Iroquois Confederacy Research Paper

The primary social unit was the matrilineage. Power descended from the mother’s side. Related nuclear families lived together and led by the eldest female. Women owned land and controlled the distribution of resources. They also had a class system and the upper class was made up of lineages, chiefs and clan elders. The lower class were slaves and captives. The middle class were in between. Division of labor was determined by sex. Men hinted, fished and conducted war and women collected plant food, cooked, maintained the household. The Haudenosaunee also had several societies such as the “Medicine” and “False Face” societies to name a few.

The combined tribe known as the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma that is currently located near the four-state area, consists of members who survived throughout the rough journeys, such as the Trail of Tears, which the majority of Indians went through. These Indians were once a part of the Iroquois Confederacy, which originated from New York State. Later, these tribes united in Oklahoma, also known as “Indian Territory”, after the nineteenth century war, between the States.

The Iroquois Confederacy composed six nations: the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Senecas and the Tuscarora . These nations shared similar languages and cultures, however that did not stop them from fighting one another. Seeing the conflict, Dekanawida, a Iroquois, seeked for

The geographies of the Iroquois and Cherokee tribes are alike in multiple ways. For instance, the Iroquois lived in the Northeast region; they lived in New York and near Ontario River, Canada and along the Saint Lawrence River. The Cherokee tribe lived in the Southeast region and in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, mostly. This means that both the Cherokee and the Iroquois tribes lived in the East. Additionally, the Iroquois tribe got around by walking and using canoes. The Cherokee tribe travelled on foot, wagons, and boats. This shows that both tribes walked and used boats to transport themselves from place to place. In summary, the geographies of the Iroquois and Cherokee are similar in a numerous amount of ways.

Constitution have in common is that they both have a council kind of thing. The differences are though is that Iroquois is an actual council with a few people in it, while with the U.S. there are many different powers and titles vested into the U.S. like legislative, executive, and judicial powers. Plus they both have ways/rituals to get into the council just done differently. The U.S. they have to do a pledge saying that they will obey the laws that are in the constitution or they will have to accept any consequences that they will have. With the Iroquois they have it to where the person joining the council has to bring some stuff and then they use the feather that they have to use to indicate if the person wanting to join is worthy of it or

Native American life for the Natchez tribe was primitive and communal. The social structure of the Natchez Native American tribe was organized by a caste system which drew from religious beliefs and classified individuals as suns, nobles, honored people, and commoners. The most important members of the tribe were the Peace Chief named the Great Sun, his right hand man, the War Chief, and the four clan Mothers. The Chiefs were determined based upon the social status of their mother at birth. Natchez were considered hierarchical because the Peace Chief named the Great Sun was always the son of the clan Mother known as the Female Sun. Also, the Female Sun’s daughter would be the mother of the next the Great Sun. This made sure that the Chief was always male. The Natchez tribe was a strong matrilineal society because the Female Sun gave birth to the Great Sun. The power was passed through the Mother’s part of the family. Therefore, the descent was considered to be along female lines. Also, the Great Sun could have several wives and many servants. When

My first piece of evidence is from a speech made by Little Abraham, a Mohawk sachem, to colonial Pennsylvania officials and Indian Leaders:

After becoming united in the League, the Iroquois invaded the Ohio River Valley in present-day Kentucky to seek additional hunting grounds. According to one pre-contact theory, it was the Iroquois who, by about 1200, had pushed tribes of the Ohio River Valley, such as the Quapaw (Akansea) and Ofo (Mosopelea) out of the region in a migration west of the Mississippi River. But, Robert La Salla listed the Mosopelean among the Ohio Valley peoples defeated by the Iroquois in the early 1670s, during the later Beaver Wars. By 1673, the Siouan-speaking groups had settled in the Midwest, establishing what became known as their historical territories. Just as the Siouan peoples were displaced by the Iroquois, they displaced less powerful tribes whom they encountered, such as the Osage, who moved further west.

The Iroquois Confederacy, also known as Five Nations or Six Nations after the 1720 inclusion of the Tuscarora, was a collective of tribes that occupied the upper region of New York state around Lake Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Southern Ontario and

Iroquois Confederacy was a band of five tribes from upper New York in the 17th and 18th century. The representatives were the Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Seneca which they call themselves “the people of the lighthouse”. The group was identified by non-aggression pact between the five tribes, recognition of shared concern which brought them closer. The complex of the group as a form

While thanks to preestablished relationships the British had the support of most Onondaga, Seneca, Mohawk, and Cayuga individuals.

The Confederacy, also known as the league of nations, are five separate nations with an agreement to live under the Great Law as provided by the Peacemaker. Each nation is known as follows: Mohawk- The People of the Flint Oneida. The People of the Upright Stone, Onondaga. The People of the Hills Cayuga. The People of the Great Swamp Seneca. The People of the Great Hill Tuscarora-the Shirt Wearing People Wyendot Delaware.The European’s view on Indian attitudes towards personal liberty, was different, for instance “one man should have more than another, and that the rich should have more respect than the poor….They brand us for slaves and call us miserable souls, whose life is not worth having, alleging, That we degrade ourselves in subjecting ourselves to one man ( a king) who possesses the whole power, and is bound by no law but his own Will….[Individual Indians] value themselves above anything that you can….and since men are all made of the same clay there should be no distinction or superiority among them.” (Pg

1). The reason for the construction of the Iroquois confederacy, or the league of the Iroquois, (Haudenosaunee) was the impeding factor of disunity between the tribes. Hienwatha, a Mohawk Iroquois, lived in Ontario and observed the disunity between the Iroquois tribes. In an attempt to unify the nations, he approached rival tribes and argued the benefits of unification. Initially, his idea is shut down by the elders of each tribe. The changing climate that started to occur, however, increased confrontations between tribes. Hienwatha yet again tries to explain to the Iroquois people about the possibility of peace and is rejected again. He then alludes the nations to a weaved belt of wampum shells which supposedly illustrated the connectedness of the five Iroquois nations. He traveled among the nations, of which all then supported the idea of unity, and was able to form a seemingly impenetrable force.

The Iroquois has some relevance to the United States vision which is not so surprising. The initial farmers of the American document of securing the Nation were inspired by the Iroquois attemp’s. Franklin was the one who circulated Iroquois ideas to other farmers in the early mid 1700’s. John Rutledge (Delegate) from South Carolina was the one who studied the work intently and advocated that the introduction would be part of the American version “We the people, to form a union, to establish piece, equality, and order..” The levels of similaritites between both of the documents are interesting, for example, Article 37 of the Iroquois constitution states; “There shall be one war chief from each nation, their duties shall be to carry messages

Every clan had a male clan leader but was organized through the female line. Children belonged to their mother’s clan and clan was involved in every aspect of a tribal member’s life. Clans trained children to be productive members of the tribe and rebuked them when their behavior got out of hand. Clan members encouraged their children’s participation in ceremonial dances and fasting. If a member was killed, the clan avenged his death.