been determined, the six delegates, with Hiawatha and some other
advisers, went through all the nations, selecting--doubtless with the
aid of a national council in each case--the chiefs who were to
constitute the first council. In designating these,--or rather,
probably, in the ceremonies of their installation,--it is said that some
peculiar prerogative was conceded to the Onondagas,--that is, to
Atotarho and his attendant chiefs. It was probably given as a mark of
respect, rather than as conferring any real authority; but from this
circumstance the Onondagas were afterwards known in the council by the
title of "the nominators." The word is, in the Canienga dialect,
_Rotisennakehte_,--in Onondaga, _Hotisennakehte_. It means
literally, "the name-carriers,"--as if, said one of my informants, they
bore a parcel of names in a bag slung upon the back.

Each of the other nations had also its peculiar name in the Council,
distinct from the mere local designation by which it was commonly
called. Thus the Caniengas had for their "Council name" the term
_Tehadirihoken_. This is the plural form of the name of their
leading chief, Tekarihoken. Opinions differ much among the Indians as
to the meaning of this name. Cusick, the Tuscarora historian, defines it
"a speech divided," and apparently refers it to the division of the
Iroquois language into dialects. Chief George Johnson, the interpreter,
rendered it "two statements together," or "two pieces of news together."
Another native informant thought it meant "one word in two divisions,"
while a third defined it as meaning "between two words." The root-word
of the name is the Canienga _orihwa_, or _karihwa_, (properly
_karihoa_), which is defined "thing, affair, speech, news."
[Footnote: See Bruyas, _sub voce Gorihoa_. Mr. Morgan (_League of
the Iroquois_, p. 97), who derived his information from the Senecas,
says that the name "was a term of respect, and signifies 'neutral,' or,