Iroquois Nation

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1914

The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and
Power) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. Based in what is now upstate New
York at the time of the arrival of the Europeans, they now occupy territory in Ontario,
Quebec and New York.

History

The spiritual union of the nations began before European contact, replete with a
Constitution recorded with special beads called wampum that served the same purpose as
money in other cultures. Most Western anthropologists speculate that this Constitution
was created sometime between the middle 1400s and early 1600s, but other scholars who
account for Iroquois oral tradition argue that the event took place as early as 1100, with
many arguing for August 31, 1142 based on a coinciding solar eclipse. Some Westerners
have also suggested that this Constitution was written with European help, although most
dismiss this notion as blatant racism.

The two prophets, Hiawatha and "The Great Peacemaker", brought a message of peace to
related squabbling tribes.
Hiawatha

Hiawatha (also known as Ha-yo-went'-ha) who lived around 1550, was variously
a leader of the Onondaga and Mohawk nations of Native Americans.

Hiawatha was a follower of Deganawidah, a prophet and shaman who was

credited as the founder of the Iroquois confederacy, (referred to as Haudenosaune
by the people). If Deganawidah was the man of ideas, Hiawatha was the politician
who actually put the plan into practice. Hiawatha was a skilled and charismatic
orator, and was instrumental in persuading the Iroquois peoples, the Senecas,
Onondagas, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Mohawks, a group of Native Americans who
shared a common language, to accept Deganawidah's vision and band together to
become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. (Later, in 1721, the
Tuscarora nation joined the Iroquois confederacy, and they became the Six
Nations).

According to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha is based on

Schoolcraft's Algic Researches and History, Condition, and Prospects of the
Indian Tribes of the United States. Schoolcraft seems to have based his
"Hiawatha" primarily on the Algonquian trickster-figure Manabozho. There is
none, or only faint resemblance between Longfellow's hero and the life-stories of
Hiawatha and Deganawidah; see Longfellow's Hiawatha vs. the historical
Iroquois Hiawatha.

Those who joined in the League were the Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and
Mohawks. Once they ceased (most) infighting, they rapidly became one of the strongest
forces in 17th and 18th century northeastern North America. The League engaged in a
series of wars against the French and their Iroquoian-speaking Wyandot ("Huron") allies.
They also put great pressure on the Algonquian peoples of the Atlantic coast and what is
now subarctic Canada and not infrequently fought the English colonies as well.

According to Francis Parkman, the Iroquois at the 17th century height of their power had
a population of around 12,000 people. League traditions allowed for the dead to be
symbolically replaced through the "Mourning War", raids intended to seize captives and
take vengeance on non-members. This tradition was common to native people of the
northeast and was quite different from European settlers' notions of combat.

In 1720 the Tuscarora fled north from the European colonization of North Carolina and
petitioned to become the Sixth Nation. This is a non-voting position but places them
under the protection of the Confederacy.

In 1794, the Confederacy entered into the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States.

The Haudenosaunee

The combined leadership of the Nations is known as the Haudenosaunee. It should be

noted that "Haudenosaunee" is the term that the people use to refer to themselves.

The word "Iroquois" comes from a French version of a Huron (Wendat) name -
considered an insult - meaning "Black Snakes."

The Iroquois were enemies of the Huron and the Algonquin, who were allied with the
French, due to their rivalry in the fur trade. Haudenosaunee means "People Building a
Long House." The term is said to have been introduced by The Great Peacemaker at the
time of the formation of the Confederacy. It implies that the Nations of the confederacy
should live together as families in the same longhouse.

The Iroquois nations' political union and democratic government has been credited as one
of the influences on the United States Constitution.

Member Nations

Seneca

The Seneca are a Native American people, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois
League. About 10,000 Seneca Indians live in the United States and Canada,
primarily on reservations in western New York state, with others living in
Oklahoma and near Brantford, Ontario.

The Seneca, or "Onodowohgah" ("People of the Hill Top"), traditionally lived in

what is now New York between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake. With
the prehistoric formation of the Iroquois Confederation, the Seneca became
known the "Keepers of the Western Door" because they were located on the
western edge of the Iroquois domain. The Senecas were by far the largest of the
Iroquois nations.

