preview

The Roles Of The Wampanoag, And The Iroquois And Iroquois

Better Essays

Before the American Revolution, Native Americans created diverse and complex societies and organized them around common principles. Relationships to land and leadership played important roles in structuring Native life, but served unique functions in each community. For both the Iroquois and Wampanoag, their relationships to land embodied their lifeways; their land was their identity, their resource, their claim to power and sovereignty, and more. While the Iroquois vested leadership powers in the institution of the Great League of Peace, the Wampanoag depended on the leadership of powerful sachems such as Massasoit and Metacomet. However, both the Iroquois and Wampanoag used leadership in their tribes to preserve peace to a degree and protect their sovereignty when dealing with Europeans and other Natives. Despite their similarities and differences, the Wampanoag and Iroquois distinctively used their relationships to land and leadership to protect their interests. The Iroquois of New York and Ontario viewed their land as entwined with their identity. The Iroquoian nations had a special relationship to their land, as they believed divine forces formed it for them. The Iroquois Creation Story, as recorded by John Norton, described how the Iroquois believed a female deity formed the earth for them (Calloway 50). Because the Iroquois believed in an intimate and divine relationship to their land, they internalized the land as the basis of their identity.
The Iroquois also

Get Access