Confederation of Iroquoia (The Eight Nations - Haudenosaunee)
Before this land came to be, everything below the sky was water. All that changed when the Sky Woman fell from her home in the clouds. As to why she fell, the stories differ. However it happened, as she fell the great distance toward the surface of the sea, many birds flew in to slow her descent. The Great Turtle, Hah-Nu-Nah, swam up to the surface and lent his back, upon which the Sky Woman gently landed. So that the Sky Woman would have a place to live on earth, creatures swam to the bottom of the sea and brought up mud. They spread it on the turtle's back. The Sky Woman miraculously increased the mud until it became a vast land, which is why we still call our continent Turtle Island.
Pregnant when she fell from her home, the Sky Woman gave birth not long after to a daughter, Tekawerahkwa. The daughter grew and became the bride of the West Wind himself. She bore two sons, dying in the act of childbirth. Her death was tragic, but from her body sprang three new daughters: the corn, the beans, and the squash, the Three Sisters that to this day nourish all the people of Turtle Island.
The Sky Woman raised her twin grandsons. One son, who we know as Sky-Holder, grew up with a good mind and clear thoughts, and once he was grown he set to work making useful and beautiful things on the earth. The other son, called Flint, had a bad mind and destructive thoughts. As he grew up, he only busied himself with undoing the work of his brother. That is why the earth today is filled with wonderful things that help us, but is also filled with dangers and obstacles.
As time went on, the earth filled with men and women. Around the Great Lakes, five great nations arose: the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the Seneca. But the nations allowed themselves to be led badly and fell into endless fighting and bloodshed. A leader called the Great Peacemaker, the Deganawida, knew about all this strife where he lived in Huronia, and he came east to help spread a message of peace among the Iroquois. The chief Hiawatha had been caught up in the violence, seeking revenge for the murder of his three daughters, but the Deganawida visited him and spoke words of consolation. Hiawatha recovered from his grief, cleared his mind, and became the leader of a new movement to reconcile the Five Nations.
The Five Nations accepted the words of Hiawatha, the Deganawida, and a third leader, the clan mother Jigonhsasee; these words became the Great Law of Peace, the basis for all Iroquois law. On the shores of Lake Onondaga, the nations' leading men and women gathered to accept the Great Law. To seal their friendship, they planted the Tree of Peace, whose white roots spread out to entwine all of the Five Nations and bind them together as the Haudenosaunee: the Ones Who Built the House. The belt of wampum made on that day shows the roots of the tree spreading out to the Five Nations from Onondaga; this remains the symbol of Iroquoia today.
The peace and prosperity of the Five Nations was interrupted by the arrival of newcomers from France and England, who fought with one another and stirred up their neighbors to war against the Iroquois. When a new nation, the Netherlanders, arrived and built Fort Orange, they instead sought the friendship of the Iroquois. A rope was laid between Fort Orange and Onondaga to bind the two peoples, Netherlander and Iroquois, together. As time went on, this was replaced with an iron chain. An English attack drove away the Netherlanders for a time, but when they returned, they replaced the Covenant Chain with one of polished silver. As the Tree of Peace tied together the Iroquois nations and helped them resolve their differences, the Covenant Chain did the same between the Iroquois and their neighbors. It was extended to other nations and states, such as Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the peoples living in the Alleghenies and down the valley of the Ohio.
Throughout this era, wars broke out again and again all over Turtle Island. The Iroquois often got caught up in these wars. But after each war, leaders with good minds always prevailed, making the chain stronger and brighter. In the city of Philadelphia, the Covenant Chain was extended to every English state and many of the Indian nations as all met together in Congress.
Meanwhile, the Five Nations had become six, then eight. The Tuscarora moved into Haudenosaunee territory and accepted the Great Law of Peace, though for a while they had the status of children as their leaders learned Iroquois ways. To the west, the lands of Niagara and Erie filled up with people from many different nations with many different ways of living; but in time they too agreed to live under the Great Law and joined the Haudenosaunee.
Finally, all the states of Boreoamerica joined together with Iroquoia in confederation and replaced the silver chain with one of purest gold. This is the confederation that has endured to the present day. The people of Turtle Island continue to live out the message of the Great Peacemaker, trying to make the continent prosperous and healthy for future generations.
Pregnant when she fell from her home, the Sky Woman gave birth not long after to a daughter, Tekawerahkwa. The daughter grew and became the bride of the West Wind himself. She bore two sons, dying in the act of childbirth. Her death was tragic, but from her body sprang three new daughters: the corn, the beans, and the squash, the Three Sisters that to this day nourish all the people of Turtle Island.
