
_League of the Iroquois_, p. 82, _et seq_.] Their government,
though politically a league of nations, was socially a combination of
clans. In this way Hiawatha and Dekanawidah may be deemed to have given
to the system of clan-ship an extension and a force which it had not
previously possessed; and it is by no means unlikely that this example
may, as the Iroquois assert, have acted upon neighboring nations, and
led to a gradual increase in the number and influence of these
brotherhoods.

But here a discrepancy presents itself in the Iroquois system, which has
perplexed all who have written on the subject. Two of the Six Nations,
the Caniengas and Oneidas, had only three clans, the Wolf, the Tortoise
and the Bear; while the others had, or at least have, each eight or
nine, and these variously styled in the different nations. The three
which have been named are, indeed, found in all; but besides these
three, the Onondagas have five, Deer, Eel, Beaver, Ball and Snipe. The
Cayugas and Senecas have also eight clans, which are similar to those of
the Onondagas, except that among the Cayugas the Ball clan is replaced
by the Hawk, and among the Senecas both Ball and Eel disappear, and are
replaced by Hawk and Heron. The Tuscaroras have likewise eight clans,
but among these are neither the Hawk, the Heron or the Ball. In lieu of
them the Wolf clan is divided into two, the Gray Wolf and the Yellow
Wolf, and the Tortoise furnishes two, the Great Tortoise and the Little
Tortoise; [Footnote: It is deserving of notice that this division of the