Iroquois: the story on HearLore

Iroquois

The Great Peacemaker arrived at Onondaga Lake on a day that would become the foundation of a confederacy spanning from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean, uniting five warring nations under a single symbolic household. This was not a conquest born of blood, but a diplomatic miracle orchestrated by Dekanawida, Hiawatha, and Jigonsaseh the Mother of Nations to end centuries of bloodshed among the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. The resulting Great Law of Peace created a Grand Council of fifty chiefs who sat in a longhouse where the Onondaga kept the fire and the Mohawk guarded the western door. While European historians later obsessed over the military might of the Iroquois, the true power of the Haudenosaunee lay in their ability to maintain an egalitarian society that banned servitude and allowed women to hold significant political power through the clan mother system. The name Haudenosaunee, meaning People of the Longhouse, reflects this deep kinship structure where all individuals and tribes were considered one family living together in one lodge, a concept that would eventually challenge the very nature of European colonial governance.

The Beaver Wars and European Alliances

In 1609, Samuel de Champlain assisted his allies in defeating a Mohawk war party by the shores of what is now Lake Champlain, marking the beginning of a brutal century of conflict known as the Beaver Wars. The Iroquois, desperate to control the lucrative fur trade with the Dutch at Fort Orange, turned their military might against neighboring Algonquian peoples and other Iroquoian tribes like the Huron and Erie. By 1649, Iroquois war parties had destroyed the Huron Confederacy, and by 1654, they had eliminated the Erie tribe, leaving them to reign supreme from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean. The French Jesuit missionaries expressed amazement that the Five Nations had been able to dominate an area five hundred leagues around despite their small numbers, a dominance achieved through the acquisition of Dutch guns and the strategic displacement of Siouan-speaking tribes like the Quapaw and Ofo. This expansionist phase saw the Iroquois invade the Ohio River Valley, pushing out tribes such as the Tutelo and migrating them to the Mississippi River and Piedmont regions, effectively reshaping the map of North America before the American Revolution.

The Covenant Chain and the Middle Ground

By 1677, the Iroquois Confederacy had secured an alliance with the English through the Covenant Chain, a diplomatic strategy that allowed them to play the French against the British to extract maximum material rewards. The Mohawk and other nations became adept at diplomacy, using their fearsome reputation to maintain considerable independence while European powers vied for their favor. In 1710, three Mohawk chiefs and a Mahican chief traveled to London to meet Queen Anne, resulting in the earliest surviving oil portraits of Aboriginal peoples taken from life by court painter John Verelst. The Iroquois demonstrated their strategic genius by remaining mostly neutral during the French and Indian War until the British took Louisbourg and Fort Frontenac, at which point they assisted General Jeffrey Amherst in taking Montreal in September 1760. This period of neutrality and strategic alliance allowed the Iroquois to maintain their sovereignty for nearly two hundred years, acting as a powerful factor in North American colonial policy and proving that European powers were used by the Iroquois just as much as the Iroquois were used by them.

Common questions

Who founded the Iroquois Confederacy and when did it begin?

The Great Peacemaker, Dekanawida, Hiawatha, and Jigonsaseh founded the Iroquois Confederacy to unite five warring nations under a single symbolic household. The confederacy was established at Onondaga Lake to end centuries of bloodshed among the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.

What was the Great Law of Peace and how did it structure the Iroquois government?

The Great Law of Peace created a Grand Council of fifty chiefs who sat in a longhouse where the Onondaga kept the fire and the Mohawk guarded the western door. This system maintained an egalitarian society that banned servitude and allowed women to hold significant political power through the clan mother system.

When did the Iroquois Confederacy begin the Beaver Wars and which tribes did they defeat?

The Iroquois began the Beaver Wars in 1609 when Samuel de Champlain assisted his allies in defeating a Mohawk war party by the shores of what is now Lake Champlain. By 1649, Iroquois war parties had destroyed the Huron Confederacy, and by 1654, they had eliminated the Erie tribe.

How did the Iroquois Confederacy respond to the American Revolution and what were the consequences?

The Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant fought for the British Crown while the Oneida and Tuscarora sided with the American colonists under the pressure of Reverend Samuel Kirkland. In 1779, George Washington ordered the Sullivan Campaign to destroy the British-Indian alliance, resulting in the burning of many Iroquois villages and the displacement of refugees to Canada.

What role did Iroquois men play in the construction of Canadian infrastructure during the late nineteenth century?

Iroquois men from Kahnawake became skilled steelwork erectors and built many bridges and skyscrapers in Canada and the United States, including the St. Lawrence bridge in 1886. This tradition began when Iroquois men were hired to help in the construction of the bridge and their expertise allowed them to build structures that defined the skylines of major cities.

What happened during the Oka Crisis of 1990 and how many Iroquois people were enrolled in 2010?

In 1990, a long-running dispute over ownership of land at Oka, Quebec, caused a violent stand-off that ended with a melee between soldiers and warriors, leaving a policeman dead. As of 2010, there were over 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people living in Canada and over 81,000 in the United States.