he governing body of
the League. In its deliberations each tribe had equal representation
through its ten sachems. But the Onondaga nation, being situated in
the middle of the five, and the grand council-fire being held in its
chief town, exercised a preponderating influence in these meetings.

Besides the Grand Council and the tribal council, there were councils
of the minor chiefs, and councils of the younger warriors, and even
councils of the women, for a large part of an Indian's {32} time was
taken up with powwowing. Besides these formal deliberative bodies,
there were gatherings that were a sort of rude mass-meeting. If a
question of deep interest was before the League for discussion,
warriors flocked by hundreds from all sides to the great council-fire
in the Onondaga nation. The town swarmed with visitors. Every lodge
was crowded to its utmost capacity; temporary habitations rose, and
fresh camp-fires blazed on every side, and even the unbounded Indian
hospitality was strained to provide for the throng of guests. Thus,
hour after hour, and day after day, the issue was debated in the
presence of hundreds, some squatting, some lying at full length, all
absolutely silent except when expressing approval by grunts.

The discussion was conducted in a manner that would seem to us
exceedingly tedious. Each speaker, before advancing his views,
carefully rehearsed all the points made by his predecessors. This
method had the advantage of making even the dullest mind familiar with
the various aspects of the subject, and it resulted in a so thorough
sifting of it that when a conclusion was reached, it was felt to be the
general sense of the meeting.

From this account it will be evident that public {33} speaking played a
large part in Indian life. This fact will help us to account for the
remarkable degree of eloquence sometimes displayed. If we should think
of the Indian as an untutored savage, bursting at times into
impassioned oratory, under the influence of powerful emotions, we
should miss the truth very widely. The fact is, there was a class of
professional speakers, who had trained themselves by carefully
listening to the ablest debaters among their people, and had stored
their memories with a large number of stock phrases and of images taken
from nature. These metaphors, which give to Indian oratory its
peculiar character, were not, therefore, spontaneous productions of the
imagination, but formed a c