[Frederic Shonnard & W.W. Spooner (1900)] Among the Iroquois tribes, who formed the celebrated " league," there was a special keeper of the wam-puni. whose duty it was to preserve the belts and to interpret their meaning, when required. The civil institutions of the Mohican Indians were democratic, showing but slight modifications of the purely democratic principle. Charles Ran, Government Printing Office. 1873. ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 45 " Though this people,*' says Van der Donck, " do not make such a dis-tinction between man and man as ether nations, yet they have high and low families, inferior and superior chiefs." Their rulers were called sachems, the title usually remaining hereditarily in the family, although the people claimed the right of election. It does not appear that the sachems ever assumed oppressive powers, or, on the other hand, that rebellious or intrigues against their authority were ever undertaken to any noticeable extent. The sachem remained with the tribe at all times, and was assisted in the government by certain coun-selors or chiefs, elected by the people. There was a chief called a w> hero," who was chosen for established courage and prudence in war; another called an " owl," who was required to have a good memory and be a fluent speaker, and who sat beside the sachem in council and proclaimed his orders; and a third called a " runner," who carried mes-sages and convened councils.