d:

_Brother Warraghiyagey_,

Look with all attention on this belt and remember the solemn and
mutual engagements we entered into when you first took upon you the
management of our affairs. Be assured we look upon them as sound and
shall on our part punctually perform them as long as we remain a
people.

A prodigious large belt.

Taking up another large belt formerly given them by the governor of
New York, he said:

_Brother Warraghiyagey_,

We hope our brethren, the English, will seriously remember the
promises made us by this belt and exactly perform them, and we
promise to do the same though we have no record but our memories.

A very large belt."[16]

The belts received at treaties, councils and other assemblies were
entrusted for presentation to the care of one individual, usually the
sachem, who was expected to keep in mind the occasion and purport of
each, which he could readily do by the aid of the devices emblematic of
the event it signalized that were traced upon each.[17] Thus a belt
presented to Sir Wm. Johnson by the Six Nations, had wrought upon it the
sun, the emblem of light, and symbols of the Six Nations. It signified
that their minds were now illumined by the clear bright light of truth
and their intention to abide in the light.[17] In a belt presented at
Easton, His Majesty King George was figured taking hold of the king of
the Six Nations with one hand, and the king of the Delawares with the
other. A belt presented by the Indians of Eastern Maine as a pledge of
their friendship and fidelity to the United States and the king of
France was explained as follows: The belt was thirteen rows wide to
represent the United States, and had upon it a cross indicating France,
and several white figures denoting the different Indian villages.[18]
The Indian like other young languages drew closer to nature than the
dusty abstractions of civilization. It was highly figurative and the
majority of its words referred directly to familiar external sights. The
tribes of each nation of the Iroquois were known respectively as the
Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron and Hawk. The significant
names of chiefs are known to all, and whoever is familiar with Indian
oratory will readily recollect its garb of bold and striking metaphors.
These features, while impa