The Sky Woman raised her twin grandsons. One son, who we know as Sky-Holder, grew up with a good mind and clear thoughts, and once he was grown he set to work making useful and beautiful things on the earth. The other son, called Flint, had a bad mind and destructive thoughts. As he grew up, he only busied himself with undoing the work of his brother. That is why the earth today is filled with wonderful things that help us, but is also filled with dangers and obstacles.
As time went on, the earth filled with men and women. Around the Great Lakes, five great nations arose: the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the Seneca. But the nations allowed themselves to be led badly and fell into endless fighting and bloodshed. A leader called the Great Peacemaker, the Deganawida, knew about all this strife where he lived in Huronia, and he came east to help spread a message of peace among the Iroquois. The chief Hiawatha had been caught up in the violence, seeking revenge for the murder of his three daughters, but the Deganawida visited him and spoke words of consolation. Hiawatha recovered from his grief, cleared his mind, and became the leader of a new movement to reconcile the Five Nations.
The Five Nations accepted the words of Hiawatha, the Deganawida, and a third leader, the clan mother Jigonhsasee; these words became the Great Law of Peace, the basis for all Iroquois law. On the shores of Lake Onondaga, the nations' leading men and women gathered to accept the Great Law. To seal their friendship, they planted the Tree of Peace, whose white roots spread out to entwine all of the Five Nations and bind them together as the Haudenosaunee: the Ones Who Built the House. The belt of wampum made on that day shows the roots of the tree spreading out to the Five Nations from Onondaga; this remains the symbol of Iroquoia today.
The peace and prosperity of the Five Nations was interrupted by the arrival of newcomers from France and England, who fought with one another and stirred up their neighbors to war against the Iroquois. When a new nation, the Netherlanders, arrived and built Fort Orange, they instead sought the friendship of the Iroquois. A rope was laid between Fort Orange and Onondaga to bind the two peoples, Netherlander and Iroquois, together. As time went on, this was replaced with an iron chain. An English attack drove away the Netherlanders for a time, but when they returned, they replaced the Covenant Chain with one of polished silver. As the Tree of Peace tied together the Iroquois nations and helped them resolve their differences, the Covenant Chain did the same between the Iroquois and their neighbors. It was extended to other nations and states, such as Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the peoples living in the Alleghenies and down the valley of the Ohio.
Throughout this era, wars broke out again and again all over Turtle Island. The Iroquois often got caught up in these wars. But after each war, leaders with good minds always prevailed, making the chain stronger and brighter. In the city of Philadelphia, the Covenant Chain was extended to every English state and many of the Indian nations as all met together in Congress.
Meanwhile, the Five Nations had become six, then eight. The Tuscarora moved into Haudenosaunee territory and accepted the Great Law of Peace, though for a while they had the status of children as their leaders learned Iroquois ways. To the west, the lands of Niagara and Erie filled up with people from many different nations with many different ways of living; but in time they too agreed to live under the Great Law and joined the Haudenosaunee.
Finally, all the states of Boreoamerica joined together with Iroquoia in confederation and replaced the silver chain with one of purest gold. This is the confederation that has endured to the present day. The people of Turtle Island continue to live out the message of the Great Peacemaker, trying to make the continent prosperous and healthy for future generations.
This traditional telling of the story of Iroquoia relies on rich metaphor; it was never meant to be taken literally. The lessons that it teaches are believed to form the foundation of Iroquois identity. The earth that sustains us is a living thing. Every man and woman has the potential for both good and bad thinking, and this is borne out in both personal and political decision-making. Grief and the desire for revenge clouds the minds of people and societies, and these feelings must be set aside if peace and justice are to be found. The states of Boreoamerica are interdependent.
The traditional story has experienced a revival in recent years. The middle part of the twentieth century saw a movement to modernize school curricula and move away from the storytelling tradition, but more recent decades have seen a desire to return to the state's roots and let the "indigenous voice" be heard. It has become part of the Iroquois consciousness. Children in schools across the state reenact it each year. Allusions to it are even made in the state's political discourse.
The traditional story has experienced a revival in recent years. The middle part of the twentieth century saw a movement to modernize school curricula and move away from the storytelling tradition, but more recent decades have seen a desire to return to the state's roots and let the "indigenous voice" be heard. It has become part of the Iroquois consciousness. Children in schools across the state reenact it each year. Allusions to it are even made in the state's political discourse.
