The league of the Iroquois and other legends : from the Indian muse

NOTES. 301
Note 9. " Wrought into each the magic spell Page 41.
That fateful is for good or ill."
" They believed that the possession of certain articles about the person would
render the body invulnerable ; or that their powers over an enemy was thereby
secured. A charmed weapon could not be turned aside."
SCHOOLCBAFT'S History, Condition and Prospects, Vol. I, p. 86.
Note 10. " To charm and guard his home and place, Page 41.
Its barky sides he pictured fair
With to-tems of his name and race."
" By to-temic marks, the various families of a tribe denote their affiliation. A
guardian spirit has been selected by the progenitor of a family from some object
in the zoological chain. The representative device of this is called the to-tem.
Indians are proud of their to-tems, and are prone to surround them with allusions
to bravery, strength, talent, the power of endurance, or other qualities. A
warrior's to-tem never wants honors, in their remembrance, and the mark is put
upon his grave-post, or ad-je-du-tiiff, when he is dead. In his funeral pictograph
he invariably sinks his personal name in that of his to-tem or family
name. There appears to have been originally three to-tems that received the
highest honors and respect. They were the Turtle, Bear and Wolf. These were
the great to-tems of the Iroquois."
Ibid, Vol. V. p. 73.
Note 11. " Ills shaft the frightful monster slew." Page 42.
"After a time the people were invaded by the monster of the deep The Lake
:
Serpent traverses the country, which interrupts their intercourse. The five families
were compelled to make fortifications throughout their respective towns, hi
order to secure themselves from the devouring monsters."
David Cusic. See SCHOOLCBA.FT, VoL V. p. 637.
Note 12. "He slew the frightful Flying Head." Page 43.
" The Holder of the Heavens was absent from the country. * * * The reason
produced the occasion that they were Invaded by the monsters called Kc-nehran-neh-neh,
i. e., Flying Heads, which devoured several people of the country.
The Flying Heads made invasion in the night but the
;
people were attentive to
escape by leaving their huts and concealing themselves in other huts prepared
for the occasion." Ibid, VoL V. p. 637.
Note 13. " The Stonish Giants fierce and tall." Page 43.
" The Stonish Giants were so ravenous that they devoured the people of almost
every town in the country but
; happily the Holder of the Heavens again visits
the people, and he observes that the people are in distressed condition on account
of the enemy. With a stratagem he proceeds to banish their invaders, and he
changes himself into a Giant, and combines the Stonish Giants, he introduces