Note 12 — Chapter I · INTRODUCTORY.—INDIAN TRIBES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
Reading edition
An account of the political institutions of the Iroquois will be found in Mr. Morgan’s series of letters, published in the American Review for 1847. Valuable information may also be obtained from Schoolcraft’s Notes on the Iroquois.
Mr. Morgan is of opinion that these institutions were the result of “a protracted effort of legislation.” An examination of the customs prevailing among other Indian tribes makes it probable that the elements of the Iroquois polity existed among them from an indefinite antiquity; and the legislation of which Mr. Morgan speaks could only involve the arrangement and adjustment of already existing materials.
Since the above chapter was written, Mr. Morgan has published an elaborate and very able work on the institutions of the Iroquois. It forms an invaluable addition to this department of knowledge.