People of the Longhouse: the Iroquois Confederacy

The Iroquoian-speaking people lived in what is now the State of New York, and along the St. Lawrence river in Canada down to Montreal.  Five major tribes (Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga) formed the Iroquois League, later Confederacy.  Although each tribe regulated its internal affairs, they banded together in matters of trade, war and dealings with outsiders, be they other tribes or European explorers and settlers.  Some Iroquoian peoples, though not members of the League, were absorbed into it by conquest or intermarriage, such as the Erie, Susquehannock, Huron and Wyandot.  The Cherokee, another Iroquois people, chose to migrate south during the 17th century.  The Tuscaroras, feeling pressure from the Cherokee and other tribes as well as white incursion, migrated north and became the sixth member of the League in 1722. 

Prior to forming the League, in the twelfth century, the five major tribes warred amongst themselves.  A Huron prophet named Deganawidah convinced a leading warrior, Hiawatha, and one of the principal women Jigonsaseh, to join him in preaching a way of peaceful settlement of disputes, rather than war.  The five tribes agreed, buried weapons under a large pine tree and began to live under the Great Law of Peace, later known as the Iroquois Constitution.  They called themselves the Haudenosaunee, or People of the Longhouse, the traditional shelter of Iroquoian communities.  The Constitution provided for a council of fifty sachems, each tribe having a proportional representation on this counsel.  It provided a means for settling disputes, diplomacy, war and major offenses.  Descent amongst the Iroquois was matrilineal.  Clan matriarchs held the power of choosing the sachems and disposing of family and clan resources.  The women held their own counsel and could propose laws and register their pleasure or displeasure at the proceedings of the sachems via the war chiefs of the tribes.  The women thus held a position of check-and-balance in Iroquois government.

Iroquois is a French term, borrowing from Algonquian words meaning Killer People or Snake People, a description of the ability of Iroquois warriors.  Using a system of paths, warriors and hunters traveled quickly through their territory to deal with any threats to their unity.  Although the Great Law had been in place since the twelfth century, French explorers in the seventeenth century tended to describe the Iroquois as vicious savages who had no law, no society and no religious faith to speak of.  French and later English settlers discovered that they dismissed this proud and capable people at their cost in bloody conflicts.  They soon made allies of the Iroquois, who served both French and British commanders capably in several wars and battles that we'll describe in later entries of this blog. 

The union of the Iroquois Confederacy was sorely tested during the American Revolution, when the Mohawk, Senaca, Onandaga and Cayuga sided with the British.  The Tuscarora and Oneida sided with the Colonists.  Despite their loyalty to either side, the Iroquois lost most of their land in New York State, migrating to reservations in Canada.  The Six Nations of Grand River Reserve is along the border between Canada and the United States, being known as the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in New York.  Per the terms of the Jay Treaty of 1794, members of the Six Nations may travel freely across this border area to access Canada or the United States.

Scholars debate whether the Iroquois Confederacy, with its Constitution, participatory government and check-and-balance system had any influence on the United States Constitution.  However, the similarities are striking.   The Iroquois system of participatory democracy and proportional representation served them well.  In addition to being formidable warriors, they were also skilled diplomats and traders.  The Great Warriors Path began in their territory.  We'll trace the route in the next installment of this blog.