Traditionally, the economy was based on cultivation of corn, beans, and squash
(the three sisters), primarily by the women, and hunting and fishing by the men.
During the colonial period they became involved in the fur trade, first with the
Dutch and then with the British. This served to increase hostility with other native
groups, especially their traditional enemy, the Huron, an Iroquoian tribe in New
France near Lake Simcoe. During the 17th century, attacks on Huron villages
caused the destruction and dispersal of the Huron. Captives who were not tortured
to death were adopted into the tribe.

During the American Revolution, the Seneca along with their immediate neighbor
in the League, the Cayuga, carried out many raids on American settlements and
strongholds, instigated by the British at Fort Niagara. These raids were reduced
after the Clinton and Sullivan Expedition destroyed many Cayuga villages.
Divisions in the League from mixed loyalties of its members to the British or
Americans weakened its power.

On November 11, 1794, the Seneca (along with the other Haudenosaunee nations)
signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States.

The Seneca, like other League members, were known as the People of the Long
House. They lived in villages, often surrounded by palisades due to warfare,
which moved every ten or fifteen years as soil and game were depleted. During
the 19th century they adopted many of the customs of their white neighbors,
building log cabins and participating in the local agricultural economy.

Notable Senecas in history include Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Guyasuta, Handsome

Lake, and Ely S. Parker.

Today the Seneca formed a modern government, the Seneca Nation of Indians, in
1848, but the traditional tribal government still retains some power. Today some
Seneca are involved in the sale of (untaxed) low-priced gasoline and cigarettes
and high-stakes bingo. They are debating their involvement in legalized gambling
on reservation lands. Others are employed in the local economy of the region.

About 7200 enrolled members live on three reservations in New York: the
Allegany (which contains the city of Salamanca), the Cattaraugus near Gowanda,
New York, and the Oil Springs, near Cuba, New York. Few, if any, Seneca reside
at Oil Springs.

An independent group live on the Tonawanda Reservation near Akron, New

York. Other Seneca live in association with the Cayuga in Miami, Oklahoma or
on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserves near Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
Cayuga Nation

The Cayuga nation (Guyohkohnyo or the People of the Great Swamp) was one of
the five original constituents of the Iroquois, a confederacy of Indians in New
York. The Cayuga homeland lay in the Finger Lakes region between their league
neighbors, the Onondaga and the Seneca.

Due to many attacks on American colonists during the American Revolution, the
punitive Sullivan Expedition devastated the Cayuga homeland. Survivors fled to
other Iroquois tribes or to Canada. Today, there are three Cayuga bands. The two
largest are the Lower Cayuga and Upper Cayuga, both at Six Nations of the
Grand River. Only a small number remain in New York with the Cayuga Nation
in Versailles. After the Mohawks, the Cayugas are the most numerous people at
Six Nations.

On November 11, 1794, the Cayuga Nation (along with the other Haudenosaunee
nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States.

Onondaga Tribe

The Onondaga (Onundagaono or the People of the Hills) are one of the original
five constituent tribes of the League of the Iroquois (Hodenosaunee). Their
traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York. Being
centrally located, they were the keepers of the fire in the figurative longhouse,
with the Cayuga and Seneca to their west and the Oneida and Mohawk to their
east. For this reason, the League of the Iroquois historically met at Onondaga, as
indeed the traditional chiefs do today.

In the American Revolutionary War, the Onondaga were at first officially neutral,
although individual Onondaga warriors were involved in at least one raid on
American settlements. The Onondaga later sided with the majority of the League
and fought against the United States in alliance with the British Crown, after an
American attack on their main village on April 20, 1779. Many Onondaga
therefore followed Joseph Brant to Six Nations, Ontario after the United States
was accorded independence. Those remaining in New York are under the
government of traditional chiefs nominated by matriarchs, rather than elected.

On November 11, 1794, the Onondaga Nation, along with the other
Haudenosaunee nations, signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States.

On March 11, 2005, the Onondaga Nation of Nedrow, New York, filed a land
rights action in federal court, seeking acknowledgement of title to over 3,000
square miles of ancestral lands centering on Syracuse, New York, as well as
increased influence over environmental restoration efforts at Onondaga Lake and
other EPA Superfund sites.
Oneida Tribe

The Oneida (Onayotekaono or the People of the Upright Stone) are a tribe of
American Indians and comprise one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois
Confederacy.

