Council hit, I say (6)
I believe the answer is:
powwow
'council' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'hit i say' is the wordplay.
'hit' becomes 'pow'.
'i say' becomes 'wow' (both are expressions of surprise).
'pow'+'wow'='POWWOW'
(Other definitions for powwow that I've seen before include "A meeting for discussion, very English" , "American Indian conference" , "Talk - conference - meeting" , "Debate" , "Conference; Am. Ind. ceremony" .)