to the year 1714, when the Tuscaroras were received into the League.

If the deceased chief belonged to one of the three older nations, the
duty of conducting the condoling ceremony which followed was performed
by the younger nations, who mourned for him as for a father or an
uncle. If he were a chief of one of the younger nations, the others
lamented him as a son or a nephew. The mourning nations selected as
their representative a high chief, usually a distinguished orator,
familiar with the usages and laws of the League, to conduct these
ceremonies. The lamentations followed a prescribed routine, each
successive topic of condolence being indicated by a string of wampum,
which, by the arrangement of its beads, recalled the words to the memory
of the officiating chief. In the "Book of Rites" we have these addresses
of condolence in a twofold form. The Canienga book gives us the form
used by the elder nations; and the Onondaga supplement adds the form
employed by the younger brothers. The former is more ancient, and
apparently more dignified and formal. The speaker addresses the mourners
as his children (_konyennetaghkwen_, "my offspring,") and recites
each commonplace of condolence in a curt and perfunctory style. He wipes
away their tears that they may see clearly; he opens their ears that
they may hear readily. He removes from their throats the obstruction
with which their grief is choking them, so that they may ease their
burdened minds by speaking freely to their friends. And finally, as the
loss of their lamented chief may have occurred in war--and at all events
many of their friends have thus perished--he cleans the mats on which
they are sitting from the figurative bloodstains, so that they may for a
time cease to be reminded of their losses, and may regain their former
cheerfulness.

The condolence of the younger brothers, expressed in the Onondaga book,