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His Chiefs and their Functions
The dignity of a chief comes to the holder through the
principle of hereditary succession, confined to, and operating
only with, certain families. In the cage of the death of one of
these chiefs, the distinction and powers he enjoyed devolve upon
his kinsman, though not necessarily upon the next of kin. The
naming and appointing of a successor, and the adjudicating upon
the point as to whether he fulfils the qualifications esteemed
necessary to maintain the dignity of the chiefship, are confided
to the oldest woman of the tribe, thus deprived by death of one
of its heads. She has a certain latitude in choosing, and, so
long as she respects in the selection of her appointee, the
principle of kinship to the dead chief (whether this be
proximate or remote is immaterial) her appointment is approved
and confirmed.
The chiefs are looked upon as the heads or fathers of
the tribe, and they rely, to a large extent, for their influence
over the tribe, upon their wisdom, and eminence generally in
qualities that excite or compel admiration or regard. In an
earlier period of the history of the Indian communities, when
their forests were astir with the demon of war, eligibility for
the chiefship contemplated in the chief the conjoining of
bravery with wisdom, and these were the keynote to his power
over his people. He, by manifesting on occasion, these,
desirable traits, had his followers' confidence confirmed in his
selection; upheld those followers' and his own traditions; and
often assured his tribe's pre-eminence. The chief, in addition,
by bringing these qualities to bear in any contact or treaty
with a hostile tribe, compelled in a sense the recognition by
his enemies of the prestige and power of his entire following.
Hospitality was also considered a desirable trait in the chief,
who, while habitually dispensing it himself, strove (having his
endeavors distinctly seconded by the advocacy of the duty
enforced in the kindly precepts of the old sages of the tribe)
to dispose the minds of his followers to entertain a perception
of the happy results which would flow to themselves by their
being inured to its practice, the expanding of the heart, and
the offering of a vent to the unselfish side of their nature.
If the chief do not, in the main, conserve the
qualities that are deemed befitting in the holder of the
chiefship; or if he originate any measure which finds popular
disfavor, his power with the people declines.
A number of the chiefs have supplementary functions,
conferred upon them by their brother dignitaries. There is, for
example, one called the Forest-Ranger, whose place it is to
interpose for the effectual prevention and checking of sales of
timber to whites, by members of the different tribes; or removal
by whites of timber from the Reserve, where a license, which
suffers either to be done, has not been granted. In cases where
an Indian meditates, in a spirit of lofty contempt for the
license, any such illicit sale; or attempts to abet any such
unlawful removal, this functionary has authority to frustrate
both objects.
The chief who, at present, fulfils these duties has not
been permitted to hold barren or dormant powers. In putting into
effect that interference which his office exacts of him, he has
been more than once terribly assaulted by whites, foiled in
their plans, and exasperated by the agency that had stepped in
for the baffling of their ill-formed designs. On one occasion,
his death was all but brought about by a cruelly concerted
attack upon him.
Certain other chiefs are called Fire-keepers, though
their functions are not in any way suggested by their rather
remarkable title. They are, however, very important persons, and
I have already, in treating of the Indian's meetings of Council,
touched upon their duty. I believe the name Fire-keeper is
retained from the circumstance that, in by-gone days, when the
council was an open-air affair, the lighting of the fire was the
initiatory step, and, taken in this way, therefore, the most
important step, in the proceedings.
Another chief is called Marshal, and it is incumbent
upon him to co-operate with the officers of the law in effecting
the capture of any suspected criminal or criminals, who may lie
concealed, or be harbored, on the Reserve. He is a duly
qualified county constable, though his services are not often in
request, as the Chief of Police in Brantford, whose place it is
to direct the way in which crimes (committed, of course, in the
city) shall be ferreted out, or their authors tracked, usually
confides in his own staff to promote these desirable purposes,
from the fact of their accountability to him being well defined,
whereas the county constable yields no obedience to him.
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includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
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interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied . A Treatise of the Six Nation Indians
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