The Iroquois call themselves Haudenosaunee ("The people of the longhouses") in

reference to their communal lifestyle and the construction of their dwellings.

Originally the Oneida inhabited the area that later became central New York,
particularly around Oneida Lake and Oneida County. They broke with the other
nations of the Haudenosaunee to side with the United States in the Revolutionary
War, in particular aiding George Washington at Valley Forge in 1777. After the
war they were displaced by retaliatory and other raids.

In 1794 they, along with other Haudenosaunee nations, signed the Treaty of
Canandaigua with the United States. They were granted 6 million acres (24,000
km) of lands, primarily in New York; this was effectively the first Indian
reservation in the United States. Subsequent treaties and actions by the State of
New York pared this down to 32 acres (0.1 km). In the 1830s many of the Oneida
relocated into Canada and Wisconsin, due to the rising tide of Indian Removal.

In 1974 and 1985 the US Supreme Court ruled that the treaties between the State
of New York and the Oneida that had deprived them of these lands were illegal.
Litigation in these matters is ongoing.

Mohawk Tribe

The Kanienkehaka, or Mohawk tribe of Native American people live around Lake
Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in what is now Canada and the United States.
Their traditional homeland is further South, in New York State, around present
day Albany, New York. They belong to the Iroquois confederation. After the pre-
historic formation of the Iroquois confederation (Hodenosaunee), the Mohawks
became keepers of the Eastern Door, guarding the members against invasions
from that direction.

During the 17th century, the Mohawks became allied with the Dutch at Fort
Orange, New Netherland (now Albany, New York). Their Dutch trade partners
equipped the Mohawks to fight against other nations allied with the French,
including the Ojibwes, Huron-Wendats, and Algonkins. After the fall of New
Netherland to the English, the Mohawks became allies of the English Crown.
Because of ongoing conflict with Anglo-American settlers infiltrating into the
Mohawk Valley and outstanding treaty obligations to the Crown, the Mohawks
generally fought against the United States during the American Revolutionary
War, the War of the Wabash Confederacy, and the War of 1812. After the
Americans' victory, one prominent Mohawk leader, Joseph Brant, led a large
group of Iroquois out of New York to a new homeland at Six Nations of the
Grand River, Ontario.

On November 11, 1794, representatives of the Mohawks (along with the other
Haudenosaunee nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States.

One large group of Mohawks, who were expelled by the United States as traitors
were given land by the British Governor Craig and imposed to French speaking
Quebecois who were refused new land because of not being English. They stayed
in the vicinity of Montreal, where they served as the mercenaries of the British
army. One of the most famous Catholic Mohawks was Kateri, who was later
beatified. From this group descend the Mohawks of Kahnawake, Akwesasne and
Kanesatake.

Members of the Mohawk tribe now live in settlements spread throughout New
York State and Southeastern Canada. Among these are Ganienkeh and
Kanatsiohareke in Northeast New York, Akwesasne/St.Regis along the Ontario-
New York State border, Kanesatake/Oka and Kahnawake/Caughnawaga in
southwest Quebec, and Tyendinaga and Wahta/Gibson in southern Ontario.
Mohawks also form the majority on the mixed Iroquois reserve, Six Nations of
the Grand River, in Ontario.

Many Mohawk communities have two sets of chiefs that exist in parallel and are
in some sense rivals. One group are the hereditary chiefs nominated by clan
matriarchs in the traditional fashion; the other are elected chiefs with whom the
Canadian and US governments usually deals exclusively.

Since the 1980s, Mohawk politics have been driven by factional disputes over
gambling. Both the elected chiefs and the controversial Warrior Society have
encouraged gaming as a means of ensuring tribal self-sufficiency on the various
reserves/reservations, while traditional chiefs have opposed gaming on moral
grounds and out of fear of corruption and organized crime. Such disputes have
also been associated with religious divisions: the traditional chiefs are often
associated with the Longhouse tradition, while Warrior Society has attacked that
religion in favour of the pre-Longhouse Old tradition.

Meanwhile, the elected chiefs have tended to be associated (though in a much

looser and general way) with democratic values. The Government of Canada who
ruled the Indians imposed English school and separated families to place children
in english boarding school. Mohawks like in other tribes have lost their native
language and many left the reserve to mesh with the English Canadian culture.