The traditional account is taught in most of the schools of Iroquoia as part of young people's cultural and civic education. But the factual history that is taught also has an Iroquois bent to it. Like almost all of the states, Iroquoia tends to emphasize its own role in the creation of the ASB. The "textbook version" of Iroquois history sounds something like this:
The Five Nations of Iroquoia joined together in a confederation centuries before Europeans came. Their confederation served as a model for cooperation and federated government that was to be imitated all over the eastern part of the continent. When New Netherland was founded, the newcomers reached out to the Iroquois and formed a lasting alliance, called the Covenant Chain. Decades of diplomacy extended this alliance to cover many of the nearby English states. After the conclusion of the last major colonial wars in the 1810s, this alliance extended to all of the English states, and then to the entire region now called the ASB.
Is this narrative incomplete? Undoubtedly. Is it wrong? No more wrong than English versions of the ASB's history that emphasize the Anglo-American Congresses, or French versions that focus on the alliance between Canada and "Onontio's Children", the Algonquians of the Saint Lawrence basin. All of these perspectives are correct in their own ways. The ASB is an elephant and we are all blind philosophers trying to feel our way along it.
The Five Nations of Iroquoia joined together in a confederation centuries before Europeans came. Their confederation served as a model for cooperation and federated government that was to be imitated all over the eastern part of the continent. When New Netherland was founded, the newcomers reached out to the Iroquois and formed a lasting alliance, called the Covenant Chain. Decades of diplomacy extended this alliance to cover many of the nearby English states. After the conclusion of the last major colonial wars in the 1810s, this alliance extended to all of the English states, and then to the entire region now called the ASB.
Is this narrative incomplete? Undoubtedly. Is it wrong? No more wrong than English versions of the ASB's history that emphasize the Anglo-American Congresses, or French versions that focus on the alliance between Canada and "Onontio's Children", the Algonquians of the Saint Lawrence basin. All of these perspectives are correct in their own ways. The ASB is an elephant and we are all blind philosophers trying to feel our way along it.
One final thing from Iroquois history should be explained: the two western Nations, Niagara and Erie. From the beginning, these two territories were radically different from the original Five (or Six) Nations. Their creation, development, and incorporation transformed the confederacy. They are key to the way that the tribal league called "the Iroquois" changed into the modern state called "Iroquoia."
Both of these regions lay to the west of the core lands of the Senecas, the "Keepers of the Western Door" of the Iroquois house. They were part of a vast area to the south and west of Iroquoia that the Nations attempted to claim as their own sphere of influence, with varying success. Until the mid-eighteenth century, the Seneca jealously guarded their rights to western territory within the confederation; after that, all of the Iroquois began to cooperate to assert western claims.
Iroquois claims over Poutaxia began to slip away by the 1780s, when a new class of Mixt traders took the lead in carving out a separate state. Ohio fell away during the wars of the 1800s. In 1817, the Anglo-Dutch Congress agreed to create a state government for Allegheny, though it was theoretically subject to Iroquoia. But Niagara and Erie were acknowledged as Iroquois territory.
Those areas already had a diverse and growing population. Niagara in particular, located along a highly strategic waterway, had attracted settlement from many different nations for generations. Fort Niagara was French, though it had changed hands a few times. New Netherland had obtained rights to settle Grand Island, just above the Falls, while across the river was the large Seneca village of Tonawanda. English traders had set up at the head of the river at Black Rock. West of the river, what is now the city of Erie began as a Mohawk fortification, which they received as compensation for lands lost to New Netherland. Tusrarora and Cayuga settlements could also be found in the area, along with villages of Algonquian people who moved in from the west. Suffice it to say that tracking Niagara's local history is a complicated affair.
For most of the colonial era, this made Niagara a no-man's-land and a battleground. Each community had its own loyalty and its own agenda. But with the end of the wars and the rise of the ASB, permanent borders were drawn, and the land east of the river was designated Iroquois territory. But for a time, no one was really sure what that meant. Iroquois leaders at first wanted to treat the Niagara villages as dependent peoples, like the Tuscarora and others had been; but this was unacceptable to the people living there. With the support of some of the neighboring states, the people of Niagara organized a local government and pressured the Council to accept them as a seventh member nation.
Erie developed in a way similar to Niagara. Its location was less contentious, so its history does not have quite as much drama as Niagara, and its population in the 19th century was not quite as diverse. Some important early settlers were non-Iroquois Indians who had lived among the Iroquois for generations. These included significant numbers of Lenape and some groups who traced their ancestry to pre-colonial Virginia. These groups had been denied a voice in Iroquois politics, and many chose to move to Erie. The French were another important presence, controlling a line of forts from Presque-Isle to the Forks of the Ohio. Many New Englanders settled here as well. Erie adopted a government modeled on Niagara and joined Iroquoia soon after its northern neighbor.
