The fourteen Onondaga chiefs, Tododaho at their head and Tonessaah at
his right, were gathered in the grove, and the warriors of the allied
nations approached, headed by their chiefs, nine for the Mohawks, ten
for the Oneidas, nine for the Cayugas, and eight for the Senecas, while
the Tuscaroras, who were a new nation in the League, had none at all,
but spoke through their friends, the Oneidas, within whose lands they
had been allowed to settle. And when the roll of the nations of the
Hodenosaunee was called it was not the Onondagas, Keepers of the Council
Fire, who were called first, although they were equal in honor, and
leaders in council, but the fierce and warlike Mohawks. Then came the
Onondagas, after them the numerous Senecas, followed by the Oneidas,
with the Cayugas next and the sachemless Tuscaroras last, but filled
with pride that they, wanderers from their ancient lands, and not large
in numbers, had shown themselves so valiant and enduring that the
greatest of all Indian leagues, the Hodenosaunee, should be willing to
admit them as a nation.
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