Mohawk Communities Today

Tuscarora

The Tuscarora are a Native American tribe originally in North Carolina, which
moved north to New York, and then partially into Canada.

In 1720 the Tuscarora fled European invasion of North Carolina to New York to
become the Sixth nation of the Iroquois, settling near by the Oneidas.

The Tuscarora War of 1711 The first successful and permanent settlement of
North Carolina by Europeans began in earnest in 1653. The Tuscarora lived in
peace with the European settlers who arrived in North Carolina for over 50 years
at a time when nearly every other colony in America was actively involved in
some form of conflict with the Native Americans. However, the arrival of the
settlers was ultimately disastrous for the original inhabitants of North Carolina.

There were two primary contingents of Tuscarora at this point, a Northern group
led by Chief Tom Blunt and a Southern group led by Chief Hancock. Chief Blunt
occupied the area around what is present-day Bertie County on the Roanoke
River; Chief Hancock was closer to New Bern, occupying the area south of the
Pamplico River (now the Pamlico River). While Chief Blunt became close friends
with the Blount family of the Bertie region, Chief Hancock found his villages
raided and his people frequently kidnapped and sold into slavery. Both groups
were heavily impacted by the introduction of European diseases, and both were
rapidly having their lands stolen by the encroaching settlers. Ultimately, Chief
Hancock felt there was no alternative but to attack the settlers. Tom Blunt did not
become involved in the war at this point.

The Southern Tuscarora, led by Chief Hancock, worked in conjunction with the
Pamplico Indians, the Cothechneys, the Cores, the Mattamuskeets and the
Matchepungoes to attack the settlers in a wide range of locations in a short time
period. Principle targets were the planters on the Roanoke River, the planters on
the Neuse and Trent Rivers and the city of Bath. The first attacks began on
September 22nd, 1711, and hundreds of settlers were ultimately killed. Several
key political figures were either killed or driven off in the subsequent months.

Governor Edward Hyde called out the militia of North Carolina, and secured the
assistance of the Legislature of South Carolina, who provided "six hundred militia
and three hundred and sixty Indians under Col. Barnwell". This force attacked the
Southern Tuscarora and other tribes in Craven County at Fort Narhantes on the
banks of the Neuse River in 1712. The Tuscarora were "defeated with great
slaughter; more than three hundred savages were killed, and one hundred made
prisoners." These prisoners were largely women and children, who were
ultimately sold into slavery.

Chief Blunt was then offered the chance to control the entire Tuscarora tribe if he
assisted the settlers in putting down Chief Hancock. Chief Blunt was able to
capture Chief Hancock, and the settlers executed him in 1712. In 1713 the
Southern Tuscaroras lost Fort Neoheroka, with 900 killed or captured.

It was at this point that the majority of the Southern Tuscarora began migrating to
New York to escape the settlers in North Carolina.

The remaining Tuscarora signed a treaty with the settlers in June 1718 granting
them a tract of land on the Roanoke River in what is now Bertie County. This was
the area already occupied by Tom Blunt, and was specified as 56,000 acres (227
km); Tom Blunt, who had taken on the name Blount, was now recognized by the
Legislature of North Carolina as King Tom Blount. The remaining Southern
Tuscarora were removed from their homes on the Pamlico River and made to
move to Bertie.

In 1722 Bertie County was chartered, and over the next several decades the
remaining Tuscorara lands were continually diminished as they were sold off in
deals that were frequently designed to take advantage of the Native Americans.

A substantial portion of the Tuscaroras sided with the Oneida nation against the
rest of the League of the Six Nations by fighting for the United States government
during the American Revolutionary War. Those that remained allies of the British
Crown would later follow Joseph Brant into Ontario.

In 1803 the final contingent of the Tuscarora migrated to New York to join the
tribe at their reservation in Niagara County, under a treaty directed by Thomas
Jefferson. In 1831 the Tuscarora sold the remaining rights to their lands in North
Carolina. By this point the 56,000 acres had been pared down to a mere 2000
acres.

Skarure, the Tuscarora language is from the southern group of the Iroquoian
languages.