Niagara and Erie were organized on a territorial basis and were not kin-based tribes like the other six. This would eventually prompt the other nations, and Iroquoia itself, to adopt reforms that would transform it into a modern state.
Chief among these reforms was the structure of the Iroquois council. The traditional Grand Council consisted of fifty chiefs. All of the chiefs were men, and they were chosen by the women. The White men of Niagara and Erie were obviously unwilling to adopt this model, but their tradition of government, in which all of the leaders were men chosen by men, was equally unacceptable to the Iroquois of the territory. To solve the impasse, Erie and Niagara became among the first places in the world to allow men and women to vote and hold office. At the state level, the two newest nations persuaded the six older ones to create a Lower Council elected by both men and women via secret ballot. Before long, most of the power had passed to this more democratic council. Today the Grand Council is still chosen in the traditional fashion, by the women of each nation, and it fills an important but largely ceremonial role.
Both of these regions lay to the west of the core lands of the Senecas, the "Keepers of the Western Door" of the Iroquois house. They were part of a vast area to the south and west of Iroquoia that the Nations attempted to claim as their own sphere of influence, with varying success. Until the mid-eighteenth century, the Seneca jealously guarded their rights to western territory within the confederation; after that, all of the Iroquois began to cooperate to assert western claims.
Iroquois claims over Poutaxia began to slip away by the 1780s, when a new class of Mixt traders took the lead in carving out a separate state. Ohio fell away during the wars of the 1800s. In 1817, the Anglo-Dutch Congress agreed to create a state government for Allegheny, though it was theoretically subject to Iroquoia. But Niagara and Erie were acknowledged as Iroquois territory.
Those areas already had a diverse and growing population. Niagara in particular, located along a highly strategic waterway, had attracted settlement from many different nations for generations. Fort Niagara was French, though it had changed hands a few times. New Netherland had obtained rights to settle Grand Island, just above the Falls, while across the river was the large Seneca village of Tonawanda. English traders had set up at the head of the river at Black Rock. West of the river, what is now the city of Erie began as a Mohawk fortification, which they received as compensation for lands lost to New Netherland. Tusrarora and Cayuga settlements could also be found in the area, along with villages of Algonquian people who moved in from the west. Suffice it to say that tracking Niagara's local history is a complicated affair.
For most of the colonial era, this made Niagara a no-man's-land and a battleground. Each community had its own loyalty and its own agenda. But with the end of the wars and the rise of the ASB, permanent borders were drawn, and the land east of the river was designated Iroquois territory. But for a time, no one was really sure what that meant. Iroquois leaders at first wanted to treat the Niagara villages as dependent peoples, like the Tuscarora and others had been; but this was unacceptable to the people living there. With the support of some of the neighboring states, the people of Niagara organized a local government and pressured the Council to accept them as a seventh member nation.
Erie developed in a way similar to Niagara. Its location was less contentious, so its history does not have quite as much drama as Niagara, and its population in the 19th century was not quite as diverse. Some important early settlers were non-Iroquois Indians who had lived among the Iroquois for generations. These included significant numbers of Lenape and some groups who traced their ancestry to pre-colonial Virginia. These groups had been denied a voice in Iroquois politics, and many chose to move to Erie. The French were another important presence, controlling a line of forts from Presque-Isle to the Forks of the Ohio. Many New Englanders settled here as well. Erie adopted a government modeled on Niagara and joined Iroquoia soon after its northern neighbor.
Niagara and Erie were organized on a territorial basis and were not kin-based tribes like the other six. This would eventually prompt the other nations, and Iroquoia itself, to adopt reforms that would transform it into a modern state.
Chief among these reforms was the structure of the Iroquois council. The traditional Grand Council consisted of fifty chiefs. All of the chiefs were men, and they were chosen by the women. The White men of Niagara and Erie were obviously unwilling to adopt this model, but their tradition of government, in which all of the leaders were men chosen by men, was equally unacceptable to the Iroquois of the territory. To solve the impasse, Erie and Niagara became among the first places in the world to allow men and women to vote and hold office. At the state level, the two newest nations persuaded the six older ones to create a Lower Council elected by both men and women via secret ballot. Before long, most of the power had passed to this more democratic council. Today the Grand Council is still chosen in the traditional fashion, by the women of each nation, and it fills an important but largely ceremonial role.