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The Haudenosaunee

The Haudenosaunee People or people of the Long House. Are more commonly known as the Iroquois. This however was a name given to them by the French. Many of the Haudenosaunee prefer to be call by their traditional name and not Iroquois starting with their nation’s name first. An example would be John Dou of the Mohawk nation of the Haudenosaunee. The Haudenosaunee are made up of originally five nations with a later sixth nation joining. The original five nations are the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Cayuga. The Tuscarora joined the Confederacy in 1722.  Those six nations consist of eight clans the Bear, Wolf, Turtle, Beaver, Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. These clans are inter mingled into the different nations. This was done so that each nation would have family ties to each other helping to foster peace among the confederacy. That being said not every nation has members form each clan, the clans are spread out among the separate nations enough that the people see themselves as a family. The confederacy was formed so that the nations could settle differences and make decisions peacefully.” Each nation maintains its own council with chefs chosen by clan mothers and deals with its own internal affairs but allows the grand council to deal with its issues affecting the nations within the confederacy.” (Historical Life as a Haudenosaunee) The Haudenosaunee are the oldest practicing democracy in the world. The Haudenosaunee confederacy’s constitution is thought to be the inspiration for the American constitution, or at least influenced it.

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Early History

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy consist of six Nations in upstate New York(textbook). Just South of Lake Ontario, near the St. Lawrence River. The Haudenosaunee’s oral history describes the Haudenosaunee as migrating from the mouth of Mississippi River. (Textbook) Their Migration took them up the Ohio River moving towards the Great Lakes. As they travelled groups began splitting off some became the Huron, Tobacco, Erie, and Neuter nations of the great lakes. While others settled along the Susquehana and Upper Ohio rivers. (Native Nation of North America) The main body of the migrating group continued down the St Lawrence River until the encountered the Adirondack People(Bark Eaters). A battle broke out between the two groups with the Adirondock as the victors. (Native Nation of North America) After some time however the Haudenasaunee managed to escape to the Oswego river where they spread out.

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Family Structure

The Family trace their lineage through the mothers. Sons would stay in their mothers’ homes until they are married. Afterwards they move in with their wives’ families. (Historical Life as a Haudenosaunee.") But they kept close ties with their families.  Children were traditionally raised communally by the family. A matriarch would head the household with her sisters and their kids all being raised together. The children would not only call their siblings brother and sister but also their cousins. They would also call their aunts by mother. The mothers raised the children and tended to the long houses while the fathers hunted. However, the women and especially the matriarch also had very important roles in the spiritual and cultural aspects of the Haudenosaunee. This can be seen under the section for the Government Structure. It is also important to mention that today most Haudennosaunee have a more nuclear family structure. With a father a mother and children all living in one house.

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Long House

The long houses were around 200 feet long and 18 feet wide. The posts that supported the structures were made from saplings and the roof was made from wood fibres (Historical Life as a Haudenosaunee). A matriarch would share the long house with her sisters and their families. This meant that multiple families would live in a single long house together. There was a central fire at which they could cook, and the long houses were also used as meeting halls. In addition to its daily function, the long house also served as the foundation of Haudenosaunee social and governmental structure. The confederacy can be explained as a metaphorical long house in which the Mohawk were protectors of the eastern door to the long house, the Seneca were protectors of the western door to the long house, and the Onondaga were the central firekeepers. The idea behind this was that the confederacy should be based on a sense of familial ties, in which the nations protect and help each other siblings would.

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Great Law of Peace

In the Haudenosaunees’s oral tradition the Great Law of Peace came about as a result of warfare between the nation. (Native Nation of North America) So the confederacy was form with the great law of peace as its foundation. The formation of the confederacy and the great law of peace is credited to Deganawidah and Aiionwatha ( Hiawath) two Haudenosaunee men(textbook) who saw the horror and pain the fighting was causing. “Deganawidah a Huron who was adopted by the Mohawk nation was an advocate of the idea of “right thinking”. He thought that all human beings possessed the power to create peaceful relation.” (Native Nation of North America) With the creation of a confederacy the Haudenosaunee also created a constitution The Great Binding Law. The Great Binding Law has four sections. The first section is an account of Legend of Deganawidah “The Great Law Giver”. The second is The Great Binding Law itself. This section includes the federal structure of the confederation, rights, duties, and laws among other things. (Native Nation of North America) The basic functions of government. The third section is the traditional story of the creation of the confederation.  The final section is the Hiawatha tradition. “It is a ling nitrative of Hiawatha and his attempts to bring other nations into the Confederacy. (Native Nation of North America)

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Government Structure

Grand Council: It’s the oldest representative democracy in the world. It has fifty chiefs as representatives from the different clans. They deal with any problems that arise. The Onondaga worlds as the fire keepers for the Grand Council (4). The Grand Council is divided into the Elder and Younger brothers. The Mohawks, Onondaga, and Seneca make up the Elder Brothers. Whereas the Younger Brothers are made up of Cayuga and Oneida. The Tuscarora have no representatives. However, since they are not part of the original confederacy. IF they have issues or concerns, they Cayuga speak on their behalf (4).

Chiefs: The role of the chief is to serve and to be accountable to the nation. They are male leaders who represent their clan in the Grand Council. The title of chief is not hereditary. The chief is chosen by the clan mother, and he holds his title as long as he follows the guidelines set for him upon being made chief. A chief is expected to be honest, reliable, knowledgeable, and he must have committed no crimes. A chief is a married man with children, and must care for his community as he would his children. In the case that the chief fails to stay within the guidelines, his removal is left to the authority of the clan mother. Each nation has a different number of chiefs.

Clan Mothers: The title of clan mother is passed down through a hereditary line of women within a clan. Generally, the title is given to the clan mother’s oldest sister. Although there are fifty chiefs, there are forty-nine clan mothers; a seat is still reserved for Tadodaho, an early chief, though no one is chosen to occupy that seat. The clan mother protects the welfare of the clan by overseeing the chief and ensuring he performs his duties according to the Great Law. After she selects a chief, he is presented to their nation. Then, he his presented to their brother nation for approval. If he gains their approval, he is then presented to the rest of the Grand Council for final approval.

Faith Keepers: The faith keepers serve under the clan mother. For every clan mother, there are two faith keepers. They are one female and one male relative of the clan mother, and “it’s their job to promote ceremonial ways and uphold Haudenosaunee culture” (4). They also serve as spiritual advisers.

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Bibliography

Stevens, Scott Manning. "Tomahawk: Materiality and Depictions of the Haudenosaunee." Early American Literature, vol. 53 no. 2, 2018, pp. 475-511. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/eal.2018.0046

 Bomberry, Michelle. “Negotiating Two Worlds: Learning through the Stories of Haudenosaunee Youth and Adults.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne De L'éducation, vol. 36, no. 2, 2013, pp. 248–283. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/canajeducrevucan.36.2.248.

 Gottlieb, Lynn. "Indigenous Democracy: The Great Law of Peace of the Haudenosaunee." Fellowship, vol. 72, no. 9-12, Fall, 2006, pp. 14-16. ProQuest, https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2165/docview/209430364?accountid=7113.

"Historical Life as a Haudenosaunee." Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Accessed November 12, 2018. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/historical-life-as-a-haudenosaunee/.

Talbot, Steve Native Nation of North America.edition1.New Jersey: Nancy Roberts,2015

http://www.peacecouncil.net/NOON/culture1.htm

Wallenfeldt, Jeff. "The 6 Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy." Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed November 14, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/list/the-6-nations-of-the-iroquois-confederacy.

"Iroquois." Ohio River - New World Encyclopedia. Accessed November 12, 2018. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Iroquois.

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