Iroquois Clans - Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Snipe, Deer, Beaver, Heron, Hawk
 Iroquois Legend

The Five Nations

Long, long ago, one of the Spirits of the Sky World came down and looked at the Earth.
As he travelled over it, he found it beautiful, and so he created people to live on it. Before
returning to the sky, he gave them names, called the people all together, and spoke his
parting words:

"To the Mohawks, I give corn," he said. "To the patient Oneidas, I give the nuts
and the fruit of many trees. To the industrious Senecas, I give beans. To the
friendly Cayugas, I give the roots of plants to be eaten. To the wise and eloquent
Onondagas, I give grapes and squashes to eat and tobacco to smoke at the camp
fires."

Many other things he told the new people. Then he wrapped himself in a bright
cloud and went like a swift arrow to the Sun. There his return caused his Brother
Sky Spirits to rejoice.
 The Six Nations

Long, long ago, in the great past, there were no people on the earth. All of it was covered
by deep water. Birds, flying, filled the air, and many huge monsters possessed the waters.

One day the birds saw a beautiful woman falling from the sky. Immediately the huge
ducks held a council.

"How can we prevent her from falling into the water?" they asked.

After some discussion, they decided to spread out their wings and thus break the force of
her fall. Each duck spread out its wings until it touched the wings of other ducks. So the
beautiful woman reached them safely.

Then the monsters of the deep held a council, to decide how they could protect the
beautiful being from the terror of the waters. One after another, the monsters decided that
they were not able to protect her, that only Giant Tortoise was big enough to bear her
weight. He volunteered, and she was gently placed upon his back. Giant Tortoise
magically increased in size and soon became a large island.

After a time, the Celestial Woman gave birth to twin boys. One of them was the Spirit of
Good. He made all the good things on the earth and caused the corn, the fruits, and the
tobacco to grow.

The other twin was the Spirit of Evil. He created the weeds and also the worms and the
bugs and all the other creatures that do evil to the good animals and birds.

All the time, Giant Tortoise continued to stretch himself. And so the world became larger
and larger. Sometimes Giant Tortoise moved himself in such a way as to make the earth
quake.

After many, many years had passed by, the Sky-Holder, whom Indians called Ta-rhu-hia-
wah-ku, decided to create some people. He wanted them to surpass all others in beauty,
strength, and bravery. So from the bosom of the island where they had been living on
moles, the Sky-Holder brought forth six pairs of people.

The first pair were left near a great river, now called the Mohawk. So they are called the
Mohawk Indians. The second pair were told to move their home beside a large stone.
Their descendants have been called the Oneidas. Many of them lived on the south side of
Oneida Lake and others in the valleys of Oneida Creek. A third pair were left on a high
hill and have always been called the Onondagas.

The fourth pair became the parents of the Cayugas, and the fifth pair the parents of the
Senecas. Both were placed in some part of what is now known as the State of New York.
But the Tuscaroras were taken up the Roanoke River into what is now known as North
Carolina. There the Sky-Holder made his home while he taught these people and their
descendants many useful arts and crafts.

The Tuscaroras claim that his presence with them made them superior to the other
Iroquois nations. But each of the other five will tell you, "Ours was the favoured tribe
with whom Sky- Holder made his home while he was on the earth."

The Onondagas say, "We have the council fire. That means that we are the chosen
people."

As the years passed by, the numerous Iroquois families became scattered over the state,
and also in what is now Pennsylvania, the Middle West and southeastern Canada.

Some lived in areas where bear was their principal game. So these people were called the
Bear Clan. Others lived where beavers were plentiful. So they were called the Beaver
Clan. For similar reasons, the Deer, Wolf, Snipe and Tortoise clans received their names.

The Five Chiefs then smoked the Pipe of Great Peace

- Indigenous Peoples' Literature

Iroquoise Masks

Iroquois Council of Chiefs had declared all Iroquois false face masks to be sacred
objects whose images should not be disseminated among non-Indians. They also called
for the return of all masks from museums and other collections, claiming that the misuse
and distribution of these objects interfered with traditional Iroquois medicine practices.

The Iroquois Winter Dream Festival

The tribes of the Iroquois' League of the Six Nations (Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca,
Cayuga, Mohawk, and Tuscarora) have been united for centuries in their celebration of
great festivals, at which occur numerous ceremonies of significance to both the spiritual
and physical life of the tribes. Sacred ceremonies include feather dances, drum dances,
the rite of personal chant, the bowl game, and Sun ceremonies.

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