ouncil-house, and during the continuance of the
deliberations, the tribes retain their respective places. They claim to
have the power of distinguishing, at sight, to which tribe an
individual belongs; but to the casual observer, there are no visible
shades of difference. In each of the four tribes, except the
Mequachake, the chiefs owe their authority to merit, but in the last
named, the office is hereditary. Of the origin of the Piqua tribe, the
following tradition has been recited:[A] "In ancient times, the
Shawanoes had occasion to build a large fire, and after it was burned
down, a great puffing and blowing was heard, when up rose a man from
the ashes!--hence the name Piqua, which means a man coming out of the
ashes." Mequachake, signifies a perfect man. To this tribe the
priesthood is confided. The members, or rather certain individuals of
it, are alone permitted to perform the sacrifices and other religious
ceremonies of the tribe.[B] The division of the tribe into bands or
totems, is not peculiar to the Shawanoes, but is common to several
other nations. One of the leading causes of its institution, was the
prohibition of marriage between those related in a remote degree of
consanguinity. Individuals are not at liberty to change their totems,
or disregard the restraint imposed by it on intermarriages. It is
stated in Tanner's narrative, that the Indians hold it to be criminal
for a man to marry a woman whose totem is the same as his own; and they
relate instances where young men, for a violation of this rule, have
been put to death by their nearest relatives. Loskiel, in his history
of the Moravian missions, says, the Delawares and Iroquois never marry
near relatives. According to their own account, the Indian nations were
divided into tribes for the sole purpose, that no one might, either
through temptation or mistake, marry a near relation, which is now
scarcely possible, for whoever intends to marry must take a person of a
different totem. Another reason for the institution of these totems,
may be found in their influence on the social relations of the tribe,
in softening private revenge, and preserving peace. Gallatin, on the
information derived from a former Indian agent[C] among the Creeks,
says, "according to the ancient custom, if an offence was committed by
one or another member of the same clan, the compensation to be made, on
account of the injury, was regulated in an amicable way by the other
members o